June 2007 - Quebec English Literacy Alliance

Volume 3, Issue 1 

Mid-June 2007 

Our Mission: 

The Quebec English Literacy Alliance (QELA), a partnership of English literacy providers, is dedicated to networking, training 

and information-sharing activities, advocating for the advancement of literacy in the province. 

Inside this issue: 

QLWG to Test Distance 

Education Units 

Beryl Kerrison - Trainer 

Extraordinaire 

Learning Exchange’s 

Celebration 2007 

Riva Heft Hecht Scholarship 

The Student Scene 4-5 

LLC-Q/LVQ Project Updates 

PGI 

2007 

Golf 

News 

2 

3 

3 

3 

5 

6-8 

Little News Re: Federal Cuts to Literacy 

fter many difficult months of waiting for 

A funding, we were pleased to learn that 

the QELA website project, which includes 

the QELA Contact newsletter, would be 

granted its final year of IFPCA funding. 

However, we have still not heard from the 

federal government about what will be happening 

following January 2008. According 

to the Movement for Canadian Literacy, 

“there is no news regarding the transition 

from the old funding program, the National 

Literacy Secretariat (NLS), to the new National 

Office of Literacy and Learning 

(NOLL). The NOLL’s funding parameters 

have not been announced.” 

LOCAL ACTIONS TO 

REINSTATE FEDERAL FUNDING 

Since the official announcement of the federal 

budget cuts in September 2006, a Quebec 

Literacy Coalition comprised of 

groups from school boards and communitybased 

groups – English and French – 

across the province, has been very united, 

very active and very vocal: 

• First press conference held in Nov. 2006 

(same day as Laval bridge collapse): no 

journalists, no articles published. 

• Letter sent to Prime Minster Harper (no 

response; except to re-direct us to Minister 

Diane Finley). cont. on page 2 

QELA Presentation to 

Minority Languages 

Committee 

Changing the Way We 

Teach Math 

English Literacy Sector 

Workshops 

Literacy Levels in Quebec 

- Statistics 

9 

9 

10 

11 

New CEO at NALD 11 

Calendar of Events 12 

Just Point and Click! 12 

Odds and Sods 12 

Happy summer to all! 

Members of the Quebec Literacy Coalition 

Back row: actors Patrice Coquereau & Marie Turgeon (spokespersons); Christian Pelletier, 

RGPAQ; Apraham Niziblian, ICEA. 

Front row: Diane Pouliot, TREAQFP; Maryse Perreault, Fondation pour l’alphabétisation; Gilles 

Duceppe; Joani Tannenbaum, LLC-Q/LVQ; and Dominique Olivier, ICEA. 

QELA CONTACT, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mid-June 2007 Page 1

Little News Re: Federal Cuts to Literacy cont. from page 1 

• Letters sent to the Leaders of the Opposition: 

generated questions in the 

House of Commons as well as meetings 

with Gilles Duceppe (December 

1) and Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal 

party (December 21). 

• Letter and request for a meeting sent 

to Ministers Fournier (MELS) and 

Courchesne (MESS) on December 

12; contact with Mme Courchesne’s 

political attaché but no meeting 

planned to date. 

• Letter sent to Diane Finley (no response). 

• Letter sent to Ms. Finley’s replacement, 

Mr. Solberg in January 

(received a letter of acknowledgement). 

• March 1, 2007: Press Conference in 

Ottawa with Jack Layton and Gilles 

Duceppe (see photo on page 1). 

• November 2006: QELA launched a 

press release regarding the cuts. 

• Feb. 1, 2007: QELA’s interim president 

Ilze Epners was convened to 

speak before the minority languages 

commission regarding how the cuts 

would affect QELA. (See page 9.) 

QLWG Moving Ahead to Test Distance Education 

Competency-Based Literacy Thematic Units 

ast fall, the Quebec Literacy Working 

L Group (QLWG) completed the development 

of 29 competency-based thematic 

units for literacy distance education. 

As our funding arrived too late for us to 

begin piloting the units this year (many of 

our programs are winding down or have 

already come to an end for the current 

school year), we plan to pilot the units with 

literacy teachers across the province in 

the early fall. 

POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH 

LOCAL READING COUNCILS 

As a distance education literacy program 

will require some individual tutor support 

in the adults’ communities, we will also 

be inviting the members of Laubach 

Literacy of Canada-Quebec/Literacy 

Volunteers of Quebec (LLC-Q/LVQ) to 

partner with us on this exciting initiative. 

• May 7, 2006: The Coalition reunited 

with the intention of renewing its efforts 

to obtain funding for literacy. 

The focus of these efforts will be developed 

in the coming months. 

OUTCOME OF PROVINCIAL 

INITIATIVES TO DATE 

To date, the efforts of the Coalition have 

fallen on deaf ears at both the provincial 

and federal government levels. Even the 

Quebec media has shown little interest in 

this situation. 

Very little information is trickling down 

from the federal government and no new 

information has been given since October 

2006, when the federal government told 

the literacy community that in the future, 

it would be retargeting resources towards 

strengthening adult literacy and learning 

activities in the national interests or in 

advancing adult literacy and learning 

achievements in areas of federal responsibility 

(including aboriginal peoples, immigrants, 

official languages, persons with 

disabilities, official languages, workplace 

literacy, etc.). 

The QLWG Skills for Life units were created 

with the new MELS common core 

basic education program in mind: units 

are competency-based and anchored in 

the real-life needs of adult learners. We 

have also focussed on a distance education 

approach to ensure that we can 

reach smaller numbers of adults who 

cannot access regular literacy classes 

for one reason or another. Each unit is 

accompanied by a Tutor Support Guide. 

If you are interested in learning more, 

please contact Patti Moore, QLWG Coordinator, 

at moorep@cqsb.qc.ca or 

(418) 651-3022 


Beryl Kerrison - Trainer Extraordinaire 

e are proud to announce that Beryl 

W Kerrison, Head Trainer for Western 

Quebec Literacy Council, has won 

the Community Service in Education 

Award from the Regional Association of 

West Quebecers. She was honoured at 

the Community Awards Gala on June 1 st 

at the Maison du Citoyen in Hull. 

Beryl Kerrison has been a volunteer tutor 

since completing her tutor training in 

1993. She began tutoring an adult literacy 

student right away. That fall she began 

the training certification process to 

become a Tutor Trainer and started pre- 

The Learning Exchange’s Celebration 2007 

olunteers, students and staff of The 

V Learning Exchange (TLE) in 

Chomedey, Laval held their “Celebration 

2007” on May 30 th in the Sir Wilfrid 

Laurier CDC Laurier’s cafeteria. 

senting workshops in 1994. Beryl remarks 

that she realized that she could 

tutor a good many more students by 

training more tutors. 

Beryl became Western Quebec Literacy 

Council’s Head Trainer in 1996. In the 

intervening eleven years she has trained 

142 tutors! 

Congratulations, Beryl. Thank you for 

sharing the magic of tutoring and reading 

with others. 

Marilee DeLombard 

Executive Director, WQLC 

Along with staff, the evening was organized 

by students and volunteers. Students 

in Darlene Brown’s Basic English 

class had prepared PowerPoint presentations 

thanking the volunteers for their 

time and dedication. Students also wrote 

about why they thought “volunteers are 

great…” and copies were put together for 

all of the volunteers to take home. Special 

certificates of achievement and recognition 

were given by TLE’s President 

Donna Adrian and Executive Director 

Darlene Brown. Mehr, Masoda, Sebu 

and Lisa were awarded student certificates 

for their study efforts and Christiane, 

Tabatha, Madeline and Cynthia 

each received volunteer certificates for 

their outstanding contribution to TLE’s 

literacy program. 

A special draw was held in which class 

tutor Alan and student Christina won USB 

memory sticks. Celebration 2007 was a 

wonderful success! 

Beryl Kerrison 

The Riva Heft Hecht Scholarship 

t the Quebec Association for Adult 

A Learning’s Annual General Meeting 

on May 26 th , QELA’s past President, Ilze 

Epners, was presented the Riva Heft 

Hecht Scholarship for excellence and 

innovative practice in Adult Education 

which consists of an award of $500 and a 

framed certificate of excellence. 

Ilze works for the largest English language 

provider of distance education 

(DE) in the province of Quebec. All English 

language school boards in Quebec 

have access to this service that offers 

adult learners the opportunity to complete 

their high school leaving diploma at a 

distance and at a pace that suits them. 

Individuals have easy access to the program 

and one-to-one support from tutors. 

Through Ilze’s energies, perseverance, 

and commitment to adult education she 

moved the existing DE program forward to 

new heights, thus responding to a learning 

need in the English-speaking community. 

Her leadership has made it possible for 

adult learners who might otherwise not 

have had the prospects to do so, to complete 

their DES. 

This program serves as a model of a DE 

delivery system for providing user-friendly 

access and support to individuals who are 

homebound, living in rural and remote 

regions, as well as those travelling, in 

hospitals and in prisons. 

Congratulations, Ilze. 

Ilze Epners 


The Student Scene - in Cowansville & Pointe-Claire 

O n April 23rd , 434 elementary school 

children marked World Book Day by 

participating in AlphaMarch, a bilingual 

event organized by the Yamaska Literacy 

Council, Le Sac à Mots and the Cowansville 

Centre d’Action Bénévole. 

Each of the three participating Cowansville 

schools (Heroes’ Memorial, Curé à Petit, 

and Ste-Thérèse) formed a parade to Parc 

Davignon, many sporting a “walking book” 

that they had created. 

Following an 

opening ceremony at 

the Gazebo at Parc 

Davignon, each class 

participated in three 

different activity stations: 

storytelling, 

bookmark making 

and creating a class 

mural. 

Storytellers included: 

Grampa Bob, authors 

from the Im-PRESS 

project at Cowansville Academy for Lifelong 

Learning, theatre personalities including 

Danny McAuley, Laura Allen, Joan 

Seys and Don Davison, musician Yvon 

Coté and Legion member, Gordie Swift. 

“Both the Yamaska Literacy Council and 

Le Sac à Mots have a primary mandate to 

provide literacy training to adults with low 

Proud to Learn Awards for L.U. Students 

n January, just after our Christmas 

I break, I received an email from the Institute 

for Co-operation for Adult Education 

asking for student nominations to the 

Proud to Learn Awards. After discussing 

it with my colleagues we nominated three 

students whom we felt had worked particularly 

hard. 

At the beginning of April we were contacted 

to say that the three students nominated 

had all been awarded a certificate. 

The bonus for us was that one of the students 

won an additional award of $125. 

When the students were contacted they 

were very happy to have won and the student 

who won the award plus the money 

was ecstatic, to say the least. The students 

who won were: Francis, the student 

literacy skills. However, an event like 

World Book Day is a great opportunity to 

raise awareness in the community about 

the importance of reading. Many adult 

students come forward for help with reading 

and writing, when their own young children 

begin to read, and need support with 

homework”, says Wendy Seys, YLC Coordinator. 

Children were treated to a snack provided 

by the Cowansville 

Centre d’Action Bénévole; 

music and 

mascots added to the 

atmosphere, and the 

warm sunny weather 

contributed to the success 

of the day! 

Thanks to the all the 

volunteers who 

helped make this fun 

day a reality for many 

children! 

For info about the Yamaska Literacy 

Council, contact Wendy Seys at 450-263- 

7503/866-337-7503, 

yamaskalit@endirect.qc.ca 

For info about Le Sac à Mots contact 

Shawn-Marie Dawson at 

450-266-3766, sacamo@videotron.ca 

of Sylvia Flowers*; Mabel, the student of 

Georgia Jared and last but not least 

James, the student of Doris Herusch. 

The framed certificates, along with a gift 

voucher from Literacy Unlimited, were presented 

to the students at our AGM in May. 

* Sylvia Flowers, who has been a tutor 

with us for two years, won the award for 

outstanding tutor at the Centre for Literacy 

Awards at Dawson College this year along 

with a cheque for $125. 

Congratulations to all of the tutors and 

students for such hard work over the year! 

- Sue Bramfitt-Reid 

Program Director, Literacy Unlimited 

Pointe-Claire 


From the Students of The Learning Exchange 

V 

olunteers are great because they… 

…are very nice. 

…always have time for us. 

…are always smiling no matter what. 

…make us laugh and they teach us how to 

study. 

…care about the students. 

…will help you with anything. 

…always have a smile on their face. 

…are always there when students need them. 

…are helping the student. 

…come in on their own expense. 

…are well known. 

…know we need extra help. 

…always help me when I need it. 

T 

H 

A 

N 

K 

Y 

O 

U 

V 

olunteers are great because they help… 

…us to do our work. 

…me for my study. 

…me understand more. 

…me pass my classes. 

…us in any kind of courses. 

…with math. 

…with reading. 

…with whatever we need to learn from them. 

…from the heart the best as they can. 

LLC-Q/LVQ Project Updates 

nother year comes to a close, and what a 

A year it has been! LLC-Q/LVQ is continually 

striving to position itself as the voice of 

English literacy in the community sector in 

Quebec, and has been working diligently to 

ensure that its voice is heard. 

With this end in mind, LLC-Q/LVQ participated 

in, or organized, the following activities during 

the 2006-2007 fiscal year: 

• National consultations on health literacy 

and access to adult education in Quebec; 

• Frontier College conference on health, nutrition 

and literacy; 

• International Literacy Day launch of new 

campaign by the Fondation pour l’alphabétisation; 

• March-around-the-block organized on ILD 

by Regroupement des groupes populaires 

en alphabetization québécois (RGPAQ); 

• Retreat for member councils; 

• Annual and student conference and annual 

general meeting, where LLCQ hosted the 

2006 Canada Post Literacy Award presentations; 

• Literacy Action Day in Ottawa; 

• International literacy seminar hosted by 

MELS in Quebec City; 

• Press conferences in Montreal and Ottawa 

organized by the Coalition pour l’alphabétisation, 

as well as monthly coalition meetings 

and meetings with MPs; 

• Changing Times Forum for Englishspeaking 

and ethnocultural community 

groups, organized by COCo; 

• Best Practices in Tutor Training round table 

(great opportunity to exchange with our 

community literacy counterparts in Ontario); 

• QELA retreat and general meeting; 

• Adult Literacy Recognition Award and the 

Council of the Federation Literacy Award; 

• MELS working group on IALLS statistics; 

• MELS/PACTE mixed and working committees; 

• LLC strategic planning sessions and annual 

general meeting; 

• National summit on libraries and literacy, 

organized by the Canadian Library Association, 

and; 

• MELS working group on recruitment and 

sensitization. 

Next year promises to be just as busy, with 

three projects either under way, waiting for 

approval, or about to be submitted. So, don’t 

change the channel, stay tuned for the next 

update… 

- by Joani Tannenbaum 


Peter Gzowski Invitational, Quebec 2007 

Keynote Speaker, 

Mark Kelley. 

Just some of the Gala night 

Silent Auction items. 

Cocktails at sunset 

by Lac Brome. 

ow - the 2007 Quebec PGI is now 

W part of our history. Once again 

QELA had the honour of hosting the Quebec 

PGI. It was a wonderful event- from 

the launching Gala Benefit dinner to the 

last word from our poet laureate- L. Ian 

McDonald. We do not have the final total 

of the funds raised this year, but we know 

that it was a success. 

This year’s Gala dinner with our guest 

speaker, Mark Kelley was a sell out. The 

atmosphere was that of a charming garden 

party. The cocktails were served on 

the lawn and the 

dinner in a room 

with a million dollar 

view - the sunset 

was a show in 

itself. Mark Kelley 

spoke so eloquently 

about his 

adventures as a 

CBC journalist. 

What I shall always 

remember 

of Mark was how 

down to earth 

and approachable 

he is. Mark 

has seen what a 

lack of literacy 

skills can do and 

fiercely supports adult literacy. 

This year’s gala had a first - a silent auction. 

Thank you to everybody who donated 

items and a special thank you to 

Sherbrooke Air, who donated three return 

airline tickets to Toronto. Mrs. Evelyn 

Blackwood, the winner of two 

tickets, is already planning a 

“a theatre trip” in the fall. This 

event could never have happened 

without the help of the 

Gala committee so capably 

chaired by Gerda Duncan of 

Knowlton. The generosity of 

the Knowlton residents shone 

once again. 

The actual golf day ended up 

being the hottest day of May. 

No complaints were heard 

about the sunshine at all and all golfers 

had a great time. Wendy Seys had her 

volunteers in all the right places and the 

day went off as smoothly as possible. 

Even though we had to change the format 

from a shot gun to a regular tee off schedule, 

everybody was in such a good mood 

that few complaints were heard 

This year Keith Ward from Lachute was 

the recipient of the Co-operators Learner 

Achievement Award. Keith received a certificate, 

a beautiful pen and $200.00. He 

spoke very movingly about his trials as an 

adult learner. Congratulations Keith! 

Because of the generosity of our sponsors, 

we had 

enough articles to 

have another silent 

auction at the 

golf tournament. I 

would like to express 

a very special 

note of appreciation 

to Hannah 

Productions for 

the huge donation 

that they made. 

Everybody that 

won articles left 

with smiles on 

their faces. And 

as is the tradition 

our day ended 

with a poem read 

by our Poet laureate L. Ian MacDonald. A 

special thanks to Tasha Kheiriddin who 

wrote the poem that Mr. MacDonald read. 

L to R: Ilze Epners, PGI-QC Committee Chair; Michel 

Laflamme, Director-General of Air Sherbrooke and 

Evelyn Blackwood, winner of two return tickets to 

Toronto, compliments of Air Sherbrooke. 

And so another PGI becomes history. Because 

of the hard work of all the committees 

- with Patti Moore and Cathy Nolan 

chairing our silent auction items, Karen 

Ingalls for all her creative PR materials, 

Gary Briand working hard to get corporate 

sponsors and Carolyn Marsh pulling all the 

golf details together and doing all the behind 

the scenes work of book keeping and 

thank you letters – our event was again a 

huge success. I wish the next chair and 

organizational committee much success 

and know that we can count on all the 

QELA members to give a helping hand. 

Thank you and happy golf. 

- Ilze 

Please see page 8 for this year’s poem! 





PGI-Quebec 2007 Poem 

I approach this poem with trepidation 

For its subject is owed much veneration. 

How can I do justice to the great memory 

Of someone as renowned as Peter Gzowski 

As we golf here today, raising money for a cause 

That mattered so to Peter, let us take a pause 

To honour this great Canadian legend 

A writer, a broadcaster, and very good friend 

Whose voice became a source of national pride 

Ringing out every day on Morningside. 

He brought Canadians together from coast to coast 

Yet despite his achievements was not one to boast. 

He sang with Leonard Cohen and danced with Karen Kain, 

He talked with politicians big, small and in between. 

He took the world to Moose Jaw and Moose Jaw to the world, 

He raised millions to help those who couldn’t read the written word. 

He searched high and low for the Great Canadian Joke 

The only problem was, Peter liked to smoke. 

And so one sad day, there was silence on the air, 

As he left our midst, with our tears and our prayers. 

ETFS 

Chris Stevens 

Michel Lemieux 

Dave Beaulieu 

Andrew McCully 

So you see, in the end, it wasn’t so hard 

To take up the mantle of a bard 

In describing Peter, the biggest challenge that crossed me 

Was not finding praise, but a rhyme for “Gzowski”. 

Written by Tasha Kheiriddin 

Read by L. Ian MacDonald, May 25 th , 2007 at Cowansville Golf Club 

All golfer photos 

courtesy Vilnis Epners. 


QELA Presentation to Minority Languages Committee 

O n February 1st , 2007, QELA was represented by the 

interim president, Ilze Epners, at a meeting of the 

Minority Languages Committee in Ottawa. All participants 

at the meeting were asked to give their opinions on the 

state of English adult literacy in Quebec. To follow are 

some excerpts from Ilze’s presentation. 

“I was asked to share my thoughts on 

what could be done to improve the situation 

for the Quebec English Literacy Alliance. 

For years there has been an ongoing 

issue of core funding versus project 

funding. We know that project funding 

does not work. This was also one of the 

conclusions of the report that the previous 

Minister of State for Human Resources 

Development - Claudette Bradshaw 

concluded after her Pan-Canadian 

round table consultation in 2005. Groups 

spend so much time and energy trying to 

come up with new and innovative projects every year 

when in reality they are already the experts. Each year 

we risk closing our doors and we also risk losing quality 

resource people with years of experience each and every 

time we have to wait for funding – which we are not even 

sure we will get. 

Another important point that needs to be mentioned is 

how a change of Minister affects funding. Every time 

there is a new Minister in charge of this dossier at the federal 

government-whether it is because of a change of government 

or just a switch in responsibilities – all grants 

come to a screeching halt and the process starts all over. 

… And so, because of bureaucracy, many groups do not 

know whether they will exist or not. But most importantly 

we also risk losing students who will not come back if 

Changing the Way We Teach Math 

hat do the experts say about how 

W to teach basic math to adult students 

Most people who teach math have 

heard about most of their recommendations. 

Yet putting those recommendations 

into practice is harder than it seems. 

Kate Nonesuch consulted with more than 

100 people who teach basic math to 

adults in BC. She presented some findings 

from the literature about teaching basic 

math, and got their reactions. Instructors 

talked about what changes they would 

like to make in their teaching practice, and 

what barriers got in the way of making 

change. She wrote a manual in response 

Ilze Epners (left), Interim QELA President, 

in Ottawa. 

those doors are even temporarily closed. 

The Quebec English Literacy Alliance needs financial stability 

in order to do what they do best - be the foundation 

for literacy efforts and initiatives, illiteracy prevention 

(family literacy) and training of literacy trainers. 

I must speak to you of how devastating 

the federal budget cuts have been to the 

Quebec English Literacy community. 

We are a small community with huge 

needs as we are spread far and wide in 

our province. It is all well indeed to say 

that the literacy funding needs to get to 

the grass roots - but how would that happen 

in our English Literacy community 

with out a central organization to help 

recruit those who need these services 

Many of our tutors and teachers are retiring 

and - who will be there to train the 

new practitioners Being a literacy 

teacher and tutor takes special training that is not available 

just anywhere. Some of the members of our organization 

have worked for a number of years in producing 

new materials to be used by our students. Such important 

work must continue.” 

In closing, Ilze noted that, “Our Canadian demographic is 

aging and in the future we will need every Canadian to be 

literate to fill the jobs of the next generation. A long term 

financial commitment from our federal government and 

sustainable funding is vital if we are to make a significant 

dent in the low literacy statistics. Coalition core funding is 

an absolute must if we together are to beat this serious 

problem.” 

to their concerns that includes: Emotions 

and Math; Group Work; Hands-on Learning; 

Putting Students in Charge of Their 

Learning; Student Resistance and Real 

Life Problems. 

This manual is not just for math teachers. 

Anyone who teaches adult literacy or ABE 

students will find food for thought in this 

publication. Check out “Changing the 

Way We Teach Math: A Manual for 

Teaching Basic Math to Adults” at: 

http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/ 

mathman/mathman.pdf 


English Literacy Sector Workshops 

Patti Moore 

DFGA External 

Resource Person 

he DFGA (Direction de la formation 

T générale des adultes - MELS) makes 

a variety of workshops available to the 

English Literacy Sector in 2006-2007. 

ALLS SURVEY: 

WHAT DO THE STATISTICS MEAN 

FOR QUEBEC 

As literacy practitioners, we are often 

called upon to provide our various partners 

with statistics on the state of literacy in our 

province. Some of the statistics are hard 

to believe: 49% of Quebecers are scoring 

at levels 1 and 2: what does that really 

mean This two-hour workshop will give 

literacy practitioners an outline of the 2003 

ALLS (Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey) 

as the statistics pertain specifically to Quebec. 

The presentation includes a brief background 

of the objectives of the IALS and 

ALL surveys, samples of questions that 

were included in the survey at various levels 

(1 through 4/5) and how Quebecers 

measured up in areas such as skills domains 

(prose, document literacy and numeracy), 

etc. 

The presentation also includes some information 

that Patti Moore prepared as part of 

a PROCEDE project regarding an ABC 

CANADA study: Patterns of Participation in 

Canadian Literacy and Upgrading Programs 

(2001): the study looks at the reasons 

why fewer than half of those who 

contact a literacy organization actually enrol 

in a program, and of those who enrol, 

why an additional 30 per cent drop out. 

This session is being offered to the 

members of LLC-Q/LVQ on June 21; 

requests for further sessions can be forwarded 

to Patti Moore. 

The Training Sessions on the Reception 

and Referral of Adults with Little Schooling 

are meant to be delivered locally to personnel 

from the education system (school 

boards and community-based groups) and 

local employment centres (CLE) or other 

agencies. This kit includes a Facilitator’s 

Guide and a Participant’s Guide – and outlines 

in detail how to plan a one-day training 

session in your area. 

The reception and referral workshop provides 

really helpful indicators of the characteristics 

of a person with low literacy 

skills, as well as case studies and possible 

interventions. 

The DFGA resource person for the English 

sector, Patti Moore, has also prepared a 

PowerPoint workshop which participants 

will be able to use when delivering this 

workshop in their local areas. Requests 

for further sessions can be forwarded to 

Patti Moore. 

A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE 

TEACHING OF LITERACY TO ADULTS 

WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES 

During the course of this one-day workshop, 

participants will be introduced to the 

DFGA Practical Guide for the Teaching of 

Literacy to Adults with Learning Difficulties, 

which is intended to help literacy teachers 

and tutors identify and address problems 

encountered by adults with learning difficulties. 

The original learning difficulties guide was 

made up of fourteen sections (available on 

the DFGA and QELA websites). The 

DFGA recently created a shorter, simplified 

version of these documents. Practical 

and easy to read, the adapted Practical 

Guide for the Teaching of Literacy to 

Adults with Learning Difficulties enables 

teachers and tutors to identify learning difficulties 

that adults with low literacy skills 

frequently encounter, and provides practical 

teaching tips for addressing those difficulties. 

RECEPTION OF 

LOW LITERACY ADULTS 

Since a minimum level of training is required 

to use the Practical Guide for the 

Teaching of Literacy to Adults with Learning 

Difficulties, this document makes it 

possible for literacy teachers and tutors to 

provide training without having access to 

outside resources. These strategies do 

not address the issue of learning disabilities, 

which require the help of a qualified 

specialist. Requests for further sessions 

can be forwarded to Patti Moore. 


Literacy Levels in Quebec - Some Pertinent Statistics 

T 

he 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) survey identifies five levels of prose 

literacy: 

LEVEL 1 – adults have few decoding skills 

LEVEL 2 – adults’ skills are limited to simple printed material 

LEVEL 3 – adults are average readers 

LEVELS 4 and 5 – adults have strong literacy skills 

Did you know that… 

• 800 000 adults aged 16-65 in Quebec 

are at level one (16% of the 

population) 

• 1,700,000 adults aged 16-65 in Quebec 

are at level two (33% of the 

population) 

• 2,500,000 adults aged 16-65 in Quebec 

are at levels one and two (49 % 

of the population) 

• 52% of people at level 1 are men; 

48% are women 

• 54% of people at level 1 do not have 

a high-school leaving certificate 

• 29% have successfully completed 

high school 

• 17% have a post-secondary diploma 

• 80% of people at level 1 live in a 

metropolitan region; 20% live in a 

rural region 

• 74% of people at level 1 are francophone 

• 20% are allophones 

• 6% are Anglophones (48,000 people 

at level one; 102,000 people at level 

2) 

• 52% of people at level 1 are employed 

• 14% are currently seeking work 

• 13% are retired 

• 3% are students 

• 16% are categorized as ‘other’ or as 

‘inactive’ 

These numbers are based on a Quebec 

study of the ALL survey with l’Institut de la 

statistique du Québec. 

New CEO at NALD 

he National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) welcomed its new CEO, Katherine d’Entremont, 

on June 4, 2007, replacing Charles Ramsey who will officially retire June 30, T 2007. 

Katherine comes to NALD with more than 17 years of experience in various New Brunswick 

government positions. Most recently, she has spent a number of years as Director, Local Governance 

and Community Leadership, Department of Local Government. Prior to that, she held 

positions as: Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Municipal Services Division, Department of Environment 

and Local Government; the Director, Official Languages and Workplace Equity 

Branch, Department of Finance; Corporate Program Administrator, Human Resources Development 

Branch, Department of Finance; Human Resource Consultant, Human Resources Development 

Branch, Department of Finance; and Human Resource Management Generalist, Alcoholism 

and Drug Dependency Commission. Katherine has also worked as a strategic planning 

consultant in the college sector and as a public school teacher. 

Katherine is perfectly bilingual, has extensive presentation experience, a broad understanding 

of local, provincial and federal government, considerable community and not-for-profit board 

experience, and a passion for education. She is uniquely qualified to build on the great foundation 

that Charles Ramsey and his staff have developed in bringing NALD to the successful position 

that it holds today. 

Katherine d’Entremont 


CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

Québec English Literacy Alliance 

22 adult literacy providers 

across the province. 

Comments Suggestions Please contact: 

QELA Website Coordinator 

Tel.: (418) 651-3022 

Fax: (418) 651-3025 

Email: moorep@cqsb.qc.ca 

Website: www.qela.qc.ca 

Deadline for article submissions for the 

November 2007 issue of QELA CONTACT 

is October 19, 2007. 

Karen Ingalls 

QELA Newsletter Editor 

Email: k_inga23@sympatico.ca 

ELA gratefully acknowledges the 

continuing support received from the 

Q 

Initiatives fédérales-provinciales 

conjointes en matière d’alphabétisation 

(IFPCA) program, a joint project of the 

National Literacy Secretariat and the 

Direction de la formation générale des 

adultes, for the production of this website 

newsletter. 

g{tÇ~ çÉâ4 

Should you 

wish to contact the 

QELA Steering Committee 

regarding any 

comments or questions 

that you may have, please 

feel free to contact 

Carolyn Marsh, QELA 

Project Coordinator. 

June 12, 2007 

End-of-Term BBQ for all Literacy Unlimited volunteers, students and friends will be 

held in Pointe-Claire’s Riverside Park from 5-9pm. For more info call 514-694-0007. 


Official dedication of the Freda Hudson Reading Room at the Yamaska Literacy 

Council in Cowansville from 5-7pm. 


The workshop, “ALLS Survey: What Do the Statistics Mean for Quebec” is being 

held at the English Montreal School Board (6000 Fielding Ave., Montreal) from 1- 

3pm in the MacVicar Room on the 4 th floor. Presented by Patti L. Moore. 

June 27-29, 2007 

Summer Institute 2007: “Libraries and Literacy: Making it Work” at the Centre for 

Literacy. 


Laubach Literacy of Canada’s Annual General Meeting at the Delta Brunswick in 

Saint John, NB starting at 1:15pm. 

August 16-19, 2007 

St. Lambert Days Street Fair. Look for the South Shore Reading Council’s 

booth. Lots to do: sidewalk sales, cultural activities, activities for kids, 

concerts, dancing, etc. 

August 27, 2007 

Literacy Unlimited’s Annual Golf Tournament at Whitlock Golf Club in Hudson, QC. 

For further info visit www.literacyunlimited.ca 

September 8, 2007 

International Literacy Day. 

Just Point and Click! 

lick on Learning Links for quick and easy access to 

C interactive and ready-to-print learning activities and resources 

without having to search through numerous sites. It 

is an invaluable “find-it-fast” way to tap into helpful websites 

created for students, tutors and teachers. Locate multimedia 

resources, tutorials, information, references, interactive 

materials, games and quizzes. Little to no computer experience needed! 

Odds and Sods 

A 

national research project, funded by the National Office of Literacy and 

Learning, Human Resources and Social Development Canada, is studying 

the process of moving findings from the research literature on violence and 

learning into ABE/Literacy practice and program policy. A survey is being conducted 

to find out what people in the ABE/Literacy field think about the relationship 

between learning and learners’ past or current experience of violence. 

The survey will be open until July 1, 2007. Contact: Kate Nonesuch. 

 

o, you’ve always been meaning to work on that “Family Tree” 

S but it just keeps being pushed to the back burner. Well, fire 

up the grill this summer and visit www.geni.com. Have fun and 

learn with this genealogical website that makes building your 

family tree a snap. It’s free, you can add photos AND it allows 

you to “invite” relatives to help flesh out branches of the family 

that you’re not too familiar with!

June 2007 - Quebec English Literacy Alliance

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