Motivation and other psychological factors affecting male and female adult illiterates

TAFE is a provider of assistance for adults with literacy difficulties and a questionnaire was completed by eighty five adults attending RAWFA classes in TAFE, lllawarra, in 1985. In the results, biographical details of students showed similarities to those found in previous studies conducted both in Australia, England and America. Other findings showed students perceived themselves as having fewer selective attention difficulties as adults than as children, more confidence in their ability to improve after starting classes, a realisation that own literacy levels were different to those of others in the community, a desire to reduce this difference, the importance of own input in improvement. appraisal of own present abilities, conviction of achieving desired literacy goal and a motivator for attendance was the need to feel better about oneself. Many students felt their lives would be different if they were more literate and all found their class helpful.