Paper is concerned with a UNESCO project, intended to apply the methods of correspondence teaching to newly literate and semi-literate workers and to raise them to a sufficient level to begin technical training. (Author)

Illiterate adults could neither delete nor add a phone at the beginning of a non-word; but these tasks were performed by people who learned to read rudimentarily as adults. Awareness of speech as a sequence of phones is thus not attained spontaneously but is probably provided by learning to read. (Author/CP)

Discusses some of the social implications of universal literacy and the failure to achieve the ideal. This failure contributes to the stratification of society because the values of common literacy are unfilled by subliterates or exceeded by the superliterates. Stratification generally seems to relate to gender and ethnicity. (JMF)

Based on interviews in Cuba and publications generally unavailable in the U.S., author examines history and success of Cuban literacy campaign. Outlines logistical/pedagogical challenges; describes recruitment and training of volunteer teachers and development of instructional methods. Concludes with case studies illustrating application of Paulo…

Explores government adult basic education (ABE) statistics in one fundamental area, the present level of illiteracy in the United States, concentrating particularly on changes in illiteracy levels during the 1960's. (WL)

A field experiment conducted to make a comparative study of two adult literacy primers indicated that if two comparable groups of adults are subjected to a literacy training course using the two different primers for an equal period of time, there is no significant difference between the literacy attainment level of the two groups. (TA)

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)

Focuses on the problems of education and development in post-apartheid South Africa. Argues that there must be a focus on the uneven terrain of educational attainment and long term socio-economic development. Discusses factors hindering educational development. Calls for reconstitution of South Africa's educational programs for all citizens. (CAJ)

Examines the growth of recognition of adult illiteracy in Western Europe and North America since the early 1970s. Discusses the invisibility of the problem, types of illiteracy identified in schools, importance of literacy across the curriculum, links between illiteracy and poverty, and involvement of international organizations. Contains 36…

Presents Botswana's experience with a national literacy program as a model for the understanding of policies and implementation of national literacy programs. Concludes that, although the Botswana National Literacy Programme represents a significant effort in adult literacy education, a rapid increase in the literacy rate is unlikely. (KO)

Discusses Kentucky's efforts to increase adult literacy through the New Books for New Readers program in which scholars were asked to write books emphasizing adult topics with a reading level of third to fifth grade. Describes the process through which the target audience is involved in the creation of books for the program. (KO)

Examines what happened to a little-known black newspaper, the "Provincial Freeman," which was published between 1853 and 1860 in what is now Canada's Ontario Province. Describes an uphill battle waged by editors and publishers to build a subscription base, solicit donations, recruit advertisers, and receive payment for their product. (TB)

Literacy is a cultural construct, and the dominant view of literacy reflects only dominant values and assumptions. There are many kinds of "literacies," and the Great Divide theory that illiterate people are fundamentally separate from literate people is being rejected in current policy debates. (SK)