25 ―literate‖?
• What are the criteriastandards which correspond to different levels of literacy in minority languages?
Therefore, the problem of this study is 1 to investigate types of literacy
assessment, key elements, and test components of literacy skills, 2 to develop suitable standards and performance levels of adult literacy, and 3 to propose a cross-linguistic
guideline for developing a literacy assessment instrument in the context of Nepal by devising the first sample draft of such an instrument for the Eastern Tamang mother
tongue-based adult literacy program in Nepal.
1.5 Significance of Study
If successful, this study will develop a set of guidelines and a functional illustration or model for doing MT literacy assessment in Nepal. The implications are as
follows: It will provide a measurement tool for individual participants in the ET adult
literacy program to establish what they have achieved from their participation in the program in terms of specific literacy skills and levels.
It will provide a resource for collecting credible data and indicators of participants
‘ learning outcomes for literacy planners and facilitators of the ETLT andor other organizations to identify skill gaps and needs and to make
adjustments where needed. It will offer a relatively reliable source of evidence-based information, rather
than self-assessment or proxy measures, to policy makers and collaborating localnationalinternational organizations so that they can make realistic
26 decisions for efficient allocation of resources to improve education quality.
It will present an exemplar of an adaptable test set for indigenous languages and establish an empirical evaluation standardcriterion for adult literacy
performance in Nepal. It can be a first step for the development of a national literacy assessment
instrument to link between NFEliteracy programs and the formal education system for adult learners of ethnic language communities so that they can be
certified by the Government of Nepal and can qualify for further study in formal school settings.
27
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Various literature on literacy assessment will be examined in this chapter with a view to establishing a solid practical and theoretical framework for developing literacy
assessment in Nepal.
2.1 Why literacy assessment?
The process of globalization has made literacy a critical issue in the development programs of many developing countries Kamens and McNeely, 2010. However, the
international community has so far relied almost entirely on data from indirect or proxy measurement such as self-assessment questionnaires and the number of years of primary
schooling, rather than reliable and objective data from direct measurement, to provide worldwide statistical comparisons Wagner, 1990.
Kudo and Bazan 2009 conducted research on measuring beginners ‘ reading
skills and analyzed reading performance data collected in a sample of 475 third-graders in the region of Junin, Peru. In their report, they emphasized the importance of measuring
reading skills ―as a way to produce reliable information that can be used to guide
policymaking, strengthen accountability, and ultimately improve quality of education ‖
Kudo and Bazan, 2009:1. Stern and Tuijnman 1997:10-11 discussed the potential benefits of surveys involving literacy assessment and noted that information drawn from
the assessment of literacy skills would begin to create a more solid basis for policy on education and training.
UNESCO 2004:28 has identified the following priorities for the monitoring and assessment of literacy:
• refining literacy indicators and emphasizing those measuring the qualitative
impact of literacy; •
promoting widespread and better use of census and population data; •
developing improved methods for assessing the literacy levels of individuals as well as for evaluating learning outcomes at the program level;
• working out and utilizing a common yet locally acceptable framework for
assessing progress towards achieving 50 improvement of levels of literacy by 2015;
• building management information systems in support of literacy policies and
programs; and •
studying the specific impact of literacy on the quality of life. Furthermore, in the UN Literacy Decade UNLD
16
International Strategic Framework for Action, UNESCO and UNLD 2009 articulated an additional strategy for
the first objective – ―to mobilize stronger commitment to literacy‖ – as following:
―Improving assessment, monitoring and evaluation of literacy to provide policymakers, planners and program managers with timely, valid and reliable data
on literacy levels, the needs of populations and the necessary information on the performance of the system in order to take informed policy decisions, to monitor
and evaluate the implementation of national plans as regards literacy and other related development activities undertaken in the non-formal education NFE
subsector and to provide information on the outputs and benefits of programs for mobilizing political commitment and funding
‖ UNESCO and UNLD, 2009:20- 21.
2.2 Methods of Assessment: Direct and Indirect measures
