This discussion of the necessity for promoting a vigourous, prosperous, and free press addresses several areas of journalistic concern: the growing tendency toward disinterest in reading in a population that is nearly 100% literate; the decline of reading habits and motivation to read as reading skills improve; and the inability of newspaper…

THE 5,000 WORD FUNCTIONAL READING WORD LIST, COMPILED TO REFLECT THE PRESENT AND IMMEDIATE FUTURE READING NEEDS OF THE AVERAGE ILLITERATE AMERICAN ADULT, EMPLOYS BASIC WORDS GATHERED FROM SUCH SOURCES AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PAMPHLETS, MENUS, NEWSPAPERS, COMIC BOOKS, APPLICATION BLANKS, AND RELIGIOUS TRACTS. THE LIST IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR PARTS--THE…

Reading is the key to learning. Without basic reading skills, the individual is shut out of society in many ways. Illiteracy lowers his chances of employment, limits his knowledge in politics and current events, and limits his success in school. As all of these things affect the nonreading individual, so does his lack of productivity and lack of…

A digest of findings from a national survey by Louis Harris and Associates of adult reading skills comprises this edition of Adult Reading Development, a publication of the National Reading Center. The study measured the ability of adults to respond to practical real-life situations such as reading direct-dial instructions in a telephone directory…

This report analyzes the initial results of UNESCO's Experimental World Literacy Programme and makes recommendations for future action. The meaning of functional literacy is discussed, and pilot projects in twelve countries are briefly described. The analysis reveals that the programme has fallen seriously behind schedule, that the number of adult…

India's National Adult Education Program ( NAEP), which focuses on the needs of illiterate adults in the 15-35 age group, is described with particular attention given to the importance of improving occupational skills and raising the level of awareness regarding the predicament of the poor and illiterate. (LBH)

Describes the Chinese effort to eliminate adult illiteracy. The author discusses purposes of adult education, history of adult literacy education, adult illiteracy statistics, the design of literacy education, curriculum construction, teaching methods, evaluation of the literacy education process, impact of literacy education, and implications of…

Presents an overview of the problem of adult illiteracy and discusses what it means to be literate. Offers considerations pertaining to the teaching of literacy and of how technology might be used to facilitate this teaching. Concludes with recommendations about how to exploit the possibilities of technology in literacy education. (FL)

Freire responds to questions about the relation between philosophy of language and pedagogy, the possible importance of a "magical way" of understanding material and political reality, his literacy experiments in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, his impressions of the U.S., and the power of his methodology in practice. (RDN)

Distinguishes between functional and elective illiterates and attempts to explain the extent and causes of elective illiteracy in Canada. Describes a model of reading activity that confirms expected bivariate associations between elective illiteracy and education, settlement type, language, age, and occupation but reveals three complicating higher…

A study to determine the incidence of functional illiteracy in English among adults in the metropolitan area of Sydney is reported, which showed the incidence of illiteracy among Australian/English born adults to be lower than previously reported while that among non-English born is very high. (WL)

A study of women in a rural Indian state revealed that literate women (numbering 100) as compared to their illiterate counterparts (numbering 100) had more knowledge of the concepts and methods of family planning and had more favorable attitudes towards and a higher use rate of such methods. (MS)

This book is a biography of Cora Wilson Stewart, a Rowan County, Kentucky, school superintendent who rose to prominence with the establishment of the Moonlight Schools for adults with low literacy levels in 1911. It presents the details of her Kentucky crusade against illiteracy, then examines the personal part of her life as well as her later…

This document presents the transcript of Congressional hearings held before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources on the scope and implications of illiteracy in the United States and on school and adult programs addressing literacy. After opening statements of the Hon. James M. Jeffords and the Hon. Christopher J. Dodd, the transcript for the…

Two soft'' (non-formalized) models--the convergence model for R & D program management and a model of the processes of innovation in the public sector -- have been used in designing a strategy for a national right-to-read project. Covers the history of the project, an evaluation of the soft models, and a discussion of the conditions under…