The relationship between attention to linguistic form and accuracy or to meaning and fluency in language learning has been explored by language learning researchers for many years. They point to the potential difficulties for learners in attending to form and meaning at the same time and the importance of exposure to meaningful target language…

The Sioux Hudson Literacy Council in partnership with AlphaPlus Centre in Toronto, Ontario and Confederation College, Sioux Lookout Campus, is making groundbreaking strides to reach adult learners who reside in remote, isolated communities of Northwestern Ontario. Generous funding from the National Literacy Secretariat in collaboration with…

From the start of the 2001-2002 academic year, people who had not completed secondary school were able to enter higher education based on documented non-formal learning, realkompetanse. Based on interviews with key personnel at selected universities and university colleges, and on quantitative data from the applicant register, this article…

This article reports research findings from a 21-month empirical project called "Making Numeracy Teaching Meaningful to Adult Learners," which was funded by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). It looks at motivations behind adult learners returning to study numeracy in three FE colleges, and finds…

The series "Self-instructional Notes on Social Participation" is a six-volume series intended as teaching aids for adult educators. The theoretical, methodological, informative and practical elements of this series will assist professionals in their work and help them achieve greater success. The specific purpose of each notebook is…

This publication contains nine articles about the process of doing research by literacy practitioners and volunteers in several areas of the Ontario (Canada) literacy field. "Implementing a Workplace Program: A Look Back" (Maria Ioannou-Makrakis) describes the process followed and the learning outcomes from planning, implementing, and…

This paper is a transcript of a videotaped roundtable discussion on the role of volunteers in adult literacy in Canada. The participants expressed concern that tutors may not be able to provide the quality of learning experience for adult students that trained teachers could and that volunteers could be taking jobs that should go to trained…

This policy paper lays the groundwork for policy recommendations by providing information about the level of adult literacy needs and services in Washington State. Analysis of two reports shows a gap between the population in need of literacy services and the current level of services in Washington. In this context, considerations and options for…

A study explored the experiences of four adult students who served on the board of The Learning Center, a community-based literacy program. The adult education literature touched on the challenges, benefits, and limitations of participatory practices, but the three were seldom juxtaposed, raising the question of whether the limitations equaled or…

The perceived self-efficacy concept plays a significant role in predicting human performance in several areas of human effort, but self-efficacy theory has seldom been applied in the fields of adult literacy and English as a second language (ESL). This study designed a questionnaire for adult literacy and ESL learners to assess their self-efficacy…

The Expanding Horizons Project at Austin Community College successfully achieved its goals for Project Year 1994-95. During the year, the project accomplished the following: raised public awareness of the need to overcome gender bias, promoted career opportunities in nontraditional technical occupations to more than 1,200 prospective students,…

This paper is a description of a union-sponsored workplace literacy program conducted in a large metropolitan hospital. The section following the introduction presents the research methodology, including data collection and data analysis procedures. The section entitled "The Making of a Workplace Literacy Program" looks at the planning stages of…

A study of the Philadelphia Lutheran Settlement House's Women's Program was conducted to determine what methods and practices the program uses to maintain a high retention rate (75 percent) of students in its adult basic education (ABE) classes and what else can be done to retain students more effectively. Data were gathered from two basic…

The 1993-94 PASSAGE newsletter was established to create a customized educational/career-development/work-related informational publication for Pennsylvania's adult learners and educators. The project's main objective was to provide timely workplace and job skills information to Pennsylvania's adult learners, unemployed/underemployed individuals,…

This Teaching Adult Learners Kit (TALKit) is an inservice "cafeteria" that offers many choices to the workshop planner/facilitator. The core of the kit is a series of structured workshop activities designed to help teachers build a teaching foundation--a working philosophy for adult education. Activities focus on three areas: the philosophy of…