The IEA Studies of Reading and Writing Literacy: a 1996 perspective

The paper reviews IEA literacy studies. It analyses them in the light of theories of literacy, cross‐cultural perspectives, and their practical and theoretical value. It points out that, despite some well‐grounded theoretical perspectives, in reality, the IEA instruments test only certain aspects of ‘formal’ literacy. The paper explores the cultural colonisation of IEA instruments by ‘Western’ literacy forms, expressed partly through the training and administrative structures of the IEA and partly through the existing international dominance of such forms. It looks at the implicit assumptions made about literacy through the use of particular statistical item response models and suggests that there are important lessons to be learnt from the IEA experience. It concludes with some suggestions for future work.