CASAE-ACÉÉA National Conference 2001 - Twentieth Anniversary Proceedings The Reading Strategies of Adult Basic Education Students

This large-scale SSHRC funded study examined the word identification and comprehension strategies of 344 adult basic education students enrolled in 58 full-time and part-time programs situated in urban and rural communities across Canada. Background to the Study The reading behaviours, skills, and processes of adult literacy learners is a relatively new field of academic study, despite the ever-growing awareness of and support for adult literacy. A recent study examining the characteristics of research on reading between 1969 to 1998 found that only 3 percent of the research involved adults as research participants (Guzetti, Anders & Neuman, 1999). Over the last 16 years, a small body of research has been conducted on the reading strategies and processes of the adult population. However, some of this research is problematic because it focuses on phonological and orthographic skills, and has employed assessment procedures that do not reflect authentic reading (Hiebert, Valencia & Afflerbach, 1994). The major purpose of our study was to examine the word identification and comprehension strategies used by 344 adult basic education students.