The Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) Project is an example of a project which used alternative non-text methodologies to help literacy and basic education learners explore and understand how inequalities in society have impacted on their lives. The project focused on inequalities, shifting the emphasis in literacy and basic skills…

The National Year of Reading, launched in January, is intended "offer the chance to create a network of activity and engagement, which will move the literacy agenda to the next level and lead to a lasting legacy in attitudes, activity and participation, and put in place the building blocks for systemic change..." The people behind…

As Literacy Outreach Coordinator for Opportunity to Read (OTR), the Watsonville (CA) Public Library literacy program, this author has recognized the concept of responsibility through example. Adult learners incorporate concepts easily when these concepts are specifically demonstrated for them by someone similar to them. Sounds simple, but putting…

Culture has been shown to influence the way people apprehend their physical environment. Cognitive orientation is more holistic in East Asian cultures, which emphasize relationships and connectedness among objects in the field, than in Western cultures, which are more prone to focus exclusively on the object and its attributes. We investigated…

The role of functional literacy, linked to employment, leads to a narrow view of rural learners' need both economically and socially. The drive for individuals to take responsibility for their own learning and development is, indeed, a good thing. However, the burden of guilt felt by those who are unable, or unwilling, to achieve the standards set…

Partnerships between literacy teachers and community service workers have the potential to engage people with low literacy levels in learning. Through interviews and surveys with these two groups, this paper explores their views on literacy, how it impacts on their work, and their ideas about partnerships with each other. Overall, partnerships are…

The research presented in this report offers new insights about the relationship between changes in adult literacy and changes in employment and earnings. This paper will first describe the design and methodology of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Literacy (LSAL) and then present the key findings from LSAL about individuals' literacy growth over…

From 2002 to 2006 the Australian Government funded the Adult Literacy Research Program (ALRP), which was managed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The NCVER commissioned two projects to reflect on the research undertaken through the program. The first, the Adult Literacy Resource, brings together the key messages in…

"I am shortlisting a candidate with GCSE in English and another with Level 2 in Literacy; does it mean they have the same skill at the same level? Also what is Key Skills in Communication? I am confused!" There are many different qualifications available in the lifelong learning sector and it is not always easy to see how they relate to…

This paper presents findings from an action research project funded by the Scottish Government through Learning Connections (March 2006 to April 2007) to develop and explore the potential for enhancing literacies learning for adults with learning difficulties by engaging with their systems of care and/or support. The paper explores the ways in…

This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki. Two research questions framed the study: (1) What do participants report they have learned by contributing to the wiki? and (2) What is the nature of participation and collaboration in the wiki? A key finding of the study is that the wiki does not…

Seventeen Hispanic adults developing English literacy keep a dialogue journal with their instructor during a semester. Afraid of writing in English at first, students experiment writing back and forth on self-selected topics. The goal is to develop English fluency. Therefore, the instructor does not point out students' mistakes. Similar to…

Despite the fact that there are nationwide literacy programs in Turkey in order to raise the literacy rate, the participation of illiterate individuals in these programs is not at a satisfactory level. This article is a study into the popular ideas, attitudes, and value patterns that negatively affect participation in literacy programs in a slum…

This article traces the development of adult literacy as a field of practice in Ireland. It examines how literacy is understood and looks at key moments in the recent development of policy showing how adult literacy has become a central focus of Government policy in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland. It concludes that while the development…

Following the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, most of the attention in New Orleans is still on physical and facility recovery efforts. But buried beneath the news accounts of a city trying to pull itself out of its debris are groups and organizations whose physical infrastructures may not have taken a direct hit from Katrina, but whose…