Prof. Song NaiqingPresidentSouthwest China Normal UniversityPublishing HouseChina

Material development plays a fundamental role inliteracy and post-literacy education. The tremendoussuccess China has made in literacy and post-literacyeducation is no doubt attributed to materialdevelopment. Government at all levels has alwaysbeen placing great stress on material development.Organizations and individuals also contributeimportant support and active participation. In China,the central government is in charge of thedevelopment of materials and at the same timeencourages local government to produce anddisseminate their own versions. Relevant people wereorganized to develop materials like “A Textbook ofBasic Literacy for Farmers”, “A Fast Learning ofChinese Words for Farmers”, and “A ReadingTextbook of Fast Learning Chinese Words”, whichwere published by the People's Education PublishingHouse and distributed by the National XinhuaBookshop. On the basis of this, local versions werecreated catering to local needs and problems.Statistics show that over 100 kinds of literacy andpost-literacy textbooks and over 1,000 kinds of post-literacy materials have been produced at the nationaland regional levels. Several hundred millions ofliteracy and post-literacy textbooks were alsopublished and distributed by publishing houses atvarious levels.

In conclusion, China has developed, published anddisseminated a huge number of literacy and post-literacy materials of various kinds, which weretailored to the local situations. Recognition has beengiven to this both at home and abroad.

1. Material Development

(1) Strengthening National Macro-Management and Guidance of MaterialDevelopment to Ensure the Quality of theMaterials

In response to the unbalanced development ineconomy, culture and education in this vast country,a number of policies have been enforced with a specialreference to syllabus-formulating, prototypicalmaterial-developing and developer-training. Thegoals for these policies are to reflect the nationalguidelines and objectives in material development andto adapt the materials to local needs and problems.

(4) The Retrospect and Prospect of Literacy and Post-literacy Development in China

Illiteracy is one of the most critical social issues inthe contemporary world. The eradication of illiteracyis the only means to pull a nation out of poverty andbackwardness. Thus, all the nations in the world havetaken literacy as the fundamental project for theempowerment of the population and the developmentof the national economy. On the other hand, literacyrate among the adults is not only seen as a symbol ofa nation’s economic power, but also an indicator ofits civilization.

China, a developing country with the largestpopulation in the world, has the largest absolutenumber of illiterates. As a result, literacy and post-literacy education in China directly contributes to theprosperity of the nation and the construction of theFour Modernizations. Literacy is of specialsignificance to politics, economy, culture and theoverall education. Since the founding of new China,the government has placed top priority on literacy andhas adopted the principle of “prevention, promotionand continuing education.” Earth-shakingachievements have been accomplished in the field,the empowerment of the population fulfilled and thesociety is pushed forward. These accomplishmentsare recognized by the world and the glorious chapterhas entered the history of literacy promotion.

In the past 50 years, 200 million Chinese became neo-literates. In 1949, when new China was founded,80% of the adults were illiterate, whereas at the endof 1998, illiteracy rate dropped to 12%. Illiteracyrate among young and middle-aged adults between15 and 40 years old dropped to 6%. Survey conductedby the national government in more than 10 provincesand cities prove the goal of eradication of illiteracyamong young and middle-aged adults has beenreached in these areas.

a. Formulating Syllabus to Provide Guidance forMaterial Development

In October 1992, the Former State EducationCommission of China formulated the syllabuses ofadults’ primary education in literacy and functionalskills. These syllabuses lay down the goals, demands,contents and learning hours of the three subjects“Chinese for Functional Uses,” “FunctionalMathematics,” and “Functional Technical Skills.”The guidelines of material development, i.e. fast-learning, practical, moral and value education arecombined with literacy education and education ofproduction skills as well as skills for daily life, sothat materials developed can be morally wholesome,scientific, functional and diversified. The amount ofinformation included the formats, the spelling offrequently used words, the reading methodology ofliteracy, and the arrangement of texts and exercisesare all specifically promulgated. The formulation ofsyllabuses demonstrates that material development inChina is conducted in a systematic manner.

b. Developing National Prototypes to Set upExamples for Material Development

Besides direct involvement in material development,the national government also organizes someprovincial or municipal sectors to produce high-quality materials of special characteristics. Forinstance, in March 1984, in response to the demandof the Ministry of Education, Heilongjiang, Fujianand other provinces produced their respective part-time school textbooks for farmers both in the Northand in the South. In July 1988, responding to theappeal of the Former State Education Commission,the four provinces of Henan, Hunan, Anhui andGanshu developed a series of prototypical materials,such as “Basic Literacy”, “Functional Chinese,”“Functional Mathematics,” “Functional Science andTechnology,” and “Popular Science.” These materialshave been published and used since 1990.Furthermore, responsible sectors were also organizedby the Former State Education Commission todevelop and publish series of reading textbooks inliteracy and post-literacy for national utilization.These practices served as an incentive in local materialdevelopment and a catalyst of the emergence of high-quality local versions with noticeable characteristicsand greatly contributed to the development of literacyand post-literacy continuing education.

c. Training Personnel Involved in MaterialDevelopment and Encouraging MaterialEvaluation

In recent years, massive training programmes weregiven to personnel responsible for developingmaterials at both national and regional levels, throughwhich these people could improve their expertise bysharing experience and discussions. As a result,experienced material developers, both part-time andfull-time, are playing vital roles in many provinces,regions, counties and townships. In order to giveincentives to excellent materials so that they can bedistributed in a wider scope, experts appointed by theFormer State Education Commission carefullyexamined the literacy materials developed at theprovincial level and classified 6 materials into thecategory of “excellent.” They were “A textbook ofLiteracy and functional Skills,” and “Basic Literacyfor Adults” by Fujian, “Functional Literacy forFarmers,” by Sichuan, and so forth. The training ofpersonnel and evaluation served as a significant drivein the improvement of the materials.

(2) Mobilizing Local Resources in DevelopingMaterials to Give Diversity to Materials

Under the macro-monitoring and guidance of thenational government, the quality of materials becomesan essential factor in evaluating literacy education.Funds are collected, personnel trained and contentsof materials tailored to practical situations. Finally,types of materials and their formats are diversifiedand people at differentiated levels are involved inmaterial development.

a. Material Developers at Differentiated Levels

1) On one hand, there are prototypical materialsproduced by the central government, regionalmaterials by provinces and cities, local materialsby counties and districts and supplementarymaterials by township literacy teachers for theirown use; and

2) On the other hand, there are materialsindependently developed by institutions such aseducational and agricultural sectors, scienceassociations, women’s league, and also materialsjointly produced by the Ministry of Education,People’s Education Publishing House andprovinces or cities.

b. Types of Materials

1) Types of literacy materials: materials coveringeverything about culture, politics, technologyand daily life, strictly functional material aimingto motivate learners to participate in literacyactivities through teaching functional life skills,literacy materials especially prepared for womenand minorities, and specialized literacy materialsfocusing on ethnic languages.

2) Types of post-literacy materials: primaryeducation materials focusing on literacy andfunctional skills.

c. Format of Materials

Literacy materials are mainly written texts, withadditional means such as posters, pictures and audio-vidual materials.

The common features shared by current materials are:

1) Literacy goes side by side with technical sillsand at the same time makes special reference tomoral and value education;

2) Contents of teaching are structured with theunderstanding features of adult learners and theirlearning needs taken full consideration; and

3) Materials are highly scientific, practical andintriguing; and indigenous culture and localcharacteristics can be easily perceived with thesematerials.

(3) Exploring Laws and Determining thePrincipal Procedure of MaterialDevelopment to Ensure the Quality

After many years’ research and exploration, a generalpattern of Chinese material development for literacyand post-literacy education has come into being, withkey words at each stage. It goes as follows:

Identifying targets → Field survey Analyzing data→ Identifying problems→ Selecting themes →Selecting formats → Determining contents→Writing texts → Field-testing drafts (simple printedpapers) → Revising drafts (simple printed papers)→ Publishing and distributing → Evaluatingmaterials

Since the mechanism of developing materials for adultis different from that of developing textbooks forchildren, developers cannot directly borrow theexisting pattern, which responds to the developingprocess and learning behaviors of adults. Materialsfor adults must cater to the needs of different learners,and these needs can be sharply different.

At present, the procedure of material developmentfor adults goes as follows:

a. Examine and study the documents issued by thegovernment and educational sectors on literacyand post-literacy education (including syllabuseson material development and documents ondeveloping, publishing and distributingmaterials).

1) Identify the objectives, tasks and crucial contentsof literacy and post-literacy education.

2) Clarify the guidelines, principles andrequirements of material development and keepthese in the mind throughout the process ofdevelopment.

b. Determine the clientele of literacy and post-literacy

The clientele is either urban or rural dwellers, eithermen or women, either minority groups or other specialcommunities. Contents of materials are oriented tothe characteristics of the clientele’s language, customsand the geographical features of where the clientelelives.

c. Conduct field-surveys and collect data to decidethe most crucial problems

After determining the clientele for literacy and post-literacy, developers should look into the features ofthe clientele, i.e. their living conditions and needs forpost-literacy so that they could collect information toadapt the contents of materials to the practical lifeand interests of the clientele. On the basis of this,relevant themes can be chosen and specifics with thecontents can be also determined.

Major methods of field survey include: observation,questionnaire, interview (arranged or casual and someunusual means of field survey). These methods areall adopted to investigate into the life, production andeducational profiles of the clientele.

To find out the most urgent needs of the clientele,developers should sort out the collected data and putthem into the following categories; food, clothing,housing, water sources, health, environment,population, transportation, income, education, culture,and spiritual life.

Field surveys must be conducted in a careful manner.The people who conduct surveys should be giventraining on the ways, methods and sills of surveysand be acquainted with the surveyed area. Thepurpose and methods of the survey should be madeknown to the recipients before the practice. One thingdeserves special attention: the survey should beconducted in an atmosphere in which both parties bearconfidence and trust in each other, so that the targetgroups are willing to talk with the conductors of thesurvey and understand and agree to answer questionson their private life. Good questions give theinterviewee the wish and opportunities to talk aboutthemselves. They will tend to feel they are taking upan equal position in the literacy activity.

d. Select Themes, Formats and Contents

After identifying the needs of the clientele, developershave to arrange them in an order of priority so thatthey will be able to select relevant themes. Thesethemes are classified into different categories, on thebasis of which a systematic diagram can be designeddemonstrating the needs of the clientele.

e. Develop Materials

Materials should respond to the problems in theclientele’s daily life, production and environment andobserve the principles set down in the nationalsyllabus for literacy and post-literacy.

f. Print and Field-Test Materials

The draft materials are printed and presented tolearners who share characteristics with literacy andpost-literacy clientele. Such field-testing serves asan evaluation on the practicality and effectiveness ofthe materials so that improvement can be made intime with the materials. Before the field-testing,developers should first brief the teachers who presentthe materials either orally or in written notificationon the target and objectives of the materials, meansof application, expected outcomes and follow-upactivities.

After the field-testing, teachers, target groups of thematerials, illustrators, developers and producersshould come together to arrive at an evaluation, inaccordance with which developers and illustrators willmake necessary revisions.

2. Publishing and Distribution ofMaterials

Chinese government has always been placing a greatemphasis on literacy and post-literacy education. Asa result, the publishing and distribution of materialsis a government order given to publishing houses anddistribution sectors at various levels (e.g. XinhuaBookstore, distribution centers).

In China, publishing houses and distribution centersare state-owned properties. Although making profitsis an important target for all these institutions, theyshould put in the first place how to create betterfeedback from the readers. To achieve this goal,government orders will naturally rank as the toppriority. Materials of high quality and appropriatequantity must be published and distributed onschedule even if the publishing houses anddistribution sectors gain no financial benefits.

National materials developed at the state level arenormally published by Chinese publishing houseddirectly under the leadership of the central governmentsuch as People’s Education Publishing House. Theheadquarters of the National Xinhua Bookstore takeup the responsibility of distribution, whereas materialsdeveloped at local levels (provinces, cities, countiesand districts) are published by the local publishingagencies and distributed by the Xinhua Bookstorebranches in different bookstores or small agencies inthe towns. Difficulties arise and costs become higherwith the distribution of materials in remote areas.Nevertheless, these problems have been solved.

As a result, for many years, Chinese Publishing housesand Xinhua Bookstores have been making greatendeavors to publish and distribute materials.

(1) Editing

Developers of materials and publishing houses worktogether to edit the products with special focus on:

a. The Format of Materials

The likes and dislikes of the users, their educationlevel, the conditions and environment in whichmaterials are used, the methods of using materials,and production costs should all be taken into fullconsideration in selecting the most satisfying formats.

b. Illustrations

Illustrations play a significant role. Their contents,frequency and their interrelations partly determine thefeedback from the readers. Too many illustrationsmay distract the readers’ attention from the real keypoints in the materials. The contents of illustrationsare even more important; they should fully reflect thesocial outlooks recorded in the materials ranging fromurban and rural life to modern and traditional customs.

c. Layout

The layout of the pages should be visually attractive.Combined with easy and fascinating contents,materials can arouse great interest in the readers. Thetexts, sentences, diagrams, captions and photos shouldbe simple and easy to comprehend. Moreover,producers should also balance the distribution of eachsection in a page and the proportion of blank areas.Five principles should be observed here: contrast,balance, coordination, symmetry, and unification.

Besides, the size of the printed words, the length ofthe sentences and their structures should also cater toeasier comprehension and acceptance. For instance,words printed in bold types are more impressive andthe effective use of the blank areas on the pages canenable the learners to read the materials with greaterease. The distance between the learners and thematerials can thus be bridged.

d. Revision

Literacy materials should provide correct examplesof words and sentences for the learners. As a result,where the linguistic elements and grammar are correctis of special significance. Revision should be madeon the text thoroughly, because printing and editingerrors can do fatal harm to the effectiveness of thematerials.

(2) Distribution

One of the essential points in literacy promotion isthe distribution of materials in wider areas. Objectivesof literacy cannot be met unless an easy and quickaccess is created to the learners. On the other hand,frequent utilization of literacy materials throughreading, writing and calculation can maintain andimprove learners’ education level. Difficulties oftenarise with material distribution in remote rural areas,where transportation services are underdeveloped.Consequently, literacy materials should be developedin advance and disseminated as early as possible.Costs can be reduced and distribution facilitated ifgrass-roots level organizations are encouraged todevelop materials. In present China, there are 3 waysin distributing the materials: supply free of charge,government covering part of the expenses and learnerspaying alone.

a. Many li terate people in China l ive indisadvantaged and remote areas. Due tofinancial difficulty and lack of motivation inparticipating in literacy and post-literacyactivities, the learners there are often unable orunwilling to purchase materials. However,literacy and post-literacy continuing educationis a government order or an obligatory task forthe local responsible sectors. Therefore, localeducational sectors have to wait for special fundsto purchase the materials and then give them outamong the learners. This gives a positive pushto literacy and post-literacy education.

b. Government at provincial, county and townshiplevels raise part of the funds for materials.Learners will pay the remaining part of theexpenses. In this way, learners are moremotivated.

c. In economically more developed areas wherelearners have greater interest and desire inlearning, they are requested to pay all theexpenses of the materials.

Distribution of materials is normally organized bysectors responsible for l i teracy education.Educational sectors and relevant organizations willsend the materials to every learner.

3. Evaluation

As a significant part of material development,evaluation greatly contributes both to materialimprovement and to literacy as a whole. Chinesegovernment has always been attaching great emphasisto evaluation of materials.

(1) Organization

Experts in education and material evaluation, expertsin material development, administrators from areasin which materials are utilized and teachers engagedin literacy and post-literacy education are organizedor invited by educational sectors at various levels toevaluate the materials.

(2) Criteria

a. Factors Concerning the Clientele

Clientele:1) Individual person2) Gender3) Age4) Objectives of the programme5) Language6) Location7) Special needs and benefits

b. Practicability

1) Needs of vocational skills2) Needs of information and knowledge3) Local needs

c. Methods and Expertise

1) QuantityNumber of materials developed and producedAmount of various expenses involved indevelopmentNumber of materials in distribution andutilization

2) QualityComparison between learners before theutilization and learners after the utilizationFeedback from learnersRecords and reports of teachersInterviews with organizers

4. International linkages andcooperation to share and learn fromsuccesses in literacy and literacymaterials

Strengthened international linkages can definitely bea positive push to material development in China.

Since the 1980s, China has been sending delegatesto attend workshops on material development to othercountries organized by UNESCO PROAP andACCU. Similar workshops were also held in Fuzhou,Chongqing and other cities in cooperation withACCU. On these occasions, materials weredeveloped in the light of the NP Method to cater tothe local practical situations. This has been a greatreform and enlightenment to Chinese materialdevelopment. Besides, China is also playing an activerole in international material-evaluating activities andChinese materials are gaining world renown in thesepractices. In 1985, the material entitled “LearningChinese” was awarded a third-class prize at the ThirdACCU Material-evaluating Festival on Fully-illustrated Post-literacy Materials organized byUNESCO and ACCU while 9 materials were givenawards. These materials were developed by the All-China Women’s League, People’s EducationPublishing House, Fujian, Sichuan and Hubei.Honorary certificates were also granted to materialsproduced by Fujian, Sichuan, Ganshu, Inner Mongoliaand Dalian by UNESCO PROAP. In recent years,over 10 kinds of materials developed by UNESCOand ACCU have been modified, translated anddistributed in China. These engagements are veryhelpful to material development in China.

As a systematic process itself, material developmentnot only concerns the writing of texts, publishing anddissemination, evaluation, international sharing, butalso government policies and support, socialinvolvement and fund-raising. It is a time-consumingand tremendous project that calls for constantimprovement and devotion.

Problems should be clearly identified with materialdevelopment such as:

(1) Parties involved in material development are stillnot well-organized;

(2) There is a big gap between the high-qualitymaterials and poor ones;

(3) Materials with written texts prevail overillustrative and audio-visual ones; and

(4) The contents and comprehension requirementsset in the materials are not well tailored to theneeds of the target learners.

To solve these problems, thorough and moreconstructive reforms should be carried out ineducation. Researches and surveys should beenhanced. More human power should be engaged in

the practice and bigger funds should be collected.5. Recommendations

In the light of the retrospect on material developmenti n C h i n a i n t h e p a s t 5 0 y e a r s , s e v e r a lrecommendations can be put forward as follows:

(1) Material development should be assigned togovernments, publishing houses and bookstoresat various levels as a government order so thatthe quantity and quality of the materials can beguaranteed and materials can be produced onschedule. Besides, the quality of literacymaterials should be taken up as one of thestandards in evaluating the contributions of thesementioned sectors.

With the development of the market-orientedeconomy, financial gains are given greateremphasis at the publishing houses andbookstores. While supplying profit-makingbooks to these institutions, governments shouldalso try to encourage them to produce morebooks that cost smaller expenses so that they willnot encounter financial difficulties that mayhinder further publishing and distribution.

The overa l l management of mater ia ldevelopment on the part of the governmentshould be reinforced so that good products canbe given awards and poor ones will receivecriticism. Outstanding examples among thematerials, organizations and individuals shouldbe given awards, while institutions andindividuals should be responsible or evenpunished for materials with poor quality.

(2) Strong appeals must be made to the wholesociety to raise funds for literacy and post-literacy education, as the Chinese people havebeen doing with the “Hope Project.”

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(3) Literacy materials should always cater to thetarget learners. Since over two thirds of theilliterate population are women, their needsshould be taken into more consideration so thatthe materials will be accepted and liked bywomen. Meanwhile, the high illiteracy rateamong the disabled calls for relevant literacymaterials.

(4) Many materials developed in the past havebecome obsolete and the contents are quite old-fashioned. The rapid development of the timescalls for the improvement of the materials. Newmaterials should be constantly produced andrevised and enhanced to catch up with thedevelopment of the society.

(5) Materials should be practical and reflectlearners’ daily life. Aspects of the learners’ lifewith which they are acquainted, such as politics,culture, daily life, production, health,environment, science and technology, andeducation should all be able to find their entranceinto the materials.

(6) As farmers are the subject of literacy, ruralliteracy materials are also the subject of allmaterials. Contents like introducing modernscience and technology into growing crops,diversified production and eradication of povertyshould be the major topics in these materials.Fresh subjects like agricultural technology andenvironmental protection should also bediscussed in the materials.

(7) Neo-literate people who make notable successescan become important members in developingrelevant materials.

(8) Theories on education and psychology can beintroduced into the materials so that developersare able to select appropriate details and make amore reasonable arrangement of the collecteddata. Materials should contain information thatextends from the easiest to the most difficult,from the most familiar to the most far-fetchedtopics, from the specific to the general, and fromthe basics to expertise. Finally, localcharacteristics should reconcile with nationalcharacter.

These are only some personal suggestions andrecommendations. Material development is a nationalendeavor, calling for contributions from all sides.