Preview of the Studies

that the design could not be perfectly balanced nor the variables controlled as is expected in laboratory conditions or classrooms in a formal education system. The semi-structured interviews with teachers throughout the programs and the subsequent follow-up research added valuable insights of a more ethnographic nature. In Chapter 3, after a description of the two methods of instruction, the design, instruments for testing, and dependent variables are described. The context for the research is now considered in terms of the physical setting and the languages of instruction. The research was set in the Dreikikir district of the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. The physical and socio-cultural contexts were rural, but there had been opportunities for some of the communities to have access to some form of education in English for approximately forty years. Where such education, especially for males, opened the way for employment, this employment was generally conducted outside the area. In the communities, village activities centred around subsistence farming. The staple crop was yam but, because the villages were situated in the foothills, other fruit and vegetable crops were abundant, with sago available in the off-season. Cash crops in the area were coffee and cocoa. Descriptions of the socio-cultural settings of the two groups chosen for the interventions are found in Chapters 4 and 5, with the results and discussion of the studies. The two languages for instruction for this research were Urat and Tok Pisin a lingua franca. Tok Pisin was used extensively in interaction between language groups, especially in the vicinity of the government offices and the highway. At one stage, Urat had declined as the means of communication for the people living near the district centre, and the use of Tok Pisin had flourished. During the 1970s, with the arrival of a resident linguist, the situation changed and there was a deliberate attempt to revive communication in Urat with the result that it “has undergone a strong revival” Dixon 1991. When the research was developed, there was high motivation for vernacular education, especially for the children. The adult program was a forerunner to the transition, bilingual education program for children which was becoming popular nationwide. The argument was presented above that adults and children have the same physical and social material upon which to draw in literacy but at a different level of operation. The content of the literacy material and the manner of presentation to accommodate the differences in physical and mental maturity were addressed in the studies. Adults who had not had an opportunity to become literate were the target group for the research. Such a program would allow a larger group of literate parents to develop in the community to accommodate to the forthcoming vernacular program for children. A major part of the research was to focus on cultural adaptations and suitable materials appropriate and relevant for the adult group. The appropriateness of the study in the light of changes in education policy of the country was another factor which influenced decisions. At the time of the research, changes were developing in national education policy. In 1989, a new Language and Literacy Policy was formed by the National Department of Education and approved by the government in 1990. This policy endorsed the use of vernacular languages as the medium of instruction in literacy programs: In order to improve the quality of education, to strengthen traditional cultures and values, to facilitate participation by all citizens in national life, to promote national unity and to raise the level of literacy in Tok Ples, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu and English, we recommend the development of education programmes to ensure that children, out of school youth and adults become literate in Tok Ples, transfer their skills to Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu or English and maintain and expand their literacy skills in these languages Department of Education 1989. The term “Tok Ples” refers to local vernacular languages while “Tok Pisin” and “Hiri Motu” are linguae francae. This official inclusion of the vernacular languages—and adult education as part of the national policy—opened the way for concentrated research to determine appropriate and relevant methods of instruction and ways to implement programs that are more socially and culturally embedded. In 1990, specific proposals to “improve and expand the present education system” were initiated by the Education Sector Review Maha 1992:8–9. Two major changes proposed which relate to this project are as follows: 1. At the elementary level where schools would run a three-year program: “preparatory training to grade 2.” These schools would “allow the acquisition of initial literacy in a language which the children speak” in an integrated curriculum bridging to English page 9. 2. At the higher levels “to provide linkages between vocational, secondary education and high levels” as well as “distance education” and “adult literacy and learning programs” pages 8–9. These changes would • improve the “chance of traditional education being integrated with formal schooling” • raise the standard of education, and • improve the opportunities for education into adulthood for more people than the present system allows. Another significant anticipated change is that “a greater possibility of cultural bonding could result by students obtaining more than 9 years of education in their home area” Maha 1992:12. Such changes to the formal education system could create a greater demand for mother-tongue adult literacy as the impetus for educating through the transitional vernacular-English programs becomes more prevalent throughout the country. In light of these changes, the present project, which is concerned with exploring appropriate literacy methods within the socio-cultural contexts of the communities is presented. Downing 1987:43, when discussing future trends in world literacy, noted that “governments of various developing countries are making efforts to spread literacy and raise literacy standards.” He applauded these efforts, but warned against wastage because “simple practical principles from scientific research” may not be heeded. He argued that government educational institutions often tend to oversimplify the problem by passing over the research and theory and going directly to what they consider to be ‘practical’. Rather than important theoretical and research findings, they import ‘practical’ methods of instruction from the industrialized countries. … Educators in developing countries should be much less modest than they are about their own expertise. No foreign expert knows more about their people and children than the local educators in their own culture and nation. They should be especially skeptical about ‘practical’ methods which are proffered by foreign experts. They may be quite impracticable for the needs of the people in the developing countries Downing 1987:43–44. The assumption on which this research was undertaken is that members of the local communities would • participate • make decisions, and • develop the programs to suit the social and cultural conditions. When developing the programs, educated community members would be the vital liaison between the researcher and members of the community, particularly with those who were the decision-makers and with those who wished to be literate. The proposition is that any instructional program, to be effective, needs to rely on input from people of different levels of literacy within the community. Such a program needs to allow decisions to be made and constructive reorganisations to occur without the program losing its character. The robustness of the programs, to benefit from such community input and changes, and continue to function is one of the things this project aims to examine. In subsequent chapters it will be seen that, as the two studies unfolded, certain factors related to the culture of practice within the societies made changes necessary. There were consultation sessions with teachers and Literacy Committee members throughout the programs to allow the control that would ensure continuation of literacy at the completion of the studies. The educational implications and conclusions of the research are discussed in Chapter 6. In the next chapter, the theoretical background for the research is developed. The practical implications of theory for literacy in industrialised nations is considered, the influence of trends in beginning literacy in programs for adult learners in non-industrialised nations is examined, and the languages of instruction are outlined. 8

2. Review of the Literature and Languages of Instruction

2.0. Introduction

At the centre of this study is an exploration into culturally relevant literacy acquisition techniques for adult learners. The cultural setting for the research was among lowland communities of people living in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. Two programs of literacy were conducted in which the two methods of instruction were specifically analysed and compared: the Gudschinsky method, which has a long history of application, and the relatively new Multi-Strategy method. These methods are described briefly below and more fully in Chapter 3. The Gudschinsky method is known as an eclectic method, combining various techniques for literacy instruction which were current at the time of its development, to fulfil practical needs rather than theoretical coherence. The method was developed through empirical application of these techniques in languages with varying degrees of complexity of phonological structures and syllable patterns. The structured, analytical approach allows for flexible inclusion of syllable patterns within a basic framework. One type of primer lesson begins with a picture which represents a word, from which a letter is taught in the context of its position in a syllable. There is a series of seven components to each lesson, including connected reading material and writing. A further lesson type, focusing on grammatical function words or morphemes presented in the same basic lesson pattern is included to help the learner gain fluency skills. The Multi-Strategy method is a dual approach where specific instructional emphases focus on • holistic, creative reading and writing based on meaning and comprehension, and • learning discrete skills for reading and writing through analysis and synthesis activities based on accuracy of form, including word attack skills, spelling, and syntax. Each area of emphasis is taught separately from the other in a framework of four short lesson periods. Each lesson has an explicit procedural structure, which allows for flexibility of content and teaching practice demanded by the language and culture. The two areas of emphasis are called the Story Track and the Word-Building Track. The Story Track includes similar activities to those found in whole language pedagogy as practised in many English-speaking schools: • Language experience stories • Listening to a story being read • Silent reading • Shared book reading • Creative writing with all activities based on a weekly theme The Word-Building Track includes • primer lessons with analysis and synthesis of a word in the context of a picture, or a sentence or text • learning syllables and word building • practice in reading with focus on syntax, and • writing of form, that is, the mechanics of writing and spelling. As mentioned earlier, these two methods of instruction will be elaborated in detail in Chapter 3. The literature review provided in this chapter is necessarily confined to areas which relate to the differences between the two methods. These differences centre on the concept of an adequate instructional model of reading and writing for adults who have not experienced a long tradition of literacy. The research is limited to adult literacy in settings where formal schooling is not the norm in the society. In considering literacy in such settings, it is necessary to reflect on the suitability and relevance of the instruction to the learners. Gray’s 1956 definition of functional literacy was influential in bringing into focus the importance of the socio-cultural context in literacy competence. This socio-cultural relevance continues to take precedence in current definitions. In a review of the literature for an investigation of delivery of literacy and numeracy to unemployed people in Australia, for instance, Gunn 1991 stated a definition of functional literacy issued by the International Committee of Experts on Literacy: A person is literate when he [sic] has acquired the essential knowledge and skills which enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his group and community, and whose attainments in reading and writing and arithmetic make it possible to use the skills towards his own and the community’s development Gunn 1991:52. The emphasis here is on functional competence within the socio-cultural context. Verhoeven 1994b, while including the socio-cultural context, constructed a more comprehensive description of functional literacy. He related the theoretical framework of communicative competence to written language and developed a construct of functional literacy using the four competencies stated in this framework as a starting point: • Grammatical phonological, lexical, morpho-syntactic abilities • Discourse cohesion, coherence • Strategic planning, execution, evaluation • Sociolinguistic literacy conventions, cultural background knowledge He added one further competency, that is, to code and decode code conventions, automatisation, “the technical abilities which are related to reading and writing” Verhoeven 1994b:8–9. Other definitions in the literature focus more on personal significance within the socio- cultural context. Grant 1986 has stated that literacy learning is more than functional competency: it is an organic process inseparable from the way we live our lives, has to do with the part language plays in a person’s growth and development, and involves a political process of taking responsibility for one’s life Grant 1986:9. This emphasis on literacy and its specific relationship to the individual within the social context is taken further by Szwed 1982 who showed that one literacy standard is not necessarily applicable for all people: “there is a ‘plurality of literacies’ based on the particular social context and the individual’s needs, purposes and motivations for reading and writing within that context” Szwed 1982:12.