Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Developing Reading and Writing

Emergent Literacy: Synthesis of the Research

Although most preschool-age children cannot read and write in the conventional sense, their attempts at reading and writing show steady development during this stage (Hiebert, 1988). Typically, reading research in this developmental period has focused on discrete skills that are prerequisite to reading, such as letter-sound correspondences and letter naming. By highlighting the processes and pr...

A Historical Writing Apprenticeship for Adolescents: Integrating Disciplinary Learning With Cognitive Strategies

This study explored the extent to which an 18-day history and writing curriculum intervention, taught over the course of one year, helped culturally and academically diverse adolescents achieve important disciplinary literacy learning in history. Teachers used a cognitive apprenticeship form of instruction for the integration of historical reading and writing strategies and content learning wit...

Fostering literacy learning in supportive contexts.

Young children with learning disabilities typically encounter difficulty with academic tasks requiring intentional effort and effective use of metacognitive skills--qualities that competent readers and writers possess. In response to these difficulties, special educators often modify literacy instruction, isolating the "basic skills" of literacy (such as decoding and penmanship) from meaningful...

Comparing Competitive and Cooperative Content-Based Instruction in Reading and Writing Classes

Assistive Technology and Adult Literacy: Access and Benefits

This chapter focuses on the role that assistive technology (AT) can play in improving the literacy acquisition and motivation of struggling adult students who have mild reading disabilities. Mild reading disabilities may be the result of learning, attention, memory, cognitive, or sensory impairments, and these categories often overlap. For example, Schulte, Conners, and Osborne (1999) found tha...