By December of 1998, IALS data had been collected for some 20 countries. In addition to the 12 already surveyed, 8 more countries were added:

  • Chile
  • Denmark
  • Hungary
  • Portugal
  • Czech Republic
  • Finland
  • Norway
  • Slovenia

The specific objectives of IALS were to:

  • provide comparable data on the literacy skills of adults from different countries and cultures
  • provide skill profiles of groups of particular policy interest (such as youth and seniors, income assistance recipients, etc.)
  • build on the knowledge accumulated to date
  • further advance the notion of literacy as a skill continuum
  • examine factors such as educational, economic, and social structures that underlie the differences observed across nations

IALS was conducted in respondents’ homes on a voluntary basis in the (official) language of their choice. Although there was no time limit, testing usually took about 45 minutes and consisted of completing everyday reading tasks of varying difficulty (selected from a pool of 114 tasks), such as:

  • identifying dosage instructions on medicines
  • locating earnings from a table of interest
  • interpreting information from forms (e.g. a print requisition)
  • comparing movie reviews
  • drawing comparisons between charted data related to variations in temperature, product consumption, incidences of accidents, etc.
  • using listed data to analyse the caloric content of foods
  • calculating travelling distances from a mileage chart
  • using bus schedule information

The survey was supported by a background questionnaire that collected data on:

  • educational attainment
  • adult education participation
  • literacy practises at home and at work
  • labour force information
  • literacy self-assessment
  • demographic characteristics

For the purposes of IALS, literacy was broadly defined as: “The ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities at home, at work, and in the community – to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” This definition is important in that it views literacy as much more than just being able (or not able) to read, write or calculate. Rather than a single skill that a person either has or does not have, literacy is more accurately considered as a continuum of skill levels.