Condições de letramento no processo de envelhecimento: uma análise junto a idosos com mais de 65 anos

Abstract

Introduction: With the increasing of human longevity and consequently of the elderly population, one must consider a life of quality and autonomy, and the conditions of reading and writing play an important role in the aging process, especially by being inserted in a literate society. Objective: In this context, this study proposes to examine the conditions of literacy of people aged at least 65. Methodology: We used a questionnaire and a reading test containing texts of various genres from the 72 elderly subjects over 65 years, living in Curitiba, Paraná. The questionnaire includes age, educational level, profession, and practices and situations of reading and writing. In the reading test, subjects were asked to find information explicit and implicit in four texts: a fable, a poster, a ticket and a newspaper. Results: The elderly, the research subjects, now have easy daily access to books, magazines and newspapers. But the connection with these materials is still lacking, with a significant practical use restricted to written language. In addition, we determined that 43.39% of these individuals have difficulty extracting information from simple texts that are present in everyday life. Conclusion: Is need a special attention by civil society organizations and the scientific community to enlarge the understanding of practices of reading and writing in the context of gerontology to benefit our society in the medium and long-term significantly with the promotion of activities that enable the elderly effect their basic rights as citizens.