In 1981, some 12,500 British 23-year-olds were interviewed in a survey carried out by the National Children's Bureau as part of an ongoing longitudinal study. A small part of each interview dealt with the respondent's experience of literacy and numeracy problems. Results demonstrated that a substantial number of the young adults had experienced…

This article highlights lessons from the experience of running a workshop that provides basic education. It focuses on the workshop that has been run for four years at Wakefield District College in England to support individuals from the community or students in college courses who need help with basic skills. The flexibility allowed by the…

A basic set of principles for adult education reflects what should be found in each state and local program. First, basic skills should be mastered by all students. Second, course content should be directly related to learner, labor market, and community needs. Third, partnership efforts should be expanded and strengthened. Fourth, programs must…

This document traces the history of volunteerism in the literacy field, discusses the current role and use of volunteers, and assesses the potential and the limits of volunteerism as a current and future means for overcoming illiteracy in the United States. (The major conclusion is that the current delivery system of literacy activities can go no…

These papers, presented at the 1981 World Assembly of the International Council of Education for Teaching, describe the methods and status of teacher education programs in the United States, Australia, Ireland, and Malaysia. The first paper, "The Preparation of Educational Personnel for Basic Education," by Robert L. Egbert, introduces the…

This paper presents the organization and content of a two-week workshop designed for teachers of adult illiterates in New York State prisons. It explains why the "backwards" organization of practice to theory, rather than theory to practice, worked. It includes many specific teaching techniques for adult inmates who are becoming literate,…

Suggests a basic-education radio program as an alternative to traditional literacy education programs. One advantage of radio as an instructional medium is that it is available to most rural poor people. Stresses the need for creating innovative radio programs which are suited to radio's special characteristics. (Author/DB)

Looks at the ways various states are defining 'literacy' and 'basic skills' and cautions against isolating reading, writing, listening or speaking from the total communication process. (MH)

The work of Gee and Purves helps provide a framework for understanding cultural contexts and contextual boundaries of literacy. Gee (1991) uses the term "discourse"--a socially accepted association among ways of using language that can identify one as a member of a social context--synonymously with cultural context. Purves' (1991) work…

Offers suggestions for teachers to integrate the functional uses of numbers and mathematics into the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom curriculum, as well as several sources of information for additional exercises and ideas for activities. (15 references) (Author/LB)

A European project developed guidelines for use of multimedia in adult basic education, reviewed existing multimedia resources, and developed strategies for teaching literacy using multimedia. Individual learning styles and processes can be accommodated with the media, but teachers need new skills to plan and monitor individually based multimedia…

Research has shown that an effective assessment of workplace literacy programs requires both formative and summative evaluations. Workplace literacy program impact is best measured using a mixture of standard assessment tests and custom-designed instruments. A broader conception of adult literacy learning can be assessed by using interviews and…

Through a partnership between Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing West, a business, the Asian Association of Utah, a community-based organization, and the Utah State Office of Education, this workplace literacy project taught literacy skills to 35 adults with limited English proficiency. The workers spoke Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian. The project…

Advertising in the mass media contains a wide variety of psychological, emotional, and cultural messages. In basic skills and English-as-a-Second-Language writing instruction, ads can be used to exemplify writing models presented in class. Basic skills students often come to writing classes discouraged or prepared for failure, and the structure of…

In this document are a final report and guide from a project to produce a 30-minute training videotape that provided volunteer tutors and paid adult educators with concrete methods, techniques, and activities to help adult learners improve their numeracy skills. According to the final report, representatives of various adult education…