Literature Review

The scope of this project encompassed two major fields in applied linguistics: literacy and language assessment. More specifically they concerned aspects of these fields in relation to low-level and pre-literate learners most of whom had arrived in NZ (Aotearoa/New Zealand) as refugees and dispossessed individuals with a history of persecution, and who were likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders.

While the original definition of literacy was rather narrow in its focus solely on reading and writing ability, in recent times the broader definition, which includes all aspects of communication through the written word, has become a more salient definition. It includes numeracy ability and the ability to manipulate numeracy skills appropriately for various purposes. Moreover, it looks at literacy in a broader context - in the ability of the individual to use literacy skills for realistic functions and authentic purposes, with effective and clear communication being primary objectives. It also takes into account the background factors that students bring to the learning process and the affective gains made in self-confidence and self-esteem.

The difficulty in measuring low-level literacy skills is acknowledged, particularly when the students undertaking the programme have no previous experience of test-taking situations. Ideally, a self-assessment or self-report of skills would be sufficient to indicate performance level or progress - however in order to make this a valid system of assessment for a group such as this, it would need to correlate with student performance. In addition, personal factors in the background of learners such as previous education, first language competencies and history of English learning needed to be taken into consideration in making decisions about progress and achievement. The personal profiles, case studies and classroom observations gave further evidence of the affective domain and environment that learners were experiencing.