A study created a typology of 271 adult literacy programs nationwide describing their distribution along two dimensions: (1) relevance of materials to learner needs and sociocultural context (life-contextual/decontextual), and (2) extent of learner control of decisions about program activities (dialogic/monologic). A questionnaire elicited information regarding program structure, model followed, program and student goals, learning materials, students' influence on decisions about course content and classroom activities, success measurement, and student population demographics. Program responses were coded along two dimensions reflecting how life-contextualized and how dialogic the literacy work was judged to be. A two-dimensional grid was created: one axis reflected the continuum of life-contextual to life-decontextual, the other the continuum of dialogic to monologic. The four quadrants were dialogic/life-contextual, dialogic/life-decontextual, monologic/life-decontextual, and monologic/life-contextual. The four sections of the life-contextual/life-decontextual axis were subdivided into highly life-contextual, somewhat life-contextual, somewhat life-decontextual, and highly life-contextual. The four sections of the dialogic axis became highly dialogic, somewhat dialogic, somewhat monologic, and highly monologic. Findings indicated that 73 percent of programs fell within the dimensional space of life-decontextual/monologic, that is, they used activities and materials not related to students' lives and were teacher directed and controlled rather than collaborative. (Contains 38 references.) (YLB)