Profiles the career of Jonathan Kozol, especially reactions to his books "Death at an Early Age" (1967), "Illiterate America" (1985), and "Savage Inequalities" (1991). (SK)

Interviews with 10 rural elderly residents with less than elementary education had the following findings: (1) they were motivated to change by desire to satisfy coping and expressive needs; (2) earlier means of compensating for lack of literacy skills were not effective in later years; and (3) lack of adequate literacy skills negatively affected…

Discusses the National Literacy Mission (NLM) launched in 1988 in India. Notes the barriers to successful campaigns for literacy in India. Describes the reasons for the particularly successful campaign in the state of Kerala, including the fact that it was in every sense a people's campaign. (SR)

The knowledge-driven economy has become a "given," yet there is disagreement over what it entails and who is helped or harmed. The aging of the work force, disappearance of unskilled jobs, and changes in business and social organization suggest that the social, economic, and infrastructural problems of the knowledge economy will not…

Focuses on the Xhosa, the illiterate indigenous people in the De Aar-region of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Describes the experiences and happenings around illiteracy and literacy training in the Nonzwakazi Township of De Aar in the Northern Cape. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (Author/VWL)

Literacy has become an important predictor of well being in old age. Being literate in today's society demands a myriad of functional abilities, which, when absent, can have dramatic health, economic, and social consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for defining literacy within an increasingly technological society,…

Literacy has become an important predictor of well being in old age. Being literate in today's society demands a myriad of functional abilities, which, when absent, can have dramatic health, economic, and social consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for defining literacy within an increasingly technological society,…

Homework is assigned on the assumption that parents or other elder members have the capacity to assist the pupils and that home environment is conducive for the pupil to do homework. A cross-sectional survey using structured and semi-structured interviews was conducted among pupils and parents in Kengeleni division in Mombasa district to explore…

Beyond 3Rs to learning within political action to functional literacy to life skills, the discourse on adult literacy has primarily been defined by civil society organizations. This article presents thoughts on adult literacy programs coming from educators and advocates and the underlying dilemmas of autonomy and collaboration with government for…

Statistics from a number of surveys indicate there is a high rate of economic and financial illiteracy in the United States. Several other studies have pointed out that problems related to the widespread lack of economic and financial understanding have serious consequences on the future economic well-being of many citizens. Financial and economic…

This article examines the relationship between shame, literacy and social relations by analyzing shame narratives told to the author by youth and adult literacy students during a 24-month ethnographic research project conducted in two Brazilian cities. Employing Bourdieu's theoretical framework and literature from the anthropology of emotions, the…

An ethnographic study examined illiterates and their understanding of literacy. The theoretical background of the study is based on the thesis of "contemporary orality": that India is a fundamentally oral culture that retains all the characteristics of primary orality (Walter Ong's term) through the use of speech as the dominant medium…

Research conducted by the Canadian Institute for Adult Education revealed an alarming degree of illiteracy among francophone adults living in Canada. In the province of Alberta the illiteracy rate was dramatic, with estimates of up to 10,000 adults who were francophone by birth and yet illiterate in French. This report describes the underlying…

Journal is available from the National Institute of Adult Education, 35 Queen Anne Street, London, WIM OBL.

Results of a survey of 60 male illiterates regarding characteristics they looked for in a teacher indicate that a teacher should be: of the same age or older, male, married and practicing religion, from a high socio-economic strata, an unknown outsider, and "teacherly" in appearance. (LH)