Easy-to-read (ETR) German is the subject of public debate. Even though it is heavily promoted by officials, its status is controversial. Moreover, the comprehensibility of ETR German texts awaits systematic testing. The aim of the present study was to test a controversial rule concerning word segmentation. Hypotheses derived from psycholinguistic…

Using the data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this Data Point summarizes the number of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy and describes how they differ by nativity status and race/ethnicity. PIAAC is a large-scale international study of working-age adults (ages 16-65) that assesses…

Discussion on the advantages of integrating health literacy into adult education has primarily been theoretical and conceptual. There is a need for studies that assess the impact of adult education on health literacy. This study implemented a quasi-experimental design to explore whether basic adult instruction may constitute a venue for improving…

The current study is a qualitative analysis of the results of a literacy skills intervention with a group comprising of three individuals with Down syndrome and three individuals with other developmental disabilities. The intervention was developed to address the concern that individuals in this population are often only exposed to functional…

Through this international cross-case analysis of ethnographic literacy practices data, we investigated two questions: (1) In what literacy practices do adults with limited or no schooling engage for personal fulfillment? and (2) What do these practices reveal about the nature of literacy for individuals who are often characterized as illiterate?…

We hear or read the following phrases often: "Everybody spends so much time on their smartphones that they never look up." "Just send me an email and we'll work out the scheduling." "You'll find all the job application materials on our website, where you can submit your application online." However, adults with low…

Purpose: To investigate the nature and extent of oral language difficulties encountered by adults who are functionally illiterate. Method: Fifty-two men and women identified as functionally illiterate, together with a group of control individuals of comparable age, sex, and socioprofessional background, produced a narrative intended for an absent…

Most microcredit institutions focus on giving out credit to their clients with the assumption that these clients have the capacity and ability to manage the credit efficiently and the human capital to operate efficiently. There is evidence to show that most women in the Savelugu/Nanton district of Ghana have access to credit but lack the…

Current pedagogical approaches recognize literacy as a social practice and yet school-based conceptualizations continue to dominate understandings of literacy learning of individuals with intellectual disability. Such understandings lead to local or everyday literacy practices being devalued and overlooked. Thus, for adults with intellectual…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Canadian adults living with limited literacy and chronic illness made meaning of their patient education experiences. The study used a hermeneutic phenomenological research design and employed three data sources over a nine-month period. Data was interpreted and analyzed as it was collected,…

This study investigated the comparability of paper and computer versions of a functional writing assessment administered to adults 16 and older. Three writing tasks were administered in both paper and computer modes to volunteers in the field test of an assessment of adult literacy in 2008. One set of analyses examined mode effects on scoring by…

This article presents data on the types and duration of reading-related activities reported by a volunteer sample of 400 adults (demographically similar to the U.S. adult population age 20 and older in terms of race, ethnicity, education, and working status) in the 2005 Real-World Tasks Study. This diary study revealed that adults spent, on…

The paper presents the results of a qualitative study into the lives of people with inadequate functional literacy skills. The data were collected through a biographical interview with a respondent whose characteristics correspond to those of a hypothetical person likely to exhibit signs of low functional literacy. The characteristics, such as…

"Functional health literacy," a component of health literacy, refers to the ability to read and interpret medical information. The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) measures the ability to read and interpret medical information. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess and compare levels of maternal functional…

Adult training is critically important: 70 per cent of the 2020 workforce will be adults who have already completed their compulsory education. Yet one in three UK employers currently undertakes no training at all. In the West Midlands the figure is 44 per cent--one million workers. There is a global challenge. Out of 30 countries in the…