National Adult Literacy Database

A PowerPoint Presentation

Series: IALSS 2003 Findings

Authors: Satya Brink, Ph.D.

The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) provides a picture of how effectively adults use literacy skills in daily life.

In this PowerPoint presentation, the author analyses the findings of the 2003 IALSS as they relate to Canada’s performance. Among the areas examined are the level of literacy proficiency across Canada’s provinces and territories; how provinces and territories compare nationally and internationally; the relative performance of Canada’s Anglophone and Francophone populations; and the implications of the findings for literacy policy and programming.

Much of the information is presented in graphs and charts, with accompanying notes that provide further analysis and explanation.

To view the second presentation based on these findings, click here: http://library.nald.ca/item/5896.

Added: 2005-11-17

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See also:

• EIACA de 2003 : Principales données de recherche - la 1ère partie

Authors: Maria Salomon, Anna de Aguayo, Jocelyn Charron, Linda Shohet

This document describes a project, carried out between October 2010 and August 2011, to find out more about the literacy and essential skills (LES) needs of Anglophone adults living in Quebec.

In the first stage of the project, researchers collected, summarized and analyzed existing literature, surveys, and unpublished data on the Anglophone community in Quebec, with particular reference to LES and related issues. This literature review included work published since 2000, but concentrated on studies produced since 2006.

During the second stage, a researcher asked key informants, individually or in focus groups, to reflect on what they considered the most important changes in Quebec Anglophone literacy over the preceding 10 years. There was also a focus group of nine English-language literacy workers.

Both stages of the project revealed differences between the composition and needs of Anglophone populations in Montreal and in other regions of Quebec. In Montreal, the English-speaking community has grown much more diverse in the past 20 years, with a large visible minority component and a growing number of Aboriginal Anglophones. By contrast, Anglophone communities in the regions remain quite homogeneous.

To learn more about the first stage of the project, please click here: http://library.nald.ca/item/10526.

Funders:

• OLES

Added: 2012-07-27

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Series: Literacy Volunteers - Value Added

Authors: Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO)

The Literacy Volunteers: Value Added Research Report represents the results of six months of research conducted in 2005 by Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO) with literacy agencies and volunteers to better understand the economic and social value that volunteers bring to Anglophone community-based literacy programs throughout the province of Ontario.

Community Literacy of Ontario is a provincial literacy network of 105 Anglophone community-based literacy
agencies. Based in Barrie, CLO has been supporting its agencies throughout the province since 1994.

Added: 2005-12-30

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Authors: Normand Savoie, Anna Veltri

This project looked at the issue of losing contact with learners and adopted the following three objectives as a result:

To analyze the data relating to lost contacts within the four Ontario literacy streams (Anglophone, Native, Francophone and Deaf).

To consult literacy providers in the field in order to achieve the following:
- Identify the reasons for which contact is lost with certain learners.
- Identify the practices in use that can limit or reduce lost contacts.
- Identify the procedures used to perform student follow-ups; three months and six months; after students have exited from the Literacy and Basic Skills Program (LBS).

To identify for the benefit of literacy providers the practices that can limit or reduce lost contacts as well as the practices that ensure follow-ups are performed with students three months and six months after they have exited the LBS program.

Funders:

• 
• OLES

Added: 2007-05-18

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See also:

• Les contacts perdus : Comment les éviter

Series: Plain language summaries of Statistics Canada research reports

Authors: James E. Page, T. Scott Murray

This document offers a summary of a Statistics Canada study that uses the results of the International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALSS) to analyze the literacy skills of Canada’s official language minorities.

The study notes that Francophones, both in and outside of Quebec, have faced obstacles that explain their longstanding lag in literacy skills when compared to Anglophone Canadians. While the situation of Quebec Anglophones differs from one region of the province to another, their average literacy proficiency level is generally higher than that those using French as their mother tongue.

The study suggests that in general, differences in educational attainment between Francophones and Anglophones largely explain the differences in their results on IALSS tests.

Francophone minorities outside Quebec and New Brunswick also face a major challenge in developing and maintaining awareness of the written word in French to ensure their survival. Sixty-three percent of Francophones in Ontario and 85 percent of those in Manitoba took the IALSS tests in English. While most said they had a very good or good ability to speak or write French, English was their preferred written language.

The summary is part of a National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) project, funded by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), that provides brief summaries of Statistics Canada research documents.

Funders:

• Canadian Council on Learning (CCL)

Added: 2013-01-14

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See also:

• Sommaires en langage clair : Le volet canadien de l'Enquête internationale sur l'alphabétisation et les compétences des adultes de 2003 (EIACA) - état de la situation chez les minorités de langue officielle

Series: Plain language summaries of Statistics Canada research reports

Authors: James E. Page, T. Scott Murray

This document is part of a National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) project, funded by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), aimed at providing straightforward summaries of research documents available from Statistics Canada.

The authors of this summary examine a study of data from the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the 1989 Survey of Literacy Skills Used in Daily Activities (LSUDA). The study confirms that the differences in literacy skill observed between Canada’s Anglophone and Francophone adults can be explained by differences in their demographic characteristics.

The study also explores whether these relationships differ by province, including whether living in a majority situation helps to reduce the size of the observed gap in performance.

The analyses showed that substantial differences exist between Quebec Francophones, who are living in a majority situation, and Francophones outside Quebec, who are a minority group. However, the gaps in average literacy scores between Quebec Francophones and Anglophones in Canada as a whole disappear once the researchers control for the effect of such key factors as education, age, and daily practices with respect to writing and numeracy.

The authors note that the situation is quite different with respect to New Brunswick Francophones. Even when all the variables that might explain the disparities between the two linguistic groups in that province are accounted for, a substantial portion of the gap remains.

Funders:

• Canadian Council on Learning (CCL)

Added: 2012-10-22

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See also:

• Sommaires en langage simple : Littératie au Canada - Disparité entre francophones et anglophones - Une analyse des données de l'Enquête internationale sur l'alphabétisation des adultes de 1994

Authors: Jean-François Lepage

This Statistics Canada analysis is based on information from the Labour Force Survey carried out in March 2012, which for the first time included questions designed to identify language characteristics of workers.

According to the data collected, Francophones in Canada posted an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, higher than the national average of 7.7 percent. That month, the unemployment rate among Anglophones was 7.4 percent, slightly below the national average.

The author points out that this difference is more a reflection of the distribution of Francophones and Anglophones in Canada than a lower level of performance in the labour market by a particular language group. At the provincial level, the situation for Francophones is similar to, or even better than, that for Anglophones, except in New Brunswick.

Overall, the unemployment rate for Francophones living outside Quebec was similar to that of Anglophones, at 7.5 percent versus 7.3 percent. However, the employment rate for Francophones, at 58.5 percent, was lower than that for Anglophones, 62.4 percent.

In Quebec, the employment and unemployment rates of the English-speaking minority did not differ from that of the Francophone population.

Across Canada, 18 percent of Francophones who are employed earn $1,200 per week or more, compared with 24 percent of Anglophones. The author notes that once again, this has less to do with a disadvantage for Francophones in the labour market than the fact that the latter are concentrated in eastern Canada, where wages are lower than in the western provinces.

Added: 2013-05-03

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See also:

• Situation des minorités de langue officielle sur le marché du travail

Authors: The Centre for Literacy of Quebec

Between October 2010 and August 2011, the Centre for Literacy of Quebec carried out a research project designed to gain a greater understanding of literacy and essential skills (LES) needs of Anglophone adults living in that province.

During the first part of the project, researchers reviewed existing literature, surveys, and unpublished data on the subject. In this document, they offer capsule summaries of a number of research projects on English-speaking communities in Quebec, selected to provide an introduction to the recent evolution of the Anglophone community in Quebec.

The summaries are organized according to themes, including demographic profiles; Aboriginal peoples; education and literacy; health care; promoting community vitality; and youth.

To learn more about the final stage of the project, please click here: http://library.nald.ca/item/10554.

Added: 2012-07-19

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