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This article presents the results of a qualitative study into how adult literacy learners perceive reading. Individual interviews and focus groups were used to ask 37 adult literacy learners at a London further education college what reading is. It follows a grounded theory approach to build a model, or narrative, of reading in the form of six interrelating aspects and seven findings for discussion. These findings include insights on metalanguage and phonic decoding, the distinction between how we read and how we learn to read, motivation and learning to read, the place of reading aloud, the manifold relationship between reading and time, reading as a social practice and reading as a distinctly asocial practice. Implications for the learning and teaching of adult emergent reading are presented for each finding.

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In 2014, the European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET) distributed a questionnaire about the use of terminology in adult literacy work. The results of this questionnaire were discussed at an ELINET seminar at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg in January 2015. The Hamburg Seminar provided the opportunity for ELINET partners to air challenges and concerns, and share good practice, in describing and referring to adults who may have literacy needs or goals. ELINET can play an important role in guiding the wider population, including politicians, policy-makers and the media, in their use of such terminology. The seminar participants recognised the vital importance of ensuring that ELINET advocacy, research and practice around adult literacy be mindful of the impact the use of language can have in shaping impressions of the needs and capabilities of adult literacy learners. The range of terminology used to talk about adult literacy and adult literacy learners was considered and seven guiding principles that should inform choices of language when writing or speaking about adult literacy agreed upon. Part 1 summarises the seven principles. Part 2 explores the reasons why principles for the use of adult literacy terminology are needed and examines the thinking behind the particular principles chosen.

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This report presents the findings of a study to estimate the economic impact of poor basic skills on workplace performance. The study aims to address the lack of evidence on the prevalence of poor basic skills in the workplace and its impact, as well as the costs and benefits associated with public-funded basic skills training. Successive UK governments have focused on addressing basic skills deficit in the workforce in recognition of the economic and wider public benefits. However, much of the research evidence on the impact of basic skills interventions has focused primarily on employees' basic skills levels rather than on the impact of these skills on employers. There is little reliable evidence on the scale of costs resulting from basic skills deficits in the workplace. Where research has been undertaken in this field, it has focussed on the routes through which employers might incur costs rather than attempting to estimate them.

Evidence from the case studies suggest that some employers may be underestimating the extent of their basic skills gaps, which could point to a lack of effective mechanisms to measure and monitor basic skills in the workplace. A recurring theme from the case studies was that some employers have a very narrow understanding of literacy and numeracy in relation to job roles and requirements and business performance. In order to better understand and support their employees in meeting the literacy and numeracy demands of the workplace, employers need support in understanding the literacy and numeracy components of workplace tasks. Some employers make use of low cost and informal mechanisms, like scaffolding of tasks or explicit on-the-job training, in order to diminish the impact of poor skills. The case study evidence suggests that the supply of training needs to be more closely aligned with the demands of the workplace. There was little evidence that firms were interested in helping their employees' to gain a formal qualification, except where that qualification was deemed to have an external currency.

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