Describes an experimental system which uses pictorial representation for labeling prescribed medicines in the United Kingdom. Since the pictorial approach breaks the language barrier, the labels should present no problems either to illiterates or minority groups who have difficulty in understanding English. (JEG)

Describes how the work of modern poets can expand adult learners' views of the uses of reading and writing and their own ability and specifically shows how the works of Carl Sandburg, Lucille Clifton, William Carlos Williams, and Langston Hughes can be used to teach adults to read. (SRT)

Causes of aliteracy, having reading and writing skills but choosing not to use them, are discussed. Ways of preventing it by making reading relevant and connecting reading to writing are suggested. Enabling preservice teachers to become confident in their ability to write is stressed. (MT)

The author suggests that the specification of common literacy demands that are valid on the societal level, that is, which are applicable and meaningful to diverse adults living in diverse environments, is an impossible task. He further suggests that the development of a valid and uniform national curriculum for functional literacy is equally…

Reviews literature on U.S. Office of Education-sponsored Adult Performance Level project that cites among its accomplishments (1) a model for competency-based education, (2) creation of national awareness of illiteracy, and (3) individualized programs. Among its insufficiencies are absence of reliable measures of validity, value-laden curriculum,…

Describes right to read programs for illiterate and functionally illiterate adults in the state of Maine. (RB)

The concensus of opinions concerning current literacy programmes was that, in spite of the fact that communication skills (reading, writing, arithmetic) are sill viewed as important, there was an expressed need for subjects and educational materials and aids relevant to production in agriculture as well as in industry. (Author)

Specific suggestions on improving adult literacy programs, based on the author's observations in India. (SP)

Describes the objectives of, and methods used in, a course for near-illiterate young adults. (SP)

In an address to the fifth General Assembly of the Asian Broadcasting Union, the director of UNESCO's Department of Mass Communication explains "how Unesco reached its present position on literacy, launched its current Experimental Programme, and decided to use the title Functional Literacy." (Author/LS)

Discusses the current state of literacy and suggests that there is a renaissance of interest in the teaching of rhetoric and composition. (AEA)

The director of the National Institute of Adult Education describes some of the British strategies for bridging the gap between the acquisition of basic skills and their application to patterns of lifelong education. (SK)

Describes a study that investigated the literacy demands required by the task of text editing a manuscript on a computer terminal. (MKM)

Contends that the basic reason for functional illiteracy is that as children, individuals did not develop the ability to meet the challenges required for reading and writing and that children can develop the ability to meet these challenges by having parents read to them at an early age. (FL)

Addresses three questions: (1) what individual paths lead selected nonmainstream writers from the "Tenderloin" inner-city area of San Francisco to their craft; (2) how the contexts and relationships with the community support the growth of written expression; and (3) how this support affects individual and community growth. (MG)