SIL goals in literacy

SIL goals in literacy

Introduction
	SIL has the following literacy goal for all language programs:
	To establish literateness as a community value
	Obviously, this is very general and will have widely different implications for different programs.
	If you are not an SIL member, you will need to consult with officials in your organization as to what are appropriate literacy goals for your program or project.

Discussion
	What should be the goal in a given literacy project?
	Many governments want to see 100 percent literacy. Many communities simply want to "improve" the state of local literacy. And, at the far extreme, situations can be identified where various types of development or other work was done and no attention was given to literacy with corresponding results.
	The specific goals of a typical literacy program are conditioned by a complex interaction of factors such as
	contractual commitments local motivation the existence of local, regional, or national movements to encourage literacy available resources including technical expertise local leadership and vision language prestige, and cultural values.

The SIL literacy goal and its implications
	Officially, SIL programs are instructed to achieve conditions of ongoing literacy, or "literateness as a community value."
	Attaining this goal implies the existence of
	a substantial body of literature mechanisms for producing additional literature people trained to sustain literacy activities institutional support for literacy, and a community perception that literacy has value.
	In most cases, attaining this goal also implies
	literacy in a language of wider communication identifiable personal advantages to being literate at least some economic advantage to being literate, and a sustained period of time during which the community make at least some adaptations to a "print culture."

Evaluating “literateness as a community value”

There is no single, reliable measure of having reached the SIL goal.

Here are some realities observed in communities where the goal is judged to have been reached:

Those who want to become literate can, with modest effort, gain access to a person, class, or program which will teach them to read and write.
Those who are literate make at least weekly use of their literacy.
There are local institutions which regularly support and use literacy such as churches, cooperatives, schools, or businesses.
Women and children have relatively unrestricted access to literacy.
There are adequate local resources to support ongoing literacy without external assistance
There is ongoing promotion and support of literacy.
Mechanisms exist to support a regular flow of new material into the area.
Literacy has been present and ongoing in the community for at least 10 years.
A minimum of 5-10 percent of the adult population is actively literate.

Note:

None of these by itself should be taken as an adequate measure of ongoing literacy.

Context for this page:

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 1 October 1999