[AAACE-NLA] Literacy: use it or lose it?

[Hal Beder]

If I am recalling correctly, Steve Reder's Portland longitudinal 
study corroborates this.


At 10:52 PM 7/8/2007, you wrote:
>AAACE-NLA Colleagues,
>
>A Canadian study suggests that after the age of 25 some people lose
>some of the literacy skills they have acquired through formal
>education, especially those who read infrequently and/or are
>unemployed.  I wonder if any adult literacy practitioners have
>anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon from their students' accounts.
>
>"Many Canadians experience a significant loss of literacy skills
>during adulthood, and this loss appears to be concentrated in adults
>from lower socio-economic backgrounds, according to a new study.
>
>The study, based on findings from the 1994 International Adult
>Literacy Survey (IALS) and the 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills
>Survey, examined how Canada's stock of literacy skills evolved during
>the nine-year period between the two surveys.
>
>It showed that literacy is not a static commodity acquired in youth
>and maintained throughout life.
>
>The results provided compelling evidence that, on average, some
>groups of people lose literacy skills after the period of formal
>schooling, but the amount of skill loss differs considerably from
>group to group.
>
>The loss of literacy skills in Canada appears to be a gradual process
>that begins at the age of about 25, peaks at around 40, and tapers
>off during late middle age (55)."
>
>Sources:
>
>http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070706/d070706b.htm
>
>http://tinyurl.com/yejk5d
>
>David Rosen
>DJRosen at theworld.com
>
>
>
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