Literacy in Correctional and Minter Education, and Comparisons of Canadian and U.S

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AUTHOR Calamai, Peter TITLE Broken Words. Why Five Million Canadians Are Illiterate. The Southam Literacy Report: A Special Southam Survey. INSTITUTION Southam Newspaper Group, Toronto (Ontario). REPORT NO ISBN-0-9693221-0-0 PUB DATE 87 NOTE 82p. PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143) Collected Works General (020) -- Reports - Descriptive (141)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; *Adult Literacy; *Adult Programs; Educational Needs; Foreign Conntries; *Functional Literacy; *Illiteracy; Immigrants; Learning Activities; *Literacy Education; Newspapers; Outcomes of Education; Program Effectiveness; Research; Research Methodology; Research Utilization; Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS *Canada

ABSTRACT This booklet contains 29 articles about literacy that originally appeared in newspapers across Canada during September 1987. Many are based on the extensive findings of a national literacy survey of 2,398 Canadian adults commissioned by Southam Inc. The survey provided the first real statistics about the state of literacy in the country; interviews with more than 100 literacy workers and learners also put a human face on a problem that affects one in four adults. Among the topics discussed are the effect of immigration and bilingualism on the literacy rate, importance of literacy skills in the workplace, use of plain language in government documents, literacy in correctional and minter education, and comparisons of Canadian and U.S. literacy. Ideas on how people can help combat the problem of illiteracy and tips for tutoring are included in the articles. (KC)

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' / I P.t U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Office of Educational Ruoarch and imprownent MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY IUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI This document has been reproduced as Pr recewed from the person or organayhon onginating It 0 Minor changes have been made to Improve Sda ilees reproduction ;lushly Points of view or opmionsstatlid in this docu-I ment do not necessarily represent%cu! TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTCR (ERIC) n -I iii:riTrangriiii ;MS.'aal Broken Words Why Five Million Canadiansare Illiterate

The Southam Literacy Report

Southam Graphics Rob Ludlow

3 A Special Southam Survey Foreword

This booklet contains articles about literacy that originally appeared in newspapers across Canada during September, 1987. Many are based on the extensive findings of a national literacy survey of 2,398 Canadian adults commissioned by Southam Inc. While the survey provided the first real statistics about the state of literacy in the country, interviews with more than 100 literacy workers and learners also put a human face on a problem that affects one in four adults. Illiteracy has often been called the hidden problem. In Canada, it's not so much hidden as ignored. As these articles make clear, both the provinces and the federal government have received repeated warnings about widespread problems with reading and writing. But Canadians don't have to wait for government to act. Individuals can make a difference. Some ways you can help are described in this booklet. What the reader won't find here, however, is a simple answer: that low literacy can be blamed on a lack of phonics in the primary grades, or on immigration, or on some ill -defined "learning disabilities". If the solutions to illiteracy were that simple, Canada wouldn't have five million adults who need help.

Peter Calamai

ISBN 0-9691221-0-0

CIP 37401 -4 'I Table of Contents

Foreword 4 Acknowledgements 6 Five Million Canadians Functionally Illiterate 7 l-low the Southam Literacy Survey Was Done 11 Jury still out on what determines functional illiteracy 13 Profile of a typical illiterate 15

Newfoundland. highest illiteracy rate, least able tocope 20 Immigration boosts Canada's illiteracy rate 22 Bilingual Canadians more likely to be literate 24 Literacy programs need tremendous commitment and energy 26 Universities graduate functional illiterates 28 Women more literate than men 29 National cost of ilhteracy incalculable 31 Sweat by day, teach by night: heritage of F.ontier College 34 Better literacy skills crucial to Canadian workforce 37 Getting nowhere fast one worker's expenence 40 LITERACY vs literacy; conflict in approach 42 Federal record on literacy: opportunities wasted, warnings ignored 44

Government pubhcations often so dense they're unintelligible 46

Plain language crusade can save governmentmoney 50 Prison inmates insist "carrot-and-stick" programs don't work 53

Competency in military skills is no guarantee of literacy 56 Canadian youth score lower in literacy survey than Americancounterparts se What's N Y stand for 60

Dreams in teduucolor glitterati support literacy 63 In the U S., high profile advocates, no funding 65 The failures of formal education 67 In tneir own words writings from students in adult language classes 69

Boredom a reason for high dropout rate 71 What works to combat illiteracy 72 Tipsheet on tutoring 78 Peter C_Alamai 82

Typesetting and design by Southam Communications Limited Lithographed in Canada Mclaren, Moms and5 Todd Limited, a 13nision of Southam Printing Limited Acknowledgements These reports were written by Peter Calamai, national correspondent for Southam News in Ottawa, and edited by Norm Ovenden of Southam News. Additional research and writing was provided by Rose Tamburri and Rob Ludlow, who also did the graphics. The literacy project was supervised by Doug Fischer, managing editor of Southam News. Many of these articles are based on the results of the Southam Literacy Survey which was commissioned by Southam News and conducted by The Creative Research Group Ltd., of Toronto. Dr. Paul Nesbitt and Georgia Henderson supervised the project on a day-to-day basis at Creative. The survey benefited greatly from the contributions of other individuals outside these two organizations: Archie E. Lapointe, Irwin Kirsch, Kathy Sheehan, Robert Mislevy, and Anne Campbell, National Assessment of Educational Progress in Princeton, N. J.; Alastair Lynn, Consumer Contact Ltd., who executed, on behalf of The Creative Research Group, the field work, data entry and computer tabulations;Jean-Paul Hautecoeur, Montreal, the French-language literacy consultant for the study; and the following literacy consultants; Luke Batdorf, Laubadi Literacy of Canada; Richard Darville, Movement for Canadian Literacy; John G. Doherty, Owen Sound Sun-Times, Prof. Mark Holmes, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; Prof. Stan Jones, Carleton University; Ian Morrison, Canadian Association for Adult Education; John Daniel O'Leary, Frontier College; Kevin Peterson, The Calgary Herald; Kjell Rubenson, University of British Columbia; and Arthur Smith, Ottawa. Also to be thanked is Russell Mills, publisher of The Ottawa Citizen, which printed the special newspapers used in the study, with the co-operation of Le Droit, Ottawa's French-language daily. Members of the advisory parel that helped establish a national guideline for functional literacy are listed separately in an article in this booklet.

Need more information?

More information about literacy and about helping people with reading and writing problems can be obtained from the following national bodies:

Frontier College, 35 Jackes Avenue, Toronto, Ont., M4T 1E2 (416) 923-3591 Laubach Literacy of Cancan, Box 6548, Station A, Saint John, NB., E2L 4R9 (506) 642-4357 Movement for Canadian Literacy, Suite 304, 9 St. Joseph Sr., To-tn.Ont., M4Y IJ4 (416) 393-1995 National Literacy Secretariat, Department of the Secretary of State, Hug Que., K IA 0M5 (819) 953-5280

Other sources of information include community colleges, the continuing education division at local school boards, community literacy groups and the Newspapers- in-Education co-ordinator at your local newspaper.

Additional copies of this $2 booklet can he obtained by writing to Literacy, Southam Newspaper Group, Suite 900, ISO floor Street West, Toronto, Ont., MSS 2Y8.6 Five million Canadiansfunctionally illiterate

Five million Canadians cannot react; writeor handle numbers well enough to meet the literacy demands of today's society and one-third are high school graduates.

Five million adult Canadiansare marchinglike reading government noticesor product against their will in an army of illiterates. labels in supermarkets. But they are an army in numbers only. They The survey's definition of functional literacy have no leaders, no power, little support, fewwas the ability to use printed and written weapons and no idea where they are headed. infermation to function in society. Experts Darkness and hopelessness are usually their agree this approach is more relevant today than banners. the traditional definition of just being ableto "No one who can read knowsour anger,"sign a name or read a simple sentence. says one illiterate. That definition produced thesesurvey fmd- "You're left in the dark. You iust try tocarry ings: on the best you can. We're living in a different Illiteracy increases from west to east, rising world." An exclusive nationwidesurvey in from a low of 17 per cent among adults in 1987 disclosed that five million Canadians British Columbia to an astonishing high of 44 cannot read, write or use numbers well enough per cent in Newfoundland; to meet the literacy demands of today's society Illiteracy is higher among fraacophones than and one-third are high school graduates. anglophones 29 per cent to 23 per cent Half of these functional illiterates have been but the gap is biggest among the oldest and left out of past officia estimates of illiteracy vanishes among the young; because they reached Grade 9 or better,inc Nearly half of the 4.5 million functional federal government's arbitrary definition of illiterates identified in the survey are 55or being literate. older, even though this group onlyaccounts The $295,000 Southam Literacy Survey, for 29 per cent of the total population; financed by Southam Inc., tested 2,398 adults in Half of the illiterates say they wentto high their homes in May and June with a battery of school and one third say they graduated. One more than 40 literacy-related questions. in 12 who claimed to be university graduates still tested as functionally illiterate; It actually identified 4.5 million Canadian residents who fail to reach a minimum level of Poverty and education play major roles in functional literacy suggested by a national panel deciding whether illiteracy is transmitted representing a cross- section of Canadians. from one generation to the next. The children of the jobless, the working class and the But Southam's researchers estimate they did poorly educated are much more liableto be not reach at least 500,000 more illiterate adults illiterate; among unsurveyed groups of prisoners, tran- Illiteracy is higher among men than sients, women, thementallyretarded,natives on 53.5 to 46.5 per cent. reserves, people living north of the 60th parallel and all immigrants unable to speak either of In eight centres across Canada, additional Canada's official languages. people were interviewed to providemore Even without this extra half million, 24perdetailed results: Vancouver scored best with 14 cent of Canadian residents 18 and older areper cent functional illiteracy and Edmonton the illiterate in English or French. Excluding allworst with 33 per cent. But Vancouver had immigrants, illiteracy still affects 22per cent oftwice as many university graduatesas the Canadian-born adults more than one in five.national average while relatively few Edmon- The picture is not totally black. Manytonians went beyond high school. illiterates say they ar- content with their limited Residents of Saint John, N.B., weremore reading and writing skills, even though halflikeiy than the national average tosay they must get help from family or friends for tasks7needed help with common reading and writing tasks; 30 per cvnt were classified as functionally immigration policies. Yet deaths, emigration illiterate. and literacy training only reduce the ranks by an For Canada's two largest cities, the rates wereestimated 70,000 annually. 23 per cent in Montreal and 27 per cent in "It's not as life-threatening as AIDS, nor as Toronto where four in 10 of those surveyed terrible as mass murder, nor as current as acid were immigrants. rain," says McGill University eduction pro- Elsewhere in Ontario, functional illiteracyfessor Jon Bradley of illiteracy in general. "But ranged from 21 per cent in London and 23 per in the long run it could be a far more damaging

Iltbarter of Ittgbtx anb freebonts (Section 15) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

Question 1: Which of these two statements best summarizes what this section is trying to say?

A. Everyone is equal in Canada.

B. The law in Canada cannot favor one person over another.

Only 39 per cent correctly picked B.

Question 2: Mark any words in the section which spell out the kinds of inequal legal treatment that are not allowed in Canada.

The correct answer would b, to underline any or all of the words from "without discrimination" on to the end of the paragraph. Fifty-four per cent answered correctly. Source The Crum Ressarch Rob Ludbm

cent in Ottawato 32 per cent for the rural areathreat to Canadian society." The dangers are around Owen Sound, where 43 per cent did aotstark: 10 per cent of Canadian adults can't get to high school. understand the dosage directions on -... medicine For illiterates in these centres and across thebottle; 20 per cent can't correctly select a fact country, theirs is a way of life that is growing, from a simple newspaper article;40 per cent not shrinking as officials had forecast. can't figure out the tip on a lunch bill; more than The survey and other Southam research50 per cent have serious troubles using bus strongly suggest 1( ),000 illiterates a year areschedules; and nearly 60 per cent misinterpret being added to the Canadian population by athe key section of the Charter of Rights and flawed education system and humanitarian Freedoms.

8 Illiteracy increases from west toeast 44%

28% 24% 24% 25% 21% 1a%

CANADA B.C. AlbertaSask./Man. Ontario Quebec Maritimes*Nfld. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island

Some: The Greeters Research Group Southern Graphics Rob Ludlow

Yet less than two per cent of the 4.5 million These two sets of statistics arise from the functional illiterates are now enrolled in the official definition of functional illiteracy used to nation's inadequate literacy programs, somecompile federal statistics less than eight forced to turn away students because of chronic completed years of schooling. That definition government underfunding. Governments inproduces about 3.75 million "official" adult Canada give a much lower priority to adultfunctional illiterates. education than those in Europe. But for 1.7 million, it's a bum rap; they're The Southam survey also discovered only "falseilliterates" who passtheSoutham one in 10 of all illiterates would ever considerLiteracy Test even though they never got as far taking remedial classes bad news for theas Grade 9. national literacy coalition which wants federal "They're the untutored wise men and women and provincial governments to provide free of our society," says psychologist Paul Nesbitt. adult basic education. "Many were barred from going on with formal Such classes don't guarantee literacy; drop-education but they've picked up what they can out rates of 50 per cent have been recorded. And in a lifetime of learning." Also unmasked by the success can be long and costlyseveral years of literacy survey were 2,400,000 "false literates" studying for the majority of illiterates who can roughly one in eight adults people who only go to classes a few hours a w -k. went as far as Grade 9 but still tested as But there are 1.7 million Canadian adults functionally illiterate. who don't need to go to such literacy classes, "They're the cream of the illiterates," says even though the federal government has been Nesbitt of The Creative Research Group of insisting that they should. And there's anotherToronto which supervised the literacy survey. 2.4 million who should go, even though they're "But a lot of them just squeaked by the Grade 9 officially counted as literate. cutoff used by the government." Using that

9 arbitrary Grade 9 cutoff to label people meantthese statistics that federal and provincial literacy policies have It turns out this literacy gap shifts with been missing their targets by 4.1 million peopledifferent age groups.It'sbiggest betwvm the total of the 1.7 million false illiterates andpeople now 55 or older, by almost a two-to-one the 2.4 million false literates. margin favoring offspring who had working Another seeming contradiction turned up bymoms. And it disappears for the youngest the literacy survey concerns working mothers.adults, aged 18 to 34. Interviewers found an illiteracy rate of 27 per An even closer look reveals the working cent among the 1,541 adult Canadians in themothers of literate offspring more often had survey whose mothers stayed at home whilejobs as executives, professionals or sales and their children were in primary school, consid-clerical staff. ered crucial years for literacy. "Women who worked in the '40s and '50s Among the 758 whose mothers worked, thetended to come from upper-class families so the illiteracy rate is much lower 16 per cent. homes had strong literacy influences," specu- The explanation requires further delving intolates Nesbitt.

10 1 How the Southam Literacy Surveywas done

The literacy survey by Southam News is Literacy in reading newspaper articles was based on face-to-face interviews with 2,398measured using two specially printed newspa- adults in 148 Canadian communities and ruralpers, in English and French. The papers were areas. Respondents were selected at 418 sam-printed by the Ottawa Citizen, with co- pling points. operation from Le Droit, Ottawa's French- Three samples were drawn for the survey. alanguage daily. random cross-section of the entire popul: fion, An outside literacy consultant, Jean-Paul extra samples for some cities and regions, and aHautecoeur, advised on the French-language special oversa:nple of 21- to 25-year-olds. adaptation. Ten other experts in literacy, adult Excluded from the survey are those under 18,education and journalism provided extensive residents north of the 60th parallel, transients,advice on the design of the background members of the armed forces, natives living onquestionnaire. reserves and anyone in an institution, such as a The stand.- Js nor literacy and illiteracy were prison, hospital or nursing home. determined by a 25-member panel. Interviews were conducted in English or Although the total sample is 2,398, the French in the respondents' homes between Maynational picture is based on a weighted sample 6 and June 10, 1987. The results have beenof 1,503. In 19 cases out of 20, results based on a weighted to ensurethat each segment istheoretical random sample of this size will represented in proportion to its share of thediffer by no more than 2.5 percentage points in population. either direction from the results obtained by In particular, the results were weighted tointerviewing all adult Canadians. reflect the most recent Statistics Canada data on how far Canadians went in school. Following gene flindustrypractice,all respondents were given two $1 lottery tickets to be interviewed. Literacy was defined as reading and writing skillsineitherof Canada's two official languages. Extra steps were taken to learn as much as possible about potential respondents who spoke neither English nor French. An average interview took 80 minutes and involved two parts: a background and activity 404/ questionnaire followed by a test of reading, (0541 ',11:1`140100:.. writing and numbers skills using five dozen items based on everyday life. ";01.,:;= These items were adapted from a 1985 U.S. survey for the National Assessment of Educa- tional Progress by substituting Canadian spell- ings, materials and topical references. Respondents could take as long as they liked to tackle the literacy items. The tasks were divided into two smaller and overlapping sets, each of 40 items answered by half the respondents. People were handed copies of the items to beTwo specially printed newspapers were read, which they could hold on to whileused to measure literacy in reading answering. They didn't have to rely onnewspaper articles memory. The Independent and L'Independent. - 11 1i The theoretical margin of error is larger for The full techntc....21 report of the survey may be smaller groups, such as those in only one region, purchased at $50 per copy.Write: Southam in a specific age group or with a certain level of Literacy Survey, Anne Labelle, Southam News, schooling. Results for Ontario only, for exam- Suite 51Z 151 Sparks St., Ottawa, Ont., K1P ple, could theoretically differ by four percent- 5E3. Researchers or educational bodies interested age points while those for immigrants have a in computer data tapes can contact Labelle at the range of 6.5 percentage points either way. same address.

4,0 Jury still outon what determines functional illiteracy

A 25-member panel of representativeCanadians decided which reading tasks ordinary adults should be ableto answer correctly just to get by in today's society.

functional illiterate? You probablyCreative1.f: 'Arch Group which supervised the art survey. Read and understand the right dosage from "If you pet three or more of those key10 an ordinary bottle of cough syrup (10 per centitems wron then you're functionally illiterate; of adult Canadians can't); if you get only two wrongthatI only eight From six road signs, pick out whichonerightthen you're marginal, but still literate," warns of a traffic light ahead (13 per centsays Nesbitt. can't); Creative Research also assigned another Figure out the change from $3 if you orderedcut-off point for anyone who got eightor more a soup and sandwich (33 per cent can't); wrong out of the 10. They're called basic Sign your name in the correct ..Toton a socialilliterates. insurance card (11 per cent can't), Circle the expiry date on a driver's licence In the technical report by Creative Research, I-;x per cent can't); basic and functional illiterates are combinedas Answer four questions about a meeting"illiterates" and marginal and full literatesare arrangement, including the date, time andtogether called "literates". people involved (between 15 and 17per cent In fact, the literacy jurors wanteda much can't); higher level of minimal functional literacy,on Circle the long distance chargeson aaverage demanding 64 per cent correct out of telephone bill (29 per cent can't). the 38 items. This standard would havemeant that 37 per cent of Canadian adultswere These are the 10 items thata Southamfunctionally illiterate. literacy "jury" agreed every Canadian should Asked about a "desirable" level of literacy, be able to answer correctly just to get by inthe jurors said Canadians should correctly today's society. answer all but a few of the 38 items. The jury drawn from across the country Using the jury was a Canadian innovation in and from all walks of life overwhelminglythe "real-life" measurement of literacy,an chose these 10 as the most fundamentalto dailyapproach pioneered in the United States in 1973 life of the 38 items onone version of theand since copied in Australia and Britain. Southam literacy test. In addition to the two "We measure how well people read, write dozen individuals named at the end of thisand handle numbers using examples from daily article, literacy students in Saint John, N.B., life, rather than slabs of schoolbook text,"says also passed collective judgment andwereNesbitt. counted as one vote. Measuring literacy has always been T Arenty of the 25 jurors agreed these contro- itt. .sversial because no one agrees on the definition. described a minimal level of functionalliteracyGovernments didn't start trying to that they found acceptable. The jurors come up gavewith a uniform definition until after th- Second their opinions independently after looking atWorld War, at least 5,000 years after reading both the literacy questions and whatanswers and writing first appeared. counted as correct. In 1948, a United Nations commission "Although we could have insisted that peopleproposed "the ability to read and writea simple get all 10 correct to be considered literate by themessage" as a working definition of literacy. jury'sstandards, we decided to bemoreThe UN and scores of experts have been trying lenient," explains Dr. Paul Nesbitt of Theto agree on a definition ever since, without

13 3 success. Coderences of the erudite Internation-adults did correctly on the Southam survey al Reading Association degenerate into brawls(nearly 96 per cent it immigrants are excluded). when academics chrmpion their favored defini-"It's very, very rare to find people who can't tion. read anything provided that they can see and About all they agree on isliteracy isn'tcan talk," says Frank Smith, a reading specialist black-and-white, off-and-on, either-or. of international stature who lives in Victoria, Most experts reject the grade level approachB.C. to literacy used by Statistics Canada and Yet the past century has brought compulsory UNESCO. According totheirdefinition,universal education, higher expectations and a anyone who completes eight years of schoolinghodge-podge of specialized"literacies" is automatically literate while anyone with lesscomputer literacy, cultural literacy, humane is automatically illiterate. literacy, geographical literacy, civic literacy, "It's just an administrative indicator," sayssurvival literacy, employment literacy, elective Michael Collins, an adult education professor at literacy, citizenshipliteracy,alliteracy and

What Canadians couldn't dp: Incortfect

Circle expiry date on drivers licence Read ;cough syrup instructions *0.'0 ' oitiauraneecard gtok oct traffic sign,, OW 6. 100, onlelep4one bit ongn,tfkYettO*Pe000; on itt

the University of Saskatchewan. finally, numeracy beingliterateabout "Go into a school and look. Grade 9 is nonumbers. guarantee on its own that people can read and "If you were really devious enough, you write." Research also reveals that reading skillscould come up with _ Jefinition that ensured evaporate if unused for lengthy periods; athat illiteracy doesn't exist," says an official of Grade 9 education in the 1960s could havethe council of ministers of education, the shrunk to a much lower reading level by today.national body at which provincial ministers Other studies have also found as much as acompare notes. year's difference between the reading levels of Several Third World countries have, in fact, Grade 9 students in different schools. proclaimed the eradication of illiteracy after Literacy used to be more clear-cut in Canada.mass campaigns. Within a few years, however, In 1861, the census of Upper and Lowerthey were asking foreign aid donors for money Canada asked residents to mark a space iffor more literacy training. 7.z-yure in the household was unable to read or "In four months time, everybody got a write. By that definition, scholars now estimatecertificate because they could write their name 10 per cent of Hamilton's population wasand all of a sudden that's literacy," says James illiterate, many of them Irish Catholic immi-Draper, a professor of adult education in grants. Toronto at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Today's equivalent might be circling the dateEducation. on a driver's licence, which only 94 per cent of In Canada and other industrialized countries,

14 14 however, the debate has focus& on "functional "They reflectmiddle-classvaluesand literacy," meaning the ability to effectivelyassumptions," wrote Cindy Onstad of Vancou- engage (or function) in the activities of thever Community College. community. Onstad agreed the task of calculating the But who decidesif the functioningisticket and transportation costs to an eventwas effective? One faction says the individtal. If"a good choice." But "that becomes ridiculous people aren't bothered by their own low skills,when the event is the play On the Town and the then they're not functionally illiterateeven if,place is Stratford." No objections to thesurvey like a Grade 12 graduatenow in a Windsorquestions were received from the jurors who literacy program, they must write down 2 + 2worked in smelters, steelmills, on farms oras in order to add to 4, instead of doing it in their literacy co-ordinators. Literacy studentsat the heads. Saint John Learning Exchange, however, said But the majority view defines functionalthey would feel more comfortable calculating literacy as having the reading, writing andcosts for a ball game than a play. numbers skills necessary to perform tasks In its landmark 1985 study of Americans demanded by the community and, especially, byaged 21 to 25, the National Assessment of the job. Education Progress went one step further, Some expertsfearan overemphasis ontalking only about levels of literacy rather than functionaltaskscould shove fundamentaluse the term illiterate. reading and writing into the background. Literacy, said NAEP, is "using printed and One experienced literacy instructor in Britishwritten information to function in society, to Columbia complained that the tasks in theachieve one's goals and to develop one's Southam survey were based on experienceknowledge and potential." As expected, others rather than competency. disagreed and the debate rages on.

Southam's literacy jury included Margaret Atwood, author, Toronto, Jun Bennett, vice-president, legislative affairs, Canadian Federation of IndependentBusinoss, Harold Cardinal, native rights advocate, Enilda, Alta, Louise Coulombe-Joly, president, Quebec women's education group, AFEAS, Thomas D'Aquino, president, Business Council on National Issues, Rita Deverell, journalism professor, actress, Regina, Ken Dryden, lawyer, former Ontario youth commissioner, Toronto, Linda Forsythe, literacy co-ordinator, Vancouver, Doug Gibson, book publisher, Tornto, WilliamD Gilmour, forester, Port Alberni, B C, Jean-Paul Hautecoeur, literacy consultant, Montreal, Lorne Maclntyre, steelworker, Sydney, N S, Charlie Mayrs, advertising executive, Vancouver, Louise Miller, executive director, coalition of Quebec literacy groups, Farley Mowat, author, Port Hope, Ont, Sheila O'Brien, oil industry executive, Calgary, Raleigh Orr, disabled rights advocate, Truro, N S, Ray Pegley, smelter worker, Kitimat, BC Mari Stefan, grain farmer, Limerick, Sask, Sarni Tawfik, placement consultant, Ottawa, Janet Turnbull, founder, Business Task Force on Literacy, Marion Wells, literacy co-ordinator, Saint John. N B Bob White, president, Canadian Auto Workers, Stan Wilson, cattleman, Nanton, Alta, Adult literacy students, Saint Jonn Learning Exchange, N B

15 1 Profile of a typical illiterate

He's older, poorer and less educated' but doesn't blame poor reading or writing skills for holding him back.

You saw me today. hat down beside you on the they went to high school and one-third bus and borrowed the sports section. Or maybe it claimed to have finished Grade 12; was at the corner store, when I picked up some Eighty-six per cent of illiterates in the labor milk on the way home from work. force had a full-time or par t-time job over the I'm older than the rest of the guys around here, past 12 months; nearly 54 and didn't finish high school because Two-thirds of illiterates live in Ontario and my folks. were hard up for ?,Toney. We had a big Quebec, although the chances of being an family and Mom stayed home while Dad worked illiterate are highest in Newfoundland; in construction. Only one in five illiterates blamed poor Maybe someone read to me as a child but I reading or writing skills for holding them don't remember it now. There weren't many books back; in the house, anyhow, no typewriter or encyclo- As expected, illiterates are older 30 per pedia neither. cent over 65 years old comp 'red to 16 per But Dad had the local papPr delivered every cent of the general population. But otherwise day, just like I do now. Iflip through the news and they're just as likely as literate Canadians to spend a lotta time on the horoscope and the sports. be married or have children. And, despite Can't stmach the funnies anymore, though. To feminist arguments, single parents don't figure out the comics today, you gotta care a lot jump out as more at risk. more than I do about what's happening in government. Overall, illiterates emerge as operating in the Let's check the listings and see what's on themainstream society but not really part of it. tube tonight. Independently of the Southam survey, liter- No...I don't watch THAT much. Two hours . acy expert and author Richard Darville has .. a11 p r o b a b l y c l o s e r t o three ... everynight. concluded many illiterates lead "satisfying and It's a lot more enjoyable than reading. effective lives." "The stereotype of the illiterate down-and-outers just doesn't hold," Darville That's a typical adult illiterate talking. Not adeclares in Vancouver. "They are good work- real individual, but a composite picture fromers, loving parents, helpful friends and neigh- 300 hours of personal interviews with morebors." But most literacy advocates, relying on than 500 functional illiterates in the Southamofficial education statistics and literacy stu- Literacy Survey. dents, paint a far gloomier picture of the typical And it's not the usual portrait painted byilliterate as female, 1....iemployed, shut off from community literacy groups and public agencies.society and lurching from crisis to crisis. They draw their image either from literacy "We almost have to prostitute ourselves in students amounting to fewer than two perorder to get funding. We have to talk about cent of all illiteratesor from census statisticsthese 'poor people who can't get along at all.' about people with less than Grade 9 schooling,But they're not skilless because they lack that the government's official definition of illiterate.one skill," literacy consultant Carman St. John Instead, the Southam survey identified a trueHunter admonished a Toronto literacy confer- cross-section of real Canadians who can't readence. and write well enough to do many everyday However, the lives of functional illiterates in tasks. And there were surprises: Canada do differ from those of more literate More men than women were identified asCanadians. functional illiterates 53.5 per cent to 46.5 They are poorer. The personal income of per cent; literates is 44 per cent more than that reported More than half the 4.5 million illiterates saidby illiterates.

16 The real gap isprobably larger. Onlyquarters of literates did. two-thirds of illiterates answered the income "They're trapped in a backwater of the questions, suggesting defensiveness about lowemployment jungle,"says psychologist Dr. earnings. Paul Nesbitt. Because 30 per cent of all illiteratesare "They don't see themselves as held back retired, the income gap is greatest for thoseoverbecause often they don't appear to see the better 55, with literates reporting almost twiceasjobs they might aspire to." much personal income. For the 18 to 34 age group, the gap narrows to 13 per cent. They read, but enjoy TV more. For the nation's 4.5 million functional illiterates, read- Not surprisingly, this lower income leveling is a very hit-and-miss affair. influences many aspects of an illiterate's life and helps explain: By their own admission, 54 per cent enjoy Lower attendance at movies, plays, concertsTV more than reading compared to 40per cent and sporting events with 56 per cent offor literates. And they watch 19 hoursa week, illiterates saying they ever go compared to 85three-and-a-half hours more than the average per cent of literates; literate, with the biggest differenceamong the The dramatic difference in the percentagesmiddle-aged. writing cheques at least once a month, 83 per Yet more than half52 per centclaim to cent of literates versus 44 per cent ofread a newspaper every day; 17 per centsay they illiterates: never read a paper. However, the survey Low participation in clubs or organizationsrevealed these illiterate readers havea hard time with marly half of all illiterates saying theyunderstanding information in the paper. don't belong to any, contrasted to justover a While illiterates are only slightly less likely third of literates who are non-joiners. than literates to read a newspaper at least oncea week 87 per cent versus 95 per centthey're They're trapped in dead-end jobs. Fewermuch less likely to have read, or even looked at, than half of illiterates who've ever worked saida book over the past six months 53 per cent reading and writing were either extremely orversus 86 per cent. very important for their jobs while three- And their book reading is different, with

Remember being read to as a child

25 or more books psit lewspaper

. Dictionary

Remember being read to as a child

!sot more books

Daily newspaper

Dictionary Source: The Creative Research Group Southam Graphics: Rob Ludlow

17 1 7 more illiterates mentioning the Bible andelsewhere and only 10 per cent said they might religious tracts than literates. Literates are ever take remedial instruction to improve their ahead in every other category but cookbooks skills. which they read equally. But half later indicated they need help from They need help but won't take classes. Thefamily orfriendsinreading government stigma of illiteracy comes out clearly in twonotices, filling out a bank deposit slip, writing contradictory sets of answers. letters, reading instructions on a medicine Only one in five illiterates admits reading andbottle, finding a telephone number or reading writing are holding them back in their job orproduct names in the store.

Source: The Creative Research Group Sou Inam Graphics: Rob Ludlow

18 i Incident observed whilepicking up the mail

The elements have had theirway with this man as with any other natural object. The rain has left its markon him as on the stone. He looks down into the face ofa boy about eight years old, a face so open to the world it remindsme of a cat whose claws have been dipped itis that vulnerable. They wear bib overalls and rubber bootsstanding at a counter in this small-townpost office and out of the corner of my eye I watch the boy sign the man's name toan unemployment insurance cheque. He writes very slowly and withgreat care. I am tempted to follow them across the street and into the bank so that I cansee them smile at one another, lovingly, as the cashier examines thesignature and finds it good. Father and son it would be impossible to decide which ofthem is prouder.

From I'm a stranger here myself by thelate Alden Nowlan.

19 -- Newfoundland: highest illiteracy rate, least able to cope

"No," says Dr. Keith Winter, "I haven't ever Wally knows the value of education. On actually met an illiterate. Not that I knew of,every job application, he lists his Grade 11 anyhow." A frank admission, but puzzling,certificate. since Winter has had plenty of opportunity. "I can't lie," he tells a visitor to an adult First, he's the top official in the Newfound-learning centre only 15 minutes drive from Dr. land government's department that looks afterWinter's office in the Department of Career adult literacy programs. Development and Advanced Studies. Second, the province has Canada's highest With his bright, blue eyes and an almost functional illiteracy rate, 44 per cent of allalbino complexion, Wally, 30, reads at about the adults compared to 24 per cent nationally,level of a Grade 5 pupil. according to the Southam survey. One in five "I can read; I'm not stund," he says, using the Newfoundlanders is a basic illiterate, barelyNewfoundland contraction for stunned, mean- able to read and write. ing stupid. On the island's west coast, the Bay St. "I was trying to read at the wrong level. I George's Community College estimates 80 tocame here and they gave me some of the books 90 per cent in some villages are unable toat my level and I went :ight through them in an adequately read and write. evening." Wally is lucky. His wife found the Although it has the nation's worst literacyonly adult basic education course in St. John's problem, Newfoundland spends the least and he can afford both the fee and the time to $340,000 in provincial funds or only $2 perattend four nights a week. Even though the illiterate a year. course isn't widely advertised, the 40 spots fill In the late 1970s, Newfoundland was anquickly each term. innovator in literacy teaching, staging imagina- "We have to make it easier for people to come tive conferences at which government depart-to literacy classes," says instructor Susan ments went on trial over unreadable publica-Hoddinott. "Make it available without charge tions and delegates had to find their wayand that would get all the people who are through a maze with signs in Chinese andmotivated." Motivation wasn't lacking for the Hindi. delivery van driver who turned up at a literacy Literacy classes then cost only $6 a term andprogram: he couldn't read street signs. nearly 300 were enrolled. By this year, fees were He managed to deliver parcels by deliberate- $35 and there were still only 300 spots. ly going past where he thought the street was, Says deputy minister Winter: "The amountasking directions and then going past in the we can put into literacy is considerably less thanreverse direction, thus gradually zeroing in on we would like. Put of the salvation for ourthe target. problem hasto stem from getting more "I sure uses up a lot of gas when I'm youngsters to stay longer in school." Thatdelivering," the driver chortles. salvation may be an illusion. A royal commis- But there's little government help in the sion reported in 1986 that Newfoundland youth offing for many like him. The province has are on the way to becoming a "lost generation"rejected a proposal by its own literacy experts to because one in three can't find work even afterdouble funds for literacy programs and launch a graduating from high school or university. publicity drive. The literacy survey discovered Newfound- Instead, it will continue pouring money into landers think today'seducationismuchtraining young Newfoundlanders forjobs improved over grade school in the past. Gettingsomeday in the Hibernia oil field. at least a high school education is considered "The No. 1 problem is that many people in more important than an where else in Canadacharge don't see literacy as a problem. Even if by a wide margin. they do, they don't know what to do about it,"

20 2u says Richard Fuchs, secretary of the provincial "What are we to do?" asks one such member. adult education association. "We're a poor province and we already spend With no office, no paid staff andnoall this money on education. It makessense to telephone, the association is in a weak positiontalk about publicity and promotion whenyou to lobby the government for more literacysee the size of our literacy problem. But none at funding. Many membersaregovernmentall when you see the priority it's given." employees and afraid to speak out.

21 Immigration boosts Canada's illiteracy rate

Immigrants make up a large percentage of Canada's illiterate population. Findings in the Southam Literacy Survey also cast doubt on the effectiveness of immigrant language courses give.: an estimated 100,000 immigrants this year.

Immigration is a mixed blessing for literacyliterate, upper-middle-class homes who get sent in Canada. off to heritage language classes." The Southam survey discovered large-scaleOther findings: immigration accounts for about one million of While immigrants are roughly one in five Canada's 4.5 million adult functional illiterates. 22 per cent of all functional illiterates on a Thirty-five per cent of foreign-born residents national scale, they account for roughly in the survey were unable to handle everyday one-third of Ontario's illiterates and almost literacy tasks; this rises to 42 per cent when none of Quebec's. Immigrants are also a high adults from the U.S. and British Isles are percentage of Alberta's illiterates but the excluded. estimate of 38 per cent has large margins of But the grown-up children of these immi- error because of the small sample size; grants, born in Canada, score higher in literacy Any high school education dramatically than longer-established Canadians. reduces illiteracy among immigrants, as it In addition, the three-million-plus immi also does for native-born Canadians. Yet 29 grants now living in Canada barely nudge the per cent of the foreign-born in the survey national illiteracy level upwards, from 22 per who claimed some university education cent for native-born residents by themselves to actuallytestedas functionallyilliterate, 24 per cent overall. contrasted to six per cent of those Canadian- However, other information strongly sug- born; gests the illiteracy rate has risen sharply among Schooling in Canada is much better for immigrants since 1980. reducingilliteracythan schooling else- "Our findings suggest that the literacy where; problem associated with immigration eventual- English spoken in the home or learned before ly can work itself out. The message to starting school consistently produces higher government would be: get them young and get literacy levels than French orall other them into school," comments Dr. Paul Nesbitt, languages. But this finding is colored by the a psychologist with The Creative Research high illiteracy rate among older French- Group. Canadians and older immigrants. The surveyalso adds new fueltoa decades-old controversy about the effects of Immigration also dramatically shifts the multiculturalism by taking a closer look atbalance of illiteracy away from small towns and nearly 300 respondents who spoke more thanrural Canada and into the big urban centres. one language as children. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver together Illiteracy is high among this multilingualare home to functional illiterates in about equal group 49 per cent for foreign born and 33 perproportion to their 30-per-cent share of Cana- cent for Canadian born. da's total population. But the three cities These findings appear to clash with currentcontain more than half of allimmigrant educational theories tliat claim multilingualismilliterates. at home and heritage languages at school By contrast, communities of less than 10,000 improve literacy in both languages if carefullypeople account for one-quarter of the nation's done. population but contain 32 per cent of all "The data certainly suggests that multicultu-native-born illiterates and only 10 per cent of ralism and heritage languages are not a goodthe foreign-born. thing automatics' i y," says Nesbitt. "But it does The findings also cast renewed doubt on the not show what happens for children fromeffectiveness of immigrant language courses

22 24 given to an estimated 100,000 immigrantsthisexperiences look at the Vietnamese boat year. Functional illiteracy runs at 50 per centpeople who were attacked by piratesbut they among foreign-born multilinguals in the South-can't read and write English and I'm not going am survey, whether they took some sort ofto say they can." A federal discussion paper in language course or not. 1983 hinted the provinces would haveto pay The survey finding reinforces long-standingmore to make immigrant language training complaints by teachers of Englishas a Seconi'succeed. Second-language teacherssay this Language. Across Canada, dedicated and frus-hasn't happened, leaving too many immigrants trated teachers say they can't possibly producetrapped in a ghetto. any sort of literacy and not much oral Far more encouragingisevidence that proficiency eitherin the few months allowedfirst-generation Canadians born of immigrant for most immigrant languageprograms. parents are academic over-achievers. In 1984, the Royal Commissionon Equality Only 18 per cent of these fast-generation in Employment noted the longest provinciallyCanadians tested as functionally illiterate, well financed language course for immigrants lastedbelow the national average. 30 weeks.. . while federal public servants spend Studies from Ontario in the 1960s reached 12 months on advanced bilingualismcourses.the same conclusion but more recent research In Calgary, a Vietnamesegroup told thesuggests the children of the waves of later commission: "After four years of settlement, itimmigration are doing more poorly. The is estimated that only about 20per cent ofNielscri task force pointed out that three- Vietnamese-Canadian adults can communicatequarters of the immigrants in 1984 were in some kind of English for everydaytransac-admitted under "family" and "assisted relative" tions." At most, five per cent coulduse Englishcategories without any minimum standard for for work or further education. ability in English or French. Official Immigra- Accurate national estimates don't exist for tion Department statistics show 150,000 immi- costs or numbers of immigrant languagegrants entered Canada between 1981 and 1986 courses but the investment is huge many who spoke neither official language. times more than public spendingon adult "We're importing a big chunk of illiteracy," literacy for native-born Canadians. says Conservative MP jim Hawkes who chairs The Department of Employment and Immi-the Commons committee on labor, employment gration, for instance, paid community collegesand immigration. nearly $60 million in the 1986-87 fiscalyear for "People who sign with their thumb prints language training to help 12,500 immigrantscome to Canada automatically as relatives but into the workforce. The Secretary of Stategave people with engineering degreesare being $8 million to provincial governmentsto paydenied." The survey confirms high illiteracy half the costs of language classes for 90,000newamong older immigrants. Nearly half of the citizens who aren't likely to enter the workforce,immigrants who came here at 30or older are mostly women and older immigrants. functionally illiterate, double therate among Immigration is also placingan extra burden those who arrived 19 or younger. on education costs. In 1987, the Toronto Board Immigrants also appear to share the blind of Education expects to provide English-spot that native-born Canadians have about language classes for 30,000 immigrants halftheir literacy skills. Among functionally illiter- of the total funded across Ontario. And thecosts ate immigrants, 60 per cent said they weren't continue into college and university. being held back in life by their reading and "I don't know what we're goingto do with all writing skills. the immigrants here; we can't give thema Among the 20 per cent who said theywere diploma and we can't abandon them,"says being held back, more than half said they Frank Daly, dean of English at Toronto'swouldn't consider taking remedial literacy Seneca Community College. instruction. "Some of them have had tremendous life

23 `?, 3 Bilingual Canadian more likely to be literate

Bilingual Canadians are only two-thirds aschildren with poor literacy in both official likely to be functionally illiterate as Canadians languages. generally 16 per cent as opposed to the "You'd need a specia. study to answer those national average of 24 per cent. questions, comparing kids of the same socio- Anglophones appear to benefit more fromeconomic class who take immersion courses bilingualism than francophones, with an illiter- with those who don't." But the major federal acy rate of only nine per cent compared to 23agency funding such research has rejected a percent for all English-speaking adults. request to make Canada part of a 40-nation The illiteracyrate also plunged amongproject studying many aspects of literacy in bilingual francophones, from 29 percentof all school children. An investigation of the effects francophones to 20 per cent for bilingual ones. of bilingualism was a key Canadian aspect of the But the apparent literacy advantages of$1-million proposal to the Social Sciences and bilingualism may really be linked to the higherHumanities Research Council by researcher education and socio-economic status of the 253Jeffrey Bulcock of Newfoundland's Memorial adults surveyed who said they regularly readUniversity. newspapers, magazines or books in the other "This would have been the first look at official language. More than half of bilingual assessing French immersion on a national Canadians went beyond high school comparedscale," Bulcock says. The council, relying on to less than one-third of unilinguals. anonymous referees from the United States, "This is a select group," says Dr. Paul rejected the request as premature. Nesbitt of The Creative Research Group. In the 1986-87 school year, 200,000 children "They're better educated, have higher incomes or 4.3 percent of all students enrolled in and are more literate generally." Nesbitt saysFrench immersion programs across Canada. the survey wasn't large enough in scope to The Southam survey found 12 per cent of examine the effect of language immersionCanadians said they were bilingual enough to classes on literacy. Some scholars have specu-read m^terial in the other official language at lated recently that immersion may produce least monthly. (In the 1981 census, 15.3 per cent

55+ Francophones 48',

35-54 Francophones

18-34 Francos

TOTAL Francophones

Source: The Creative Research Grow Southam Graphics:Rob Ludlow

24 24 of Canadians said they were bi.ingual.) Inter- Across Canada, only six per cent of anglo- viewers also found francophones living outsidephones were bilingual readers contrastedto 30 Quebec and anglophones inside Quebec per cent of francophones. almost always chose to do the survey in the In 19 cases out of 20, the margin oferror for a dominant language of their province. Thissmall sample such as bilingual Canadians could meant francophones in the Prairies, for exam-be as high as 4.5 percentage points. ple, would be recorded as English speaking.

Ownwads: the frustradons of being illiterate

You sown to experience what illiteracy it Me? Gointo a restaurant and ask a waitress to read the mans to ,yoa Go to the agrennorket and ask fora partiadar brand when standing right nod tat I display. Go to avgoversonwnt office andsay you can't fill out the form Ask the phone cowpony for a waiver ondin doryassistance draws because you awl read the phone book That fa gitapat sans idea lbst:Ant can 'twofold the frustration, the anxiety.

Rick Parsons, former illiterate, Toronto.

25 25 literacy programs need tremendous commitment and energy

Southam News national correspondent Peter Calamai spent two months in an adult literacy class at Ottawa's Parkway School to find out first hand who goes, why they go, and what they're feeling. Textbooks explain things like work attack skills and decoding. But they don't prepare an outsider for the tremendous energy that learner and teacher both must invest.

June 4 they skipped reading "The End." "We know Adrianna sits right beside the teacher inwhere to stop," Sarah flashes. "We're not that Room 9 at Ottawa's Parkway School and thatstupid." alone makes her stand out. But Adrianna is always working too, her face pressed dose to aJune 15 book or fist clenched tightly around a crawling "Take Pride In What You Do," says the sign pencil. at the front of Room 9, dark blue letters "I'm such a slow reader," she mutters afterstenciled on light blue paper. stumbling over a passage. "I have trouble It's someone else's story the learners read saying the words... evenafter three days." Allnow, a moralistic tale of Sally and Jim who got four adults this week began daily basic literacymarried on little more than love. And the white classes lasting four hours every morning. In justflash cards are for "ay" may, tray, stay, spray. eight weeks, teacher Donna Dowd will try to At coffee break, Adrianna hauls out a large help them join the magic circle of readers. I willjar of pickled peppers, yellow and red and pink watch. and orange curls and wedges beautiful They all want to read. Sarah likes theenough for the Museum of Modern Art. newspaper's lifestyles section, especially "Dear "You said you liked hot foods," she says, Abby and the people who croak." Adrianna, thepresenting it. Bible. Lionel, a French-Canadian in his 20s, Carrying the jar, I bump into an agitated wants to read about animals while a middle-Joyce White, who runs Parkway School and aged Lebanese woman will settle for "any-other adult education projects for the Ottawa thing". Board of Education. Textbooks explain things like word attack "It's tearrig me apart, but I'm going to have skills, language experience, decoding, story-to combine some classes. Yours is one. Students telling. But they don't prepare an outsider fordrop out because they get jobs in the summer the tremendous energy that learner and teacherand we need an average of 10 to a class." both must .nest. Donna begins the day with white cards,July 2 flashing words like city, switch, pitcher and The Room 9 class has been split up. Adrianna admitthe "it" combinationand constantlyand I have come to Room 3 where her cataract encouragingthelearnersastheystum-troubles again win the seat nearest the teacher. ble:"Good, good...terrific, wonderful, very The six others in the class are 20 lessons ahead good, you've got it . . . don't go gettingm spelling and stronger readers; they sail into a frustrated there." With lots more encourage-Canada Day story written by one of Parkway's ment, Donna has the Lebanese woman dictatecelebrated authors, John Tourangeau, a learner her experiences wallpapering a room, writinghimself: "Canada is still growing and one day each simple sentence on an overhead projector.everyone willwish they livedhere.All Canadians are allowed to believe in which ever June 8 religion they prefer." Most stumble over The learners labor through the wallpapering "allowed" and "religion," including Adrianna. story, now photocopied on sheets. I point outBut even an outsider can see the progress in just

26 26 four weeks and sense the excitement. The magic July 23 circle of readers suddenly seems within reach Like an orchestra conductor, Murielis for one struggling Jamaicanwoman. directing the two sides of the table. "Stretch" "Yes, now I am hungry for words," she tells says one tchand signal. "Er" says the other. the teacher. The conclactor's hands meet in the middle and almost everyone manages "stretcher." Every- July 9 body manages to read"campanula" :oo, A nc v morning feature, a 15-minute discus-because Room 3 sharpens word attack skillson sion, brings forth news of a new baby niece,perm--; als from the Macnaughton garden, awards for the soap operas and viewson the post tapec. to sheet of paper. "The names are in lice raike. The classis becoming more Latin so we're all equal," says Muriel, glancing cohesi .e, not quite a family but much more than at the faded bell flowers. seven individuals. Endlessly inventive, teacher Muriel Mac-July 29 naughton brings in an 1877 cookbook with Last day of classes until mid-September and advice on carpet cleaning using a peck of Irish Room 3 has a party, with home-made salami potatoes and two ounces of beef gall. from one of the learners, home-growntomatoes "You don't want to touch that gall,"warns from another. A former learner drops by witha Adrianna. "When they cut open thecow, theyguitar to sing spirituals, one appropriately throw that away right at first." Afterwardsat an atitled "Learning to Live." As usual Adrianna informal staff meeting, the teachers tradeis bustling, clearing, putting thingsaway. "Do encouraging news. The Lebanese woman fromyou know how old she is?" asks director Joyce Room 9, one says, was excited today because White, "seventy-seven." Older thanmy mother she had a book she could handle. and going back to school to learnto read. Writing in script for the first time aftera life of July 16 printing. Waiting four months foran appoint- Parkway School visits the local newspaper,ment to get new spectacles. Reading, always the Ottawa Citizen. From a gallery, two dozenreading, and already anxious for thenew learners watch the presses slowly revolve,semester to start in September. gradually speed up to bursts of ringing bells and "You had better come back here," Adrianna finally, print blurred on the rushing web oforders me, her mahogany face split witha wide piper, spew out something they all still strugglegrim to read. "So many words and so fast," says one. Of course. I learned as much as they did.

Literacy students and teachers -go" from Ottawa's Parkway School tour the composing room at the Ottawa Citizen.

27 27 Universities graduate functional illiterates

Can eight per cent of university graduates in Canada really be functionally illiterate? Unfortunately, that seems to be the sad truth at least partly.

Can eight per cent of university graduates in be functionally illiterate as those born in Canada really be functionally illiterate? Yes and Canada. If foreign-born grads are excluded, no, says Dr. Paul Nesbitt, supervisor of the the illiteracy rate among graduates all Southam Literacy Survey. Canadian-born drops to five per cent. "There really does seem to be a small number Statistics aside, there's at least o flesh- who get passed through university," Nesbittand-blood Canadian university graduate cur- says. rently getting instruction in a literacy program. "There's a different skill needed to write a Now middle-aged, this man was born into a cheque as asked on our test and getting awealthy family, attended private schools and passing grade from a professor." graduated from one of Canada's best-known Other factors: universities. People being surveyed sometimes exaggerate Said one literacy worker who knows the man: when asked about their education levels,"It wouldn't surprise me to discover that his saying for instance that they graduated fromfamily were big contributors to that universi- university when in fact they flunked out,ty." At the Ontario Institute for Studies in perhaps because of ,1 campus literacy test; Education, Prof. Mark Holmes says students Illiteracy rises steadily with age, almostwho failed the English proficiency test at the doubling among university graduates whenUniversity of Alberta a few years ago still comparing the youngest and oldest groups.managed to pass their courses. In effect, once-adequate skills erode with "They were succeeding in university without time; being literate," he says. "I don't think univer- Foreign-born residents who say they havesities shpuld be putting illiterate graduates out university degrees are three times as likely to on the market."

28- 28 Womenmore literate than men

Male egos take another battering in thewar of the sexes. The Southam Literacy Survey shows womenare more skilled readers.

To: All men schedules and filling out job applications. Of From: Peter Calamai, Saatham News, course, an alternate interpretation would be that Ottawa those were the few things women didworse at. Re: Latest claims of female superiority In the 35- to 44-year-old age group,men It looks bad this time fellows. They'vecome almost close the gender gap, with 82 per cent out ahead again and it sure doesn't appear to be a literate compared to 84 per cent ofwomen. But fluke: women are more literate than men. among adults 18 to 24, women are 86 per cent You probably know there are more women literate while men manage only 80per cent. than men among Canadian adults 51 per cent Maybe young men have something elseon their to 49 per cent. minds other than taking tests. Well, the Southam Literacy Survey says it's Other excuses: females always outperform the reverse among functional illiterates 53.5 males on verbal ability tests in schools. The per cent are men and 46.5 per cent women. experts say it's NOT differences in intelligence Don't stop reading. It gets worse. but environmental factors. Women outscored men on 40 of 61 literacy School certainly appealed more to the women items on the survey AND they spenta minute in the Southam survey. Fifty-sevenper cent less on average doing the test. Men did betteron said they had a Grade 12 degreeor better 14 items only and the sexes tied onseven. compared to 54 per cent for men. Not "The differences aren't large but the pattern surprisingly, women rate getting a high school is too consistent to dismiss," says Dr. Paul education more highly than men, 63per cent Nesbitt, a psychologist with The Creative saying it's extremely important while only 55 Research Greup, which oversaw the face- per cent of men do. to-face survey. And women score their own grade school Nesbitt tries to soften the blow to male egos education higher than tren 34 per cent say it by pointing out that men are slightly better at was excellent while only 28 per cent of men working with numbers, as opposed to all other thought so. Women are also marginallymore kinds of reading. likely to remember being read toas children and Big deal. considerably more likely to think readingto Here are some other individual items and the children is extremely important, 61 percent correct percentages for each sex. saying so as opposed to 45 per cent formen. MalesFemales Giving a higher value to education holdsup Read cough syrup 87 92 for literacyclassestoo. Among the few instructions Canadian adults who admit they're been held Fill out cheque correctly 75 80 back by poor reading or writing, womenare Follow route on city map 68 62 more likely to say they might take remedial Summarize article on 45 50 instruction, by 45 per cent to 35 per cent. business words Not only do women score as more literate, Understand Charter 38 41 they also lead more literate lives. of Rights For example, the survey shows women go to Find amount on income 33 27 public libraries 50 per cent more often than tax table men, write 40 per cent more letters or notes and read more books. Eighty-three per cent of Had enough? Maybe iz helps to know that women surveyed said they read or looked at a men also did better reading traffic signs, book over the past six months comparedto 73 understanding a newspaper editorial, using the r cent of men. Yellow Pages, deciphering bus and airline What kind of books? For women, cookbooks,

29 2J books, fiction and religious. For men, manuals,seem to boast about spending nearly a third reference and science. Women also reportedmore time in front of the tube. spending more than six hours each week It's all laid bare in relative attitudes toward reading books, an hour-and-a-half more thanreading and watching television. Fifty-four per Mtn cent of men say TV is mu e i njoyable while Blame weekend TV, probably sports. Overonly 32 per cent of women no. And among the the whole week, the sexes are almost elm in themiddle-aged, the difference is doubled. amount of television they admit watching, Say, while your wife is reading that book, roughly 16.5 hours. But on weekends, menwhy not just hide this?

____ 30 So National cost of illiteracy incalculable

Putting a national coston illiteracy seems to be the equivalent of calculating the incalculable. But there'sa huge economic and social cost and business, government and s9cieb, are paying it.

How much is illiteracy costing Canada? Pick two remained on unemployment insurance; 13 a number, any number. had jobs and the rest were full-time students There's the $2-billion-a-year figure foisted aiming at specific jobs. Results areeven better on the unwary by literacy advocates who divide now, says the centre. 10 into a pie-in-the-sky U.S. estimate of $20 Overall, the Ontario provincial government billion. got back its payments for training in only Or there's the cautious conclusion of a study three-and-a-half years through income and for the Secretary of State that "under-education sales taxes from former jobless illiteratesnow (or illiteracy) does have an economic cost." working. The investment by the federalgov- Finally, there's the finding of the Southamernment, though a half-share of the training Literacy Survey that functional illiteratesare costs, yields a 25-per-cent annual return to the twice as likely as literate adults to be long-term Gross National Product from thenew wages. unemployed. "The teaching does pay," insistscentre While some definite figures exist showing director Abner Steinberg. the benefits of literacy to individuals, puttinga "If you put up $20,000 to provide literacyto nationwide cost on illiteracy seems to be the someone and retrain him, it's a lot less expensive equivalent of calculating the incalculable. than paying $6,000 a year for therest of his But that's just what the Business Task Force life." Economist Townson takes a far broader on Literacy figures must be done to spur view in her study of the costs of illiteracy. She government action. calculates the extra income that theoretically "The bean-counters run the world today," might be earned if all three million-plus adults says task force president Paul Jones, "and we're with less than Grade 9 schoolingwere suddenly not well equipped to talk to them in their being paid the same averagewage as workers terms." Yet some beans have already been with some high school education. counted and numbers crunched in an unpub- The $7.4-billion estimate of lost income lished Secretary of State study by Ottawa "must be treated with extreme caution," consulting economist Monica Townson and in Townson warns, since upgrading education 40 pages of mind-boggling statistical tables won't automatically produce higher income. from the Remedial Reading Centre,a private That sort of simplistic assumption, in fact, school in Toronto that specializes in helping draws Townson's fire when applied to prisoners people with dyslexia and other learning disabil- and welfare recipients who also happento be ities. illiterate. The centre recorded every cost and each Higher literacy would cut the cost of running benefit linked to 24 adults with moderate to penitentiaries, notes the 24-page study, only if severe reading and writing problems who some illiterate inmates wouldn't be in prison if received one-to-one tutoring there between they were literatewhich isn't proven. 1979 and 1984. And while an Ontario study decides,on slim Thirteen were on some form of government evidence, that probably half of the province's assistance, seven were working poor and four welfare recipients are illiterate, Townsonsays were being supported by their families. Two the crucial unanswered question is whether had brain damage, two were physically handi- they're on welfare because they are illiterate. capped and the other 20 had learning disabili- "Without a clearer understanding of the ties, sometimes with aaditional physical prob- linkages between illiteracy and other social lems. problems or concerns, it may well be impossible Yet of the 23 who could be later traced, only to arrive at a reasonably accurate estimate of the

31 31 economic costs of illiteracy ' Estimates aside, However, for some manufacturing firms, Louise Miller, head of the umbrella grouppoor literacyincluding mathematicshas to representing Quebec's community literacy pro- be faced head-on. grams, notes: "When there are economic In the automotive industry, for example, problems, the illiterates are at the back of thethere's a race to introduce Statistical Process line." On an individual bash, however, someControl (SPC), a quality-tracking technique retail firms already know they're paying ainvented by two U.S. scientists but taken up surcharge for poor reading, writing and num-first by Japanese car builders. bers skills among their employees. SPC requires higher reading and math skills Toronto consultant Susan O'Dell says herfrom assembly line workers and, the industry firm is often asked to investigate apparentlytold a federal task force in 1985, "a sizable missing supplies. "One of the reasons can beminority are suffering from inadequate literacy that people really can't read and are misplacing and mathematical abilities." Among the biggest boxes. They work by rote and if anythingindependent auto parts manufacturers, 29 per changes, they can't cope." Yet most retailerscent reported "often inadequate" reading and

ppaviS. liflOracy bill ,-" ,...i.,,,,.....4,% Iti 1 .001 ..4.4*,:.,';',/,,", :, ..is-7,...n. inflate:a COntumerprzesio cover mistakes , :,;, ::,y;.,....., ....., Extr*:meOicai argiivorf?er COMpensation charges tittiaiiiitiefostioiiilfteritiattidents :::,,,p, ;,,:,, s7-.,,..., Dwittiltiritreverit30 for fishers ;--' ':'.i,>.."..,,, ,s(3,1:',Irld,ctss:cit tO, MCI W49#11*--ijicY

ft(Stioted:i tiro.,

Oor1petitiveness

placeilliteracyfar down on their list ofwriting skills in the existing workforce while 21 problems, way below the "rmishing" workper cent said the same for newly hired workers. ethic, punctuality and honesty. The Ford Motor Company now requires a They cope with poor literacy by "dumbing Grade 12 certificate for all new employees, even down" the task, as fast food outlets have withfor unskilled yobs. Yet formal training costs for cash registers using symbols to illustrate eachthe automotive industry are still forecast to possible sale. rocket from the current $75 million a year to

32 $200 million, discounting inflation. Some ofreport because the stockroom hadn't ordered this is making up for poor literacy. essential printing supplies. A senior official In at least one area of training, evidence ofdiscovered none of the stockroom workers illiteracy has been available for years andcould read at a high school level. quietly overlooked, or suppressed. Economists concede they can't possibly Internal studies by the federal employment estimate the myriad of small costs imposed by ministry four years ago pinpointedpoor illiteracy: gas wasted because delivery drivers academic skills as the primary reason why onecan't read street signs, house gutters installed in five drops out before finishing federallyupside down by illiterate handymen, misdi- funded training programs in community col-rected mail, misunderstood instructions, chem- leges. icals improperly mixed at a factory, airplanes In 1983, such dropouts cost taxpayers $170not serviced correctly...the potential list is million, according to employment officials. endless. Low literacy also exacts a toll from trade Yet the bi 1.:est cost of illiteracymay not be unions. Some union leaders say the inability offrom government or unions or Industry but the rank- and- -file to understand contracts canfrom the straitened lives of millions of function- make bargaining tougher and increase the al illiteratesan image that leaps out from the chance of illegal walkouts. And one union Southam survey. blamed poor reading skills among blue-collar As Senator Joyce Fairbairn, who launched workers for the disappointing results of aPariiament's only literacy debateso far, says: political education campaign six years ago. "The internal emotional loss for individuals, Even the federal public service often the stress, the wreck it makes of their livesand considered an elite workforce suffers. One particularly the lives of their childrenis really agency nearly missed the deadline for a crucial a cost that I don't think any country can afford."

11X12tama

Woman comparing Raid and PAM, both in yellow-and-red aerosol cans with red cups, illustrates one of many potential dangers to people who can't read.

33 Sweat by day, teach by night: heritage of Frontier College

For 85 summers, Frontier College has marshalled young men on university campuses and marched them away in steel-toed boots and hard hats to lumber camps, remote construction sites, mines and -- the ultimate Canadian romancerailway gangs. They work by day and teach by night.

Like hundreds of thousands of men beforeCanada. But now laborer-teachers are even him, Mike Finigan is counting the swings of his more of an endangered species than the 10-pound sledge-hammer. About 4,500 should "navvies" on CPR's Alberta No. 1 Tie Gang. be enough today, banging in anchors to hold For 85 summers, the college has marshalled steel rails to new wooden ties. young men on university campuses and And like thousands before him, Finigan is marched them away in steel-toed boots, overalls also thinking about helping his 50 fellowand hard hats to lumber camps, remote railway workers improve their lives and educa- construction sites, mines and the ultimate tion later that afternoon, when the heat of theCanadian romancerailway gangs. They work prairie sun near Suffield, Alta. has distorted by day and teach by night. rails that disappear into an endless horizon of Norman Bethune moved on to doctoring in azure sky and golden earth. China after experience as a laborer-teacher; Finigan is a Frontier College laborer-teacher, James Mutchmor to be moderator of the United once the pioneer of literacy -in-the-workplace in Church; Svend Robinson, David Kilgour, John

I I i Frontier College laborer-teacher Canadismizing immigrant workers in 1912.

_____ 34 ____ Mike Finigan, a Fronder College laborer-teacher, baffles illiteracyon the CPR line, near Suffield, Alberta.

Crosbie all to the current Parliament; andthe other things we've got going on,"says John someone from London, Ont. named DavidDaniel O'Leary, Frontier's director ofdevelop- Peterson, who nailed spikes for $1.35an hour.ment. "On the first day I smashed a finger," the Translation: the college canmore easily raise Ontario premier recalls. "It bled and Iwas in amoney to help high 'school dropouts and factory boxcar with 12 older guys who were all drunk. Iworkers than for Newfies, East Indians,or never wanted my mother more than that night.natives. Even Premier Peterson, who woundup Why am I doing this?, I kept asking myself."enjoying his stint, talks about laborer-teachers For one answer, listen to Alfred Fitzpatrick,as "a dying breed." Don't use those words with founder of Frontier College, writing in 1920Brent Boulton who worked 12-hour dayson the about the laborer,eacher: "He is in the highestB.C. Steel Gang thissummer. sense a nation-builder . They are the teachers "I gave a short English lessonto an East of the frontiers. They are the high priests of theIndian my first day on the job. By August,I was broadening culture of our times." But thisyear,tutoring four and had another fellow enrolled in there almost weren't any teachers in overalls.the Open Learning Institute. It'smy second Disorganization at the college, indifferenceatsummer here and the men know me and accept the CNR and suspicion at the railway unionme," says the 24-year-old philosophy student. meant only seven laborer-teachers sallied forth, Out for the first time, Mike Finiganfound five to the CPR in Alberta and B.C.,one on anthe going slower. Ontario rail gang and the seventhto a "It takes time," hesays one June morning. hydroelectric site in northern Manitoba. "You just can't run in andsay: 'Hey, I'm here to "There's still a need todaywe had a studyshove English downyour thre.9ts.' It takes done in Northern Ontario but we've got totime." By mid-August, however, AlbertaNo. 1 decide if laborer-teachers are a priority, with allTie Gang had accepted both the23-year-old

35 7 Cape Bretoner and his talents with a baseball1914:"Men sit nightly in such camps reading glove or a Gordon Lightfoot ballad. Plus thewith avidity... pamphletsand circulars cooked Frontier College stuff, of course. to inflame, not tempered with saneness. Only "I've applied to university for a couple ofthe influences closest at hand must determine fellowand to a correspondence course forwhether there is evolved 6 Lincoln or a Lenin." another," Finigan says over the telephone.Frontier's current president, Jack Pierpoint, "The library is set up and the guys havechuckles at the quotation. Bradwin and Fitzpa- swapped their own books for most of the ones Itrick adjusted their message for raising funds, brought." And don't say it to Gregory Koosta-he says, and Red-baiting was big stuff at the chin,a 47-year-old Cree intheisolatedtime. corrunuriity of Attawapiskat on the west shore "The Depression work camps are the part of James Bay. In 1965, he travelled to Elliotthat bothers me most about the college's Lake in Ontario's mining belt where Frontier'shistory.Ithink the college was used to laborer-teachers gave a group literacy program. implement a government policy . . . the Says Koostachin: "That's where I learned tolaborer-teachers were put in to keep out the read more and study.I wanted to learnCommie organizers." Now the laborer-teachers mathematics so I could run a small business. Iare hardly being put in anywhere, although the was No. 1 in the mathematics and now I have acollege still trumpets the history in fund-raising big business, running the hardware store here." campaigns. Yet a great need remains, says Doug Ian Morrison was Koostachin's tutor twoBell, a former laborer-teacher who salvaged this decades ago. Now he is executive director of thesummer's effort. Canadian Association for Adult Education. "We got an unsolicited petition signed by "It changed my whole life," says Morrison. every member of one CPR tie gang saying there "These were real people with real problems andshould be a laborer-teacher on every gang in I enjoyed that combination. But there's alwaysWestern Canada." Back on the Alberta No. 1 been a tension between two values in theTie Gang, a man named Terry briefly rests his laborer-teacher program.Isita kind ofsledge-hammer and talks about going back to formation program for these elite students or isschool after being away 11 years. He's saving it a service to people?"Or is it social pacifica-from his $10-an-hour job to try law school. tion, far cheaper than riot squads) Edmund Looking especially satisfied, Mike Finigan Bradwin. who tutored in work camps for 10bangs the 2,567th anchor of the day. years and later ran Frontier College, warned in

36 .1 t) Better literacy skills crucial to Cana&lem workforce

Canadian society must more andmore rely on its wits instead of big biceps. That's a grim fact for two million illiterate employees who will be hard hitby the fu ture need for greater analytical and communications skills in most workplaces.

Two million workers across Canada arearen't now important in their jobs. But other trapped in a tightening vice between their ownstudies have found 40 per cent of Canadian illiteracy and a relentless rise in job demands forworkers expect their jobs to be altered by reading, writing and using numbers. technology over the next five years. The Southam Literacy Survey confirms that The survey's gloom is borne out by the illiterate workers one out of six in the laborstart-up troubles in the summer of 1987 of the forcewill be hard hit by the need for greaterfirst national workplace literacy program, being analytical and communications skills in mostintroduced in three regions by Laubach Liter- industries. acy under a $1.2-million federal grant over New types of jobs will make much greaterthree years. literacy demands than before, government and Literacy in the workplace usuallymeans one industry studies predict, and existing jobsareemployee helping another in basic reading, being transformed by technologies likenumer-writing or mathematics, with the tutcing ical control. Dairies are installing personalpreferably done half on their own time and half computers on the shop floor and the cabs ofon the company's. Learning materials often future tractor-trailer rigs will feature contin-come from the workplace shop manuals, uous printouts on vehicle wear and tear. office forms or a machinist's shift report. "The ability to learn will be the premium The three projects based in Sydney, N.S., skill of the future," declared the EconomicSt. Catharines, Ont., and Winnipeg, Man., Council of Canada in a 1987 jobs study. originally struggled to reach an initial target of But only one in four of the nation's two20 students. One recurring problem isa million working illiterates think they need helpbacklash by management and workers to the with reading and writing on the job. Fewer thanvery word "literacy". 10 per cent say they're even likely to take "If only they had some other name for the remedial instruction. program," says Bob Ruttan, general manager of "It's a gloomy picture for programs trying toa dairy in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. tackle literacy in the workplace," says Dr. Paul The dairy is enthusiastically participating in Nesbitt, a psychologist with The Creativethe Laubach workplace project, initially by Research Group. providing tutors rather than students. The The survey identified 24 per cent of adultintroduction of a personal computer on the Canadians whose literacy skills are too limitedassembly line so machine operators can to handle simple day-to-day reading, writingmonitortheirefficiency mightspur and use of numbers. Nearly a third of theseemployees to take courses. functionalilliteratesareretired; of those "We claim that better reading and writing looking for work, 86 per cent had some sort ofskills are going to improve the productivity of job in the past 12 months. employees. But we don't know it for a fact," Occupations volunteered by the illiteratessays Peter Sawyer, who co-ordinates the roughly mirror the pattern for the Canadianprojects from Laubach's national office in Saint workforce. This means illiterates aren'tconcen-John, N.B. trated in industries that might be sheltered from Some studies suggest improving reading the projected onslaught of learning on the job.skills may boost productivity no more than 10 Twice as many illiterates as literates told theto 15 per cent. Researchers at Brock University survey interviewers that reading and writingin St. Catharines, Ont., -.All monitor thesuccess

37 3f of the on-the-job approach by Laubach,a U.S.Toronto's Frontier College, aboutto launch its offshoot that claims 5,000 volunteer literacyown on-the-job literacy projects with federal tutors in Canada. grants similar to Laubach's. The program in the Niagara Peninsula hasa "We're not going to call it the Acme Screw foot in the door at about 35 firms,says localand Gear Literacy Program,"says college co-ordinator Diane Young, who was shockedpresident Jack Pierpoiat. "We'll call it the AS 1 when several companies bluntly said they didn'tand G Management Upgrading Program." care about illiteracy among their employees. Unions also have concerns about workplace "The manager of a meat-packing outfit said,literacy, fearing companies mightuse illiteracy

The repair notice task A manufacturing company provides its customers with the following instructions for returning appliances for service:

When returning appliance for servidng, includea note telling as clearly and as specifically as possible what Is wrong with the appliance.

A repair person for the company receives four appliances with the following notes attached. Circle the letter next to the note which best follows the instructions supplied by the company.

Thedock does not run The alarm on my clock correctly on this dock A C radio doesn't go off at the rado. I tried fixing it, time I set. It rings 15-30 but I cctler.".. minutes later.

My dock radio is not working. This radio Is broken. Please B It stopped working right after D repair and returnrn by Priority I used it for five days. Post to the address on my slip. t- ,Thirty-five per cent did not correctly chooseanswer C. ;14 Etanselhe CANN' Asmordt Gimp SoulumorbEbb Ludlow

'My employees don't need to read and write,as an excuse for firing an employee who asks for they just need to cut meat.' Anothercame righthelp. out and said they wanted to keep their Some literacy advocates oppose in principle employees stupid or else they'd leave for bettertying tutoring so closely to the job jobs," Young says. "You can train a person to be a mere cog," In Winnipeg, Laubach had problems gettingsays Ruth Baldwin, president of World Litera- started in the garment industry andat the giantcy of Canada. "Or you can train him so he can health resources centre, where Portuguese-have a number of skills, show initiative and take speaking cleaning staff threateneda co-workerresponsibility." Many of these issues have who offered tutoring. Officialssuspect culturealready been wrestled to the ground in the U.S., and poverty played a big role in both instances.which is several years ahead of Canada with A sensitive approach is also importanttoactive programs at major corporations such 38 as General Motors, Xerox and Polaroid. Research working today will still be working by theyear has convinced these companies that blue-collar2000. workers are now reading an average of 97 "Employers can't fire all the workers because minutes daily on the job. they're old-fashioned and hirenew ones, "Often it was three minutes here, two because the turnover wouldn't be there with our minutes there forms, directions or a memodemographics," says Judith Maxwell, chairman that showed where you had to drivea forkliftof the Economic Council of Canada. truck to pick up something,"says Larry Maxwell says studies show Canadian work- Mikulecky, an Indiana University educationers are flexible and employers can be forward- professor who studies assembly lines andlooking. They'll have to be. Between 1971 and convenience stores to discover "real world" 1981, technological change cut employment for literacy demands. workers with less than Grade 9 education by 15 Those demands, Mikulecky has found,per cent and by eight per cent for high school mostly fall between the 9th and 12th Grade indropouts. reading difficulty. But 15 per cent of the time, Computer projections by the council show they're higher. the change accelerating, with job opportunities Most of Canada's working illiterates can'tslashed in scores of occupations andnew types handle even the simple materials, the Southamof jobs created. survey shows. For example, roughly one in five Says Maxwell: "We're becominga society workers picked the wrong explanation in thethat has to live by its wits more than by its survey when asked to explain why a clock-radiostrong backs." Or asAlfredFitzpatrick, was being returned for repairs. founder of Frontier College, wrote nearly Yet hiring new workers isn't possible for70 years ago, wher_ urging industry to provide most industries; an existing workforce that's40 minutes a day for literacy lessons: "'The just entering middle age and a dip innewresults should prove remunerative to the entrants means about 85 per cent of Canadianscompany as well as to the men."

39 3 J Getting nowhere fast: one worker's experience

An assembly lire worker in his early 30s, James forces himself to commute 50 km twice a week to literacy classes run by the London Board of Education because there are none at his auto plant. As he tells Peter Calamai, James senses that without help, his inability to write will leave him stalled on a long road to oblivion.

I've been at Ford 18 years and for the firstthere will be a lot of bats coming at you. eight years, it was a challenge to learn the job. It It's a cage, you live in a cage and once in a is a semi-skilled job and my goal was to reachwhile you take risks and if you get slapped the top of that skill. I think I've achieved that.down, you go back in the cage and lock that real But I realized I was going nowhere fast and Igoad and tight. I realize that and I take risks and had to evaluate myself fairly. I felt that I hadI do get burned sometimes but I have to take speaking skills but there were no educationthese risks. Because every risk I take, if I skills I never passed a grade in my life. I wassucceed, it gives me confidence to go on to always put up, goofed off, got out of school asanother. soon as I could, at 15. I spent two years at an There are opportunities out there that are just occupational class at high school and then out Itremendous right now. Management is chang- went. ing their ways of thinking. They're getting Materialistically, I've done very well, I own amore people involv=.7-4 on the line with the nice home, two vehicles. I have a nice wife, twoprocess of building a car. If you have anything kids who are highly motivated. up there (pointing to his head), they'll give you I'm a highly motivated person, I like toan opportunity to utilize it. But along with that achieve. And my hands are wearing out 15opportunity, you have to have some skills. years on that line it's time to use my brains.Communication skills are the future, being able And in order to capitalize on it, I've got to learntotalkto people,getting people to be to spell. productive. It was hard to sit down and realize that you Once I have these writing skills, I'll sit in a can't write, that these skills are holding youroom and I'll listen to this guy talk, this guy, this back. That was very difficult. The next difficultguy and I'll pick up every one of his interesting thing was to do something about it. So you makepoints. I'll jot them all down and I'll go home a few phone calls, you find out what can be doneand I'll roll them all over in my mind. I'll come and then...it's getting to the point where youback to the next meeting and I'll give them my had to humble yourself. I've been here a yearopinion. now. The only reason that I know that most of I got off work this morning at four o'clock. Ithese guys I work with can't writemost of got back up at quarter to eight to come to classthem can readis that I know my own skills in and drove here from Aylmer. I'll go home nowtrying to avoid that and I watch them do the and I'll go to work at three o'clock and I'll worksame. It's getting to the point where we can't to twelve. It's not enough class time for me. Byhide it anyri,. e. the time I get my Grade 12, it may be a five- to If Ford Motor Company said to me: 'We've seven-year project, because of the limiteddone a statistical study and we think that 60 per amount of time I'm able to put into it, raising acent of the people out here are illiterate. You family, working at a job. take your lunch hour and we'll give you another So many people in ()us society do not reachhalf-hour along with it to come in and get out and grab their full potential. To do thattutoring.' I'd take advantage of that. takes motivation. It also takes a tremendous And it matters how they do it. If they come wife, tremendous kids, friends. As you goout and say, We've got to be more productive. through life, everybody needs strokes. WhenWe're going to help you people to be more you're illiterate, you take those strokes and youproductive.' Even if the union did it on its own, hang on to them as long as you can, becausejust the union, that wouldn't work, that

40 4 0 wouldn't work to the extent that the companystreet and campaign for people who couldn't would do it. write, because I understand their problem. You know, it's a hell of a thing Lo expose All it takes is one person to stand up, it takes yourself iike that, it really is. I'm nervous doingone person. First you have to provide for it; it's a risk. But somebody has to talk for yourself and your family and then you can help people who are in that situation. This is the typepeople like that. of guy I am... you give me the opportunity to You could do wonders for a lot of people. get my Grade 12 behind me, I'll go out on the

f.r

41 LITERACY vs literacy: conflict in approach

With the fervor of religious crusaders, literacy advocates champion their own approaches. For some, reading and writing take second place to changing society.

In a pin-neat kitchen at the back of ahave a place in this society. I don't want to do turquoise-trimmed clapboard house, Charlottethat." Now listen to Luke Batdorf, president of Piercey and Ray Felix discuss Ellen Bell's eggs.Laubach Literacy of Canada: "They (the big-L "The eggs are fresh. They are very fresh. Ms.advocates) see theilliterate person as an Bell sells many fresh eggs. She sells twelve freshunderdog, so of course they're in a hurry. They eggs for seventy cents." Felix reads confidentlysee literacy only as a tool for social justice or as Piercey moves her finger along the words.equal rights. I think that's very patronizing." He's 35 and left school after Grade 5 to work in a fish plant. She's the clerk of this town nestled lc:E. alit .11 at the foggy end of the Burin Peninsula. Together they're engaged in literacy. In a sweltering, untidy room on the top floor of a skid row community centre in Vancouver, Linda Forsythe and 21 others dis' uss the price of coffee, the exploitation of Indians and the inalienable rights of students. They're engaged in LITERACY. "Our job hereis empowerment," says Forsythe. "We have to get these people to take charge." In between geographically and ideologically at a community centre in Scarborough, Ont., nine volunteer literacy tutors listen with some trepidation as Joy Evans of Frontier College suggests they try both ;*teracy and LITERACY. cy "Tutors are not obligated to get involved 1X with their students in terms of advocacy, bu. the DS X8 students do have a lot of needs," Evans says. 11,' These three vignettes give a glimpse of the issue which most divides Canada's literacy groupswhether to teach literacy as an end in itself or as a means to other ends. Much of the constant squabbling among liter y groups aria from this fundamental disagreement over purpose. Evelyn Murialdo callsitthe difference between little-1 literacy and big-L LITERA- CY. "I relate Literacy as knowing, understanding, Luke Batdorf, president of Laubach living and learning," she says at the Torontoliteracy of Canada. offices of the International Council for Adult Education. Batdorf's agitated tone also conveys some of the "I don't want to teach literacy to someone,annoyance that Laubach feels over constant teach them how to read and write, withoutattacks on its teaching materials, such as the touching their lives, without picking out withstory of Ellen Bell's eggs. them the things they need to learn in order to "Laubach is so boring," says one literacy 42- 4 with a community project. says Norton, who headed a province-wide study "The books don't affordany meaningfulof literacy services. feedback to the student. You get to the end of The paid teachers versus local volunteers the page and what have you learned?"From thedebate is equally divisive. empowerment camp, that's one of the gentler Teachers see potential new jobs in the criticisms of Laubach. Like warring religiousliteracy field as enrolment in regular schools factions, the groups assail one another's doc-continues to dwindle, but governmentsare trine, dogma and paternity. Often the illiterates attracted by the cost-savings of using volun- seeking help appear to be sacrificedto theteers. ideological battle. "When bureaucrats say that volunteersare Other issues also split the naturally fractiousOK for adult literacy, I think it'sa class thing," literacy b Alps: paid teachersversus volunteersays Serge Wagner, a University of Quebec tutors, community versus national and usingliteracy expert. phonics or a whole language approach. "Those same bureaucrats couldn't daresay "Oh, dear," sighs Audrey Thomasat herthat volunteers should be responsible for home in Victoria, B.C. "I tried to lay that ghostteaching their children to read and write." They to restin my report." Thomas's report,might if they could see the calibre of volunteer published in 1983 by Canada's committee forthat Toronto's Frontier Collegeattracts. UNESCO, was the most comprehensive lookat Two men and seven women, most in their literacy in Canada. It concluded that "no single,30s, are almost quivering with anticipation atan highly specializedmethod secured superiororientation session in early July. results" in teaching illiterates. The patter is fast and verging on evangelical: More recently, research at the University of"People call me and ask what do you have to do Calgary's Reading and Language Centrecameto be a tutor. They say they've never taught, to the same conclusion after directly comparingthey've never been to college. And this is what I the Laubach approach with another that avoidstell them," Joy Evans is saying:"Believe the phonics as much as possible. person can learn." Two months later, eight of "I would never argue thatone is better," saysthe nine have believed enough to be tutoring centre director Grace Malichy. "For the vastilliterate students in their homes during the majority of illiterates, a variety of approaches evenings. will work almost equally well. But forsome we Says Frontier's president jack Pierpoint: must identify the correct approach." In Edmon-`We're not in the business of organizing ton, Mary Norton says the correct approachrevolutions. We're in the business of providing begins not with the choice of technique but with basic education and we're pretty good at that'` involving the whole communityso literacyIn Victoria, Audrey Thom.: pointsout that programs willsurvive the uncertainty ofsimple, small-I literacy is empowerment enough government funding. for many illiterates. "They don't wantto lead a "We need to build a strong baseso that werevolution they just want to be part of the have a long-term plan rather thana quick fix,"mainstream."

43 -- 4 Federal record on literacy:opportunities wasted, warnings ignored

The federal government's record on literacydiate work on developing teaching materials for is a series of opportunities wasted, warningsvolunteer tutors. No action was taken on either ignored and political pettiness displayed byproposal. both Liberal and Conservative administrations. Inside the federal bureaucracy, a few officials The latest addition to this doleful litany washave waged an isolated and increasingly demo- $1 million in "development" funds for literacyralized struggle to get more attention paid to the announced in early September, all that Secre-growing illiteracy problem. tary of State David Crombie was able to salvage "It should be readily apparent that the federal from an initial multi-million dollar request togovernment of Canada's direct contribution to the federal cabinet in spring, 1987. literacy education is no more than a pittance," Crombie concedes he's struggling to getsaid an internal report in December, 1984, from some sort of permanent federal commitment tothe training branch of the Employment and literacy in place before the existing publicImmigration Department. interest falls off. And a shrinking pittance. The only federal "We've got to capture the interest and maketraining program that provided upgrading for sure it's going to continue. We want to be herepeople with reading and writing skills below a for the long haul." Literacy groups can behigh school level was deliberately cut back by forgiven for being skeptical; they've heard suchofficials and politicians because it was too promises before, star zing with the 1971 reportPopular. of a Senate committee on poverty that recom- The program, known as Basic Training for mended a national office to set educational goalsSkills Development, helped more than 55,000 for the country. The same idea was repeated infunctional illiterates in 1972-73. By 1984-85, 1985 by the Macdonald Royal Corranission, athe total number of trainees had been slashed to good indication of how lade progress has been29,000 and recent administrative changes effec- made. tively bar the majority of functional illiterates. Numerous other warnings have also been Why? Because Ottawa wasn't going to pay ignored by federal authorities: a 1976 report byfor cleaning up mistakes made by the provinces. the Senate finance committee; a 1979 commis- "The BTSD component appears to be sion of inqt 'or the federal lrbor minister; adirected at meeting worker needs which have 1984 royi ion on employment equali-resulted from def -.:2ncies in provincial educa- rj; a 1984 e report to the employmenttional programs," intoned the Nielsen Task minister; at- .36 Senate report on youth. Force in March, 1985. "Adult illitei acy in Canada is a serious social Senators had trotted out the same line in 1975 and economic problem which is being largelywhen they grilled the late Bob Andras, then ignored," prophetically warned the 1979 inqui- Liberal manpower minister, about which level ry. of government was responsible for under- The current federal government has alsoeducated adults. ignored the Conservative party's own blueprint "The fact is that they do exist," Andras shot for combating adult literacy, drawn up three-back. "Whether it is their fault or the fault of the and-a-half years ago by a task force oneducational system does not enter into it. They manpower retraining appointed by then ;ppo-are now on our doorstep." But the federal sition leader Brian Mulroney. government has even ducked illiteracy when its The Tory task force recommended a federal-jurisdictionalauthoritywasundisputed. provincial conference "for the sole purpose ofDecades of inadequate schooling for Indians developing an action plan to combat adulthave contributed to soaring illiteracy rates illiteracy." Also recommended was a publicamong natives. advocacy campaign about illitetacy and 1w -ne- In 1982, the Economic Council of Canada

44 _ 44 noted in astonishment that Ottawa hadaxed BLADE be salvaged and furt.er refined. much-needed adult educationprograms on "They just weren't willing to get intoa fight Indian reserves. with the provinces over who should be Language training for immigrants also fallsresponsible for literacy," says Luke Batdorf, far short of functional literacy, according towho worked on the NewStartprogram and is numerous studies. now president of Laubach Literacy of Canada. Yet the federal bungling extends beyondthe "And they still aren't. They have historical political pettiness and ignored warnings.Otta-amnesia." Functional illiteratesare right under wa also managed to abandon the most success- the noses of parliamentarians. ful adult literacy approachever dIveloped in the Senator Joyce Fairbaim was polishing country. a speech on literacy in March, 1987, whena The BLADE program, for Basic Literacyforpassing Senate messenger unexpectedly volun- Adult Development, was part ofan ambitiousteered that many of his co-workerswere eagerly series of pilot projects in the early 1970srun byanticipating her remarks. NewStart corporations in six provinces. Itwas A somewhat surprised Fairbairn, legislative one of the first do-it-yourself literacy courses in aide to Pierre Trudeau for 15years, managed to the world, employing custom-made cassettereply that their attention to illiterateswas tapes and Canadian-content books. "interesting". But when the sponsoring NewStart corpora- Said the messenger: "Becausesome of us are, tions reached their scheduled end after fiveyou know." years, federal officials were deaf to pleas that

Chrle 111161011110141104 of Was Menge

45 4j Government publications often so dense they're unintelligible

That's bad news for parents if there's a change to family allowance benefits. But it's also bad news for politicians if voters can't understand propaganda explainingwhy the government wants to change a policy.

Most government publimtions can't be easily taxable income of $13,990. read or understood by the average Canadian. Little has been done in Canada to make The result, say literacy experts, is that many government materials more readablea sharp Canadians aren't warned about dangers such ascontrast to other western nations. The federal workplace hazards and can't benefit fromgovernment has focused on research rather than government programs they're entitled to. reform. York University education professor Gary For five years, the Legal Services Society in Bunch tested more than 30 publications for Vancouver has produced citizen's guides to the "readability" using two standard formulas. The law that are ,:asily read. But both the guides and publications were selected at random fromthe approach have been slow to catch on in pamphlets and booklets issued to the public by Canada. Ontario, B.C., Newfoundland and the federal "It's a huge fight to try to get some people to government. understand that the world isn't filled with print Nearly half of the material required univ.-x- junkies all with PhDs," says Carol Pfeifer, the sity-level education to read, although two- society's director of public legal education. thirds of Canadian adults never got beyond high A survey of how small claims courts are school. A mere four publications rated as explained showed improvement in the readabil- readable by someor.e with only Grade 8 ity of pamphlets, says Pfeifer. But too often the education the level of 3.7 million adults. n. aerial was written from the viewpoint of the The results indicate little change since a 1970 legal system rather than for the person who task force condemned the "sheer unintelligibil- needed the information. ity" of most federal publications. "The people who most often need the advice Official surveys in the late '70s and '80s alsooften can't understand the publications," agrees gave a failing grade to provincial health and Bill Shallow, a Newfoundland government safety publications. expert in adult education. "It's not maliciousness; it's igvorance," says As U.S. President Jimmy Carter said in 1978, Bunch. when he ordered American governme .it regula- "I'd guess that the people who write thesetions written in Plain English: "The federal don't even talk to a factory worker or someonegovernment has become like a foreign country, who hasn't had a solid basic education." While complete with its own interests and its own some experts criticize readability formula aslanguage." These judgments are borne out by misleading, Bunch's findings are supported by the York University survey that found many the Southam Literacy Survey. One-quarter ofessential pieces of information are written well all 2,398 adults interviewed said they need help over the heads of the intended audience. reading publications from governments and A federal pamphlet on how to apply for a business and four out of 10 functional illiteratesSocial Insurance Number, for instance, rated at volunteered they had difficulty. a senior high school or university reading level. Even among fully literate Canadians, more So did five pamphlets by the B.C. ministry of than one in five reported needing help with such human resources explaining benefits and rights. written materials. By contrast, the Ontario minister of justice Income tax tables are the toughest. Seven out tried to explain divorce and separation to of 10 Canadians c"uldn't use the tax chart to children by writing at the Grade 8 or 9 level and pick the right amoui: :-..f federal taxes to pay on another Ontario pamphlet aimed at babysitters

46 managed Grade 7 prose. the federal governmentonce knew how to write "A lot of care was taken with the writing offor ordinary Canadians aboutan urgent nation- these. You can see the difference,"says Bunch.al issue. The York professor usedtwo formulas, In 1931, a 30-page pamphlet from the named after their inventors Fry and Dale-Chall,Department of Pensions and National Health to determine a range for the reading level. Thetried to calm fears abouta terrible disease adled formulas look at such thingsas sentence length,Infantile Paralysis, later knownas polio. It

'4eacia0ty of governmentpublicgtiobs tpfschoo1:; lteritiriread.

numbers of syllables per word and the familiar-managed this technical subject withprose no ity of words. Short sentences andshort wordshigher than a Grade 7 reading level. always score best. "If they could do it 50years ago, you'd think Worst among the publicationswas thethere would be more of it today. Anything federal government's free trade promotionkit, aimportant can be writtenso that people with glossy collection of fact and fiction that flooded only basic information can understand it.Once sup: nnarkets in May, 1987, as part ofathey managed with simplicity andgrace. Now $12-nalion advertising campaign. they have to dazzle us with their complexity," By checking random 100-wordblocks,complains Bunch. Bunch rated the main booklet, "Securing The reading barriers created by bigwords, Canada's Future," and four other insertsfromjargon and wandering sentences aren't limited the 200,000 kits. All came out at betweento government publications. Othersurveys second- and fourth-year university level. have found most trade unionnewspapers are "It's as if they weren't talkingto the ordinarytoo difficult for their intended readers, staff people, but only to the uppermost slice manuals baffle retail workers andeven materi- politicians, business leaders and editors." Yetals for adult literacy students lack consistency.

47 4 7 And newspapers, popular magazines andat Halifax's Mount Saint Vincent University. school textbooks are constantly being surveyed In 1980 under a federal Justice Department to see if they're shooting wide of their readers.contract, Manning did the most comprehensive The whole mess is further complicated byreadability survey yet in Canada 300,000 continuing controversy over the readabilitywords, three formulas and 59 documents from formulas themselves. Supporters concede thattht federal government, eight provincial gov- the formulas don't distinguish between senseernments and the Reader's Digest. and nonsense, take no account of graphics or All the documents attempted to explain some typography andcan't know whether theaspect of the law to the public. Manning's intended audience has special knowledge. conclusion: only a half-dozen would be useful "I might have a motorcycle repair manualto the people who most needed the information. which tests out as first -year university level. Yet "It's not malice; it's egocentric writing by if I gave it to someone who reads at the Grade 9lawyers who never consider who the intended level but also happens to maintain his ownaudience is." One U.S. expert isn't so positive motorcycle, he'd manage with no problems,"that poor readability is an accident. says Andrew Manning, an education professor Michael Fox, director of a Washington, IMMIEllt iffiSkinto.. Lake .._

York Univ education professor Gary Bunch shows a student how he does his word count and readability assessment.

48 4d D.C., literacy group, says the dense prose of Mostly, when governments do try, the many official forms is one way of making sureattempts appear half-hearted. that too many people don't apply for benefits. Ruth Baldwin, a Plain English consultant "It's OK to rewrite computer manuals, it'sbased in Ottawa, advised a group of federal OK to have a Plain English law for well-offofficials who prepare sheets inserted with people to understand their mortgages, but whenfamily allowance cheques. It took six months to I want the food stamp applications writtenmorereduce a change-of-address form fromtwo simply, I'm accused of wanting to `dummypages to one, says Baldwin. down' things," says Fox. "I don't think those peoplewere really In Canada, the experts don't like Fox'sconvinced about what theywere doing; they theories but they haven't got any betterhaN 2n't had us back," she says. explanations for the lack of official action. They should. The readabilitysurvey rated Despite pages of suggested changes inthree family allowance inserts at Grade 10to 12 Manning's 1980 study, few of the unreadablereading levels, higher than the education of at legal publications have been revised. Andleast five million Canadians Ontaric, which discovered in 1985 that most health and safety material couldn't be read by workers, still hands out many of thesame EDITOR'S NOTE: York University's Gary unintelligible pamphlets. The ministry ofBunch was asked to rate this article by Peter citizenship and culture, however, lastyear Calamai. Using the Fry and Dale-Challstan- issued a Plain English guide to governmentdards, it was marked as betweena Grade 11 and services for immigrants. first-year university level.

49 ciu Plain language crusade can save government money

A 76-year-old retired accountant with aching legs is Canada's crusader for Plain English. Single-handedly over the past 20 months, Cy Whiteley and his scuttling pen have revised 1,100 forms and leaflets from 39 federal departments and agencies.

Cy Whiteley's pen scuttles furiously downcabmet adviser on Plain English and the United the government form, slashing legalisms andStates a federal Plain English regulation signed turning gobbledegook into plain English. 10 years ago by Jimmy Carter. "Affix your signature," Whiteley mutters. Canada has a 76-year-old retired accountant "Why not just, sign." "Do you have anywith aching legs whose hobbies used to be brisk absences from Canada?," he reads "An ordi-walks and writing letters to the editor under nary person would ask, 'Have you been awayseven pseudonyms (six male, one female). from Canada', but not these pseudo-lawyers." But the local newspaper only prints a few of By now Whiteley is in full fury; his unrelentinghis many letters and various ailments have given pen decorates the once-neat page with accusinga rest to the pedometer on Whiteley's belt. arrows, blackened blocks and caustic com-Instead, Yoda-like, he instructs Plain English ments. The revised document is sent back to thenovices from an anonymous corridor of empty federal government agency that inflicted it ongovernment offices just a few blocks from the the public. Parliament Buildings. Another blow for official prose that can be "I've been niggling at people for years," he easily understood. grins. "It's a thing you grow up with." Some Britain has Plain English overseers in theniggling. Single-handedly over the past 20 prime minister's office, Australia a specialmonths, Cy Whiteley and his scuttling pen have

Clear-writing crusader Cy Whiteley, 76, sits among a mountain of government publications.

____ 50 5() revised 1,100 forms and leaflets from 39nications Commission rewrote the regulations departments and agencies. for citizen's band radio into plain language... "He's a dedicated critic and hiscommentsand was able to reassign five officials who had were very valuable," says Dale Colter of thedone nothing but answer questions about the federal customs service. previous legalese. Those valuable commentsor at least half of MPs are also in favor. A Commons commit- themaccount for scores of pending changestee last year urged immediate and drastic to "I Declare", the million-copies-a-year cus-simplification of income tax forms, which six toms brochure telling Canadians what they canmillion Canadians pay others to fill out for legally bring home from trips outside thethem. country. "Look at this," says Whiteley, retrieving an Whiteley's work is a project of the LawAustralian income tax form written in Plain Reform Commission, which hopes to expand toEnglish. "They've even made the type large French-language forms as well.Itstartedenough for old people like me to read." Small almost as a fluke when the retired accountanttype is one target of Whiteley's avenging pen. was hired to fill a temporary financial vacancyAnother is document writers who forget the and a commissioner discovered Whiteley'slarge proportion of immigrants and semi- private crusade for plain language. literates in the general public. The "dedicated "The greatest number of all Canadianscritic" even revises forms while waitingat the should be able to understand, with minimalbank or reading fire notices in his apartment help, all government forms and instructions,"building. he explains. But some Canadian government officials Uncredited improvements from the plainaren't convinced of the need for plain language. language project are already in citizenshipOne agency said it might consider improving forms from the Secretary of State and creepingthe illegible type in a notice when existing into documents from a half-dozen othersupplies are used up in 10 years. agencies as existing supplies are usedup. Whiteley won't identify other foot-draggers. "They can't grasp that it would save moneyBut many who apply for a passport are puzzled to chuck out a few hundred pounds of old formsby the form's convoluted phrases and jargon. and print new ones right away that save the And there's always Canada's post office, public's time and government expense as well.dependably backward in its customs sticker That's why it's slow starting." Experiencewhich demands a full description of contents elsewhere shows the value of plain language inand then intones: "Non-observance of this government forms. By revising the applicationcondition may lead to a delay of the item." The forms for legal aid, one British agency cut $2.5U.S. postal service manages with: "Failure to do million a year from staff costs of dealing withso might delay your article." faulty applications. The U.S. Federal Commu-

51 ,1 The Gobbledegook Detector

Short words and short phrases are more readable than multisyllabic monstrosities. Cy Whiteley's guide to stamping out pompous prose.

Are you baffled and annoyed by pompouswords, for an average of 60 words per sentence, prose and ponderous bureaucratese? Workingit's unsatisfactory. Connecticut's Plain English for the Law Reform Commission, Plain EnglishLaw insists the average number of words per crusader Cy Whiteley devised a rule to ratesentence be 22 or less and no sentence exceed 50 readability and root out flabby writing. words. To analyse a passage that might consist of a Now analyse each word by the number of sentence, a paragraph or more than onesyllables it has and enter the number of words in Gobbledegook detector Sentence Average words Total Syllables per word per sentence =1, Para. 0000005 6 words 1 2 3 4

Southam Graphics Rob Ludlow paragraph, count every word and write thethe proper circle. Count "ed" suffixes as number in the square box. syllables, even when they are not pronounced Count the sentences and write the number onseparately. the line below "Sentence." Divide the number The more words that appear in circles to the of words by the number of sentences and writeright of Circle 2, the more pompous the writing the average number of words per sentence in thetends to be. space at the left. In general, short words in short sentences If a piece being studied includes severalthat express clear thoughts are much more paragraphs, put the number on the "Para" line.readablethanmultisyllabicmonstrosities If the text has three sentences that total 180expressing meandering musings.

the frustrations of being illiterate

Being illiterate is like &yaw to pick sonsetking up with both hands tied behind your back

Wendy Stevens, literacy teacher, Saint John, N.B.

52 el ti Prison inmates insist "carrot-and-stick" programs don't work

The "carrot-and-stick" prison literacy campaignpromoted by Solicitor General James Kelleher is doomed to failure,say the hardened men who are the supposed beneficiaries. The "carrot" has itsmoments. But the "stick" isn't going to budge lifers who landed in jail because they wouldn't followsociety's rules.

Wally Belczowski is still talking calmly about tion behind the literacy drive that education the benefits of education as the door made of will empty jails by rehabilitating prisoners. grey steel bars scrapes shut a foot from his face. "We've been down this road before," warned His voice becomes suddenly urgent. Duguid, who runs the country's most successful "It matters." There is a loud click. "It reallyprogram of university studies inside peniten- matters." And then Wally, head of the students' tiaries. council, walks back into Edmonton Institution, Other critics said little was being done for the an S-6 maximum security federal penitentiary, 4,000 former federal inmateson parole. Provin- complete with Special Handling Unit. cial jails, with another 12,000 inmates,are even A tough jail for tough men. Usually about farther behind. half of the 190 inmates are lifers. But no inmates, federalor provincial, were Ten of these inmates have just spent the invited to that ballroom at the Chateau Laurier. better part of a summer morning tellinga visitor "Just because I'm in prison doesn't give them why the "carrot-and-stick" prison literacy the right to push me around," Rob Ironchild is campaign being pushed by federal Solicitor saying. Other inmates inan Edmonton Max General James Kelleher will fail. classroom nod in agreement. Bill joins in: "The carrot sometimes works," says Wally, "They don't want us smarter than them, they whose formal title is chairman of the distance don't want us to get any smarter in this place." education group. "The stick doesn't workat all. The penitentiary system insists it doeswant the "If we were going to do what wewere told, inmates smarterat least about society's rules. we wouldn't be here. If you tell someone here "We're trying to teach inmates that they're they have to learn, they'll breakyour nose, or responsible for their own behavior,"says Dan worse." The coercion in Kelleher's policy Kane, head of offender programs. "Wewant comes from givingless of everything tothem to take control of the world they live in, in allegedly illiterate inmates who won't take a positive way." That's called "life skills". Two remedial courses: less pay, less chance for earlyyears ago, the professionals of the Correctional parole and no chance for privileges like day Service of Canada urged a 10-times increase in release. spending on life skills and onlya doubling for That's only the start. Senior department staff literacy courses. don't hide their admiration for thesuccess of Politically, literacy is a lotmore salable for some U.S. prisons with mandatory literacy ambitious ministers than nebulous "life skills". courses. "We solicitors general don'tseem to last "We're not convinced yet thatwe need to go long," Kelleher I: 3. "I'm the fourth one in the U.S. route," says assistant corrections two-and-a-half so I'm trying to get a lot commissioner Andrew Graham. "You holddone rapidly." So far, he seems to be succeed- things in reserve." In a remarkable display of ing. In the first three months of thenew drive, masochism, Kelleher even hosteda national the correctional service graduated almost twice conference in Ottawa in May, 1987, where as many newly literate inmates as in the past 12 experts from across the country competed to months 252 versus 150. The numbers don't trash the coercive slant of the policy. really mean much. As Kane told the National From B.C.'s Simon Fraser University, Prof. Conference on Offender Literacy: "Wecan Stephen Duguid questioned the basicassump- make the books look like we want them to." Fart

53 Inmates at Collin's Bay Institution in Kingston, Ontario, learn to use computers.

of the problem is the correctional service has and writing skills. Education officials at the only the vaguest idea what proportion of theprison estimate two or three dozen more are 12,000 federal inmates are really functionalfunctionally illiterate. Yet only nine inmates illiterates. The SCAT (School and College enrolled in the basic literacy course. Ability Test) being used to rate prisoners is The solution, says Marshall Hopkins, is more than 20 years old, was designed totutoring by other inmates. measure the progress of California teenagers, "If the goal is to overcome illiteracy in was overtaken by a new version six years ago, prison, that's the only practical way to do it. and, since it is multiple choice, rates as literate a Instead of bringing in one or twr :-_achers at prisoner who can barely sign his name. $40,000 a year, we can have 25 inmates at the Worse still, the test's shortcomings mean the top pay of $5 a day," says Hopkins, an correctional services don't actually know if 252 Athabasca University professor who oversaw inmates have really jumped from reading belowthe training of several inmates as literacy tutors. a completed Grade 8 level to reading Grade 9 or But many wardens are reluctant to lose above the government's cutoff for illiteracy.inmates to tutoring when they're needed Using SCAT to evaluate inmates before and elsewhere. Says Archambault's Michel Des- after literacy training is "inevitably going to Lauriers: "We need manpower to keep the place give an illusion of improvement," concludes anclean." In the penitentiary service, the wardens unpublished critique by an expert in education- and especially the regions are strong; al testing. headquarters in Ottawa is weak. Kelleher may Recently, the correctional service admitted havesaid more use would be made of these problems by asking a Carleton Universitycommunity volunteers in prison literacy but adult literacy expert to find a better test, fast.penitentiaries in Quebec and thePrairies Back at Edmonton Max, the distance educa-haven't complied.Similarly,B.C.prisons tion group ran its own evaluation among theencourage inmate tutors while other regions lag inmates not insegregation using another behind. California test. Such differences seem at odds with the "We only found 12 per cent below Grade 5,"service's Latin motto, futura recipere grasp says Wally. the future. Perhaps that's because one senior That means 14 prisoners who are basicbureaucrat was sure it meant "future recipe". illiterates, with profound limits on their reading

54 Poems from behind bars

Examples of the work by Saskatoonprisoners in an adult language class.

REVERSE NEWBORN TREE Through my bars Flowers in the field And double glass Houses made of steel I can smell Husbands and wives The wakening grass People made of we It makes me feel Beat the kid So much alive Maybe he'll live I close my eyes Hereditary pass it on And feel revived Break the chain it don't belong It helps me see Not like you That life goes' on Don't turn the screw Especially here Where days are long Flowers in the field Yes I'm in jail Houses made of steel You've probably guessed Husbands and wives This part off People made of nice Is suck a mess I ove the kid That's why it helps With love he'll live So MCA you see Hereditary pass it on To watch the birth Don't break the chain it DOES BELONG Of a newborn tree Thi _nigh my bars by J., Saskatoon Regional And double glass Psychiatric Centre Upon the shoots Of newborn grass It makes me want Shock of pain springs to heart; To be out there and u n w i n d. ; into w a r m darkness... Outside that fence a m i d b e a u t i f u l fl a s h i n g lights ... Without a care the feeling, But then again I've realized so restful, Once like you I'd shut finally a peace, my eyes To the simple things in lifeyou see I ' v e found... Like the simple birth Ha! now I leave you body, Of a newborn tree flying, s1074 fast, by Larry, Saskatoon Regional up, Psychiatric Centre a n d b a c k down... W H A T ? go back

no, no, . spiritmind please- -by Joe, Saskatoon Regional Psychiatric Centre

55 Competency in military skills is no guarantee of literacy

The Canadian Forces don't have a literacy problar because these days they mostly accept high school graduates. But illiteracy among recent graduates is 1: per cent, according to the Southam Literacy Survey. And what about all those soldiers with just grade school education from 20 years ago?

The Canadian armed forces do not, repeat five recently accepted as non-cornmi .sioned DO NOT, have a literacy problem. And that's members privates and up ;lave high official. school graduation or better. A brigadier-general said so in September, Real-lifeliteracyproblemshavebeen 1986. A lieutenant said so again the next month, reported from only one specialized navy after days of checking. Then, in September, category that requires skills in higher math- 1987, after still more inquiries, both a lieuten- ematics. ant-colonel and a lieutenant-commander said so "It's not a sufficiently serious problem that it emphatically. permeates very many of the levels within the Then why are roughly two dozen of themilitary," says r personnel specialist. forces' brightest non-commissioned officers But the specialist also points out that much of about to get weeks of special tutoring in readingthe Canadian forcestrainingisdelivered and writing from literacy instructor Wendyon-the-job where extra instruction can easily be Burton of B.C.'s Fraser Valley College? Burtonthrown in to compensate for literacy failings. says the college has provided remedial literacy Results from the Southam Literacy Survey instruction since 1981 for one small groupsuggest that such instruction is needed on a among those regularly attending the Basicfairly regular basis in the armed forces. The Officer Training course at Chilliwack. survey found that one in six of recent high They're senior non-commissioned officers school graduates tested as functionally illiterate. with 15 to 20 years in the military whose Studies in the United States armed forces reading ability tests below a Grade 9 level, theshow that military personnel spend two hours a official cut-off point to be considered literate. day reading for their job, almost twice as much "We have regimental sergeant-majors whoas their civilian counterparts. The range of are incredibly competent in other areas and canreading tasks is also wider. read their orders as well as anyone else can, but Military researchers in Canada speculate the they're labelled as functionally illiterate. I justarmed forces have a "safety valve" of lateral don't accept that label." But she does accept that transfers that probably takes care of literacy many of the two dozen NCOs are at a Grade 6 problems before they burst out in the open. level and need Grade 12 to graduate among the "If someone is in a technical trade where 100 officers Commissioned From the Ranksthey're not happy maybe it'.; a literacy (CFR). problem then they can do what we call And to Burton, that suggests the armed `remuster' and move into another area," says forces do have a literacy problem. one researcher. "I see the success stories," she says. "I see the The same researcher also points out that a ones who have risen through the ranks. I don'tpeacetime army is a giant training machine. see the common Soldier at all but we can see that Personnel with low literacy have constant the military has a problem with reading andopportunities to get help without entering writing.It's obvious." Not to the folks atspecial programs. National Defence headquarters in Ottawa. Back in Chilliwack, Burton says lor literary Here's what their research shows: is concentrated among personnel who joined The educational levels of recruits have soared two decades ago with such low education that in the recession-plagued 1980s. Four out ofthey can't go anywhere else now.

5 6 The absence of specific programs for literacythe army and I live in a camp. In thiscamp I upgrading doesn't surprise her. have a hut. I sleep in this hut. Ican read and "The military would have to acknowledgewrite in my hut. I can write my name. I march to that they have a literacy problem," shesays. my but and I sleep in it." The literacy course "The military would never do that." It didonce,was a success. Two-thirds of the functional during the Second World War. illiterates acquired enough reading and writing Faced with large numbers of functionalin that extra eight weeks to be sent to advanced illiterates, the army openeda special basictraining camps where, says a research report training camp at North Bay, Ont., in 1942 thatfrom 1949, their enthusiasm and new-found provided double the normal eight weeks ofpride made up for any lingering limitations. instruction. Special literacy lessonswere devel- "We would like to have whole companies of oped around daily militaq life, like thisexcerptyour men," a commander told the army literacy from the military textbook Army Days: "Iam inteachers back then.

Orntwa.ds: the fru:trade= of being illiterate

It's not the most wonderful feeling. It tearsyou apart inside. All the people I've let down. Ies just one lie after another.

literacy learner, Vancouver

57 S 7 Canadian youth score lower in literacy survey than American counterparts

There's no cause for Canadians to feel morally smug when it comes to educational comparisons with our U.S. neighbors. Young Americans read better and are more skilled at using everyday items like bus schedules than similar Canadians aged 21 to 25.

We're not as smart as we thought. or worse in," says Irwin Kirsch, project director In the first literacy test across the 49thof the literacy study published in 1986 by the parallel, young Americans do better than young National Assessment of Educational Progress Canadians in more than two-thirds of the(NAEP), based in Princeton, N.J. questions,theSouthamLiteracySurvey "You need to focus on the nature of the reveals. problem, rather than just the extent." The test compares adults aged 21 to 25 on The 59 NAEP literacy questions were given largely identical questions given as part ofin 1985 to 3,538 Americans aged 21 to 25. For separate nationwide literacy surveys Southam to get a comparison, the saritasks The Americans clearly outperform the Cana-were slightly adapted for 334 Canadians in the dians both in general reading proficiency and insame age range which was oversampled in the using everyday documents such as bus sched-national survey of 2,398 adults. In 19 cases out ules and the Yellow Pages. The two groups areof 20, the margin of error for the Canadian roughly equal in understanding prose whileyouth group is within five percentage points. Canadians edge slightly aheaci when handling One glaring difference between the two numbers. nations is the high school drop-out rate. Overall, the U.S. youth score 78 per cent Roughly 25 per cent of these young Canadians correct compared to 74 for Canadians. One indid not finish high school, nearly double the five of the U.S. youth were either black orU.S.average. Only inner-city blacks and Hispanic. One in 10 of the Canadians were Hispanics are as liable to drop out of high school immigrants but all but a handful of those went as the average Canadian. to high schools here. Among the Canadian dropouts, more than "This contradicts any illusions we may have one in five isilliterate while one in eight of Canadian educational superiority," says graduates score as illiterate22 per cent versus psychologist Paul Nesbitt. 13 per cent. . "The supposedly brightest age group of Bilingualism can't be blamed for the differ- Canadians is significantly below Americans in ences between Canada and the U.S. Franco- reading proficiency. I have no reason to believe phones were equal to anglophones and that is not true for the entire population,- sayssometimes better on the Canadian literacy Nesbitt. test, available in either language. Saskatchewan Education Minister Lorne The lower reading proficiency of Canadians Hepworth says the comparison is troublingrevealed by the test is considered large enough because the U.S. is already lagging well behindto be statistically significant and not just a Japan and West Germany in competitiveness.chance result. "I think all of us have viewed the Canadian The survey shows Canadians fall down in the education system as one of the best in the world. same places as Americans. They just fall down a So we have lulled ourselves into neutral. Webit farther. never had to look over our shoulders and see Youth on both sides of the border perform anybody catching up." reasonably well on school-type reading but American reaction was more cautious. have trouble with real-life written material that "If you say one group reads better or worse, requires more complicated "information pro- it's important to know what tasks they do better cessing," like finding headings in the Yellow

58 5 d Pages or summarizing general themes. of a lunch bill. Less than half the young Americans correctly Concern over the low literacy of students is calculated the wait for a bus from a schedule.rising. Quebec Education Minister Claude Only one in three young Canadians got it right. Ryan said senior high school students wrote "as Similarly, barely half the Canadians couldthough they never studied grammar and correctly summarize an article on the vocabu-syntax" when more than half failed an essay- lary of business; Americans were also low,writing test. The Liberals in Ontario madea two-thirds getting it right. A U.S. analysis$300-million budget boost for elementary called these "distressing weaknesses." schools a main campaign pledge. Other findings: In the past, most provinces opposiAl the In general reading proficiency, Canadianscreation of an independent agency to monitor did better on a history article butworse on aeducation standards across the nation. newspaper rescue story; The resistance may be weakening. Ontario In prose comprehension, Canadians didhas joined an international comparison of high poorly on poetry but fared substantiallyschool mathematics. better than Americans with a newspaper "Evaluation can be a very valuable tool, editorial; especially if it's not taken too literally," says On everyday documents, Americans scoredBernard Shapiro, Ontario's deputy mir:,ster of higher in twice as many questions, with education. "You can find out if things are going Canadians &specially weak on bus schedulesdramatically up or down." and taking telephone messages; Many Canadians agree the standards of In dealing with numbers, Canadian youtheducation are dropping39 per cent say grade briefly sparkled, outscoring Americans by 25school is worse today than when they went to percentage points on the simple calculationclasses. Thirty per cent say it has improved.

59 What's N.Y. stand for? Community colleges, prisons and even the federal government buy American literacy material for Canadian students complete with questions about U.S. presidents and asking in which U.S. city Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Learning to read is difficult enough without having to fight cultural bias.

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Canadian and U.S. literacy posters. The five Canadian posters shown are relatively bland when compared with eye-catchingposters produced for the American library Association featuring such well-known figures as Paul Newman and Mickey Mouse. 61- 61 Already struggling to address an envelope inthe association's celebrity READ posters fea- a literacy exercise, the young mother addstures the singer peering intently into a Penguin another furrow to her brow. edition of Dostoevsky's The Idiot. "What's N.Y. stand for?" Susan asks her The Canadian market is also a profitable MUM add-on for U.S. firms marketing literacy tests. "That's New York." "Why not a province?" Prisons, community colleges and even the Before replying,the tutor darts a quickfederal government purchase tests complete sideways glance to see if a visitor is listening.with questions about the Panama Canal, U.S. Then she says quickly, "It's an American book,presidents and naming the American city where there aren't any Canadian cities in it." TheAlexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. books at this session are from Laubach Literacy Bell's invention of the telephone in Canada, which raises about 80 per cent of itsBrantford, Ont. features in a series of modest core budget from sales of teachingpamphlets prepared for Canadianliteracy materials imported from Laubach's worldstudents under a federal grant. headquarters in Syracuse, N.Y. Laubach isn't They're out of print. "Distribution of any the exception, it's the rule. Canadian literacy material is a major problem," "The large amount of American materialsays Audrey Anderson who self-published her doesn't bother me," says Bobbi Scar lett whobook on tailoring a literacy curriculum to runs literacy programs for the Calgary Board ofNorthern Ontario. Education. "Mainstream publishers here wouldn't touch "It's the same for adult education as forit if it didn't appeal to the American market." everything else_ ourregular books, ourThere's some hope. The Give the Gift of television. Literacy Campaignisplanning grantsto "Television is one of the best ways to raise Frontier College, the Movement for Canadian public awareness and reach illiterates, even ifLiteracy and Laubach Canada to produce the programs originate across the border." materials with a Canadian perspective. Past experience told Canadian literacy organ- The campaign might consider applying for izations to plan for a rush of inquiries after actorone of its own grants. Dennis Weaver appeared as an illiterate in Then it could use a Canadian design on its ABC's movie of the week in September, 1987. fund-raising poster rather than merely copy the Laubach and ABC aren't the only ones to much-praised U.S. poster. profit from cross-border literacy sales. "We thought we'd benefit from publicity The American Library Association estimatesthat spilled across the border," says Nancy it shipped nearly 50,000 literacy publicity itemsFleming of the Book and Periodical Develop- to Canada in 1987, mostly to libraries. ment Council. Sales got a boost from the popularity of "But there hasn't been as much as we David Bowie's Glass Spider tour because one of expected."

62 Dreams in Technicolor: glitterati support literacy

The Barnum and Bailey fund-raising approachto help people learn to read gets its share of sneers. But that doesn't stop John O'Leary of FrontierCollege from dreaming in Technicolor.

When it comes to literacy, Jc1 Daniel A few literacy workers from outside have O'Leary of Frontier College always dreams ingrumbled about another O'Leary Technicolor Technicolor. Triumph Mila Mulroney reading to neigh- And as O'Leary gazes around the Briars golfborhood kids. club on the shore of Lake Simcoe, his cinematic "It's the leftist crowd," mutters O'Leary. dreams come to life. After all, who else would object to trying to Swinging dubs, hitching up gaudy plus- fours and pinning on literacy buttons are the likes of sportsmen Jake Gaudaur and Frank Mahovlich,publishersBillArden,Jack McClelland and Michael de Pencier, actress Kathryn O'Hara, journalists Diane Francis arid Shelagh Rogers, and lawyers Ralph Leon and Jake Howardeach paying $200 this summer day to be tooted at by the Great Lakes Brass Quintet, celebrated by poet Michael Ondaatje and exhorted by host Peter Growski. "I hope some of you get infected with the same enthusiasm for the cause as I have," Growski says at lunch after the golf game. Publisher de Pencier has. He shoves a wad of crumbled bills forward to enter next year's Third Peter Growski Invitational, automatically winning the prize for first to pay. Hoots of laughter rise from people who've just raised $20,000 for a good cause. Most literacy groups in Canada have never tasted such excitement. They exist hand- to-mouth on genteel pleading for government grants and the meagre profits from car washes and bake sales. Yet many snipe at Frontier College. "The whole literacy movement, not just the educators, are largely snobs," O'Learysays. He's in Toronto now, at the former private mansion that homes Frontier, a college that gives no degree but has promoted literacy since 1899. As the director of development, the normally exuberant O'Leary watchesover successful projects that find jobs for ex- convicts, help street kids to read and encourage CBC radio per ,onsdity Peter Growskion good students to tutor poorer ones. the links at The Briars in Ontario at the But right now John Daniel O'Leary is2nd Growski Invitational to wise funds brooding. for Frontier College's literacy programs.

63 63 T:

Mila Mulroney reads to Toronto Grade 3 students at Frontier College to support its 90-year battle against illiteracy. enlist McDonald's ("Ronald McDonald canUnrepentant, O'Leary chuckles: "I love that bring back the excitement of mystery, adven-Barnum and Bailey stuff." And just maybe the ture and information through reading"), or theGive the Gift of Literacy campaign in Canada NHL players association ("The name of thecould have used the publicity,since the game is reading") or movie-house magnateCanadian book industry's fight against illitera- Garth Drabinsky of Odeon-Cineplex ("You'vecy barely reached half of its first-year target of seen the movie, now read the book") or Pizza$100,000. Hut... Book publishers are generous this fall No Pizza Hut, ruled an outraged Torontopledging roughly two per cent of royalties from "aard of Education. No way those foreign30 designated books, up from last year's 21. But corporations will bribe Canadian students tothe public only dropped about $35,000 into read with soft drinks and pizzas. canisters in bookstores across the country. Undeterred, O'Leary is now dreaming in That sounds like a lot to literacy groups like CinemaScope, Dolby Sound, IMAX...literacy Vancouver's Carnegie Institute that buys text- at the Winter Olympics ...Wayne Gretzky touting books at an Oilers' practice in Westbooks from car-wash proceeds or Quebec's literacy coalition that uses posters from Chile Edmonton Mall...Sylvester Stallone at a because it can't afford to have one designed in Toronto bookstore..."He's the spokesman for the Give the Gift of Literacy campaign in theCanada. United States and we had a chance to have him But John Daniel O'Leary isn't dreaming visit here. People were appalled and it died about books anymore. He's dreaming Michael They're all teachers. They think the reason kidsJ. Fox. On a poster. Encouraging kids to read. are illiterateis Stallone and McDonald's."On buses. ON EVERY BUS IN CANADA.

64 In the U.S., high profile advocates,no funding

Illiteracy, American style, where caring is muchmore effective than money and there may not really be a solution. It's a hyped-up debate where the suggestion is that only perverts or Commies wouldn't read to their children. Butsome experts fear the publicity overkill pushed by Hollywood and the presidentwill quietly evaporate as have previ,us battles to eradicate crime, poverty and drugs.

Under a poster that declares "America,author David Harman reflects on the hyper- Reagan Country" in red, white and blue stripes,bole. Lynn Wood pantomimes a waitress, demon- "Illiteracy isn't the real problem in America. strating how an Hispanic office cleanerwasThe problem is that they're eroding the culture taught to read from menus. of reading in this country. Did youever see the Wood, a former staffer in the Reagan Whitepresident read a speech from a sheet of paper? House, is executive director of the NationalNo. Advisory Council on Adult Education. She is He reads from a teleprompter that's invisible also the woman who played waitress in herto everyone else but him. No popular character office after hours, tal-ing make-believe break-on TV ever reads ... He pauses, thinking. fast orders from the Hispanic illiterate cleaner."Except on The Cosby Show." That tendency Welcome to illiteracy, American style, whereto balance both sides is why few in Canada have free enterprise is the best solution and caringisever heard of David Harman or his thoughtful much more important than money. book Illiteracy: A National Dilemma. Even in "If money issupposed to correct thethe U.S., rival author Jonathan Kozol gets the problem," demands Wood, "then how can weinvitations to tell congressmen why illiteracy have so many illiterates who went through thelies behind everything from airline disasters to schools in the '60s and '70s, when moneythe eclipse of American supremacy. poured into education like an open water tap, in U.S. illiteracy tends to be black and white, off billions and billions?" Money matters, concedesor on, worlds of either priests or proles. Only Karl Haigler, the bureaucrat in charge of federalperverts or Commies wouldn't read to their literacy funds. But what's really important ischildren is the suggestion. publicity and the backing of the top people. Some experts are disgusted. "People say that the president is only giving Judy Koloski of the American Association it lip service. My answer is that it's the for Adult and Continuing Education: "It's president's lips. At least he's talking about it." not much use saying that you should read to Everyone is. America is once again hurling war your child, as our education department does, rhetoric to "combat our silent enemy." And when the parent is illiterate." what a celebrity cast of warriors: Sylvester Paul Jurmo of the Business Council for Stallone, Paul Newman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Effective Literacy: "Pecole try to oversim- Goldie Hawn, Walter Cronkite, Malcolm plify illiteracy. If you talk about the complex- Forbes, Dennis Weaver, Lee Iacocca, former ity, then their eyes glaze over." chief justice Warren Burger, David Bowie, Finally, Michael Fox of PLAN (Push Erma Bombeck, cartoonists, newspapers, paper Literacy Action Now): "We've drawn the companies, the Library of Congress, IBM, attention of the nation to this problem. Let's Xerox, the U.S. Marine Corps...Illiteracy be a bit more honest now. Let's put aside the even made it to the Academy Awards iazt spring desire for public attention and get down to with a plea by producer Steven Spielberg "to programs that can document some real renew our romance with the word." "Only a change in people's social and economic life. generation of readers will spawn a generation of The literacy effort needs to grow up." Fox is writers," said the Star Wars producer. speaking at PLAN's rowhouse offices on the Relaxing at the Harvard Club in New York, black side of Washington's invisible, butvet j

65 real, racial demarcation line. While keepingwelfare. Social and economic? Listen to an up an hour's running commentary for a illiteracy slide-and-tape show from the Ameri- visitor, the executive director of this commu- can Newspaper Publishers Association. nity-based group also helps a Jamaican youth "A permanent and growing underclass who with fractions; gives ups to two tutors about will become a burden on the literate and a literacy instruction in a power station; and potential for disaffection and violence. ...The occasionally pops into a classroom nexttime is rapidly approaching when the burden door. will break the back of our society." Yet what Behind the president's lips, the Hollywoodconcerns people like Michael Fox, Paul Jurmo 077277, the best-sellers and the lucrative lectureand Judy Koloski more than such publicity tours are thousands of dedicated, overworkedoverkill is the opposite possibility, that this and underpaid individuals like Fox who aren't"war" too will quietly evaporate as have making a dent in the probk Ti, whether theprevious national campaigns to eradicate crime, totals are Kozol's 60 million to 70 million or thepoverty or drugs. government's 25-30 million. Says Fox: "Grassroots literacy efforts have "Ninety-five per cent of the literacy pro-been somewhat co-opted by the state govern- grams in this country aren't addressing thements, creating the impression that volunteers problems that cause illiteracy,"says Fox.can solve the problem, which they cannot, that "They're oriented to changing the individual,lots of money is coming forth, which it isn't, not the system. They're defining the problem asthat lots is being done. And it isn't." Back at the an educational problem, rather than political,National Advisory Council on Adult Educa- social and economic." Political, like usingtion, Lynn Wood is squishing her lips like a fish. needlessly complicated language in food stampThat's how she taught a Japanese fellow skier to applications.Political,likestate governorspronounce "enthusiast." Literacy in America urging mandatory classes for any illiterate onhas lots of them. But for how long?

____ 66 The failures of formaleducation

Frank Smith abandoned newspapering fora Harvard PhD and a career as an internationally acclaimed writer and lectureron reading, writing and children's literacy. His latest book is called Insultto Intelligence.

ON SCHOOLS what writing is for. I think most kidsare almost Schools aren't good places for learninganythere by the time they come to school. What more than hospitals are good places for beingschool says to kids is forget all of that, that's sick in. It's very, very difficult to learn inoutside of school. Inside of school, reading isa school, ircludiiuniversity. People learn muchwhole set of exercises, a whole set of drills. Kids more outside of school. ... are very lucky if they see anything that makes sense to them in reading instruction in schools. REGIMENTATION Most of the time they're filling in blanks and Most kids know a good deal about readinganswering stupid questions when they've read before they come to school. Every kid can readstupid stories.... the word McDonald's. Most kids know what the television guide is for. Most kidscan readON TEACHING store signs, they can read product labels, things You know the best people for readingto like that. They know about writing birthdayfive-year-old kids in school? It'sseven-year- cards or leaving notes on refrigerator doors.olds, not the teachers. And not the good readers They've got a good idea what reading is for andbut the mediocre ones, because the good readers

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'That's absolutely correct, Billy ' 67- will come on too strong and act like teachers andREAD FAST pick up all the mistakes. You don't nee(' Reading's very much easier if you read faster, someone who is a brilliant reader, you just needif you skim. If you're having difficulty reading a someone who is a little better than you. ... book, don't slog through it slowly and then go back and read it quickly. Go through it quickly WHAT'S WRONG first time, so that you can get a good idea of If you persuade a kid that he can't write, thenwhat it is about, and then read it slowly.... it's very, very difficult to get that kid to write. He does everything wrong. He worries aboutON LEARNING spelling, he worries about punctuation, he We've all got learning disabilities, everyone worries about all these things we say are thehas. I've tried for years to understand automo- basics. He never gets off the ground. Well, ifsbile engines and I still don't. I bet you can't much the same with reading. If you persuade aunderstand the stock exchange, or do algebra or kid that he can't read, what he'll start doing is allcan't speak a second language, or whatever. It's the things that are wrong he'll struggle tonot because we were born with some bit missing sound out every word, he'll read too slowly,in our brain. At sometime we were persuaded he'll read and then try to memorize everythingthat this was something we couldn't learn and that he reads. All these things destroy reading.once you're persuaded that you can't learn But by the time you've been in school for 10something, then in fact it's very, very difficult years or so, it's totally habitual. The problemfor you to learn something. All your study with the adult illiterate is not that they have nohabits go wrong and your attitude goes wrong idea how to lead but that they've got all theand your motivation goes wrong and especially wrong ideas about reading. ... what goes wrong is that the people who try to teach you, try to teach you in a different way. WHO TEACHES BEST They treat you like an idiot.... The people who really teach you to read and write asthe authors that you read. You CANDON'T BLAME TV teach yourself to read by reading a newspaper. The evidence is that people who read a lot You've got to read something that you know aalso watch television a lot. Television doesn't good deal about in the first place, so if you knowdestroy reading. If you're a reader, television a good deal about sports, you read the sportscan stimulate reading and promote reading. report. There's a lot of evidence that that is thePeople watch Masterpiece Theatre and then go way kids learn to read and learn to write. Kidsread the original novel. A lot of kids read the read stories written for children that are verybook spinoffs from the Saturday morning predictable, that they've read 30 times, wherecartoons. In a sense, I think television is they knov, ...very word in advance.... wrongly blamed for illiteracy.

68 In theirown words: wi lungs from students in adult language classes

Fervor and vehemence, sentiment finddiscernment all of these a student cannow express in the written format, as progress in adultlanguage classes instills feelings of pride and purpose.

I link it is hard to find a job today. I triedpush ourselves towards a set goal in life with very hard to get a job. I don't have a job now.will power & positive thinking plusa strong I'm on welfare. I can't find work. Mybrothermind, we can & will get that goal diplomaetc. and son have good jobs. I wish I could finda jobSo everybody reach for your Rainbow.never too. I know lots of people who don't have jobs.give up. It is a very bad time for work. We don'thave by Theresa, Frontier College, many job opportunities. It is the Government's fault. Toronto

By Grete, Saint John, N.B, Learning Exchange Th. .eeling I get when i am behind the wheel of car is some how unexplainable all Ican say is GROWING UP IN ITALY that I get a natural kind of a high it iseven a I was living in Cellara whichwas a smallbetter high than I get from drugs or booze. And driving is something that comes natural town in Italy. It was around 1946. We livedon a to me. farm which was about a ten minute walk from the city On the farm, we grewgrain and fruits. by Joe, Frontier ollege, We also raised animals. Toronto The school was in the town. I old go into my house and grab some breada salami. I would eat this while I walked to school. School started at nine o'clock. TORONTO BLUE JA1-3 All of the teachers were very strict butsome The team is a very good team Thisyear when were worse than others. If you were notthey win! Watch the team on CTVor Montreal, listening, the teachers would punishyou.on CBLT in Toronto. We may not be in The Sometimes they would Isthe palm of yourWorld Series I would love tosee toronto end hand with a wooden stick. Other times theMontreal in the world series.it would do teacher would make the student bring insomeToronto good if the toronto team got ina series. gravel from outside. The studeu would put the The Toronto Fans would Love it. If the gravel on the floor in thecorner. Then theToronto hockey club plays betterwe will see teacher would make the boyor girl kneel on thegood hockey on tv too. gravel for about half an hour. by Tom, Frontier College, by Vince, Ottawa Board Toronto of Education

BACK TO SCHOOL I am Theresa. . .of Toronto Ont. I'm It is difficult to return to school. I have been originaly from Montreal Que. I'm hoping fora out of school fc. a long time. Also the school nursing position in the communityuponwork has changed a lot over theyea.and I graduating from my upgradingcourse. Basical-thought it would be a lot hardertoo. I thought ly I have a great love for people. I know ifwebecause of that I would not be able to do it. I

69 also though: that going back to school was forWHY EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT the young kids not for older people. But I have I think education is the mcst important thing found out that there are more older people inin a person's life, second to health. It's like class than young people. The school is not asraising a child and having to train mentally and hard as I thought. In fact it is very easy when themorally, and providing schooling, training for a teacher explains it to me. I am learning a lot thatperson's faculties. It is aia serious responsi- I have forgotten. All in all, I am glad that I wentbility. back to school as I have learned a lot and I have In my own life, I am happy to see some of my met some nice people my own age there. training is paying off, yet I am saddened by t.',^ by Jean, London, Ont.,lack of academic training and the loss of School of Alternativeopportunity. 1 thank God for the chance to and Continuing Educationreturn to school a second time in my life to get a modern education. For there is simply no room in this whole wide world for an uneducated boy or girl. Yet history has a long list of places and MY DOG people who may never get a chance to be We have a little Llasa Apso dog. Her name iseducated and grow to their fullest potential. Fluffy. She plays with a little ball and puts it Illiteracy and lack of communication are like under the couch and barks until you get it fora blindfold over one's eyes and mind. This is her. why, it is my strong feeling, thai the -.vorld will My wife and I went to Oshawa on thenot see Lhe peace and love that I dream ot-. weekend. We took Fluffy with us. She enjoysHumans have a long history of thriving on each the ride in the car. She was tired when we gotother's weaknesses, so education and communi- home because she played with my son's dog. Hiscation to me, is the food that every human being name is Mikey. He is a pug. needs to grow into a healthy person. by Wally, London, Ont., by Joseph, London, Ont_, School of Alternative School of Alternative and Continuing Education and Continuing Education

70 Boredom areason for high dropout rate

Forty or 50 yearsago, students usually quit school to help on the farm or to put food on their family's table. Nov.; many dropoutssay they leave school because they're bored

® HERMAN, copyright 1984 Universal Press Syndicate Meanwhile, younger Canadians drop NEM Repented with pemussion All rights resent(' out because they don't like school twice as common a reason than for older adults or because they don't see any good reason for continuing. "In the '70s and '80s, people stop themselves from staying in school; older Canadianswere stopped by outside forces, often financial,"says Dr. Paul Nesbitt. The study uncovered this shift in the reasons for dropouts by examining the answers of nearly 800 adults who hadn't graduated from high school. Well over half of the older group talked about being blocked, one-quarter of the time for financial reast,ns. By contrast, half those aged 18 to 34 mentioned boredom, lack of intere t in education or wanting to work as their drop-out reasons. Another 20 per cent blamed the school system. "Dropping out of school These findings suggest educators will have never done me no harm." a tough time making much of a dent in Canada's drop-out rate of roughly 30per cent. Bi * the Students don't quit sc:tool anymore becausesurvey singed out quitting school as a major their parents need them to help at homeor oncause of illiteracy. the farm. And hardly anybody has to takea job Among those aged 21 to 25, for example, so the family can eat. illiteracy is almost doubie for school dropouts But those were big reasons why Canadians22 per cent versus 13 per cent for high school aged 55 or more failed to finish high school. graduates.

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71 lj What works to combat illiteracy

From books to broccoli, literacy groups have devised dozens of approaches that work.

1. YES CANADA youth between 16 and 24. Similar projects Sally is reviewing calculations for volumestarted in spring 1987 in Halifax, Winnipeg and and area, Tom is practising fractions, Daryl isVancouver, largely financed by a $3.1-million laboring at prepositions, Lee is brushing upfederal grant. sentence composition, Robert is finding reason- Early results are encouraging. The dropout ing a breeze, Diana is getting help on the colonrate is 13 per cent and about two-thirds of the and semicolon and Doug is marking testfirst participants in the three-month program answers on a card that can be read by a scanner.now have jobs. Heather Armstrong is teaching all seven, helped by one human assistant and several "We don't subsidize the associates to attend that's almost an article of faith with us," says hundred microchips in 10 computers. spokesman Karen Englander. Just as the publicity claims, YES (Youth Employment Skills) Canada in St. Catharines, Literacy is only part of the YES Canada Ont. operates like an electronic one-room package, which also emphasizes job skills and schoolhouse, right down to the instant marking. leadership. "Only 35 per cent," says a downcast Doug "I sell motivation and attitude to employers when the scanner spews out his test grade. very strongly. They're not getting just another It's just a temporary setback in the newestperson off the street," says employment co- approach to tackling the probl 3n of joblessordinator Dianne Granacki.

Unemployed youth catch up on reading, writing and arithmetic as part of YES Canada program in St. Catharines, Ontario. Other classes a.e held in Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

72 _ 74.) Read-along kit allows less literate people to listen to audio tapes and follow along in an abridged, balge-tYPe version of such classics as Tom Sawyer.

2. EDIBLE READING months become very verbal," says executive A literacy program in Toronto providesadirector Donna Biglow. little food for thought to its participants. As many as 175 tots a year are matched with Workshops for students at East End Literacymates who "can be anybody from a 16-year-old relate everyday skills, like cooking,to thehigh school student to a grandmother whogoes formal training in reading and writing. Whileto Las Vegas in the winter." Biglow says the some learn to knit or macrame, others are in theprogram also seems to encourage more library kitchen. use by the immigrant or native parents of the They prepare a menu, food budget, shop forchildren. the ingredients and learn to read recipes, helped The Bookmate idea has caught on in Alberta, by tutors. The students also keepa list of allOntario and on northern Manitoba native unfamiliar words from apple to zucchini reserves. encountered along the way. "That's what functional literacy is all about,"4. EASY READING explains co-ordinator rlizabeth Cooke. "They "Oh, I dasn't Mars Tom, Ole missis she'd are taking basic skills and applying them to theirtake an' tar de head off n me. 'Deed she would." daily lives." Don't worry, that tongue-twister isn't found in an abridged version of Tom Sawyer. But Tom 3. BOOK BUDDIES still displays his guile in the famous whitewash- Winnipeg tots are discovering book anding scene for which Mark Twainwrote that libraries with a little help from their "book-black dialect. mates." The Bookmate program, establishedin And the Read-Along kit for Tom Sawyer 1984, is aimed at children three to five fromeven explains that whitewash is "a kind of white homes where English is not spoken. paint." Read-Along is a new breed of stories- The youngsters are matched witha book-on-tape, aimed at children a, d adults who have mate, a volunteer who takes them to the library reading problems. The 50-plus stories have once a week to read a book, look at pictures orbeen shortened but an accompanying book just spend time together. contains exactly the same abridged textas the "We've had children who werevery shy andtape. quiet come into the program and within six Type in the book is larger than normal and

73 ,...,/ j - not crammed together. A coil binding allowsVancouver Comm -nity College, home to more the book to lay flat. adult literacy students than any other single "We didn't simplify the vocabulary becauselocation in Canada. All 300 available spots are specialists say that's condescending to adultsnapped up a few days after registration begins. learners. And we didn't add any music or bleeps "We'd really like to have continuous enrol- for the same reason,"explainsChristinement, but like all programs, you have to beg for Tierney of Audio Language Studies. the dollars you get," says Cindy Onstad, head of At $30 apiece, the seriesalso includesadult basic education at the college. Smiley's People read by author John le Carre; Markovitch was one of those who returned. Break In, a Dick Francis thriller; Moby Dick;"I know where I'm going now and I know how and Oliver Twist. I'm going to get there," says the 35-year-old, A catalogue is available from Audio Lan-who once sold used cars from the curbside. guage Studies, 25 Mallard Road, Don Mills, "I want to give my kids something, not just Ont. M3B 1S4. teach them how to sell a car." The course works for Markovitch because each adult learner is 5. LITERACY AT CITY HALL treated individually. Explains one staff mem- A personal appeal from a co-worker inspiredber: "We can't dish out the same stuff year after a city employee in Saint John, N.B., to pioneeryear. We have to be flexible and fit the one of Canada's only literacy programs inside acurriculum to the students, rather than the other city hall. way around." It also works for Watts. He's A member of the municipal workers unionregistered again. approached union official Brian Logue two years ago and confessed he was illiterate. 7. WORK TO LEARN Logue remembers: "He was depressed so I At Ottawa's ALSO literacy program, some referred him to an assistance program. Hestudents literally work to learn. committed suicide. later." The possibility that They work as cleaners in office buildings, illiteracy contributed to the suicide inspiret! giving them both the money and the motivation Logue to set up a literacy tutoring program forto continue literacy classes. municipal employees on advice from the Saint "Many people who take literacy classes are John Learning Exchange, a literacy centre. on social assistance and often it's hard for them "One person helps another, both benefit.to focus on literacy when they are suffering Sometimesit'seasierif they work side-under the fist of poverty," says ALSO head by-side." Posters and word-of-mouth spreadMike Kelly. the news. Twelve tutors were recruited on a They also become discouraged at the time it volunteer basis from different departments.takes to become literate. City hall bought the books. To overcome these obstacles, ALSO (Alter- And now there are more than a dozennative Learning Styles and Outlooks) last year students. started an industrial cleaning company. Run as Logue says: "It's been successful becausea co-operative, it provides part-time work for there was no pressure put on people. Theyseven people and has helped three people leave weren't promised a job promotion if they passedthe welfare roll. or to be fired if they didn't." The students learn to fill out invoices, cheques, bank deposit slips and read instruc- 6. BIG LITERACY tions on cleaning solvent containers. Ed Markovitch is beaming and when a Literacy instruction at ALSO is different as gypsy beams, it's dazzling. well. Students decide when to attend classes, "I'm going to be skipped two levels tohow often to attend and what they want to learn. Advanced 2. It will be a lot more challenging," he blurts out. 8. LEARNING IN TANDEM Daniel Watts says quietly: "You're probably I-CARE may be the best-named literacy the only one in the class who will skip, the restprogram in the country. of us are all dummies." This revealing exchange Indi. dualized Community Adult Rea-; took place at the King Edward Campus ofEducation describes perfectly what Douglas

74 7 College offers and caring is what the volunteer "Literacy programs are expanding and it's tutors contribute. confusing for adult learners tryingto figure out Other community colleges offerliteracywho to call," explains information officer classes, but Douglas in New Westminster, B.C.Lee-Ann Johnson. was the first to combine the back-up resources More than a quarter of the calls thisyear have of a college to the flexibility of volunteers. been about literacy. Since the hotlinewas The arrangement works well for Lorneestablished three years ago, the 3,000 inquiries Gibson and Isabelle McMeekin,one of thehave identified nearby areas which neednew program's 60 tutor-learner pairs. services. "I'm retired and I wantedto do something Groups in Ottawa, Kingston, London and more with my time than sit around, watch TVToronto are using Hamilton's hotlineas a and eat cookies," McMeekinsays. model. "I couldn't understand whymy wife would cid up in bed and read a book,"says the11. KIDS AND BAG-LADIES 43-year-old Gibson. "I thought shewas Toronto's Beat-the-Street campaign has had neglecting me." After a series of twice-weeklymore publicity than all the country's other tutoring sessions with McMeekin, Gibson is literacy programs combined. now curling up with a simplified version of And, it's about to get more by expandingto Reader's Digest and a dictionary. Winnipeg. The program teaches reading and writingto 9. POWER OF THE PRESS about 500 teenagers, most of whom liveon the The West Coast Reader gets themessagestreets. As much as literacy, Beat-the-Street is across at three levels. also about survival skills. Some bag-ladies take The award-winning, monthlynewspaperpart as well. offers current, easy-to-read informationto There were doubters at the beginning,among more than 75,000 adultsin British Columbia,them the Toronto Board of Education. And the the Yukon and Northwest Territories whofederal youth ministry cut back Beat-the- are learning to read. Street's expansion plans. Yet inquiries from the "They're so proud to oe ableto read aUnited States are further proof that Frontier newspaper," says Joan Acosta, theone-womanCollege has another winning idea. team behind the paper. "You can read it on the bus and no one knows you have trouble12 LITERACY CORPS reading." Started in 1981 largely for immi- The 1985 youth tutor projectwas supposed grants learning English, the tabloid-sized paper to mobilize unemployed young Canadians and is today read by adult literacy students, the deaf,channel their enthusiasm into a national literacy stroke victims and prison inmates. corps. Acosta uses articles and illustrations from the In theory, it was a good idea and the project two Vancouver daily newspapers, rewritinghad its share of success. stories to three increasing levels of difficulty. "The influx of youth wasa great boost to Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Nova Scotialocal literacy councils," says Thelma Blinn, the have similar newspapers published by theproject's Atlantic region co-ordinator. provincial governments. The project heightened the morale and public profile of Laubach Literacy of Canada, 10. CALL THIS NUMBER which administered the program. The result Hamilton residents have information aboutwas also new literacy councils, more learners literacyattheir fingertips, thanks toan and full-time work forsome youth tutors. innovative hotline now being copied elsewhere. But there were problems. The telephone hotline directs callersto Tutors were paid only $60 a week,on top of literacy as tell as academicprograms run by theunemployment insurance, for 30 hours of three local boards of education, the Laubachinstruction. Turnover was high. literacy council,severallibrarybranches, The project recruited nearly 250 youths aged Mohawk community college and other social18 to 25 as tutors. When the $1-million federa. services. grant ran out in the spring of 1986, about a third

75 75 of the tutors had already left for full-time workcarts, resurrected after a temporary layoff. or school. Similar programs operate in Vancouver and The idea isn't entirely dormant. LaubachQuebec. executives still think a youth literacy corps is a good idea. And so does Senator Edward15. QUADRADIC LITERACY Kennedy, who is promoting the concept in the At Montreal's Dawson College, literacy U.S. means more than learning ) our ABCs. For the past three years, it's also meant 13. EASY READING practising writing in algebra class. Physics and Over the past two years,Eliza Little math instructors ask students to write summar- Mountain has helped a lot of B.C. natives ies of lectures or a list of questions. understand how unemploymentinsurance "It involves the breaking down of barriers works, even though she's mere centimetres tall. between disciplines," says Linda Shohet, co- Eliza is the star of a comic book calledordinator of the college's Literacy Across the Collecting Pogey, one of the more unusual Curriculum program. "If language was really publications financed by the pioneering Legal used in all subjects there would be fewer Services Society. illiterate students." "We work on developing material that can be used by people with low literacy who feel16. LEARNING DISABLED alienated from the law," says the society's Carol Students at Calgary's Foothills Academy are Pfeifer. learning how to learn. Consider the pogey book. Eliza, a laid-off They are children with average or above cook, walks readers through 32 pages ofaverage intelligence who have learning disabil- explanations as she applies for unemployment ities thought to be caused by nervous systeia insurance, with a five-year-old daughter in tow. disorders. Even with her daughter's paper airplanes "They appear to be bright, normal kids but flying around the UIC office, Eliza manages tothey can't learn," says fundraiser Linda Hays. avoidjustabout every bureaucratic trap, "They're seen as being unmotivated or spoiled meanwhile pointing them out to others. by their parents." Gordon Bullivant, Foothills The society's biggest seller, however, is Can executive director, says as many as 20 per cent We Make a Deal, a Plain English explanation of of Canadian school children have learning the laws that most affect people. disabilities like dyslexia and hyperactivity that prevent them from learning in the normal it HELP school system. They usually wind up in special Two summers ago, three hot dog cartseducation classes. appeared in Kingston, Ont. The hot dogs were Bullivant says there's nothing magical about good, the carts were clean and the vendors wereFoothills, which has 111 students from six to 20 forr er prisoners. years old. Teachers work closely with students "It got them used to meeting people again,to build their self-esteem and find ways for and they had to be on time and handle money," them to learn. 1 explains Tom French of the HELP program. After an average of three years, Foothills But usually, HELP doesn't create jobs it students return to the regular school system. finds them. In one year, a dozen staff members from five17. HOT OFF THE PRESS HELP offices in Ontario knocked cn 28,000 There will likely be a new weekly columnist doors to find 4,500 jobs. on the Saskatoon newspaper scene in January. The job-placement program started after That's when the Star-Phoenix newspaper Toronto's Frontier College discovered ex-intends to start running a column written by a offenders put work ahead of literacy trainingliteracy learner. In larger-than-normal print, it when they got out of prison. will summarize the news for adults just learning So HELP first finds jobs and then directs theto read. ex-inmates toliteracy tutoring. And next "The learners' voice needs to be heard," says summer, it will also direct them to three hot dogGeorgina Kyle, co-ordinator of the Newspapers

76 76 in Education program that the Star- Phoenix is with the provincial government formany broadening to include adult learners. community groups. No other provincial Kyle says promoting literacy shouldbe a umbrella body comes close to such stature. priority among newspapers. Not onlydoes it boost learners'self-esteem,itshould also Ontario's Independent Learning Centre eventually increase newspaper circulation. offers literacy instruction throughcassette tapes to 900 students. 18. BOOKSHOWS Special help for immigrants andpoor parents What do Mila Mulroney and Argoquarter- so they understand the education system. back John Congemi have in common? They've Experience shows these parents then takea both recently been the star of a Frontier College more active role in monitoring their chil- Bookshow, a staged event that throws children dren's education. together with their idols. The idols just happen to feel like readinga London, Ont. has a model day-care program book so the kids listen, discuss their favorite for children of adult literacy and language reading and then get to selecta book to take students held in the same schools the parents home. are attending. Provincial training materialsare jointly 19. AND EVEN MORE MODELS: produced for tutors. Alberta and Manitoba Quebec's literacy coalition negotiatesgrants have just done this.

77 77 Tipsheet on tutoring

Drawing on years of language-training experience, Frontier College president Jack Pierpoint and education consultant Marsha Forest provide an array of pointers for prospective tutors and parents who want to start their children on the right road to reading.

Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember! Richard: Age 35, spent 15 years in prison, But involve me and I'll understand ... Peoplehigh school education, a skilled woodworker, who cannot read and write come in all shapes,three children. sizes, colors, religions and ages. They fit no neat Mandy: Age 47, PhD in English literature, orderly pattern, and therefore require creativesingle, teaches at university. flexible approaches. Shafik: Age 25, some university, loves to People who want to help other people to readread, wants to travel, was in a car accident and and write also come in all shapes, sizes, colors, uses a wheelchair. religions and ages. They too fit no neat orderly pattern. Devinder: Age 57, elementary teacher, speaks Our experience at Frontier College hasFrench, writes children's stories, has seven proven to us that all people are capable ofchildren. learning and that trained tutors can unlock Linda: Age 39, lived in an institution half her doors into new futures and new hopes forlife, was labelled mentally handicapped, learned students. to read and write through Frontier program, The key to our approach is that it is designednow married and working. to serve the needs of the students. "What do you What do all these people have in common? want to learn and how can I help you?" is the They all volunteered to tutor. major question we train our tutors to ask. This They areallwilling to attend training is based on the belief that people know what sessions and make atleast a six-month they want but are often not encouraged to ask. commitment to a person. Research shows the best programs have They are all people who see possibility and simple philosophies. Our's can be summed up capacity. very simply: "We believ, in our students." We They all can live with a system that uses no look for tutors who see the glass as "half-full" tests, no labels, and no set recipes for not "half-empty." We want people who see learning. other people as full of potential and ability They are all flexible, open and friendly. not empty jars to be filled or fixed with They all like to read and write. prescriptions. Most of our tutors work one-to-one at the In almost every other way they are diffei,ilt, beginning, but peer tutoring and group workand that is necessary and desirable. can accomplish equal results. The key is the people. So, in screening potential tutors, weBEGINNING TACTICS FOR TUTOR- look for the following qualities: ING 1. People who believe that everyone can Relax.Have acoffeetogether.Talk. change, grow and develop all through theirExchange stories. Then ...Find out everything lives. you can about student. How? By asking. Slowly. 2. People who have many interests andDon't push. Create an autobiography. Their networks. lives, wishes, dreams, fears, hopes. Not just age, 3. People who like to read and write. weight, height but how they feel, what their passions are. Also share who you are. Never ask WHAT MAKES A GOOD TUTOR? what you yourself are unprepared to answer. Let's look at a few tutors and see if a pattern Be a good observer. Use your eyes and ears to emerges. see and hear what the student is telling you.

78 %G Learn about your students by observing theirpapers,advertisements,T.V.guides,and lives. How do they interact withyou, withmenus. others. Keep a record of your observations for Use music. Play records. Read lyrics. planning your curriculum. A successful curric- Give students an assignment theycan ulum will begin WITH not FOR the student. succeed at. Something interesting and relevant. You are teaching people to read and write.Example: Have them orally interview theirown You therefore must do thesame. Read aloud tofamily members. students each session. Have them dictatea story All this is an assessment technique. Youare to you. Read it back. Voila! there it is, thetrying to determine: who is the student; what student has a story in print. Save these stories.are the student's strengths; and what are the When the students can read, let them read theirstudent's needs. Be very specific. Does the own stories aloud to you, to others. student want to read letters, materialat work, a If you have a paper and pencilyou are readynewspaper, grocery products, songs? Based on to begin. Sure expensive books and materialsthe needs, set goals and target dates withyour are good, but if you can't get them, go to thestudent. Review this often and modify itas library. Make friends with the local librarian.needed. For adults use adult materials. It is insulting and degrading to teach adults with material madeTUTOR MAGIC THE POWER OF for children. Some great starters includea POSITIVE THINKING telephone book, the Yellow Pages, localnews- We have observed volunteer tutorsat work

A .**4. Patrick Travers, 7, helps brother Ben, 3, with a little bedtime reading. Gettingan early start on reading increases literacy in later life.

79 j and are convinced the thing we do best is toSUMMARY OF KEY ELEMENTS IN A allow people to see their strengths and become GOOD LEARNING SITUATION confident that they can learn. We replace Tht. tutor and students are active partici- DIS-ability and IL-literacy with self confi- pants. dence and meaningful skills. There are more chances for success than For example, Thomas, 25, was one of the failure. millions who slipped througn the system. He Lots of student/tutor-made materials rele- could not read or write a word. He was vant to learners. convinced he was stupid as he was a graduate of Learning is interdisciplinary, i.e. math is the special education system. He was labelled related toart, and readingispart of slow, learning disabled, dyslexic. He believed everything. every word. A volunteer tutor met Thomas. The tutor is consistent, but also flexible. They got to know one another. The tutor asked The tutor refuses to let students give up what Thomas wanted what his dreams were. The tutor believes all people can and want to Three key areas emerged. learn. An avid interest in woodworking. In short, anyone interested in tutoring and A desire to be a mechanic. reading this article CAN tutor someone who A love for his five-year-old twin nieces. has trouble reading and writing. There is no There is the curriculum. Enough for any mystery or magic involved. Years of experience good tutor to work on for months. have shown that ordinary citizens involved in Using Thomas's interests, an individualizedliteracy programs can work small miracles on a program is created. Thomas learned quickly as daily basis. the material was totally relevant to his life. He Call any litenty program in your community learned to write about cars, and how to fix them. and ask if you can help. You can volunteer in a He joined the library and took out books onwide variety of programs and places woodworking and cars. He and his tutor including schools, institutions like hospitals and practisedfilling outjob applications andprisons, workpiacesbut most important with role-played for interviews. Within six months,your family and friends. Thomas was reading and writing, and found a You don't need a degree in English to read to job doing renovations at $11.00 per hour. Hea child and demonstrate to them the magic of also convinced his mother to get a tutor. books. You can change the future for a child Another student, Lance, decided he wantedwith 15 minutes a day. It's not much to ask. And to attend his tutor's university classesand gothe rewards are mutual. to university. Lance, labelled mentally handicapped, had not finished elementary selool.LITERACY IS A COMMUNITY ISSUE Did Gloria, his tutor, tell him to "be realistic" Literacy is not merely a matter of schooling. or did she trust Lance enough to invite him toIt is fundamental to our way of life. Thus the her course to see if he enjoyed it? Lance (on his responsibility and opportunity to resolve the own) decided it was "too much reading and critical problem of illiteracy rests with us. We writing" and that he'd visit once in a while. can do it. We have the skills and the talents. We However, he did like the university and now are the resources. We can make Canada a nation works as a courier from the central office. of readers.

S u Fifteen tips to increaseliteracy

Illiteracy can't be wiped off themap in Canada. But here are 15 tips, gathered from the Southam Literacy Survey and fromliteracy experts, to widen the magic circle of readers.

AT HOME 9.Encourage the library to stock books and 1. Read to children, read with children, read cassette tapes for adult learners and to out loud, read silently, read alone, read follow Winnipeg's example of pairing adult together. Discuss the story and talk about "bookmates" with preschoolers. the meaning of words. 10.Agitate for city hall to write public notices 2. Seize every chance to pass along tips about that are easily understood and alsoto offer written language to children. For instance, literacy tutoring for municipal employees, point out the letters of theirnames on as in Saint John, N.B. signs. 11.Churches, clubs and professional associa- 3. Watching television is inevitable,so talk tions are natural jumping-off points fora about the programs. Encourage childrento new literacy drive in the community. call out letters on the screen. 12.Look to your local newspaper for leader- 4. If you have trouble reading, consider ship. No one has a bigger stake in literacy. cassette tapes with follow-along books for And ask what literacy program is available you and the children. for the paper's own employees.

IN THE SCHOOLS ON THE JOB 5. Ask questions. Of the teachers, the princi-13. Employers can get in touch with either pal. the board officials, the schooltrustees. Laubach Literacy of Canada or Frontier Ask how reading and writing levelscom- College for information about literacy pare between schools and how the board tutoring in the workplace. Union members fares on standardized evaluations. Demand can demand more emphasis on adult that the provincial education ministry education provisions in contract bargain- produce a layman's guide to what works in ing. teaching and learning, as the U.S. education department did last year. IN THE NATION 6. Perhaps the school system bafflesor14. Write and inform federal and pr.winci.: intimidates you. There are others equally representatives of your keen interest in baffled. Form a discussion group and ask literacy. Inquire when the government will local social service agencies, trade unionsor startaliteracy program forits own cor-unity colleges for help. employees. 7. Volunteer as a teacher's aide in schools. 15. Lobby governments to make Plain English the rule for all official publications. Return IN THE COMMUNITY examples of bureaucratic gobbledegook. 8. Investigate the needs of the local literacy Demand to know why federal and provin- programs. Not everyone is cut out to be a cial governments haven't yet establishedan literacy tutor but there are otherways to independent national education commis- help. sion to monitor educational standards.

81 ;i Peter Calamai

Even for a je ..rnalist used to big projects, it was an overwhelming assignment. Peter Calamai spent five months criss-crossing Canada and the United States, interviewed more than 100 literacy experts, educators and bureaucrats, and devoted countless hours talking to illiterate Canadians. Add to that seven revisions of the Southam Literacy Survey questionnaire that eventually went into 2,398 Canadian homes and you get a picture of Calamai's life since March. The 44-year-old national correspondent for Southam News says it was the most satisfying and rewarding assignment in a career that began with the police beat at the Hamilton Spectator in 1966. "I had no idea how pervasive illiteracy is." What impressed Calamai most about his assignment was the diversity of illiterates in Canada. "I met a lot of people I would never have guessed were illiterate. These are articulate and seemingly confident people who simply cannot read or write very well. "Some illiterates wen_ total wrecks. But even then their illiteracy was part of a larger group of problems. Illiteracy doesn't sit on its own." Calamai is one of Canada's most honored journalists. He is a three-time winner of the prestigious National Newspaper Award, most recently in 1985 for his reporting of the Supreme Court of Canada. He joined Southam News in 1969 as an Ottawa-based science writer. Four years later, he began a series of postings in London, Vancouver andNairobi, ending up back in Ottawa in 1983 after eight months on a Southam Fellowship at Massey College in the University of Toronto.