Intersections of literacy acquisition and programming

The computer is a highly literate instrument. And, the design of most computer software, especially programming languages and environments, assume a high degree of literacy on the part of the user. Because most programming environments rely upon text as the primary method of specifying instructions, and because programming structures are similar in a number of ways to writing text, the development of literacy is a necessary precondition, or at least an accompanying concern when instructing low-literacy adult students in programming. An understanding of how adults acquire knowledge of and an ability to produce well-formed literate structures shares a direct relationship to their ability to program. This paper discusses problems adult learners have with textual mechanics, of central importance to literacy and text-based programming.