Situational Barriers to Disaster Resilience: Language and Literacy Session 15

2 Session Objectives  To analyze case studies where language or literacy factors hampered the delivery of messages or services  Use current data on US immigration patterns and education levels to identify potential patterns of language and literacy isolation in various regions  To analyze reading levels of disaster-related materials  To locate and use resources appropriate to language patterns  To develop strategies for reaching language isolated residents and communities

Session 153  Communication at heart of response  If not understood, message is lost  Diverse society  Immigrants tend to be concentrated in hazard-prone urban and coastal regions  Many native-born Americans do not read well Relevance of language and literacy to emergency managers:

Session 154  Saragosa tornado  Hurricane Andrew  Northridge earthquake  Others? Some disasters where language or literacy issues interfered with response and recovery:

Session 155  Recent immigrants  Migrant workers  Guest workers  Tourists  Business visitors  Exchange students Groups with Possible English Language Deficiencies:

Session 156  From countries with high illiteracy rates  Low education levels  Rural or isolated regions  Poverty  Minority Status  Advanced age Some Possible Indicators: Literacy Barriers Exist in Every Community

Session 157 Some Data Sources  U.S. Census  National Center for Educational Statistics  International Marketing Data and Statistics  United Nations  State literacy organizations  CBO’s serving communities

Session 158 MenWomen Dom. Rep. Haiti Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Source: United Nations 2000 ( Illiteracy Rates for Adults by Sex

Session 159 Source: National Institute for Literacy Literacy Levels of Adult Americans

Session 1510  Grade 3: Cannot read most materials.  Grades 4 – 6: Can read low literacy materials  Grades 7 – 8: Will struggle with most materials  Grade 12: Will be able to read most materials Estimating Literacy from Educational Level

Session 1511 Without High School Diploma Foreign Born Language other than English Spoken in Home Total Population California 23.8% 26.2% 39.5% 34,501,120 Florida ,396,515 Michigan ,990,817 New York ,011,378 Source: 2000 Census State & County Quick Facts. ( Education and Language Data for Four States

Session Count the total number of words that have 3 or more syllables in the 30 sentences. 2. Get out your calculator and calculate the square root of the number. 3. Select 3 samples of 10 consecutive sentences from different sections of your text (at least 100 words total). 4. Add 3 and that will be the approximate reading level. EXAMPLE 1.Total words with 3 or more syllables = Square root of 64 = = 11 th grade reading level SMOG Formula (Simplified Measure Of Gobbledygook)

Session Calculate L, the average sentence length (number of words/ number of sentences. 2.Calculate N, the average number of syllables per word (number of syllables/ number of words 3.Calculate grade level with formula: (L x 0.39) + (N x 11.8) – EXAMPLE 1.No. of words = 50 No. of sentences = 5 L = 50/5 = 10 2.No. of syllables = 75 No. of words = 50 N = Grade Level = (10 x 0.39) + (1.5 x 11.8) = 6.0 Flesch-Kincaid Formula

Session 1514 Total polysyllabic word countApproximate grade level* Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Making Health Communication Programs Work, A Planner’s Guide. * +/- 1.5 grades SMOG Conversion Table

Session 1515 Find or develop materials in other languages Locate translators for every language in community Check the reading level of materials before using Choose materials with appropriate reading levels Develop low literacy materials with illustrations Use other-language radio and TV outlets Educate through children Distribute flyers in local neighborhoods Talk to community groups Others? Reaching Out …