Finally, a person may have to extract mathematical information from various types of texts, either in prose or in documents with specific formats (such as in tax forms). Two different kinds of text may be encountered in functional numeracy tasks. The first involves mathematical information represented in textual form, i.e., with words or phrases that carry mathematical meaning. Examples are the use of number words (e.g., "five" instead of "5), basic mathematical terms (e.g., fraction, multiplication, percent, average, proportion), or more complex phrases (e.g., "crime rate increased by half ") which require interpretation. The second involves cases where mathematical information is expressed in regular notations or symbols (e.g., numbers, plus or minus signs, symbols for units of measure, etc.), but is surrounded by text that despite its non-mathematical nature also has to be interpreted in order to provide additional information and context. An example is a bank deposit slip with some text and instructions in which numbers describing monetary amounts are embedded.

3.5 Facet 5: Other enabling factors and processes

The way in which each person manages his interpretations and responses to the contexts, tasks, and mathematical representations described above as facets of adult numeracy depends of course on his or her mathematical knowledge, whether formally learned, informally developed, or self-invented. This includes but is not limited to the understanding and ability to apply concepts, ideas and procedures detailed in many strands for school curricula or in many school-based assessments under titles such as Whole numbers and basic operations, Ratios, percents, decimals, and fractions, Measurement, Geometry, Algebra, or Probability and statistics. These topics are interwoven into the five areas of "mathematical information" described above in subsection 3.3, and are assessed by the items in the Numeracy scale.

Numerate behavior, however, depends on an integration of mathematical knowledge bases with broader reasoning and problem-solving skills and strategies needed to be able to think and to act mathematically. Further, numerate behavior depends on the integration of the above with the literacy skills, the dispositions (beliefs, attitudes, habits of minds, etc), and prior experiences and practices that an adult brings to each situation. These are briefly discussed below, with comments on the extent to which each is assessed in ALL.

Problem-solving skills. Throughout life, adults develop or apply diverse strategies to manage their quantitative situations. Some strategies or skills may be based on prior formal learning, while others may be self-invented or adapted to fit the situation at hand. To solve many computational problems or to figure a way to manage certain quantitative tasks, people have to re-construct reality in a mathematical way, for example, model or mathematize. They can do so either on their own or in discussion with other people. Problem-solving strategies may include, e.g., extracting relevant information from the task/activity; rewriting/restating the task; drawing pictures, diagrams or sketches; guessing and checking; making a table; and/or generating a concrete model or representation. To some extent, these strategies are appropriate for determining a response to the Numeracy items, but they are assessed more fully in the Problem Solving Scale of the ALL Survey.

Literacy skills. The ability to read, write, and talk are important skills in undertaking a numeracy task or activity or communicating the outcomes of working on such tasks. In cases where "mathematical representations" involve text, one's performance on numeracy tasks will depend not only on formal mathematical or statistical knowledge but also on reading comprehension and literacy skills, reading strategies, and prior literacy experiences. For example, following a computational procedure described in text (such as the instructions for computing shipping charges or adding taxes on an order form) may require special reading strategies, as text is very concise and structured. Likewise, analyzing the mathematical relationships described in words requires specific interpretive skills, e.g., realizing that "four more than" is a different relationship than "four times as much."