Literacy scholarship has established the importance of teaching, supporting, and facilitating digital literacy education for 21st century students. Stuart Selber goes a step further, arguing that students must be functionally (using digital technology), critically (questioning digital technology), and rhetorically (producing effective digital…

The film, "I, Daniel Blake", has received critical acclaim for its portrayal of the experiences of those attempting to navigate the bureaucracy of the British welfare state system. In this article, I use the depiction of literacy in the film as a lens through which I examine both the role of literacy in compounding the challenge for…

The current study is a qualitative analysis of the results of a literacy skills intervention with a group comprising of three individuals with Down syndrome and three individuals with other developmental disabilities. The intervention was developed to address the concern that individuals in this population are often only exposed to functional…

For art educators, teaching textual literacy can be a challenge. In a review of literature, Hall (2005) found that content area teachers (as opposed to teachers of Reading and English) did not feel qualified to teach reading and believed that students did not need reading instruction to be successful with texts from their specific disciplines.…

This article explores the complexity of learning the literacy practices and conventions in the discipline of English language arts. Literacies are explored in the areas of writing/composition, reading/literature, and language/grammar, with attention to the situated nature of proper expression and understanding with respect to each. The author…

This study investigated perspectives on literacy as a tool for sustainable relationship among people. The study was conducted due to the significant role of literacy as an instrument of empowerment to improve relationship with other people by sharing information, ideas and knowledge to meet variety of purposes. The study adopted descriptive…

For many writing faculty, electronic or digital literacies may not play an overtly significant role in their course designs and teaching practices, but these literacies still play a significant role in how students write. Whether or not writing teachers want to accept it, functional computer literacies are an important aspect of teaching writing.…

Functional literacy is important in both English/language arts and geography. Using the "found poetry" strategy, students will summarize a piece of text, identify main ideas and find geographic connections. While using young adult literature is a great way to incorporate geography into English/language arts classroom, understanding of geography…

In this methodological and theoretical article, we address the need for more cross-case work on studies of literacy in use within different social and cultural contexts. The Cultural Practices of Literacy Study (CPLS) project has been working on a methodology for cross-case analyses that are principled in that the qualitative nature of each case,…

Attainment of functional English literacy skills by all students has been a focus of Australian national policy since the 1989 Hobart Declaration (MCEETYA, 1989). This focus underpins current educational accountability policy enacted through the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The Adelaide and Melbourne Declarations…

Environmental literacy has been defined in various ways: from acquisition of scientific knowledge to addressing environmental concerns through indigenous knowledge. Program planners and educators need to identify and employ strategies for inclusive program development where all stakeholders are given an equal opportunity to share their opinions as…

Argues that there is no convincing proof from empirical evidence that standards of literacy in Western Australia are worse than they were 25 to 65 years ago. Denounces empirical measures of standards of literacy as profoundly unreliable. (AEA)

Tests of a sample of 106 welfare recipients in Arkansas found that 53 percent were literate, contrary to the federal assumption that most recipients are illiterate. Concludes that specific job training and specific occupational literacy, rather than general literacy, programs would best meet the needs of the unemployed. (DM)

Lists and describes the criteria used by the Toronto Public Library in selecting basic reading materials for functional illiterates. (CHC)

Points out that reading has to be made something that those learning to read want to do, now, and in the future, and argues that people who can read should help those who cannot. (EL)