Adult Reading & Functional Literacy Instruction Online

Teaching Adults Reading Skills

Evelyn Smith

Revised December 9, 2014

MS in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)

Ph.D. in English, Texas Christian University (1995)

Reference librarians have a new duty—acting as public health care advisers.  Since a large percentage of Americans lack the reading skills necessary to take an active informed role in their health care decisions, an ALA continuing education course in medical reference instructs librarians to draw the patron aside and discretely ask if he or she has trouble reading technical information whereupon the librarian ideally will find simplified sources to answer the patron's health care questions.   This crisis underlines the necessity of learning to read proficiently. 
 
Learning to read takes time and lots of effort.  That’s why repetition and regular practice are necessary.  So if early childhood education experts recommend that parents should start reading aloud to children starting while they are babes in arms for at least 20 minutes daily, is it any wonder, that adults seldom find enough time to perfect their reading skills?  (Fielding, n.d., para. 8).

Adults who need to master reading, however, can learn a lot from the kids:  It takes time and  motivation to really read well.  This can be accomplished in several ways.  Adults who have always struggled with reading can find a friend or colleague who can listen  to them them read aloud for thirty minutes a day from the newspaper or a library book, gently correcting their mistakes and quizzing them on what they have read—just like a Mom or Dad might do.

Struggling readers can also listen to text being read aloud on the computer. Replaying a audio selection as many times as necessary, adults and older students who have trouble understanding the meaning of what they read can listen free-of-charge to classics like Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a narrator reads the a passage aloud (http://www.audiobooks.org/free-book-list.html) while they follow along by accessing a title through Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/collection/topselling_free

Learn Out Loud also has numerous free titles that users can listen to while they follow along in a printed text:  http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video

Internet users can also take advantage of some of the Online Websites that teach reading skills to adults that appear later on this Webpage.

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United States & Texas Functional Illiteracy Statistics

• Adults who can't read: 14 %

• Adults who read below the 5th--grade level: 21%

• Functionally-illiterate high school graduates: 19%

• Prison inmates who can't read: 63%

      (Statistic Brain, 2013)

• Texas residents who can't read: 19%

      (NCES, 2003) 

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References

Fielding, Lynn. (n. d.).  Opening the reading door. Children’s Reading Foundation.  Retrieved from http://www.readingfoundation.org/Opening-the-Reading-Door.jsp

If elementary school students can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade, they fail to learn half the material presented, so by high school, they are five years behind grade level (Fielding, n.d., para. 2 & 4).  Thus, “proper parenting” should include a parent’s reading to his or her child for 20 minutes a day from the time the child is born (Fielding, n.d., para. 8)

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Literacy statistics. (2013). Begin to Read. Write Express Corporation.  Retrieved from http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

Adults perform—or under perform—at four levels of literacy: below basic, basic, intermediate and proficient.  Yet proficient reading skills are necessary to perform complex activities (Literacy statistics, 2013, para. 2).  Children, however, essentially “inherit their level of reading skills from their parents.  Therefore, not being able to read perpetuates crime, poverty, and unemployment (Literacy statistics, 2013, para. 4).

National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). Institute for Educational Services. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/StateEstimates.aspx

Website visitors can access literacy statistics by state and county; for example, NCES notes that 19 percent of Texas residents can’t read beyond about the 5^th-grade level.

Statistic Brain. (2013, April 28).  Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

The U.S. Department of Education’s National Literacy Institute has released the current abysmal statistics on the number of adult Americans who don’t possess functional literacy skills.

The U.S. Illiteracy rate hasn’t changed in 10 years (2013, September 16).  Huffington Post.  Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

 

The literacy rate in the United States hasn’t changed in 10 years (U.S. illiteracy, 2013, September 16, para. 4).

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How to Teach Adults &

Secondary School Students to Read

Cullinan, Bernice. (2000). Independent reading  and school achievement.  School Library  Media Research, 3. American Association of School Libraries.    Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol3/SLMR_IndependentReading_V3.pdf

Independent or voluntary reading that middle and high school students select for themselves correlates with success in school.  Those students who frequently read as a leisure activity score higher on achievement rests and master more general content knowledge (Culinan, 2000, pp. 2-3).  Accordingly, proficient middle school readers spend more time engaging in recreational reading than those who struggle with reading (Culinan, 2000, p. 6).  Reading in mid-adolescence dips, but increases in the junior and senior year of high school, and some evidence exists that light reading serves as a stepping stone to reading that enables higher-level thinking skills (Culinan, 2000, p. 8).  However, unfortunately, not reading during the summer means that many lower-level  young adult readers loose from six months to up to a year reading performance skills during vacation if they skip reading regularly during the summer (Culinan, 2000, p. 8).

Curtis, Mary E. & Kruidenier, John R. (2005).  Teaching adults to read.  Partnership for Reading.  Washington, D.C. National Institution for Literacy, pp. 1-13. Retrieved from http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/teach_adults.pdf

Curtis and Kruidenier summarize the process of teaching adult learners how to read.  To accomplish this task, the learners need to be very motivated because learning to read fluently is a complex process that requires many skills that learners master at different rates (Curtis, 2005, p. 1-2).   Learning to read English or any other language that uses an alphabet starts with learning to associate spoken sounds with letters (Curtis, 2005, p. 5). This has to occur before both children and adults can read with ease and speed.  Whether readers are 5 or 55, reading proficiently takes hours and hours of repeated practice (Curtis, 2005, p. 6). Building a large vocabulary is also critical for finding meaning within a text (Curtis, 2005, p. 8).

Francisco, Irene, et al.  (n.d.). How to teach someone to read.  WikiHow.  Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Teach-Someone-to-Read

While this WikiHow article probably wouldn’t appear in an academic paper, it does an excellent job of summarizing exactly what it takes to teach reading fluently.  All beginning readers need to first learn the alphabet and practice blending sounds to form words, next move on to learning short one syllable words and then gradually start to read longer words.  That means learning sight words by memory is important (Francisco, n. d., para.1-5). All readers, whether they are preschoolers or adults, build vocabulary by association.  Fluency comes through reading and if necessary rereading, and then by asking questions about the material and summarizing it (Francisco, n.d., para. 6-8).

So what is the difference between teaching young children how to read and helping functionally illiterate adults to read difficult texts with ease?  Children learn to read fluently long before they start to school when mothers and dads read to them as often as possible.  Later a parent can ask beginning and struggling young readers  to read aloud while the parent asks questions about a passage as they go along. Preschool and early elementary school children also build their vocabularies when they associate words with pictures in picture books. 

Parents act as role-models when their children see them reading.  Additionally, moms and dads can use creative ways to teach reading skills: Acting-out stories and not only reading together from children’s books, but also from ads, newspapers, and magazines as well as helping kindergarten and nursery school children form shapes of letters from different materials helps them learn how to read (Francisco, n. d., para. 9-13).

Adults and middle school and high-school students master reading if they have realized that learning to read is a difficult task that will take time to learn. However, this means they need to truthfully assess their current reading skills.  They then must commit themselves to the task and subsequently gain the self-confidence to admit finally that they need to work on reading fluently. It also helps if they select relevant and enjoyable things to read (Francisco, n. d., para. 9-20).

Sufficient motivation, frequent short lessons, interesting subject material, and trying a combination of methods if one doesn't work thus help both old and young learners read proficiently. Adults should also understand that commercial reading programs, like Hooked on Phonics, work better for some learners than others (Francisco, n. d., para. 21-22).

Taniersley, Karen. (2014).  Literacy strategies for grades 4-12.  Books. ASCD.  Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/1-4428/chapters/The-Struggling-Reader.aspx

Since children who don't achieve reading proficiency by third grade need between 150 to 300 hours of intensive instruction over a three-year period to catch up, older struggling readers first need to start at the beginning with phonomes (the smallest units of language), word families, and prefixes and suffixes, before dissecting the text, checking the answer before asking for help, and trying the dictionary (Taniersley, 2014, para. 65).  She also provides several ESL Websites that prove helpful for all students learning to read English. 

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Online Reading Instruction: Tutorials

for Adults & Teens
 

Use your spare time to improve your literacy skills.

Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF). (2013). Your free learning source.  Retrieved from http://www.gcflearnfree.org/

 Users can learn or review computer basics, reading, and math skills.

 

Reading Instruction: Users first click on either “I already speak English” or “I’m learning English” before choosing a tutorial.  Clicking on different pictographs, they then choose a subject they want to learn more about and decide how they want to learn it.  Lessons teach practical topics like office terms, finance, and health information.

Math Instruction:  Online tutorials teach addition and subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and percent.

Technology:  Users can take free online classes in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access.

Literacy Link. (2001). PBS.  University of Pennsylvania.  Retrieved from http://litlink.ket.org/learn.aspl

Users can take a GED practice test, try interactive exercises that help them master the GED skills necessary to pass a GED test, and practice answering GED questions.  Online lessons are available for English as a Second Language classes.

Proliteracy Education Network. (2011). Proliteracy.  Retrieved from http://www.proliteracyednet.org/articles.asp?mcid=3

Both mature adults and young adults struggling with reading problems can practice reading, writing, and math skills, learn vocabulary words, and practice speaking English.

Tune into Learning. (2013). TV411. Education Development Center.  Retrieved from English as a Second Language Online Instruction.   Retrieved from http://www.tv411.org/

TV411 introduces adults to basic reading, writing, math, and science skills.  A moderator responds to topics following discussions, and videos teach important practical concepts necessary for daily living.  Since most of the videos are short, secondary teachers can use them as introductory videos in classes that mainstream instruction for special education students and/or include ESL learners.

Reading instruction videos teach practical skills like summarizing, using a glossary, understanding legal jargon, studying, and test preparation while a category entitled “Libraries and Books" teaches topics like using a card catalog and picking out a book from a library.

Writing skill videos include writing a complaint letter and editing a check list.  Grammar and rhetoric videos cover topics like using apostrophes, figures of speech, and avoiding sentence fragments. Vocabulary videos explore subjects like finding misspelled words in a dictionary and learning how to expand vocabulary.

Math videos cover basic math skills like budgeting, measurement, interest rates, averages, and exponents, fractions, decimals, percent, and basic geometry. Users can also learn about personal finance since the videos cover topics like credit card interest, renting to own furniture, TVs, appliances, or computers, and saving and investing. 

Science videos that are available in both English and Spanish cover life science topics like bacteria, photosynthesis, and carbohydrates.

We all can read.  (2013). Online phonics reading program.  Retrieved from http://www.weallcanread.com/Online.html

This self-paced program uses videos to teach reading skills in order from the easiest to the hardest skill.  The first 28 lessons are free, so Website visitors can survey them to see if they might help without pulling out a credit card.  The program claims it teaches struggling readers from the third-grade level upward to phonetically sound out words, using audio, video, and text.  However, watching a few minutes of the first lesson shows that adults are clearly the target audience.

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Tutorials that Teach

Reading Skills to

High School &

  University Students

  

 Users don't need to be citizens of  the United Kingdom to take advantage of British Open University courses.  These online tutorials can help high school, college, and university students with reading academic writing in context, critically evaluating argumentative editorials and essays, paraphrase, summarize, and pick out key concepts in a text while questioning what they read.

English grammar in context. (2011, June 11).  Open Learn. Open University.  Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/educational-technology-and-practice/educational-practice/english-grammar-context/content-section-0

Tutorial helps users discover the difference between written and spoken English.

How to be a critical reader. (2011, July 11).  Open Learn. Open University.  Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/english-language/how-be-critical-reader/content-section-0

Tutorial guides users in learning how to distinguish between facts and opinions, to compare supporting claims to an argument, and to read academic texts critically.  Both high school and first-year university students can benefit from this course since reading selections and teaching methods at the university level are different from high school-level classes.

Paraphrasing text. (2011, May 10).  Open Lean.  Open University.  Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/english-language/paraphrasing-text/content-section---learningoutcomes

One-hour tutorial teaches users how to put what they have read in their own words while activities present paraphrasing strategies.

Reading. (2011, July 18).  Open Learn. Open University.  Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/literature-and-creative-writing/reading/content-section-0?name=GSG_3

Online tutorial teaches users how to question what they read, pick out key concepts, and how to emotionally detach themselves from articles that present ideas different from their own.

Summarising text. (2011, May 12).  Open Learn.  Open University.  Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/english-language/summarising-text/content-section-0

One-hour tutorial reviews what a summary does—it reduces, rejects, reproduces, and repackages. The lesson then gives users practice in turning notes into a summary.

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Free English as a Second Language

Online Learning Websites

 

Ask a friend or co-worker listen to you read.

 ESL learners from the beginning to the advanced level can try out these Online resources that will help them learn English. Some of these Website target adults just beginning to learn English while at least one course helped international students attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology perfect their lecture listening skills.  Thus, adults struggling with basic English as well as foreign students prepping to study at prestigious universities can brush up on their reading comprehension skills.

Alison.com. (2013).  English-Language Skills.  Retrieved from http://alison.com/subjects/11/English-Language-Skills

Users learn to read intermediate-level English, covering such topics as meeting people, shopping, banking, asking directions, checking into a hotel, and ordering meals.

Online lessons are also available in French, German, Irish, Arabic, and Swedish. (http://alison.com/subjects/27/Languages).

English for all. (2003). http://www.myefa.org/login.cfm

English for All is a free Online program specifically aimed at adult ESL learners.  Visitors can access the first five stories, each of which has four parts.  They then must register to receive additional materials.

ESL Kids Stuff.  (n. d.).  Retrieved from http://www.eslkidstuff.com

Adult ESL students might also benefit from this Website  that furnishes lessons, flash cards, work sheets, and song downloads as well as teacher resources, games and activities and ESL online games.  Membership costs $25 to join, but some materials are free. 

Erichsen, Gerald. (2013, February).  Which online translator is best?  Spanish Language.  About.com.  Retrieved from http://spanish.about.com/od/onlinetranslation/a/online-translation.htm

While the English Starter Kit (1994) advocates using Freetranslation.com, Erichsen compares five translation websites—Google Translate, Bing Translator, Babylon, PROMT, and FreeTranslation.com—and ranks them from best to worse depending on three test runs. Google and Bing on average are the most proficient translators.

Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/

Bing Translator: http://www.bing.com/translator/

Help! They Don’t Speak English Starter Kit for Teachers of Young Adults. (1993, June). Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training.  Sate University of New York at Oneonta.  Retrieved from http://employees.oneonta.edu/thomasrl/YaPart1.pdf

This English Starter Kit focuses on teaching adult ESL students survival English  by helping them internalize the language as they learn what they need to know.  The text ends by offering a sample lesson sequence that approximates the first year textbook in any foreign language class. 

Learn English free. (n. d.).  USA Learns.  Retrieved from http://www.usalearns.org/index/welcome.cfm?CFID=7945694&CFTOKEN=15385569&jsessionid=3c3079e8da22d905b8d659818d765e5c4f5c

Beginning ESL users can learn English by watching videos and answering multiple-choice questions. A sample link, “Rooms in the Home”, for example, uses photos to test vocabulary words: http://usalearns.org/fb.cfm?activity=-750777974.  A Facebook page acts as a forum to allow users to comment on the instruction.

Learning English.  (2013). Voice of America (VOA).  Retrieved from http://learningenglish.voanews.com/

This easy to navigate Website organizes informative videos into two skill levels. A daily feature, “English in a Minute”, teaches American English. On Tuesday and Friday, users can join a Gooogle+ Hangout from 1600 to 1645 UTC to practice speaking English.

Won Ho Yoo, Isaiah. (2004). Listening, speaking, and pronunciation. MIT Open Courseware.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/foreign-languages-and-literatures/21f-223-listening-speaking-and-pronunciation-fall-2004/

Video Webinar teaches ESL students at the high school or university level necessary listening comprehension and oral skills, and it also introduces common American English expressions and idioms.  Users will need to purchase the course’s reading materials through Amazon.com, but lectures 18 to 21 are free online as are the pdf handouts and articles. 

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Free Online English Grammar

Lessons for Adult Learners

These Websites help adult learners improve how they use English grammar:

English Club. (2014). Grammar. Retrieved form https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/

English grammar guide. (2014). Learn English Grammar. LEO Network. Retrieved from http://www.learnenglish.de/grammarpage.html

Lowe, Alexandra. (2013, May 17). Great grammar websites for adult ELLS. TSOL International. Retrieved from http://blog.tesol.org/great-grammar-websites-for-adult-ells/

Pulvacyskaya, Alexandria (n. d.). Learn English. Lesson Paths.  Retrieved from http://www.lessonpaths.com/learn/i/learn-english/english-grammar-lessons-for-adults

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Audio Bible/Bible Online

Follow along in the text while a narrator reads Bible passages aloud.

Biblical passages guide Christians in their daily life as they strive to live up to Christ's teachings, but following a written text which a narrator reads biblical scriptures aloud also can help functionally illiterate adults learn to read. 

Bible Gateway furnishes audio readings of the Bible. (2014). Bible Gateway. Retrieved from

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/ 

Listeners can choose the version of the Bible as well as the language they wish to listen to while they can simultaneously click on a link that gives the written text. 

See: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/

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Everyone in today's society needs a high school diploma!

G.E.D. Classes

in Texas

GED classes in Texas.  (2013).  GED101.com.  Retrieved from http://ged101.com/ged-classes-in-texas.html

Web page directs users to free G.E.D. classes, online practice for the G.E.D., Online G.E.D. classes, and G.E.D. practice tests.

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Your Child Needs a Library Card

Functional literacy in adults begins when children learn to love reading.  Visit the Library this week and get your own preschooler his or her very own library card.