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In this report, deliberately used is a range of terms to talk about the use of information and communication technologies. The terms include electronic literacy, digital literacy, technological literacy, technoliteracy, multimodal literacies and multiliteracies. There is no argument that the terms are interchangeable, even though they are often used as if they are. All, however, have currency in the literature and in the print and electronic media. Just as the global context in which adult literacy education is located is dynamic and rapidly changing, so too is the language used to describe it. Rather than privilege a particular term, the aim is to suggest different ways to talk about the changes to literacy practices so that professional discussion and learning are facilitated. The study was designed to investigate the implications for adult literacy education of the changing communication practices associated with the use of literacies. Four research questions framed the project: (1) What is the relationship between literacy practices and the use of information and communication technologies in adult literacy education?; (2) What are the new literacies required for effective and critical use of information and communication technologies in adult literacy education?; (3) What changes to pedagogical practices are associated with the use of information and communication technologies in adult literacy programs?; (4) What are the professional development needs of educators when information and communication technologies are used for teaching and learning in adult literacy programs? The study found that the use of technology by both learner and educator groups was more widespread than anticipated. There was broad acknowledgment of the social and cultural importance of the use of information and communication technologies and when teaching and learning were built around a concrete social purpose and a specific technology, the quality of teaching and learning was considerably improved. By embedding technology-mediated literacy within a social or occupational purpose, the literacy practice became associated with a clear and defined end-point and the social stigma of personal failure that often attaches to literacy was lessened or avoided. However, although some of the teachers acknowledged the importance of an authentic social purpose and the need to build teaching around specific technologies, the adult literacy programs that were often lacked both. It is concluded that to facilitate the effective integration of the use of information and communication technologies in adult literacy education, concerted teacher professional development activity is needed. Appended are: (1) Diary of ICT-mediated literacy activities kept by educators and learners for one week; and (2) Membership of the Advisory Panel. (Contains 2 tables.) [This report was produced with funding provided through the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training. The author/project team were funded to undertake this research via a grant under the National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) Program. For support document see ED495129.]

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "Using Information and Communication Technologies in Adult Literacy Education: New Practices, New Challenges," and is an added resource for further information. The contents of this support document are divided into two parts. Part I includes: (1) Literature Review; (2) Preliminary Remarks; (3) Literature Review; and (4) References. Part II contains: (1) Case Studies; and (2) References. Case studies included in Part II are: (1) Sturt Institute of TAFE; (2) Wentworth Institute; (3) Extractive Industries WELL Program; (4) Indigenous Learning Centre; and (5) Mitchell ACE Community Education Provider. [This work has been produced with funding provided through the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training. For "Using Information and Communication Technologies in Adult Literacy Education: New Practices, New Challenges. An Adult Literacy National Project Report," see ED495121.]

This book is designed to inform national policy on literacy education in Australia. A preamble describes the general literacy crisis in Australia, which includes systematic underperformance in English literacy among some groups and many individuals (who are often seriously disadvantaged in their occupational and educational opportunities). The book notes that improvement of literacy for all Australians seeks to respond to personal, civic-cultural, and economic needs. The book includes six sections: (1) "Broad Contexts" (e.g., the powers of literacy and citizenship, social equity, and competence); (2) "What a National Policy on Literacy Should Say" (e.g., policy context, defining literacy, and teaching cycles); (3) "Australia's Learners" (e.g., Australian English speakers, language diversity, and indigenous Australians); (4) "School Literacy Education" (the early, middle, and late years); (5) "Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESL Education" (e.g., lifelong learning for all); and (6) "State and Territory Programs in Literacy" (e.g., literacy teaching and learning in various states and territories, current practices in literacy education in the Catholic sector, and current practices in literacy education in the independent schools sector). (SM)

This paper investigates the politics of English as the official language in the United States, focusing on the move to declare English the official language within the 104th Congress. Though the bill lapsed in the Senate, movement to declare English official at the federal level has continued. Several large national organizations work hard to see this effort through to completion. The paper describes a study of the official English movement which used the Q methodology, direct interviews with 45 people who were the main protagonists for the officialization of English in the 104th Congress and their main antagonists, and analysis of the discourse of advocatory literature, exemplar speeches, and radio debates on official English between these groups. Q methodology data involved 54 interviews examining the subjective positions and ideology of key players on both sides of the official English debate. Data analysis indicated that there are some relatively stable and recurring positions on the issue that frame the debate and can be directed toward defining different sets of problems as the objects of policy. People on both sides of the debate strongly agreed that the issue of English in U.S. public culture is a serious matter. (Contains 14 references.) (SM)

This book presents the dynamics of language and literacy policy activism in Australia. The introduction is "Activists and Policy" (LoBianco, Wickert). Part 1, "From Policy to Anti-Policy" (LoBianco), sets a frame and overarching context of the pattern of Australian language and literacy policy. Part 2 contains accounts of how policy activists learned to become more effective in influence and text production, including "Australia's Language" (Brock); "Politics, Activism, and Processes of Policy Production" (Wickert); and "Although It Wasn't Broken, It Certainly Was Fixed" (Moore). Part 3 explores different approaches to understanding how policy problems and solutions are constituted in particular kinds of ways with an intention to generate desired solutions. Included are"Advocating the Sustainability of Linguistic Diversity" (Singh); "Cost of Literacy for Some" (Taylor); and "(E)merging Discourses at Work" (Castleton). Part 4 concerns what happens in different contexts as an application of the wider principles. The papers are "Melody Changes but the Dance Goes on" (McHugh et al.); "Sleight of Hand" (Falk); "National Literacy Benchmarks and the Outstreaming of English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners" (McKay); "Open for Business" (Kell); "Inventiveness and Regression" (Ozolins); "Deafness and Sign Language in Government Policy Documents 1983-90" (Power); "Imprisoned by a Landmark Narrative?" (Childs); "Ideologies, Languages, Policies" (Scarino, Papdemetre); and "Reconciled to What?" (Nicholls). Part 5 is "Sing Out That Song" (Frawley), a paper that explores the concept of print literacy as being socially and culturally driven and its positioning as a variable social technology in the context of an Aboriginal community. Appendixes include abbreviations and 620 references. (YLB)

This paper describes responses to linguistic pluralism in Australian policy in relation to Australia's Asian language context, and the teaching and learning of Japanese within these two frameworks. Finally, the paper considers some ideas relating intercultural language learning to all second language study termed: the Third Place. There are three approaches typically taken toward multilingualism in a given society, looking at multilingualism as a problem, a right, or a resource. Australia viewed multilingualism as a problem through the middle of the 1970s. This eventually led to a contestation of that approach, which culminated in the language as a right movement, which gained considerable ground in the later 1970s and through the 1980s. By the 1990s, the language a resource school began to gain influence. Regarding multilingualism as a resource involves construing the diversity of languages within the community as a public as well as an individual benefit and fashioning public policies accordingly. All of Australia's languages are reviewed, including a review of the role of Japanese language studies in Australian education and Japanese studies. Cultures, general knowledge, and intercultural language teaching are also discussed. (Contains 18 references.) (KFT)

This paper argues against Australia's "One Literacy" (English only) movement, explaining that in recent years, there have been efforts to clear the curriculum of non-literacy subjects and activities, and noting the difficulty of determining what is and is not a curriculum distraction. It also notes that elementary students' English language reading and writing performance on standardized tests is unacceptably low and that some people feel that literacy performance is not being measured in ways sensitive to social factors. The paper suggests that to track the effect on languages and literacy of this literacy crisis, it is necessary to consider what fits under the terms "languages" and "literacies" and then trace which kinds of languages and literacies have not done well under the crisis. It examines problems for "One Literacy" (e.g., community languages in which the maintenance of linguistic and cultural heritage, and uninterrupted conceptual development from home to school, is a key goal), then discusses the following: transferring literacy; cultural insights from biliteracy; policy literacy; the origins, claims, and modus operandi of One Literacy; and problems with "One Literacy." It concludes by advocating "Australian Literacies," which would involve the mastery of multiple codes, diverse modes, and plural meanings of literate practice in contemporary Australia. (Contains 24 references.) (SM)