What Doesn’t Work for the Lowest Level Literacy Learners and Why?*

Abstract

Traditional approaches for teaching reading to pre-literate adults, those who “speak a language whose written form is rare or does not exist” (Savage 1993) are problematic because foundational learning and cognitive areas are often underdeveloped in these students. Three methods for reading instruction (phonics, sight words, and whole language) are explored in light of the pre-literate learner. The author performs a task analysis for activities used in these methods, and subsequent gaps are revealed, explaining why they may be problematic for use with low-literate adults. The task analysis method is advocated for lesson planning, and a recommendation is made for teachers to consider what is being expected of students when activities are presented. Educators, policy makers, and curriculum providers must be reminded that some LESLLA/literacy-level learners are likely to be pre-emergent readers with developmental areas needing identification and instruction and will not be successful with conventional methods of reading instruction without significant pre-reading skill preparation.