Illiterate America?
How scary is this recent study reported in USA Today?:
"Eleven million U.S. adults - about one in 20 - have such poor English skills that they can't read a newspaper, understand the directions on a bottle of pills or, in many cases, carry on a basic conversation, says a new federal survey that offers the first peek in more than a decade at the USA's "non-literate" adult population.
Recent immigrants with limited or no English skills account for most of the group, adult education advocates say, but the survey suggests that even the average adult has low skills. Only 13%, for instance, are able to compare viewpoints in two editorials; interpret a table on blood pressure, age and physical activity, or compare the per-ounce costs of two cans of soup."
Here's the link if you want to read the entire synopsis: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-15-literacy_x.htm?csp=24
The notice that people are not able "to compare viewpoints in two editorials" means my frustration with students who can't read complex material and think critically about it is indicative of a larger trend in American education (that can't be written off as ESL issues). They are calling this illiteracy, but it may not mean the inability to read per se as much as the ability to process what one reads. Hmmm ... a nation of non-thinkers - unless you're one of those 13%.
"Eleven million U.S. adults - about one in 20 - have such poor English skills that they can't read a newspaper, understand the directions on a bottle of pills or, in many cases, carry on a basic conversation, says a new federal survey that offers the first peek in more than a decade at the USA's "non-literate" adult population.
Recent immigrants with limited or no English skills account for most of the group, adult education advocates say, but the survey suggests that even the average adult has low skills. Only 13%, for instance, are able to compare viewpoints in two editorials; interpret a table on blood pressure, age and physical activity, or compare the per-ounce costs of two cans of soup."
Here's the link if you want to read the entire synopsis: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-15-literacy_x.htm?csp=24
The notice that people are not able "to compare viewpoints in two editorials" means my frustration with students who can't read complex material and think critically about it is indicative of a larger trend in American education (that can't be written off as ESL issues). They are calling this illiteracy, but it may not mean the inability to read per se as much as the ability to process what one reads. Hmmm ... a nation of non-thinkers - unless you're one of those 13%.