The variable nature of literacy is discussed in chapter one of this paper, including problems of arbitrary standards, instruments, and criteria. In the second chapter, some of the historical roots of the concept of literacy are traced both to show how the concept of literacy evolved and to show how literacy has always been closely tied to the…

Designed to meet the needs of older nonreaders, this booklet provides teaching suggestions and classroom activities for functional or survival reading skills. The topics covered include using the telephone; figuring the cost of a purchase; following directions; survival vocabulary for public signs; vocabulary for the medicine chest; reading the…

A functional job-related reading program was developed to cope with literacy problems of Army personnel; the program involves students who work individually on instructional worksheets in six main modules, each designed to teach a specific job-related reading task. This paper presents an overview of background research for the program, which was…

Designed by the Monroe County Library System as a cooperative venture with Model Cities and the Adult Basic Education Department of the City School District of Rochester, New York, the project explored the feasibility of using socially oriented programs and area canvass by library aides to uncover communication needs and recruit enrolless for an…

A description is presented of the Farmers' Functional Literacy Project, a component of the integrated program of Farmers' Training and Functional Literacy. The project consisted of three regional workshops and a national workshop. The regional workshops were organized to allow officers to review progress and prospects of the programs, exchange…

A 1-year project undertaken for World Literacy of Canada to survey the Canadian Literacy scene attempted to identify and describe the adult population in need of literacy activities in Canada, to identify and describe the literacy activities being undertaken by existing organizations, communities and individuals in Canada, and to share the…

Using a broad definition of literacy as the skills needed to function effectively in society, the public library's role in providing job information is described. Specific examples of services providing career choice or change information, job-hunting skills, and career development skills in a number of public libraries are provided. (EM)

Presents the results of a survey which found that: (1) the current treatment of language, generally concentrating on the factual and informative at the expense of the imaginative, is creating its own brand of linguistic deprivation; and (2) this is particularly noticeable in foreign language teaching. (SED)

Describes experiences in teaching adults to read and discusses the following needs of illiterate adult students: a program containing adult materials and a low student/teacher ratio, teachers skilled in teaching basic skills who are knowledgeable about a variety of teaching methodologies, and a way to find and bring them into the classroom. (EL)

Commonwealth Ministries of Education were asked to report on how they are undertaking the improvement of the quality of basic education in their respective countries. The papers in this volume focus on: (1) Nigeria; (2) St. Lucia; (3) Tanzania; and (4) Zimbabwe. Charts and statistical data support each country's report. (EH)

As part of the International Adult Literacy Survey, the literacy levels of older adults in the Netherlands were investigated. A sample of 918 adults aged 50-75 was tested on prose, document, and quantitative scales; 40 older adults were interviewed to determine in what contexts they experience literacy problems and what kinds of coping strategies…

To help adults in Mali practice what they had learned in the literacy education programs, a rural information newspaper was created and educational radio services were provided. (AM)

Functional illiterates from adult basic education programs, correctional institutions, and federal or city programs served as subjects in a test of the remedial instruction effectiveness of the Basic Skills Learning System (BSLS) using PLATO. Results indicated that BSLS is an effective system for improving both reading and computational skills.…

Reading can and should be taught in every subject area. Project C.A.R.E. shows how. (Editor)

Discusses the issue of literacy as a gate keeper and how the interviewee's own experiences as a bilingual Latina and writing teacher aroused her interest in sociocultural understandings of literacy and language learning. She emphasizes the importance of discourse-based analysis and discusses the issue of high urban mobility as well as her other…