Because the traditional methods of adult literacy training frequently fail to achieve their objectives and because their implementation on a vast scale would be too costly, this UNESCO quide is presented as an aid in linking literacy campaigns to national development projects and the motivations for change which these might arouse among the rural target populations of the Third World. The guide illustrates the way in which agency personnel can get acquainted with the target area/population and how a literacy programme should be explained to the participants. General suggestions are presented, providing enough liberty for the experts to act on the special needs of the population and according to their own professional interests. Preliminary considerations in the study of the rural environment are reviewed. Specific problems are then examined from a theoretical standpoint; these include regional and local surveys, farming methods, land ownership, transmission of property through kinship ties, irrigation, cooperative activities, role of women, technology of the area (primitive or skilled), and the attitude of the population towards education. The second half of the guide deals with the practical procedures for conducting an environmental study including how to get preliminary information, how and with whom to conduct interviews, and how to quickly conduct a village survey. (AN)