Adult literacy in the U.S. remains a persistent challenge. Alarmingly, half of adults demonstrated literacy skills at or below basic proficiency levels. This deficiency significantly impacts the daily functioning, workplace success, health outcomes, and socioeconomic disparities. Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) serve as a promising solution for…

Interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory) claims that when people perceive themselves to be accepted (rather than rejected) by important others in their lives, they tend to have greater psychological adjustment. Previous research shows that higher levels of adjustment are related to better academic performance, for young adults both…

In today's world, having at least basic digital skills is essential in working, social, and family life. The present study uses grounded theory to explore ways in which people with little formal schooling engage with the digital world. Drawing on 54 semi-structured interviews, it describes how people with little IT experience from formal education…

This article draws on a case study of an international master's degree programme in educational quality and leadership for senior professionals in sub-Saharan Africa. It reflects the experience of adapting a blended learning approach to a purely online format in response to pandemic-induced lockdowns and travel bans in 2020-2021. Based on this…

This paper contributes to debates that shaped a special issue of "Discourse" in 2017 by taking the debate about "responsibilisation" in education into the realm of Foundations Skills in Australia. The difficulties that many Australian adults experience with low levels of language, literacy and numeracy skills (Foundation…

This commentary urges researchers and readers to rethink definitions of adulthood and its relevance in literacy research by arguing that adult readers are distinct from children and even college students. More specifically, it argues that adult literacy learners (those reading at the 8th-grade level equivalent or below and those who did not…

Mid-career men and women professionals describe their pervasive sense of 'lateness' retraining in law. Against industry patterns of lawyers wishing to leave the profession, these individuals had chosen to assert or reassert a desire to become lawyers partway through existing careers. What cultural narratives mediate the process of making this…

Eighteen internationally trained professionals were paired-up with nine English language instructors for this project. Even though the focus was on extensive listening practice, the learners created spoken messages to send a response to their instructors every week. The schedule and deadlines established helped participants to be organized and…

Learning an additional language as well as acquiring skills for careers and educational opportunities are lifelong learning endeavors. Adult English language learners (ELLs), particularly those at the beginning English proficiency levels, require instruction offering opportunities to meet their goals in life. Using tasks in English as a second…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine how, and to what degree learning methods (student-centered or instructor-centered) and gender independently or interactively made a difference in adult student achievement. The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Third Edition (WIAT-III) was utilized to measure…

This study reports on the development of "Parlure Games" and explores its pedagogical affordances. "Parlure Games" is a multi-dialectal listening and decolonial conversation tool created to address the absence of variable speech (including speech markers associated with native speaker status, regional dialect, age, and race)…

A substantial barrier to learning for adult college students over the age of 50 is technology literacy. These students may not have the digital skills required for college, which is a disadvantage for social, educational, and career development. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the learning supports and types of learning…

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (2019), 13 percent of full-time college students were employed fewer than 20 hours per week, 17 percent were employed 20 to 34 hours per week, and 10 percent were employed 35 hours or more per week. Despite the prevalence of student employment, few studies have…

Adult students with dyslexia have academic challenges with reading, writing, and phonological skills. The problem addressed by this study was adult students with dyslexia in universities have lower success rates in e-learning courses than students without dyslexia. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the lived…

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, digital technologies for distance learning have been used in educational institutions worldwide, raising issues about social implications, technological development, and teaching and learning strategies. While disparities regarding access to technical equipment and the internet ('the digital…