This article explores the relationship between literacy and oracy in the context of "Plazas Comunitarias," a basic education programme in Spanish for immigrants in the United States. I reflect on my experiences as a former "Plazas" facilitator, analyse key literacy materials from the programme and offer observations on reading…

Narratives drawn from a Fulbright study of immigrant women in Chile communicating with their families at-a-distance through information and communication technologies show that they utilized digital visual literacy practices. Digital visual literacy is a combination of digital literacy and visual literacy and even goes beyond these…

In this article, we examine the characteristics of vernacular literacies on Web 2.0, focusing on the writing activities performed on the photo-sharing site Flickr.com. This site provides people with many possibilities for writing, ranging from individual tags to extensive profiles. The study investigates these forms of writing to address questions…

In fields such as sociolinguistics and composition and rhetoric, communication is increasingly understood as translingual, that is, as negotiated socially across languages. Those of us engaged in community literacy can and should recognize the deeply multilingual nature of the communities in which we work, and we should understand, embrace, and…

Spelling is an important, but often overlooked, component of literacy instruction and development. Although it is related to other aspects of literacy, there are independent theories of spelling development as well as assessment and instructional strategies that align with these theories. This article summarizes the rationale for linking…

The note discusses some key issues pertaining to gender, literacy and women's empowerment in India. It uses disaggregated data to illustrate the persisting gender disparities with regard to literacy and points out that despite this there is a lack of real political will to address issues of adult literacy. It further draws on data from the…

The 2008 EFA Global Monitoring Report recognises adult literacy as the most neglected of the EFA goals. It is neglected most obviously in respect of the financial allocations made by governments and donors. This shortage of financing creates a dangerous situation in which adult educators seek to convince politicians to invest, based on false…

Catalyst, a quarterly newsletter from the Institute's Communications Office, contains news, information, and features about the programs and services of the National Institute for Literacy. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Spanish-Language Publication for Parents of Young Readers Among the Institute's New Titles; (2) Director's…

The main purpose of the study reported here was to investigate the relative importance of complexity of syllable structure and task differences in measuring phonological awareness in low-literacy adults. This study is a replication of a study with children conducted by S. A. Stahl and B. A. Murray (1994). Results indicated that the complexity of…

A discussion of issues concerning the feasibility of conducting a Spanish version of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) is presented. The discussion is based on a 1992 seminar to address linguistic, political, and logistic concerns in such an undertaking. While the experience with the NALS guided discussion, the primary focus was on special…

This document examines political questions that surround the issue of literacy. "City Literacy Cuts" outlines effects of the most recent budget cuts in New York City. "Families, Inequality, and Power: The Cultural Politics of Literacy" (Deborah D'Amico-Samuels) focuses on the importance of understanding the different models…

Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, this article examines the language and literacy needs of immigrants to Canada. A Toronto-based case study portrays a group of Latin American adults and their daily uses of English and Spanish. Literacy needs in both languages are noted, as is the contradiction of government commitment to…

An English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curriculum is presented that was developed and implemented by the Spanish Education Development (SED) Center in Washington, D.C. SED's ESL program, which offers beginning and intermediate instruction during the day and evening, expands from a traditional survival skills base by incorporating a problem solving…

This independent learning packet, which is intended as a guide and tool for teachers, counselors, and tutors who work with members of the Spanish-speaking population, contains basic information about the Spanish language and Hispanic American culture. The packet begins with a brief pretest. Presented next is a discussion of Spanish as a world…

An approach based on sociolinguistic theory is reported that was devised to describe the way written language operates in the different domains that make up the everyday lives of a given group of people. The approach involves the practices that the people use to deal with written language, and the perceptions (uses, beliefs, attitudes) they have…