For almost half a century the United States military services have incorporated formal literacy programs into job training for those enlistees who are less than fully qualified. Over the years, several successful job-specific reading programs have evolved. In 1975, the Army began the Functional Literacy (FLIT) Program, a program based on a…

This document consists of informative material on and a copy of a newspaper for adults who are learning to read. The newspaper is designed to help new readers develop reading skills, while providing interesting and relevant information with an adult focus. Local, national, and international news stories as well as information about health, safety,…

This digest about issues currently being debated in the adult literacy field examines the appropriate goals and objectives for adult literacy education, professionalization of the field, and literacy program evaluation. The first section reflects the disagreement between those who believe the purpose of literacy education should be to support…

Designed to provide a comprehensive literacy reference for public libraries, this handbook presents a glossary of terms, background information on functional literacy, and brief reviews of 14 additional topics: (1) literacy statistics; (2) adult performance levels; (3) the problem of adult education; (4) illiteracy generates itself; (5) about…

The Kansas Volunteer Tutor Utilization (KV-TUTOR) project was undertaken to explore some of the possibilities of using volunteer tutors in adult basic education (ABE) programs. A volunteer structure was developed at 16 local ABE programs throughout the state. KV-TUTOR actively promoted these volunteer systems by contacting (through letters, phone…

A study was conducted to determine if visualization could be used as an organizational tool to help adult education students improve their reading comprehension by helping them to see the structure of what they are reading in a sort of verbal picture of organized ideas. Following a review of research, which identified five areas in which…

This paper critically examines the goals, processes, resources, and effectiveness of Ethiopia's efforts to teach its people to read. Of the estimated 27 million people living in Ethiopia, only ten percent are literate. In recognition of this, and with the hypothesis that literacy skills are prerequisites for building a just and egalitarian…

Three studies were conducted to determine the validity of the idea that adult literacy students have greater reading potential (and thus can learn in much shorter periods of time) than school children who score at comparable levels to the adults on standardized reading tests, and that adults are more efficient learners than such children. The…

A case study is described in which an application of Goodman's Psycholinguistic Guessing Game model of reading was attempted with an elderly illiterate woman. Instructional materials were devised consistent with the theory of the game, and a tutorial was conducted. Researcher observations were recorded with respect to the subject's…

A research team approach was selected for an ethnographic project to identify those variables that influenced the adult beginning readers' acquisition of reading strategies and their effect on reading achievement. Weekly staff meetings focused on (1) identifying initial conceptualization and emerging foci reflected in the data, and (2) continually…

A college-level reading center program was adapted for use in helping a group of state employees improve their reading skills. This paper explains how the program originated and describes program procedures (including diagnosis, the determination of individual and course objectives, record keeping, class format, and class presentations) materials…

The games and simulations presented in this monograph represent an appropriate technology for the literacy instructor to use with adult students as a stimulus for discussion and analysis and as a motivational technique. Chapters in this monograph present reasons to use games and simulations, explanations of what games and simulations are,…

A PROCEDURE TO TEACH NATIVE SAMOANS HOW TO TEACH READING IS DESCRIBED. THE STORY SEQUENCE IDEA WAS USED FOR SELF-TEACHING. CLASS MEMBERS COLLECTED SAMOAN LEGENDS AND RECORDED VILLAGE LIFE IN ORIGINAL BOOKS ADAPTED TO VARIOUS READING LEVELS. THIS PRODUCTION WAS DIVIDED INTO SIX STEPS--(1) ANALYZING EXISTING TEXTBOOKS, (2) WRITING THE STORIES, (3)…

The Developmental Education Questionnaire was mailed nationwide, in November 1974, to members of the Special Interest Group for Two Year Colleges of the International Reading Association. Responses were made by 109 of the 252 members. The purpose of the questionnaire was to develop a profile of the organization of developmental education programs…

This yearbook contains the papers presented at the third annual meeting of the Southwest Reading Conference for Colleges and Universities as well as additional articles of interest written by members. Topics considered: reading in the college curriculum, evaluation of the tachistoscope in reading improvement programs, recent research relative to…