[AAACE-NLA] NALS definition of literacy

[David Rosen]

George, and other colleagues who are interested in definitions of  
adult literacy,

The Adult Literacy Education Wiki glossary has a definitions page for  
(adult) literacy

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Literacy

which you can read, refer to, and to which you can add other  
(published) definitions. Like all wiki pages, it's a work in  
progress, made by members of a community of practice, so if you see  
an important omission or error, please improve the page.

Of course, many of these definitions have a purpose and a context.   
In choosing or creating a definition of adult literacy, it is  
important to decide what that context is, what you want the  
definition to do, and why. This would apply as well to the  
compilation "Contributory Causes of Low Level English Literacy among  
Adults."

David J. Rosen
Adult Literacy Advocate
DJRosen at theworld.com



On Jul 5, 2006, at 4:51 PM, George Demetrion wrote:

> If one were to go with an official definition of literacy, perhaps the
> following is more viable than the NLA 1991 one.
>
> This is the one I'm toying with for the revised, ever emergent list.
>
> One additional thought.  I could end the statement at "understand a
> piece of poetry."  That would eliminate such words as "must" and
> "function."
>
> George Demetrion
> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> __
> ____
>
> Literacy is not a single skill or quality that one either possesses or
> lacks.  Rather, it encompasses various types of skills that different
> individuals possess to varying degrees. There are different levels and
> types of literacy, which reflect the ability to perform a wide variety
> of tasks using written materials that differ in nature and  
> complexity. A
> common thread across all literacy tasks is that each has a
> purpose-whether that purpose is to pay the telephone bill or to
> understand a piece of poetry.  All U.S. adults must successfully  
> perform
> literacy tasks in order to adequately function-that is to meet  
> personal
> and employment goals as well as to contribute to the community.  
> (Viewing
> Adult Literacy from a Functional Perspective, National Adult Literacy
> Survey, 2003).
>
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David Rosen
DJRosen at theworld.com