Analyzes data from evaluations of seven Nepalese literacy programs (five for adults and two for out-of-school children) using the same instructional materials and design. Examines dropout rates, female participation, language of instruction, skill acquisition, skill retention, changes in attitudes and knowledge, effects on elementary enrollment,…

Characterized the literacy skills of 402 randomly selected adult Medicaid enrollees to determine whether there was an association between literacy skills and health care costs. Each participant's health-care costs were reviewed, and their literacy skills were measured. Results show no significant relationship between literacy and health-care…

Describes and analyzes how an Urban Appalachian woman who could not read or write progressed to functional levels when instruction involved her in reading her own language. Argues that educators who failed to acknowledge her language as an integral aspect of her as a learner may have denied her previous access to literacy. (SR)

Reports on the results of a case study indicating that written language in general and journal writing in particular may be the preferred vehicle for syntactic acquisition of some adult learners. Five adult English-as-a-Second-Language learners, all illiterate in their first language, took part in the study. (Author/JL)

Describes programs at the Toronto Public Library that teach Internet skills to adult learners, including English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes and undereducated adults. Highlights include a sample lesson plan; experiences with adult-literacy classes; expanding Internet training; and Web sites for ESL and adult-literacy classes. (LRW)

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…

Traces the history of education in Somalia: in precolonial traditional Somalia; during colonial rule by Italy; under civilian rule, 1960-69; and under military rule, 1969-90. Describes the total destruction of the education system since the 1991 collapse of the state, widespread illiteracy and adolescent involvement in thuggery, and the urgent…

This article reports on the authors' application of Freire's ideas as put forward in "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" regarding issues of adult illiteracy and disabled women in Trinidad and Tobago. The author used Freire's concept of the importance of learning the words of the oppressor, of getting people to talk together, of the teacher…

The new paradigm of evolutionary social science suggests that humans adjust rapidly to changing economic conditions, including cognitive changes in response to the economic significance of education. This research tested the predictions that cross-national differences in IQ scores would be positively correlated with education and negatively…

Phonological and metaphonological skills are explored in 97 Brazilian illiterate and semiliterate adults. A simple letter- and word-reading task was used to define the degree of illiteracy. Phonemic awareness was strongly dependent on the level of letter and word reading ability. Phonological memory was very low in illiterates and unrelated to…

Researchers and teachers often are not privy to the literacy events smuggled into the private lives of urban African-Americans. Yet, these hidden literacies, such as journal writing and reading personal business letters, often reveal deft rhetorical skills as well as intellectual grappling with the social complexities of power, race, and class.…

A copy of a letter to a cable company, printed in large block letters and not following standard rules of spelling and syntax, serves as a catalyst for thoughts about the person who wrote the letter and a discussion about what constitutes literacy. Despite the appearances of the letter, a case can be made for the author as a writer. A close look…

This study examined whether parents who lack numeracy, literacy, or writing skills transmit their difficulty to their children. The study also sought to determine whether other family or child characteristics relate to children's basic skills; if child outcomes or predictors display between-family variation; and if child outcomes display any…

This study estimates the incidence, characteristics, and patterns of change over time of illiteracy in Morocco. The study compares the results from direct literacy assessment to the conventional methods of self-reported literacy. This effort has provided more detailed, objective information with which patterns of literacy skills in the country may…

The validity of the Southam News 1987 survey of literacy in Canada was questioned relative to its content and structure. The survey viewed literacy as a set of complex information processing skills and adopted a hierarchical view of these skills. This hierarchy model set up illiteracy as a deficiency. The Southam study's underlying assumption was…