developing functional literacy
DESCRIPTION
A short presentation of Functional Literacy that I used with secondary school teachers in Kazakhstan. This was followed by demonstrating the method, and then having the teachers themselves try and use it.TRANSCRIPT
Developing Functional Literacy
THEO NAVARROMETHODOLOGIST
STUDY INNASTANA
What is “Functional Literacy?”
Functional Literacy is the ability to manage daily living and employment
tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level
How is “Functional literacy” different from “literacy?”“Literacy” refers to the ability to read or write at ANY level. An illiterate person will not be able to understand or to produce ANY text at all. “Functional literacy” refers to practical skills needed to live a normal life.For example: an illiterate person may not understand the written words “cat” or “dog”, may not recognize the letters of the alphabet and may be unable to write their own name.A functionally illiterate person will probably be able to understand these things without any problems, however they cannot understand job advertisements, newspaper articles, forms or posters.Foreigners who cannot do these things in the language of the country they are living in are considered functionally illiterate. In Kazakhstan I, myself, am functionally illiterate.
Why is this something that we should be worrying about in our classes? We
don’t live in an English-speaking country!
Your government is trying to position Kazakhstan to be an international country. This
means that the citizens of this country will need to be able to communicate with people from all over the world. Also, more and more people from Kazakhstan are going abroad to English speaking countries to study and to
work.
Okay, it’s important. So how can we improve “Functional
literacy?”
We need to select activities that practice real-world skills. The ideal method is the “Participatory Approach” as defined by Peyton & Crandall (1995) and Huerta-
Marcia (1993)
The Participatory ApproachThe main goal of this approach is to have
EVERY student, as well as the teacher, actively participating in the activities
This approach changes the role of the teacher. Instead of us giving instructions and then
stepping back to allow students to work, the teacher works together with the students.
This approach forces us to practice our micro-teaching skills, as we help learners to
accomplish the goals that we set
We must use realistic materials, because we are training students for
realistic situations.
For large classes it is IMPOSSIBLE to give each student individual
attention. So, we have students work in pairs or small groups, and give
attention to the groups as a whole.
Our activities must also include extra-textual components such as pictures, logos or objects, to reflect the realistic nature of the activities.
How does this approach help my students?
01
. Because 100% participation is the goal, this means that every student gets an opportunity to practice literacy skills
02 Students
feel more supported, as they are getting time to talk to the teacher directly in a more “private” way.
03 Students must
practice communicating their problems, as well as communicating possible solutions to problems, which is a priceless “real-life skill”
04 Students
develop the tools to help
themselves, which is a huge
step towards
functional literacy
05 Students
practice understanding the connections
between text and things &
images. This is important
because almost EVERY type of realistic text is accompanied by an image
(e.g. poster or newspaper) or by a thing (e.g.
product packaging)
06 Finally,
students practice
understanding things as
a whole instead of
focusing on the
meanings of individual words or images.
07 In real life
they will encounter words or symbols
they do not understand,
but the ability to
understand the whole message is
what is really
important.
Let’s summarize this so it’s easier to remember:
• Every student, and the teacher, must participate
• We must help the students and micro-teach
• We need to use realistic materials
• We need extra-textual components
Now, let’s get some practice!
Developing Functional Literacy
THEO NAVARROMETHODOLOGIST
STUDY INNASTANA