2.  Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read and write. It is a concept claimed and defined by a range of different theoretical fields. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."UNESCO

3.  US Department of Education identifies a class of adults who although they do not meet criteria for functional illiteracy, nonetheless face reduced job opportunities and life prospects due to inadequate literacy levels relative to the requirements of contemporary society.  A study by the Jenkins Group has shown that millions of Americans never read another book after leaving school.

4.  The literacy rate in the US has many educators in search of answers about this problem that has plagued the country for decades. Instead of decreasing, the numbers of literacy has steadily increased over the years. This raises a lot of questions about the education system, how it is ran, and why there is such a problem with illiterate people in the country.  When compared with international figures, out of 205 rated countries, the US falls into the 27th slot of 205. While this isn't a dangerous place to be in, we need to research what it is countries such as Greenland, Luxembourg and Norway are doing differently. Perhaps there is something within US school system that we can alter to better accommodate students with literacy problems and prevent future issues.  http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/educational_score_performance _country_ranks_2009_oecd.html http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/educational_score_performance _country_ranks_2009_oecd.html To find out about students’ literacy performance.

5. Group 5 : Howard Chan Kang Dong Wan Andre Ang Ryan Teo Joshua Tann Weisley Hong