Literacy as supply and demand

Abstract

This paper draws on three data sources-a national survey from Germany of adult literacy and numeracy skills (leo.-Level-One Study), the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC), and case studies of workplaces in England-to argue for a greater focus by policymakers and researchers on the literacy demand experienced by adults. We consider the heterogeneity of the population of adults deemed functionally illiterate by large-scale national and international surveys and question how such a large group of adults are indeed able to function in society. We draw on concepts of literacy practices and the literate environment to try to understand the demands on adults' reading and writing and suggest that adults with poor literacy skills may be reluctant to engage in learning because they experience very low demand. Engagement in literate practices is an important mechanism through which literacy is improved and developed. If the demands on many adults' literacy are so low, their skills may decline/fail to develop, leaving a large sub-class excluded from the literate environment and relying on others for interpretation and access to information. This vicious circle of underuse and consequent loss of skills should be a major concern for policy makers.

Mapping Junior High School Students’ Functional Literacy Competence

“…This condition seems to be similar to that of other countries, for example, Italy 27.7%, Spain 27.5%, France 21.6%, and Poland 18.8%. For countries such as Finland (10.6%), Slovak Republic (11.6%), the Netherlands (11.7%), and Czech Republic (11.8%), the survey results on literacy competence are perceived better (Grotlüschen et al, 2016;Mallows & Litster, 2016).…”

“…First, the population that is deemed to have no social function is rooted in low, or even lacked functional literacy competencies and is known as those with a literary crisis. Second, the population is categorized as a functionally illiterate population with implications for economic consequences is also seen as the impact of poor literacy (Grotlüschen et al, 2016;Mallows & Litster, 2016). This shows that in various countries, citizens with low functional literacy competence will find it difficult to compete in the world of work.…”

“…Currently, literacy issues have been researchers' special interest in many countries. For example, over the last two decades, there have been a large number of nationwide surveys, such as in England (Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills, 2012); Germany (Grotlüschen, Riekmann, Buddeberg, 2014;Mallows & Litster, 2016) as well as in a global scope (Kirsch, Yamamoto, Norris, Rock, Jungeblut, O'Reilly, … & Baldi, 2001;OECD, 2013OECD, , 2018 that have identified that a vast proportion of the working-age population has low levels of literacy skills. This phenomenon encourages joint efforts by governments in many of these countries to improve the literacy skills of their people through the development of literacy programs to support life.…”

“…Examples of this include the mastery of functional literacy skills and their relationship with the ability to access and utilize digital libraries (Olaniran, 2020;Handley, 2018;Bohannon, 2015), learning to write (Sheperd & Goggin, 2012), and reading comprehension (Dolenc, Aberšek, & Aberšek (2015). Research studies by Mallows & Litster (2016) and Rabušicová & Oplatková (2010) reveal that people with low functional literacy competencies are likely to have a low chance of getting the desired job. Numerous literacy surveys both at the national and international levels above, among others, are intended to measure students' skills to actively reflect on their knowledge and experience, as well as skills to overcome various confronted problems.…”

Personal access to documents using different literacy levels

“…Public authorities and private institutions, however, mainly publish information at literacy level C1. Table 3 shows the literacy levels of the German adult population (18-64 years of age) [19] in combination with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) [20].…”