THE GREATEST PROBLEM FACING EDUCATION TODAY IS THE ERADICTION OF ILLITERACY IN OUR OWN AND OTHER COUNTRIES. TEACHING READING TO ILLITERATE ADULTS IS PRIMARILY A MATTER OF ESTABLISHING THE PROPER CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ELEMENTS OF THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE, WHICH ARE UNKNOWN TO THEM, AND ELEMENTS OF THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE ALREADY IN THEIR REPERTOIRE. THE…

ADULT ILLITERACY RESULTS FROM POVERTY, AND, MANY TIMES, SUPPRESSION. ILLITERACY IS SELF-MAINTAINING BECAUSE ILLITERATES CANNOT GAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE OR FULLY PARTICIPATE IN ECONOMIC, CULTURAL OR POLITICAL LIFE OF THEIR SOCIETY. THE PROJECT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO APPLY THE PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION TO THE TEACHING OF READING TO ADULT ILLITERATES.…

IN A LARGE-SCALE FIELD TEST WITH FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE ADULTS, THIS PROJECT EVALUATED FOUR READING SYSTEMS--LEARNING TO READ AND SPELL, READING IN HIGH GEAR, MOTT BASIC LANGUAGE SKILLS PROGRAM, AND SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS. TESTING WAS CONDUCTED IN SEVEN COMMUNITIES IN NEW YORK, THREE IN NEW JERSEY, AND FIVE IN CALIFORNIA, PROVIDING A MIXTURE OF…

Readings on language and literacy within their social context include: "The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages" (Bronislaw Malinowski); "Toward Ethnographies of Communication" (Dell Hymes); "Language as Social Semiotic" (M. A. K. Halliday); "Language and Ideology" (V. N. Volosinov); "Family…

The Consortium for Worker Literacy is made up of a group of New York City unions that are providing literacy education to workers and their families in order to help them adjust to a radically changing labor market. The consortium operates a degree program for workers in collaboration with the City University of New York. At a different academic…