Ireland

NALA: National Adult Literacy Agency

Integrating Literacy: NALA Guidelines for Further Education and Training Centers
Compiled by Bláthnaid Ní Chinnéide NALA, 2002 (www.nala.ie)

Following are extracts from the NALA Guideines, though the extracts are in a different order from where they appear in the Guidelines. The Guidelines were developed to address the needs of Further Education and Training Centers with programmes that often serve “people who left school with no qualifications and often with poor literacy skills.

Literacy skills are best developed in the context of meaningful, relevant and purposeful activity. In pursuing a course which is interesting to them, and which has built-in literacy support, people with literacy difficulties can successfully complete the course and develop transferable literacy skills.

What does ‘Integrating Literacy’ mean? Essentially, ‘integrating literacy’ means that within a Further Education and Training programme the needs of people with literacy difficulties are recognised and addressed. This is seen as the responsibility of the whole centre, not just of the specialist literacy staff. Subject teachers/trainers, management, administrative staff, guidance and counselling staff – all have a role to play in ensuring that learners with literacy difficulties are appropriately supported.

In an integrated service it is complemented by a systematic partnership between the literacy tutor and other staff, providing daily opportunities for the learner to acquire and practise literacy skills in the context of their core programme. The need to integrate literacy support applies not just in these settings, but across the entire range of Further Education and Training programmes.

Participants in programmes at any level, in any setting, may have difficulties with some of the literacy requirements of their course. Spelling difficulties can cause problems with coursework and assignments. Difficulties with handwriting can compound these. Together, they can lead to a situation where written work submitted by the learner does not do justice to their grasp of the particular subject. Note-taking from lectures or other spoken information may be very difficult and stressful for learners whose spelling and writing is not automatic. Particular writing skills may be needed for the course, for example, essay-writing or report-writing. Particular reading skills are needed to deal efficiently with course texts. Learners may also require support in developing the associated skill of taking notes from texts. Most courses involve learners in language development, acquiring and internalising new, course-related terminology and developing the skills to communicate effectively with staff and fellow-learners. Particular numeracy skills may be associated with the course.

The fact that a person is competent and skilled in the particular subject area does not mean that that he or she will be comfortable with all the reading, writing and numeracy demands of the course. Equally, the fact that a person has a literacy difficulty does not mean they should be denied access to education or training in an area which interests them and for which they have an aptitude.