Table of Contents


Foreword
Acknowledgements
Five Million Canadians Functionally Illiterate
How the Southam Literacy Survey Was Done
Jury still out on what determines functional illiteracy
Profile of a typical illiterate
Newfoundland: highest illiteracy rate, least able to cope
Immigration boosts Canada's illiteracy rate
Bilingual Canadians more likely to be literate
Literacy programs need tremendous commitment and energy
Universities graduate functional illiterates
Women more literate than men
National cost of illiteracy incalculable
Sweat by day, teach by right: heritage of Frontier College
Better literacy skills crucial to Canadian workforce
Getting nowhere fast: one worker's experience
LITERACY vs literacy; conflict in approach
Federal record on literacy: opportunities wasted, warnings ignored
Government publications often so dense they're unintelligible
Plain language crusade can save government money
Prison inmates insist "carrot-and-stick" programs don't work
Competency in military skills is no guarantee of literacy
Canadian youth score lower in literacy survey than American counterparts
What's N.Y. stand for?
Dreams in technicolor: glitterati support literacy
In the U.S., high profile advocates, no funding
The failures of formal education
In their own words: writings from students in adult language classes
Boredom a reason for high dropout rate
What works to combat illiteracy
Tipsheet on tutoring
Peter Calamai
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