ABSTRACT
Progress in word-processing software has massively reduced the problem of ‘Why Johnny can’t spell’ (Algeo 1965). However, that Johnny can now get by without being able to spell correctly does not enable Tom, Dick and Harry to read. According to the National Literacy Trust (2013), more than five million adults in England are functionally illiterate and of these 1.7 million have literacy levels below those expected of 11-year-old pupils. Data for the United States and other English-speaking countries are hardly more encouraging. Except for a certain percentage of individuals with language disorders and/or pathological learning difficulties, the distribution of this population across the social spectrum is predictable. Low literacy correlates with poverty, unemployment, delinquency, poor health, and even below-average life expectancy.
11-year-old pupils eligible for free school meals are around twice as likely not to achieve basic standards in literacy and numeracy as other 11-year-old children.
(The Poverty Site n.d.) 1