We describe a readability assessment approach to support the process of text simplification for poor literacy readers. Given an input text, the goal is to predict its readability level, which corresponds to the literacy level that is expected from the target reader: rudimentary, basic or advanced. We complement features traditionally used for readability assessment with a number of new features...

This study determined the relative efficacy of an experimental explicit emergent literacy intervention program for preschoolers experiencing multiple risk factors. Using an alternating treatment research design, children completed two 6-week waves of intervention in small groups; one wave featured the experimental explicit intervention program, whereas the other featured a comparison program. E...

Primary argument Cardiovascular disease is a major health concern in Australia. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented and managed by reducing the cardiovascular risk factors. However healthcare professions, including nurses, may overestimate the health literacy skills of adults, and result in ineffective communication and misunderstanding. Adults with inadequate health literacy skills a...

Objectives: Health Literacy skills are important for people of all ages. Older adults have the lowest health literacy rates. The purpose of this study was to assess health literacy rates and validate the use of a screening tool with older adults. Methods: Participants included a convenience sample, age 65 years or older, English speaking with corrected vision of 20/100 or better and typical cog...

in this paper, i attempt to bring together approaches to literacy in theory and in practice, drawing upon various activities i have been involved in over the years–research in iranian villages during the 1970s; linking research and theory to literacy policy, with particular reference to a contribution to the unesco global monitoring report in 2004 and involvement in an ongoing adult literacy tr...

Over the past decade, the field of literacy education has seen a major shift in fluency’s role in the literacy curriculum, moving from a rarely encountered instructional component to one that is often responsible for driving major instructional decisions (e.g., Riedel, 2007; Schilling, Carlisle, Scott, & Zeng, 2007). This shift is due, in part, to the identification of fluency as one of the are...

In recent years, the Education for All movement has focused more intensely on the quality of education, rather than simply provision. Many recent and current education quality interventions focus on literacy, which is the core skill required for further academic success. Despite this focus on the quality of literacy instruction in developing countries, little rigorous research has been conducte...

Google is both a bane and a boon. One of its greatest merits is that it empowers users, even with little IT and/or information retrieval skills, to find information easily on the Web. However, at the same time there is the danger that many users start believing that they are highly information literate. In order to avoid such wrong self-evaluations, multiple choice questionnaires could be a pro...

BACKGROUND Physical literacy is described as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and engage in a physically active lifestyle. As such, it is expected that those who have greater physical literacy would be more likely to obtain the health benefits offered by habitual physical activity. A theoretical model and assessment battery, the Canadian Asse...