Education has been identified as one of the most important ways to achieve national development. With 3 million non-literate adults in Lagos State, the commercial nerve center of the nation, radio becomes a veritable medium to teach such adults who, for several reasons including economic, do not have the opportunity of formal schooling. The study…

This paper examines the different views about the definition of "literacy" and how it is applied in the Zambian context. It argues that the absence of a contextual definition of literacy or illiteracy has raised some doubt on the magnitude of the problem and the extent to which success has been achieved through various literacy…

Lesotho's educational system and development are largely influenced by missionaries and colonisers who taught the three 'Rs' (reading, writing and numeracy skills) to the Basotho. Most of those enlightened Basotho were to carry on the duties of either educating others or as missionary workers. Some became clerks, interpreters, police officers,…

This report looks at whether employers think schools are equipping young people with the literacy skills required for the workplace. It is primarily based on secondary literature sources and introductory conversations with a small sample of key employers and agencies. A complementary report presents evidence on young people's views on literacy and…

Traces the origins of the literacy tradition in indigenous African cultures to the use of the tools of literacy by two black social activists--W.E.B. Dubois and Malcolm X. Also stresses the relationship of literacy to social action, self-education, and liberation of the mind. (AEW)

A study investigated Swedish students' attitudes about the point of being able to read. Subjects were 53 Swedish students in grades 5 and 8. Their answers were distributed into three categories: a survival and participation perspective; a dynamic-instrumental perspective; and a personal experience perspective. Regardless of performance level, most…

Reports on a study in which a four-page weekly newspaper was published and delivered to 20 rural schools in Ghana; results indicated that recipients of the newspaper made literacy gains greater than those of control group students. (GW)

This document is intended to help groups raise their level of awareness about what it feels like to have difficulty with reading or math, look at how varying levels of literacy and numeracy can affect the quality of their group's activities, and look at ways in which they can overcome literacy- and numeracy-related problems. The beginning of the…

Describes a basic literacy program developed by the Spanish Women's Institute to lower the number of illiterate women in Spain and encourage women lacking basic educational skills to participate in the existing educational system. Explains the program's "New Approach" teaching materials, which teach women to read and write while…

Compares and describes school leavers in Ontario, Canada, and Somerset, England. Notes functional illiteracy is common among school leavers. Decides that the best approach is a concentrated effort on reading in grades three and four. Describes such a program to be instituted in York, Ontario, in September, 1984. (BRR)

This paper summarises findings and lessons from a recently conducted evaluation of an adult functional literacy program in Ghana. The study attempted to assess learners' literacy and numeracy skills, and ascertain participants' knowledge and skills in various development aspects as well as their impact. The literacy and numeracy skills assessment…

This book is intended to help adult literacy tutors look at the variety of reading tasks in the adult world and see what use they can make of them with their students. In Chapter 1, the tutor looks in depth at all the reading and writing tasks adults do. The message and medium aspects of literacy are introduced. Chapter 2 presents an overview of…

Intended for the Literacy Coordinators of Alberta, this annotated bibliography reflects the needs of the PROSPECTS Adult Literacy Program clientele; therefore, it does not include resources for native learners and includes only resources available at the PROSPECTS library and the Edmonton Public Schools' adult literacy library. One hundred…

Comprising a study of the application of linguistics to literacy, the 16 papers in this book were prepared by contributors from both developing and developed nations. The papers in the first section illustrate the relevance of certain developments in theoretical and applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics to literacy teaching.…

The study described in this book was designed to create an overall picture of the type of student found at a school for educationally substandard army recruits in England, to establish the causes of the student's educational backwardness and relate these to linguistic performance, and to compare the effectiveness of the approaches and methods used…