One factor that in part explains these results is that Francophones have historically had less education than Anglophones. Although this is changing, the weight of history still affects many Francophones. It must tie added that access to French-language schools, for many Franco-Ontarians, has only occurred very recently (Corbeil,2006).
Source: Chart 3, Corbeil (2006) p.37
This chapter presents key statistics about Francophones in Ontario, the largest group of Francophones living outside Quebec. Regional distributions show that the proportion of Francophones varies considerably from one region to another in Ontario. The results ofthe 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey reveal that a high proportion of Francophone adults are at literacy levels 1 and 2, level 3 being considered the minimum required to function in our society.
The next chapter constitutes the heart of the current report. Using the research results recorded in the For My Child reports, it discusses the impact of family literacy programs in Francophone Ontario.
6 Prose literacy is one of the categories by which literacy is measured in the survey, along with document literacy, numeracy and problem solving. Prose literacy is defined as the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts including editorials, news stories, brochures and instruction manuals (HRSDC, 2005, p. 13).