In the field of adult education, literacy is a contested concept, so it is not surprising that terms like food literacy are also highly debated. While some associate food literacy with individual food shopping and preparation, others look to it as a means to engage with larger issues of global import. Given that food literacy is a fairly new term,…

This paper gathers descriptions on the use of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and essential skills cross Canada. IALS was developed as a population measure to lay out the distribution of skills and their relationship to other social and economic attributes. The information was taken from federal, provincial, and territorial…

Literacy issues are discussed that affect Canadians age 15 and older who are barely literate in any language. Topics include the following: definitions of literacy; policy overviews and surveys; the impact of literacy on Canadian institutions; access for literacy learners; adult learning and classroom practice; and the plain language movement. (76…

In societies with rich oral traditions in which knowledge and wisdom are transmitted by way of mouth, through recitation, song and drama, the inability to read and write does not mean ignorance or lack of intelligence. Literacy is, however, essential for gaining legal and socioeconomic rights. Literacy campaigns should therefore involve changing…

This bibliography was compiled for The Centre for Literacy's 2005 Summer Institute: "Adult Basic Education & Literacy, Media and Technology." The references and annotations point to relevant research, project, strategy and evaluation reports that describe and analyze the current and future influences of changing technologies on…

The reasons for nonparticipation in adult literacy and upgrading programs were examined in a national study during which interviewers in 12 Canadian provinces conducted in-person interviews with 44 adults who had never participated in a literacy or upgrading program. Most interviewees indicated that they had experienced transition points at which…

This document presents the text of a roundtable discussion on the topic of best practice in workplace literacy in which six individuals representing the following agencies/organizations participated: Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Education; City of York Board of Education; an employer in Markham, Ontario; a community literacy group in Ontario's…

This guide, which is intended for volunteer literacy programs in Alberta, Canada, details a four-step process for evaluating volunteer literacy programs and using evaluation results for program development. The guide begins with an introduction, underlying principles and assumptions, and a glossary. Sections 1-4 detail the steps of the process,…

Although Ontario's Ministry of Education currently funds a variety of literacy programs, the province of Ontario (Canada) currently has no overall policy, evaluation process, or agreed-upon definition of adult literacy to guide further development in the field. When developing a comprehensive government policy regarding adult literacy in Ontario,…

The concepts of literacy and health have been evolving and broadening, and interest in the connections between the two has been growing in Australia and elsewhere. However, the scope of practices related to health literacy in the health fields and in the adult literacy education field have remained fairly static. Research has identified the…

This report describes a project originally intended to identify demographic patterns among adults with low literacy skills in each Canadian province. The project was carried out between March 2000 and June 2001 under the auspices of Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL). The project was based on the assumption that demographic information about…

This document, which is intended for use by adult literacy programs in Saskatchewan, Canada, consists of three questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed under the guidance of Saskatchewan's 11-member Good Practice Task Force to give adult literacy programs an opportunity to reflect on their current initiatives, identify their strengths,…

Data drawn from 3 cycles of data collection for the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) were analyzed to identify the levels and distributions of literacy skills in the adult populations of 20 countries. The following were among the main conclusions: (1) in 14 of the countries, at least 15% of all adults have literacy skills at only the…

In 1999, the Committee on Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of Learning in Alberta, Canada, conducted a series of consultations on lifelong learning to identify ways of helping adults return to learning to improve their employment potential and realize their career goals. The committee received input from more than 450 Albertans in 14 rural and…

This document is intended as a handbook for literacy practitioners working with adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. The handbook is the product of the following activities: extensive research of the literature; discussion and exchange with literacy experts, practitioners, and some learners; and solicitation of input from…