Some factors associated with achievement in literacy among adults in Jamaica

Abstract

This study sought to investigate a possible relationship between adult literacy and such factors as the adult learners' modernism, motivation, urban/rural background, attendance, age, sex, employment, previous schooling, and the classroom behaviour of their teachers. Data were collected from a random sample of 172 students from three parishes: Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine, which was representative of students attending adult literacy classes organized by the Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL) Foundation, using: (a) an achievement test for Level 1 with reading and number subtests, (b) an orally administered student questionnaire, and (c) a time-interval classroom observation checklist to measure teachers' classroom behaviour. The findings revealed that: 1) achievement in literacy was closely associated with the previous schooling of the subjects or the prior exposure of the person to literacy; 2) motivation to learn and to progress were important prerequisites for achievement in general, and literacy in particular; 3) achievement in literacy was better in urban areas than in rural areas; 4) achievement in literacy and modern values were closely linked; 5) achievement in numeracy was closely related with attendance at JAMAL classes; and 6) the literacy instructor's classroom behaviour was a predictor of achievement in numeracy