Over twenty years of attempts to provide instruction in adult literacy skills have accomplished very little in the country of Ethiopia. (MKM)

Uses junk mail, newspaper advertisements, and other promotional material to overcome one teacher's lack of instructional material and to teach multilingual and multicultural teenagers and adults the basics of consumer advocacy and American civics. Notes that the students gained power through literacy that would not have been possible with…

Discusses methods of reading instruction in Ethiopia where only ten percent of school age children are ever enrolled in schools. (MKM)

Relates a personal experience of teaching reading to an illiterate adult from Mexico. (HOD)

Notes that appropriate materials are hard to find for refugees of marginal reading ability in English as a second language programs and describes teacher-made exercises that use the students' prior knowledge and experience. (HOD)