I’ve started writing new course content for the new NZCALNE (Voc) – the latest version of our course. I want to revise the definitions that we use to talk about the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy and Numeracy.
The terminology is confusing for most people. And some of the existing definitions are not very helpful either.
Here’s a list of the literacy progressions below, with my plain English explanations. If this is something that you’re involved with using, either as a tutor or manager, I’d like some feedback.
I want to know if these make sense below. This is still a specialised area, but I’ve tried to use a limited vocabulary, active voice, and no adverbs.
Have I missed any critical aspects of the meanings? If yes, how can I add these without making it sound like rocket science? The audience is trades and vocational tutors who are non-experts in literacy and numeracy.
Here’s the list. Please direct any feedback to the comment section. Thanks…!
| Vocabulary | Knowing the meanings of words, how to use them, and how they relate to each other. |
| Language & Text Features | Using and understanding language, texts, and parts of texts including speech. |
| Comprehension | Understanding the messages, making connections with what you know, inferring meanings. |
| Listening Critically | Understanding who is speaking and why. Aware of speakers’ purposes and points of view |
| Interactive Listening & Speaking | Taking part in conversations and discussions. This includes taking turns, interrupting in a way that is appropriate and checking meanings. |
| Using Strategies to Communicate | Getting ideas and information across to others in a way that is effective. |
| Decoding | Knowing how to say written words out loud |
| Reading critically | Understanding who wrote something, why, and for whom. |
| Purpose & Audience | Having reasons and goals for writing. Knowing who you are writing for. |
| Spelling | Writing words in a way that is correct and consistent. |
| Planning & Composing | Deciding what to write about. Then recording ideas. |
| Revising & Editing | Making changes and corrections to writing. The aim is that the writing is clear, meets your purpose and engages with the audience. |
I think this looks great. It’s clear and gives the reader a great overview and clarification of what is really being asked. It’s not ambiguous. I think when people are only using it to support learners as a fraction of the work they do it needs to be as simple and clear as possible – this is what they will want to read, it will give a clear picture to the user who can then answer confidently.
Hey thanks Rowan. You’re exactly right… the target audience for these are people who aren’t LN specialists. Thanks for the feedback – appreciated. Cheers, Graeme