Previous Issues
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
Adult Literacy Teachers’ Perspectives on Reading Difficulties and the Origins of These Perspectives
Elaine Chapman,The University of Western Australia Janet McHardy
Studies of the teaching practices used in adult reading programs suggest these practices often reflect the personal perspectives of teachers on factors that contribute to less-skilled reading development. In this study, 19 adult reading teachers were interviewed to explore their perspectives on how adults become less-skilled readers and the origins of these perspectives.
Contact: Elaine Chapman, Elaine.Chapman@uwa.edu.au, Janet McHardy, janetmchardy@gmail.com
Linking Root Words and Derived Forms for Adult Struggling Readers: A Pilot Study
Susan H. Gray, Bridgewater State University
The goal of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of morphological instruction on component literacy skills of adult struggling readers. Sixteen adults, most with decoding and encoding deficits, were randomly assigned to tutoring in either morpheme or syllable analysis to learn academic vocabulary and increase component literacy skills.
Contact: Susan.Gray@bridgew.edu
The PIAAC Literacy Framework and Adult Reading Instruction: An Introduction for Adult Educators
Amy R. Trawick, CALLA
The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) conducted an international literacy assessment for adults in 2012 and 2014, and this article describes how adult educators can use its literacy framework to frame instruction as well. Key aspects that can guide teaching and learning include a “literacy-in-use” orientation to reading, the definition for “literacy”...
Contact: atrawick1@gmail.com
Immigrants Learning English in a Time of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
Clarena Larrotta, Texas State University
Immigrants bring a wide variety of
skills that favor the market productivity and add to the economic life of the country. They contribute to the development of the U.S. economy through the skills they bring to the market (cognitive skills such as abstract thinking, non-cognitive skills such as motivation and initiative, and specific skills such as the ability to operate machinery) and through the small business they own.
Contact: larrotta@txstate.edu
How Policy Changes Affect Local Immigrant Learners
Susan Finn Miller
Civics education is an important component of what we do in adult ESL classes. Therefore, in the fall of 2016, although most of the adults in my class were not yet citizens, and, therefore, not eligible to vote, I wanted the learners to understand the upcoming election and especially the significance of red and blue states as reflected in the electoral college.
Contact: sfinnmiller@gmail.com
Showing Up for Immigrant Learners (and Each Other)
Andy Nash, World Education, Inc.
We are witnessing a mounting campaign in this country to blame immigrants and refugees for our economic insecurity, rampant violent crime, and a diminished social safety net. Under this banner, our government is using immigration policy to turn away asylum seekers and refugees, separate children from parents, and threaten the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of communities that have lived in the US...
Contact: andy_nash@worlded.org
Review of The Mayor of Moultrie Avenue
Christine Miller, Georgia State University
When Carl Walworth began volunteering as a literacy tutor in Mattoon, Illinois, he did not realize that he was making a 24-year commitment and a lifelong friend in Eldo, his student.
The Mayor of Moultrie Avenue: The Literacy Journey of an Unlikely Pair serves as both a memoir and a description of an adult literacy tutoring relationship.
Contact: cdmreads@gmail.com
Fostering Transformative Learning in Educational Settings
Lisa M. Baumgartner, Texas A&M University
The word “transformation” evokes images of profound change such as caterpillars turning into butterflies or humans shape-shifting into werewolves. Transformative learning refers to a perspective transformation or change in worldview. Teachers in literacy education and adult basic education as well as GED instructors can learn how to foster transformative learning.
Contact: Lbaumgartner@tamu.edu
The CrowdED Learning Solution
David J. Rosen, Newsome Associates
The focus of the
Technology Solutions for Adult Basic Skills Challenges column is common challenges of adult basic skills practitioners, expressed, for example, in the LINCS Integrating Technology group for which I am the moderator, in other LINCS groups, in my national and state conference or webinar presentations, or privately in face-to-face discussions or by phone or email.
Contact: djrosen@newsomeassociates.com