Little empirical evidence exists on how adult literacy learners act as consumers. Yet, adult literacy programs often employ a “functional” approach to consumer education and assume that adult learners are deficient in consumer skills. Data from a qualitative study of the consumer behaviors of adult literacy learners are used to explore how adult learners negotiate the marketplace. The findings challenge the validity of a functional model and support the conceptualization of consumer literacy as a social practice, which includes reading and writing skills, personal and social skills, and the ability to manage the stigma of low literacy.
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