ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

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66 ACQ Volume 11, Number 2 2009 ACQuiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing
Literacy
Features22006%20(Reissue)?opendocument&tabn
ame=Summary&prodno=4228.0&issue=2006%20
(Reissue)&num=&view=). The report of the 2006 survey
shows that significant numbers of Australians aged between
15 and 74 years scored at level 1 or 2 in each of the areas
of interest. To be specific, 46% scored at this level for prose
literacy, 47% for document literacy, 53% for numeracy and
70% for problem solving. The report shows that older people
generally have lower levels of literacy, but that there has been
an improvement in levels over the past decade. Despite it
being a first-world country, Australia still needs to improve its
literacy levels.
Literacy is clearly a crucial issue, and one which falls
squarely within the scope of speech pathology. The
significant body of evidence which demonstrates the
existence of poor literacy levels in children with language
difficulties reinforces the importance of the provision
of speech pathology services to these children. This
understanding is the basis for Speech Pathology Australia’s
statement on the provision of services to school-aged
children. The Association will continue to put this position
forward to politicians, administrators and educators at every
opportunity. Speech pathologists are also well equipped to
provide a valuable service to those adults whose literacy
levels are affected by stroke or other acquired difficulties, and
to work with clients with complex communication difficulties.
All of these areas are included in the range of artiicles
contained in this edition of ACQ – it behoves the Association
to ensure that they are also reflected in the range of position
papers available. If you feel that there is a need to update the
existing papers, or to develop new papers, please do let us
know – either direct to National Office, or through the branch
executive in your state.
Literacy – it’s so important for all of us. Those
of us who have high literacy levels may well take it for
granted. I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, and
seem unable not to read everything I see in the environment
around me. And print is everywhere around us, so I am
continually reading. Some of you may remember a time
when it was suggested that developments in electronic
communication would mean that demands on literacy would
decrease. We all know that this has not happened – if
anything, literacy is more important than ever. Widespread
literacy is, however, a relatively recent development in
historical terms. The invention of the printing press in the mid
15th century made books available to more people, and so
literacy rates began to increase. Of course, universal literacy
is still some way off. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics
states that more than 744 million people world wide are
illiterate
ID=6401&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201). Of
these, some 64% are women. Literacy rates vary widely from
country to country, and are lower in the less developed areas
of the world. The UNESCO data centre has details on
literacy rates in some, but not all, countries (see: http://stats.
aspx?ReportId=143&IF_Language=eng).
In Australia, information regarding literacy levels is
collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Five areas
of literacy are considered – prose literacy, document
literacy, numeracy, problem solving and health literacy
– and five levels of skill. Level 5 is the highest ranking,
and level 3 is seen as the minimum required to “meet
the complex demands of everyday life and work in the
emerging knowledge-based economy” .
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From the President
Literacy notes
Cori Williams
Cori Williams
Speech Pathology Week 2009
is the perfect time
to help raise the profile
of the profession.
23-29 August 2009
This year’s theme is
‘Communicate to participate’
Start planning your events and
promotions and check out the
website for inspiration:
communicate
to participate