The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy focuses on classroom practices for teaching older learners. According to the publishers, JAAL is the only journal specifically designed for secondary and post-secondary readers. It seeks to explain modern literacy trends, technological advances and pop-culture phenomenon in terms of traditional literacy theory. The journal also includes practical application and teaching tools for reading instructors. Overall, the publication acts as an ever-evolving handbook for educators, combining pedagogical theory with hands-on advice and suggestions.

Publication Details

JAAL is a publication of the International Reading Association (IRA). Conceived in 1956, the IRA is a global non-profit organization that seeks to promote literacy and literacy programs across the world. The IRA has three specific goals: “Improving the quality of reading instruction, disseminating research and information about reading, [and] encouraging the lifetime reading habit” (www.reading.org). Members of the IRA serve as advocates for literacy, hold conferences on reading issues, and produce a number of publications, including JAAL, The Reading Teacher, and Reading Online.

JAAL appears in eight issues each year. Current it is in its fifty-second volume. Editions of the journal are available both in a print edition and online at the IRA website. A pared-down version of the most recent edition is available for free on the website. The subscription price is $69 for both the online and print editions with a slightly reduced price for online-only access. Student subscriptions are approximately 20% cheaper. Subscribers to JAAL may subscribe to other IRA publications at a significantly reduced rate.

The journal has an extensive review board. Most of the reviewers are located within the United States, but a small percentage are based outside the country, from locations as diverse as Canada and Singapore. The journal is edited by Tom Bean and Helen Harper at the University of Nevada.


Structure

A typical edition of JAAL is divided into two sections. The first section contains four to six full length full-length articles. These feature articles address issues of the integration of literacy theory and application. Typical articles range from 5,000 – 6,000 words and cover a broad variety of permutations on the concepts of literacy pedagogy. The second section, which the journal calls the “department” section, features brief commentaries on currently significant pedagogical issues, reviews of upcoming books, and reviews of newly available teaching tools and resources.

The most recent issue of JAAL is the February 2009 issue (Vol. 52, Issue 5). This particular issue features five full-length articles in addition to the standard five “department” sections. The article topics include the way that math and science students relate to texts, studies on teachers meeting the adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals imposed by the state, literacy through biography and history, the need for teachers with a varied skill set, and the development of vocabulary in middle school students . The department issues include a book review, a commentary on adolescent developmental literacy, an analysis of digital book clubs, a description of forming literacy governmental policy, and a review of new teaching resources. The book reviews cover six short novels marketed as young adult literature. The teaching resources section reviews two texts for educators: one on struggling readers and one on the development of literacy learning communities.


Analysis

Although the journal suggests that it serves educators of both adolescent and adult readers, the issues I surveyed seemed to lean more towards the teaching of young adult readers, especially in the book and teaching tools reviews. The commentaries were a bit more varied. Despite this possible misnomer, the journal appears to have a number of strengths. First, it is extremely accessible, both in the sense of the teacher’s ability to obtain the journal and in its readability. Scholars may retrieve the journals both in physical and digital form, and a subscription to the journal includes automatic membership to the IRA. The content is varied and practical. The dual-focus on theory and practice prevents the publication from adopting an ivory-tower approach that a number of theory-based journals assume. Although it is not as hands-on as other pedagogically-focused serial publications, its balance makes it a useful tool for educators interested in theory.