Developing functional literacy
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Functional literacy is the ability to manage daily tasks requiring reading skills beyond a basic level, differentiating it from general literacy. In Kazakhstan, the government aims to equip citizens with the skills needed for effective communication in an international context, highlighting the importance of functional literacy in education. The participatory approach in teaching emphasizes student-teacher collaboration, practice with realistic materials, and total participation to enhance students' real-life communication skills.
Developing functional literacy
- 1. Developing Functional Literacy THEO NAVARRO METHODOLOGIST STUDY INN ASTANA
- 2. What is “Functional Literacy?” Functional Literacy is the ability to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level
- 3. 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.
- 4. 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.
- 5. Okay, it’s important. So how can we improve “Functional literacy?” We need to select activities that practice realworld skills. The ideal method is the “Participatory Approach” as defined by Peyton & Crandall (1995) and Huerta-Marcia (1993)
- 6. The Participatory Approach The 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
- 7. 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 extratextual components such as pictures, logos or objects, to reflect the realistic nature of the activities.
- 8. Students feel more supported, as they are getting time to talk to the teacher directly in a more “private” way. 03 Because 100% participation is the goal, this means that every student gets an opportunity to practice literacy skills 02 01. How does this approach help my students? Students must practice communicating their problems, as well as communicating possible solutions to problems, which is a priceless “reallife skill”
- 9. Finally, students practice understanding things as a whole instead of focusing on the meanings of individual words or images. 07 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 05 04 Students develop the tools to help themselves , which is a huge step towards functional literacy 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.
- 10. 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
- 11. Now, let’s get some practice!
- 12. Developing Functional Literacy THEO NAVARRO METHODOLOGIST STUDY INN ASTANA
Editor's Notes
- #12: Film, TV and Music pages 26-28Pairwork and Groupwork pages 34-35Teen World pages 16-17