Adult English literacy learners (ELLs) are learners with limited or no formal schooling in their first language who are learning to read and write in English. At present, the limited research surrounding adult ELL instruction does not fully investigate the literacies that learners make use of outside of the classroom in a Canadian context. Through the lens of the New Literacy Studies, this case study examines the variety of print-literacy practices that adult ELLs engage with inside and outside of the classroom, highlights the value of these literacy practices, and emphasizes the importance of connecting out-of-class literacy practices with those occurring in the classroom. Additionally, this study uses learner perspectives to describe out-of-class literacy practices and provides a platform for adult ELLs to discuss their in-class preferences. The findings indicate the necessity of acknowledging prior experiences of ELLs in the classroom and provide implications for in-class instruction and resettlement agencies.

Individual differences in early literacy skills can be attributed to children’s previous history of emergent literacy experiences during their preschool years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about the emergent literacy experiences of one Libyan American preschooler and one Syrian American preschooler and how their families support these experiences in their bilingual homes. Through the lens of social theory of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) and sociocultural theory (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978), this multi-case study was designed to explore family literacy practices with a preschooler in a naturalistic setting. The questions guiding this study were: (1) How did the texts, tools, and technologies available in two bilingual home settings impact the emergent literacy practices of a Libyan American child and a Syrian American child? (2) What support did family members provide for these two children as they developed emergent literacy practices in their bilingual home settings? Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, digital-recordings of family literacy practices with a preschooler, audio-recorded in-depth interviews with the parents, home visits, the preschoolers’ writing samples, and photographs of literacy activities, materials, and the home environment. The recorded family literacy practices and interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify emerging themes. Both within-case analysis and cross-case analysis were conducted. Findings revealed that the preschoolers in both families use a multimodal process such as talking, drawing, singing, chanting, recitation, technologies, and sociodramatic play in their daily literacy experiences. The parents are not concerned with teaching their children specific literacy skills; but they naturally use techniques for keeping them on task and questioning skills to enhance oral language and comprehension development. These families’ home literacy practices are Americanized by living in the mainstream social group, and English is frequently used among the family members. However, their bilingualism and religious literacy practices enrich and vary their children’s emergent literacy experiences and their family literacy practices. The significance of this study resides in the importance of getting to know individual families’ backgrounds to better understand and respect the cultural practices of family literacy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 241-260.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Texas Christian University, 2007. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed Jul. 27, 2007). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis investigates the suitability and applicability of a health literacy test from the U.S. in a black, Xhosa-speaking, South African population. The concept of literacy is a controversial one which has been much debated, as it is not easy to classifY people as simply either literate or illiterate. As a result there are a number of definitions of literacy that vary with purpose and culture, but the most common one is that a person is literate if he/she can read and write. Estimating literacy from years of schooling is an inexpensive method but is also unreliable, since people generally read 3 to 5 grades below their stated educational level. This method affords little insight into the ability of patients to adequately function in a health care enviromnent, an ability which is referred to as functional health literacy. A number of health literacy tests such as the REALM (Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine) test have been developed to assess this skill. The REALM test is a word recognition test which places people into a relevant grade range estimate according to the number of words pronounced correctly. It appears to assume understanding of the word if the person is able to read that word correctly. In this project 125 black Xhosa-speaking respondents of varying educational levels who were literate in English were interviewed with the aid of an interpreter. Comprehensive demographic data were collected. Respondents were first asked to read all 66 words aloud during which time pronunciation was checked, and thereafter they were asked to explain each word. It was found that the ability to automatically decode and read the words did not necessarily guarantee comprehension of these words. Many of the words proved to be unfamiliar to the majority of the Xhosa respondents who were able to pronounce them correctly, but could not explain them. These tended to be phonetically transparent words which were therefore more accessible to the unfamiliar reader. This research has proven to be of great value in helping identify such words which should be substituted with simpler words for use in health information materials. A number of words could neither be pronounced nor understood by the population majority and, interestingly, a small group of words could not be pronounced but were satisfactorily explained by some respondents. The results showed an extremely poor correlation between the stated educational level and the REALM grade range estimate. This emphasizes the inappropriateness of years of formal schooling as an indicator of functional health literacy. The criteria were established for deciding cases in which the REALM test could be applied (or succeeds) and when it is inapplicable (or fails). It was found to be inapplicable in 41% of cases which clearly indicates that, in its current form, it is not a valid, reliable test to use in determining health literacy in this English second language population. It can, however, be used as a basis fur the development of a more appropriate test. Recommendations for future research direction are presented and an alternative structure for a health literacy test is suggested. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in

Magister Commercii - MCom / In this thesis I explored the teaching of debt literacy, a sub-topic of Financial Literacy Education. To do this, I used an arts-based framework to experiment with teaching debt literacy using poetry. Prior to the main poetry intervention, I explored several arts-based approaches such as frozen scenes, image theatre and drama-based pedagogies but I eventually settled on using poetry. Poetry as an arts-based approach to research within the field of financial literacy education is the research design. These two poems are produced as knowledge artefacts that can be used in further research studies or even by current students as teaching aids.

Homeschooling is a dynamic learning and living community producing a growing percentage of our nation*s college-ready students. Serious academic studies of homeschooling remain scarce, and those that exist tend to come out of sociology and anthropology. Through an analysis of the literacy practices that constitute the work of homeschooling, this study offers findings and conclusions relevant to current discourses in the fields of literacy studies and rhetoric and composition. These include discussions on the ways technology is reshaping and individualizing traditional models of literacy learning and composing, as well as the growing research on the specific actions taken by literacy brokers when mediating mainstream literacy practices to novices. This study borrows theoretical and methodological concepts provided by the New Literacy Studies in order to understand the ways in which two homeschool families with high school students learn and practice various literacies. Data collection methods included interviews, observations, and participant-produced literacy logs. I took an ecological approach to data analysis that required identifying the specific literacy practices and events of the participants and attempting to situate them within the context of the homeschooling movement and culture at large. A primary finding of the study is that homeschool mothers* role in their students* literacy practices often resembles the work of what scholars term literacy brokers. These mothers actively mediate a wide variety of mainstream or institutional practices and values to their children. While current discussions of literacy brokers detail their actions of advocacy,guidance, and assistance, this study contributes to our understanding of literacy brokers by highlighting homeschool mothers* actions of delegation and customization within the mediation process.

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