Adult Literacy Education and Women’s Language Socialization in Rural Areas: From a Non-Formal Education Survey in the Kingdom of Bhutan

Abstract

This study focuses on literacy education for adults in Bhutan. Bhutan introduced school education in 1961 and now 92.9% of school-aged children are enrolled in primary education (PPD MoE 2018). On the other hand, more than half (50.2%) of the adult population have no schooling experience, and many rural women lack not only literacy ability but also ability in the national language, Dzongkha. Using “linguistic socialization theory” as a theoretical framework, this study focuses on women who are receiving education as adults and investigates what it means for women, who have become mothers, to acquire national language and literacy skills, not only for themselves but also for their families and rural communities. The study included surveys of 28 students studying literacy education in rural areas in central Bhutan.Having been educated, these women play a role in connecting the two generations of the monolingual grandparents and the trilingual children who use ethnic languages, English and Dzongkha. They are becoming “mediators” that connect individual households. The survey revealed that narrating one’s self has the effect of promoting self-affirmation, suggesting the effectiveness of the narrative approach in adult literacy education.