Despite efforts to promote literacy in the early years, millions of people in the United States and countless more abroad are functionally illiterate. The importance of improving adult literacy proficiency is unquestionable; however, the pedagogical approaches to support this monumental undertaking have been scarcely researched. Moreover, the…

Discusses the current situation (along with changes and specific developments over the past 13 years) in France regarding illiteracy. Describes the beginnings of the struggle against illiteracy and poverty; the organization of literacy work; the move from literacy to basic education; the future for literacy work in France; and the lack of…

Describes how the multiple literacies students learn in remedial projects prepared them to read, to learn and to use their knowledge for social transformation. Recognizes the difference between educating people to read and act upon the world and training them to pass a test. Discusses ways in which the author applies teaching strategies to address…

Notes the need for education on fertility in rural Ghana. Notes the success of the adult literacy group approach which provides family planning information and increases literacy. Discusses the significance and activities of the literacy facilitator (usually a woman) within this system who works with groups and individuals as a member of the…

Describes a functional literacy program successfully carried out in a very remote district in the mountains of Nepal. Describes the program's successes in increasing literacy, self-confidence, community awareness, and social awareness among Nepali women. Discusses keys to this success. (SR)

Interviews 16 volunteer adult literacy tutors, finding that many of them do not implement strategies and practices currently recognized as most effective, but tend to implement strategies to which they themselves were exposed as learners, possibly leading to feelings of frustration and defeat for their clients. (SR)

Documents a literacy problem in an electronics factory in which workers failed to read or follow written instructions. Suggests that to be truly literate, employees need access to a wider range of information about companies and their work and that work should be organized to allow, even require, workers to take responsibility for reading and…

Outlines the deep and complex challenge faced by Mexico in its quest for closer economic integration with so-called advanced economies. Discusses extensive poverty and illiteracy, and the systematic exclusion of many people from access to the very kinds of learning required by Mexico's economic project. Argues that extraordinary efforts and…

Describes an experimental literacy class for socially and economically disadvantaged parents in the United Kingdom. Looks at the many factors affecting these adult students' participation and learning. Notes that the literacy students wanted more than functional literacy--literacy had to fulfill the need to express feelings, the need for…

Describes a case study involving the reading development of an adult nonreader (a woman in her early fifties) and discusses this growth in comparison with children beginning to read. Discusses the student's background and her literacy development and progress. Notes similarities and differences to children's learning. (SR)

Argues that metaphor, as it thrives in fiction and poetry, is relevant and even essential, to adult-literacy theory and practice. Argues that the concrete poetic images, metaphors, and stories literacy educators learn from students should help shape their theoretical discussions of adult literacy; and likewise, once learned, these should be the…

Discusses the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s: the context of the time, its educational programs, instruction, teachers, and how it handled the problem of illiteracy. Examines whether this kind of program would work in the 1990s, concluding that many of the programs components would transfer well to the present. (SR)

Describes a university literacy tutorial program in which older adult college students received tutor training and then carried out one-to-one reading tutorials with adult male learners who were rehabilitating addicts. Offers two case studies, and shows that the program had a significant impact on tutors' commitment to community volunteerism and…

Presents findings from a two-year evaluation of a family literacy program in rural Appalachian Ohio. Demonstrates positive results for both impact/outcome and process objectives. Highlights an extensive network of interpersonal and interagency relationships that maximized resources and supported families as they changed. Suggests the importance of…

Many deep-rooted problems in urban areas of the United States--including crime, poverty, and poor health--correlate with illiteracy. The statistics reported by organizations such as the National Alliance for Urban Literacy Coalitions are telling. Urban citizens who cannot read sufficiently are at a clear disadvantage in life. They are more likely…