In Conclusion

While there has been little change in the literacy profiles in Canada in the past five years, new graduates from Canadian secondary schools since 1989 are generally more literate than the older cohorts ahead of them. However, the report also shows that literacy skills are the product of complex social and economic forces which go beyond the simple linkage with the educational system. The development, maintenance and improvement of literacy skills are strongly linked to usage. Literacy is not a skill which is learned in school and then remains consistent over the course of a lifetime. Practice contributes to skill both through more frequent use of the skill and through greater variety by providing opportunities to use and to expand the skill in new situations. At the same time, skill contributes to practice by allowing individuals to enter and succeed in situations where opportunities for practice are possible.

The IALS model provides an important framework which can help shape the public discourse about literacy. No longer can we speak about literates versus illiterates — or haves and have nots. We can now speak about levels of literacy with each level capable of supporting a broad spectrum of analysis. In fact, IALS recognizes that everyone has some level of literacy skill and proficiency. Even Level 1 is not an absence of literacy skills but is merely a lower level of skill.

If people don't use literacy skills after they have left school or college, they can lose them. The reverse is also true: if they practise literacy or receive training, people can gain skills. These findings reveal the importance of understanding how skill is lost or enhanced as well as the need for policies to encourage, protect and nurture literacy outside the formal education system.

In the end IALS demonstrates that literacy is important socially, culturally, in terms of citizenship, and economically; it rewards those who are proficient and penalizes those who are not. This fact is critical to the success of Canadians and of Canada as a nation.