Tests the hypothesis that pictographs can improve recall of spoken medical instructions. Junior college subjects (N=21) listened to two lists of actions, one of which was accompanied by pictographs during both listening and recall while the other was not. Mean correct recall was 85% with pictographs and 14% without, indicating that pictographs can…

A sample of marriage registers from the parish of Liverpool St. Nicholas Church in England between 1839-1927 is used to examine changing characteristics of grooms who signed with a mark over this period. The proportion of illiterate grooms in the parish fell from about a third to under 5%. Age at marriage and likelihood of being a widower rose…

"Metalinguistic skill" has emerged as an important measure of the sophistication of an individual's mastery of language. Some of the impetus for studies of metalinguistic skills, stemmed from an interest in its contribution to the acquisition of literacy. The central debate in these studies has been the issue of whether metalinguistic skills…

Vocabulary growth was suggested to prompt the implementation of increasingly finer-grained lexical representations of spoken words in children (e.g., [Metsala, J. L., & Walley, A. C. (1998). "Spoken vocabulary growth and the segmental restructuring of lexical representations: precursors to phonemic awareness and early reading…

Catalyst, a quarterly newsletter from the Institute's Communications Office, contains news, information, and features about the programs and services of the National Institute for Literacy. Contents of this issue include: (1) Shanahan on the National Early Literacy Panel Report: What's in Store; (2) Director's Message; (3) Representative Fattah to…

Edgar Snow scored an extraordinary scoop in 1936 when he persuaded Mao Zedong to tell his story. The resulting book--"Red Star Over China"--was a best-seller in the West and translated editions caused a sensation in China. Adult education was the centrepiece of Communist revolution and featured prominently in Red Star. It is now the…

Representations of illiteracy in bureaucratic, journalistic, and literary treatments of southern Appalachia reveal a substantial practice by metropolitans of blaming illiteracy in the region for its supposed failure to integrate materially and culturally into a national economy. Yet patterns of illiteracy in southern Appalachia resemble patterns…

Arguing that following some simple concepts can drastically reduce the rate of illiteracy, this booklet maintains that the extent of the literacy problem is teacher-induced and can be reversed by the systematic teaching of the phonics of the English language. The booklet argues that students in grades 1-3 are just beginning to learn how to read…

The case description of an adult education program in Saudi Arabia contained in this document is part of a set that reflects a cooperative effort by adult educators to increase international understanding of various educational programs for adults in their societal context. A face sheet provides this information: name, organization, and address of…

In the last decade many people have questioned the long-range effectiveness of literacy education in America. The response to this discussion about the "literacy crisis" has been the growth of three commonly held generalizations: (1) that in previous eras, Americans enjoyed remarkable levels of literacy; (2) that the role of print has been…

Given the large gap between the millions of adults in need of basic literacy skills and the shortage of teachers, tutors, and funds to serve them, computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has the potential to reduce the gap. The merits of CAI include its holding power, provision of a positive learning environment, opportunity to learn about computers,…

In reviewing the Army Continuing Education System in 1979, the Assistant Secretary of the Army found a basic skills program based on traditional academic level goals was inadequate to meet the Army's requirement to provide functional, job-related basic skill education. Combining the shrinking manpower pool and projected basic skill deficiencies of…

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO MINIMIZE THE VARIABILITY IN LEGAL AND EDUCATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS MADE OF THE SEMANTIC VARIATIONS IN THE DEFINITION OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED IN TERMS OF FUNCTIONAL ADEQUACY FOR EDUCATION, TRAINING, OR CUSTODIAL CARE. THE METHOD INVOLVED THE REVIEW OF STATUTES AND…

This report contains the proceedings of the International Literacy Day Conference held in Washington, D.C., on September 8, 1978. It contains a program of conference events, an executive summary, a message from the vice president of the United States, and the text of the proceedings. The proceedings include introductory remarks by Edwin Newman; a…

This study is based on the replies to a questionnaire sent in December 1968 to all Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO. It describes the extent and the consequences of illiteracy among women, and analyzes the factors impeding female literacy. The document shows the evolution of attitudes with respect to literacy programs for women; the…