A significant portion of the working-age population has only rudimentary literacy skills. Many people who are functionally illiterate have problems to perform basic daily tasks and to participate in society. Given the paucity of research, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of adult literacy interventions using a three-level meta-regression analysis, controlling for potential moderators of effectiveness. The literature search included empirical studies with a control group design in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. 39 controlled primary studies met the inclusion criteria, including 236 effect sizes. There was a small but significant main effect on participants' literacy level ( = 0.22). Interventions with a lower frequency of weekly sessions were more effective than more intensive approaches. No significant effect on effectiveness was found for total duration, context, language of instruction, teacher-student ratio, computer use, or initial literacy level of participants. As a large proportion of the primary studies were found to be at high risk of bias, more reliable primary studies are needed to support the findings and provide a more nuanced view of the effectiveness of interventions. Nevertheless, this review provides promising evidence that adults with low literacy skills can benefit from literacy interventions.

中文翻译：

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成人功能性读写能力干预有效性的荟萃分析

很大一部分劳动年龄人口只具备基本的识字能力。许多功能性文盲的人在执行基本的日常任务和参与社会方面存在问题。鉴于研究匮乏，本研究的目的是使用三级元回归分析来评估成人识字干预措施的效果，并控制有效性的潜在调节因素。文献检索包括英语、法语、德语、葡萄牙语和西班牙语的实证研究和对照组设计。 39 项对照初步研究符合纳入标准，其中包括 236 个效应量。对参与者的识字水平有微小但显着的主效应 (= 0.22)。每周频率较低的干预措施比强度更大的干预措施更有效。总持续时间、背景、教学语言、师生比例、计算机使用或参与者的初始识字水平对有效性没有显着影响。由于大部分初步研究被发现存在高偏倚风险，因此需要更可靠的初步研究来支持研究结果并提供干预措施有效性的更细致的观点。尽管如此，本次审查提供了有希望的证据，表明识字技能较低的成年人可以从识字干预措施中受益。