Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g9IF7BX20947; Fri, 18 Oct 2002 11:07:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 11:07:12 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <sdafea98.062@langate.gsu.edu> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2342] grant X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.0.2 Status: O Content-Length: 2590 Lines: 19 Thanks to everyone for your kind words of congratulations and encouragement regarding my NICHD award. It was quite a shock to me, and I am still recovering. For those of you that do not know what I am talking about, last spring there was a special NICHD/NIFL call for adult literacy/family literacy grant proposals. The proposal was due in May and in late September recipients were notified of the award. This is the first time that an agency like NICHD (National Institute of Child and Human Development) decided to set aside significant monies to study adult literacy issues. The grant does not focus on women, but rather on adults in general who read between the 3rd and 6th grade levels. However, because of my interest in women and literacy-I will be on the lookout for any gender differences. In general, the grant has 3 components: 1. An instructional component: How direct/explicit does instruction have to be in order to increase learners' reading skills? There will be different conditions, ranging from extremely explicit and direct instruction of basic skills to very implicit and more indirect instruction. In other words, I am kind of testing the more phonics vs. more whole language approach. This is a 5 year study with adults getting 100 hours of instruction. 2. A subtype component: Just because two adults read between the 3rd and 6th grade levels-this does not mean that their strengths and weaknesses are the same. So the question here is: are there different subtypes of adult learners? If yes, do different subtypes respond differently to different modes of instruction? 3. An fMRI component: There have been lots of studies looking at the brains of reading disabled children. There haven't been any done with adult learners. An fMRI is an MRI scan that is done while the participant is doing an actual task (in this case reading). The 2 questions here are: do different aspects of the brain get activated when an expert adult reader is reading vs. an adult learner? Are there differences in brain activation areas for an adult learners before and after instruction? >From time to time I anticipate asking the listserv for recommendations/advice/feedback. I am counting on you to help me maintain a balance in a very "scientific" kind of grant! So feel free to ask/comment/critique anything at any point-on or off the listserv. I welcome it and encourage it. Daphne Daphne Greenberg Associate Director Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Georgia State University University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg@gsu.edu
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