On Defining and Developing Literacy across Communities

The paper attempts to raise a few issues relating to the task of defining and operationalizing literacy and literacy development across communities with diverse socio-economic profiles. In particular, the following concerns are raised: (1) Can literacy development be assessed using one set of domains, given that the domains of literacy practices vary across cultures? (2) Does the acquisition of literacy skills mean the same thing to people across different communities? (3) Does illiteracy have the same consequences for people in different communities? (4) Is the process of literacy acquisition and development the same across diverse communities? The paper underscores the importance of considering the diverse socio-economic patterns in different communities in trying to determine present levels of literacy development and in proposing programs to increase levels of literacy skill. It also proposes using the level of community (in addition to the macro-level of nation-state and the micro-level of individual) in analyzing matters relating to literacy development.     

¡Puño en Alto! The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign and What it Means for Literacy Today

Modern notions of literacy can be informed by past successes in the field of literacy. One of the most successful national literacy campaigns occurred in Nicaragua in 1980 and was called Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización (CNA). The fight against illiteracy to provide a space for marginalized voices in Nicaragua is a story worth telling to current literacy professionals in the United States, who are painfully aware of high illiteracy rates in certain geographic areas and among particular populations. First is an historical accounting of the literacy campaign by contextualizing the background of Nicaragua's political and social situation. Next is an explanation regarding how critical pedagogy can be useful in reading the historical event. Last, a critical lens is used to decipher what lessons might be taken from Nicaragua's literacy campaign to identify critical issues and inform the difficult decisions in literacy education today in the United States.     

Diglossic needs of illiterate adult women in Egypt: a needs assessment

In light of the rarity and unavailability of academic publications on literacy/illiteracy in the Arab world, this study attempts to determine the linguistic needs of illiterate adult women in Egypt in the context of informal adult basic education. The purpose of this study is to understand illiterate adult women’s daily linguistic needs in relation to diglossic de‐contextualization in Arabic, the comprehension gap between colloquial and standard Arabic that contributes negatively to the process of reading and writing acquisition in standard Arabic. The present study, based on participatory action research methodology, was conducted in Egypt where 11 adult female literacy classes, five (139 subjects) in Cairo (urban) and six (151 subjects) in Menia (Upper Egypt/Northern Egypt) were group‐interviewed. The results of the group interviews clearly define the functional context of adult female illiteracy (i.e. age and immediate linguistic/literacy needs) and enforce a diglossic dichotomy, entailing ‘reading’ and ‘writing’ categories. If considered by literacy authorities, diglossic integration in adult literacy programmes/curricula will certainly help Egyptian illiterate adult women to integrate easily in their environment, the ultimate goal of all involved in the fight against adult illiteracy in the Arab world.     

The work of illiteracy in the rhetorical curriculum

It is conventionally held that illiteracy is simply the absence of literacy, however the latter term happens to be defined. As such, illiteracy is nothing more than failure to achieve the literate foundation upon which success in the rhetorical curriculum depends. I challenge convention by arguing that literacy is fundamentally a rhetorical construct and that the idea of illiteracy, integral to compelling identification with literacy, is an intentional product of the rhetorical curriculum. This relationship of illiteracy to the rhetorical curriculum can be glimpsed in narratives of literacy, especially those that circulate to mass audiences in popular films. Scholars have looked to such films for evidence to illustrate academic theories about literacy. By analysing several films and their reception, I show that non-academics are actively engaged in re-theorizing illiteracy. This engagement illuminates the rhetorical dimensions of illiteracy in a way that has the potential to revise the informal rhetorical curriculum, thereby changing conventional understandings of illiteracy.     

Community Perspectives on Gender,Participation and Culture in Zambian Literacy Programmes

Employing in‐depth interviews, observations and involving a sample of 58 people (40 participants, 18 officials) over a period of 6 months, the study focused on one urban and one rural community to understand causes of uneven participation in literacy programmes. The findings were that men were shy about exposing their illiteracy, they were affected by patriarchal attitudes, felt proud about exposing their illiteracy, and feared making mistakes. Cultural barriers such as sex taboos, family relationships and perception of literacy as a female activity and leadership conflicts also constrained participation.     

Adult Literacy: Monitoring and Evaluation for Practice and Policy

With the advent of the UN Literacy Decade launched in 2003, there is increased emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of adult literacy around the globe. The present paper presents an overview of the main approaches that have been taken to measure adult literacy within and across countries. A particular focus of the present review is to compare and contrast three models of literacy assessment: (1) the “traditional” model based largely on census enumeration, which has been used over recent decades to collect national and regional rates of illiteracy; (2) the large-scale survey techniques employed with the International Adult Literacy Survey and similar models; and (3) an intermediate type of assessment that borrows from the previous two models, and attempts to “tailor” the size and complexity of the survey methodology to the policy questions needing answers (called the SQC model). The present paper suggests that there is no single model or set of methods that are universally appropriate to monitoring and measuring in adult literacy around the world, but that blending both programmatic and comparative models through the SQC approach may bring greater involvement in, and insight into, adult literacy evaluations.     

Limits to the effectiveness of the 1990 anti-illiteracy campaign in promoting literacy among women in a rural Chinese community

Although Chinese mass literacy campaigns are generally considered to have been successful in reducing illiteracy rates, there is little evidence that past or current anti-illiteracy campaigns have enabled rural Chinese women to acquire enduring and productive reading and writing capabilities. An ethnographic case study of adult literacy education and literacy practices conducted in a rural township in southeastern China during the 1990 anti-illiteracy campaign revealed fundamental constraints on the effectiveness of campaign methods in promoting literacy among local women.     

建国初期识字课本分析

建国初期识字课本是伴随着扫盲运动的发展而发展,识字课本既沿袭了传统识字教材的特点,保证系统连贯、循序渐进,又结合成人教育的特点,注重精简、快速、实效;在扫除文盲和提高国民整体素质等方面发挥了重要作用。     

建国初期识字课本分析

建国初期识字课本是伴随着扫盲运动的发展而发展,识字课本既沿袭了传统识字教材的特点,保证系统连贯、循序渐进,又结合成人教育的特点,注重精简、快速、实效;在扫除文盲和提高国民整体素质等方面发挥了重要作用。     

The historical and political context of adult literacy in Turkey

The aim of this article is to analyse the development of adult literacy education in Turkey in a historical and political context. The development of adult literacy education is studied in three different historical periods. To spread literacy and create novel institutions, although these institutions were closed later, played a critical role in the formation of modern Turkey. During the whole history of modern Turkey, five great mass literacy campaigns were organised. After this period of construction, later in the period of rapid social change adult literacy education was institutionalised as non‐formal education within Ministry of National Education and literacy education was defined as a public service. Literacy education still continues to be a public service during the neo liberal transformation period. Today illiteracy is still an important problem. Because of the regional, class and gender inequalities in education, illiteracy turned into being a chronic and structural problem. Therefore the solution of the problem necessitates positive action politics and more support.     

Meeting the Basic Learning Needs of the Newly Literate: China's Post-literacy Education for the Early 21st Century

While China has achieved considerable success in its efforts to raise literacy levels, it has been faced with the relapse of many newly literate adults into illiteracy. The consolidation of literacy skills through post-literacy programs is therefore of key importance to the country. This study examines the reasons why adult literates relapse and discusses the problems and modalities of post-literacy education, concluding with recommendations for future post-literacy policy.     

Why the New Zealand National Literacy Strategy has failed and what can be done about it: Evidence from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 and Reading Recovery monitoring reports

For the past 15 years, the New Zealand government has initiated major efforts to reduce persistently large inequities in achievement outcomes in literacy education, including the development of a national literacy strategy. The aim of this study was to provide an analysis of the factors that have contributed to the failure of this strategy and what can be done to overcome the problem. We began by presenting evidence in support of the claim that the national literacy strategy has failed, drawing on data from the PIRLS 2011 study and the latest annual monitoring report of Reading Recovery (RR) data. We then identified three interrelated factors as contributing to the failure of the national literacy strategy: (1) a constructivist orientation toward literacy education, (2) the failure to respond adequately to differences in literate cultural capital at school entry and (3) restrictive policies regarding the first year of literacy teaching. In the final section of the paper, we reviewed research in support of what we maintain is the most effective strategy for reducing the literacy achievement gap: the use of differentiated instruction from the outset of formal schooling that takes into account interactions between school entry reading-related skills (high versus low literate cultural capital) and method of teaching reading (constructivist versus explicit approaches). We also argued that RR should be replaced with an intervention program that is based on contemporary theory and research on reading and targets those struggling readers who need help the most.     

Humanization of education in Pakistan through Freire’s concept of literacy

Pakistan is an underdeveloped country, full of socio-economic problems where a few oppress and exploit many. One of the most significant reasons, in this context, is the high illiteracy rate in the country. However, can high literacy rates guarranty peace, prosperity, and justice in any society? Clearly, not. There are several countries where the literacy rate is very high yet it remains relatively under-developed. However, it is also a fact that the countries where the literacy rate is high have been able to emerge as economic powers. In this regard, Freire’s concept of literacy education is very helpful in that it is essentially hopeful in nature and it is this optimism which gives it the potential to transform oppressive situations.     

Disenchantment and participatory limits of compulsory education: lessons from Southwest China

Despite the state’s unrelenting efforts to enforce compulsory basic education, schooling in rural ethnic China remains an elusive ideal that leads to massive dropout and prepares many only for factory sweatshops. Based on 16 months of ethnographic research, this article examines the disjuncture between the official education policy known as the Two Basics Project (TBP) and the lived practices and beliefs observed in two rural ethnic communities. It investigates how students’ disenchantment and withdrawal from school challenges compulsory education as a fragile universalist attempt at social progress. Instead of merely examining what factors contribute to the policy failure, the analysis questions the very ‘progressive’ ideals and teleological visions at work in China’s educational programming, and challenges binaries such as literacy/illiteracy, cultured/uncultured, modernity/traditionalism.     

Level 3: another single measure of adult literacy and numeracy

In reporting the Australian results of the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, Adult literacy and life skills survey, summary results, Australia, 2008a, p. 5) stated that of the five internationally identified levels of literacy and numeracy in the survey, Level 3 is regarded by the survey developers as the ‘minimum required for individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life in the emerging knowledge-based economy’. In effect, this Level 3 criterion, in the wake of traditional functional literacy/illiteracy dichotomies, creates yet another ‘single measure’ through which to distinguish those who can from those who cannot function in society. The Level 3 criterion and the accompanying verbatim quote have since been cited extensively by powerful institutions, including government, industry and skills in their promotion of a crisis discourse in adult literacy and numeracy. This has led in turn to national policy responses on ‘foundation skills’ and nationally agreed performance targets (by the Council of Australian Governments) for skills and workforce development based on the ALLS Level 3. In this paper we question the validity, origin and significance of the Level 3 criterion and contend that highlighting this aspect in the reporting of the ALLS has resulted in a narrow and unbalanced perspective on the role of literacy and numeracy in society.     

EDUCATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE ACCESS TO SCHOOLING AND OUTCOMES: THE CASE OF EARLY LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN TANZANIA

ABSTRACT

Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrolments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access – re-examining the quality of some of those facilities against the anticipated quality of educational outcomes. Studies in Southern and Eastern Africa, including the one under discussion here, indicate that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not rely only on school-based factors but also on the careful analysis of wider socioeconomic and cultural factors. This paper, through the results of the case study component of the Early Literacy Development project in the Lindi Rural District of Southern Tanzania, discusses why literacy development has lagged behind in Sub- Saharan Africa. The focus of the study and of this paper is on the relationship between literacy practices, literacy events and early literacy development at home and school in low-resourced communities. The extent to which school infrastructure and ecology including buildings, teaching learning materials and teacher characteristics reinforced literacy practices and events at home and school is also highlighted as being of special interest.

The study was sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Development (formerly CIDA) – Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SES-EA).     

The Dominant Tradition in Adult Literacy – A Comparative Study of National Literacy Programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe

The article highlights the renewed significance of adult literacy for international and national educational policy as a result of the World Educational Forum in 2000, at which a new vision of literacy was advocated. The difference between the new and old paradigms of adult literacy is considered. The article argues that the traditional approach which has dominated the international discourse on adult literacy has profoundly influenced national decisions. This influence is illustrated through a comparative analysis of national adult literacy programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe. The programmes exhibit a high degree of similarity despite differences in the national contexts. The analysis shows that the traditional approach has been relatively ineffective in improving adult literacy levels. However, proposals for change influenced by the new paradigm have not been taken into account. Thus the examples of Botswana and Zimbabwe indicate the difficulty in displacing the dominant tradition in adult literacy at the level of national policy-making.     

The Dominant Tradition in Adult Literacy – A Comparative Study of National Literacy Programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe

The article highlights the renewed significance of adult literacy for international and national educational policy as a result of the World Educational Forum in 2000, at which a new vision of literacy was advocated. The difference between the new and old paradigms of adult literacy is considered. The article argues that the traditional approach which has dominated the international discourse on adult literacy has profoundly influenced national decisions. This influence is illustrated through a comparative analysis of national adult literacy programmes in Botswana and Zimbabwe. The programmes exhibit a high degree of similarity despite differences in the national contexts. The analysis shows that the traditional approach has been relatively ineffective in improving adult literacy levels. However, proposals for change influenced by the new paradigm have not been taken into account. Thus the examples of Botswana and Zimbabwe indicate the difficulty in displacing the dominant tradition in adult literacy at the level of national policy-making.     

Adult literacy in the Commonwealth Caribbean with special reference to a study of the functional literacy of young Guyanese adults

International databases report high rates of adult literacy for Commonwealth Caribbean countries which create the impression that these countries do not have a literacy problem. This is despite the fact that local and regional research has consistently pointed up serious weaknesses in the literacy skills of nationals at all levels, including university students. This paper questions whether the reported high adult literacy rates really reflect the reality of the situation in Commonwealth Caribbean countries and it uses a case study of Guyana - the poorest and most underdeveloped of the English-speaking Caribbean - to support its case. The paper describes the methodology of the test used for measuring levels (high, moderate, low) of achievement in functional literacy of out-of-school youth (OSY) in three domains (document, prose, quantitative) where literacy and numeracy functions are typically found in the society. Special reference is made to differences in achievement in functional literacy according to gender and ethnicity. The main findings of the study are: that only 11% of the OSY achieve at a high level of functional literacy: that females tend to achieve at a higher level of functional literacy than males and that there are significant differences in the achievement of the OSY from the different ethnic groups. The findings suggest a much lower adult literacy rate for Guyana than is usually reported and underscore the fact that failure to report rates that more accurately represent the situation in Commonwealth Caribbean countries will prolong the absence of political will to address the social and economic issues which lie at the root of the literacy problem. In countries where their provision is weak, adult and continuing education programmes are needed to help the adult population to meet the changing demands of society for improved skills in literacy and numeracy.