Glossary

Concerns people who have significant difficulties with reading, writing or numeracy. These minimal skills are necessary to function well in society, as they provide access to the job market and allow people to pursue personal development and take on their roles in society (parent, citizen, consumer, etc.).

“A person’s ability to understand and use information, a key function in a world where daily living requires higher communication and information processing skills”.

People with low literacy skills who, in their native language, have significant difficulties with reading, writing and numeracy in everyday life when the text is not clear and familiar. Their reading skills are at the lowest level (level 1) on the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) reading ability scale.

Enables adults for whom French is not their mother tongue and who cannot read or write in their mother tongue to acquire a basic knowledge of oral and written French.

Reading awareness, which is offered by schools and public education organizations, helps to reduce the risk for illiteracy among children whose parents have reading difficulties. Participants and volunteers read stories to children to encourage their love of reading and writing. The program can also help children experiencing academic difficulties to maintain a desire to read and parents to positively influence their child’s acquisition of knowledge and written communication skills.

Francization allows adults for whom French is not their mother tongue to acquire basic knowledge of oral and written French. It enables immigrant Allophones to acquire the skills needed to integrate into Quebec society while preparing their transition to study or enter the labour market.

Literacy is defined as the ability to understand, evaluate, use, and engage with written texts to participate in society, to accomplish one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.

Literacy encompasses a variety of skills, from decoding words and sentences to understanding, interpreting, and evaluating complex texts. It does not, however, include text production (writing).

Information about the skills of adults with low proficiency is provided by a reading component assessment that covers vocabulary, sentence-level comprehension, and passage fluency.

Numeracy is defined as the ability to locate, use, interpret, and communicate mathematical information and concepts in order to engage and manage the mathematical demands of a range of adult life situations.

To this end, numeracy includes managing a situation or solving a problem in a real context, by responding to mathematical content / information / ideas represented in multiple ways.