First published in 1986, this book looks at the impact of mass literacy on everyday life, discussing the fundamental differences between traditional oral cultures and contemporary industrialised societies where most people rely on complex combinations of oral and literate communication. There is also a detailed examination of the problems of the sub-literate minority with recommendations for future programmes of assistance. This book also provides a historical survey of the spread of literacy in British society from the Roman occupation onwards. In conclusion, the author discusses the impact of information technologies on people with limited basic skills.

First published in 1990, the Handbook of Educational Ideas and Practices was written for practitioners and students in the field of education and its related services and was designed to appeal to educationists no matter what their nationality. Focusing mainly on compulsory schooling, it provides summaries of the thinking, research findings, and innovatory practices current at the time. However, the book is also careful to present a complete picture of education and therefore includes a separate section for education beyond school which covers pre-school level, post-secondary level, and adult and continuing education. There are also other chapters dealing with aspects of organization, curriculum, and teaching in various forms of tertiary education. Indeed, each topic has been discussed by an acknowledged expert writing in sufficient detail in order to resist trivialization.

First published in 1986, this book looks at the impact of mass literacy on everyday life, discussing the fundamental differences between traditional oral cultures and contemporary industrialised societies where most people rely on complex combinations of oral and literate communication. There is also a detailed examination of the problems of the sub-literate minority with recommendations for future programmes of assistance. This book also provides a historical survey of the spread of literacy in British society from the Roman occupation onwards. In conclusion, the author discusses the impact of information technologies on people with limited basic skills.

First published between 1985 and 1987, this set of books attempts to tackle some of the complex issues implied by the title Language, Education and Society. For example how is language related to learning? Or to intelligence? Do regional and social accents and dialects matter? What is meant by standard English? Do immigrant children require special language provision? Why are there so many adult illiterates in Britain and the USA? Although the importance of language to education is agreed there is still a lot to learn about how language is related to either to educational success or to intelligence and thinking — both fields to which this collection contributes valuable research. Some of the specific topics the covered by the wide-ranging and insightful research contained in this series include: an analysis of the school teaching of mathematics from the perspective of mathematics as a language — principally how the processes of communication in a maths classroom are shaped by school conventions and the fact that it is mathematics under discussion; an examination of the changing patterns in English usage and style, especially written usage — focusing on questions of syntax and punctuation — and how this relates to speech and the value of usage as a social act; an exploration of the history and impact of mass literacy on industrialised societies, how this differs from traditional oral culture, and the effect of a culture where most people rely on complex combinations of oral and literate communication on a sizable sub-literate minority; an investigation into which languages are in widespread use among children and adults in England, the patterns of language use in different social contexts, the teaching of community languages inside and outside of mainstream schools, and the educational implications of this linguistic diversity for all children. This set will be of interest to educational researchers, sociologists and students of sociolinguistics.

Seizing the space opened by the early 1990s democratization movement, Muslim women are carving an active, influential, but often-overlooked role for themselves during a time of great change. Engaging Modernity provides a compelling portrait of Muslim women in Niger as they confronted the challenges and opportunities of the late twentieth century. Based on thorough scholarly research and extensive fieldwork—including a wealth of interviews—Ousseina Alidou’s work offers insights into the meaning of modernity for Muslim women in Niger. Mixing biography with sociological data, social theory and linguistic analysis, this is a multilayered vision of political Islam, education, popular culture, and war and its aftermath. Alidou offers a gripping look at one of the Muslim world’s most powerful untold stories. Runner-up, Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association, 2007

First published in 1990, this collection of essays in literary criticism, feminist theory and race relations was named one of the top twenty-five books of 1988 by the Voice Literary Supplement. The title covers such subjects as black literature; the reconstruction of culture, changing arts, letters and sciences to include the topics of women and gender; and, the nature of family and the changing roles of women within society. As such, Catharine Stimpson employs a transdisciplinary approach, to encourage greater understanding of the differences among women, and thus socially-constructed differences in general. Where the Meanings Are tells of some of the arguments within feminism during the re-designing and designing of cultural spaces, as post-modernism began to change the boundaries of race, class, and gender. It will therefore be of great value to students and general readers with an interest in the relationship between gender and culture, sex and gender difference, feminist theory and literature.

An introduction to the work of Anthony Giddens, and a critical discussion of his ideas. It sets out the background to and sources for Giddens' development of structuration theory and describes the main features of his theory.

Almost 20 years ago Michael Brocken created from his doctoral research, what became both a seminal and contested volume concerning the social mores surrounding the British Folk Revival up to that point in time: The British Folk Revival 1944–2002. In this long-overdue second edition he revisits not only his own research, but also that of others from the 1990s and early 21st century. He then considers how a discourse of folkloric authenticity emerged in the closing years of the 19th century and how a worrying nationalistic immanence came to surround folk music and dance during the inter-war years. Brocken also proposes that the media: records, radio and TV in post-WWII folk revivalism can offer us important insights into how self-directed learning of the folk guitar emerged. Brocken moves on to consider the business structures of the contemporary folk scene and how relationships are formed between contemporary folk business and the digital and social media spheres. In his penultimate chapter he discusses the masculinisation of folk traditions and asks important questions about how our folk traditions are carried and are authorised. In the final chapter he also considers the rise of an exciting new folk live music built environment.

Originally published 1987 Schooling Ordinary Kids looks at the ‘invisible majority’ of ordinary working-class pupils. The book explains why these pupils are now at the centre of a major educational crisis surrounding the soaring rates of youth unemployment. The book is a timely examination of educational inequalities, unemployment, and the new vocationalism. Drawing extensively the study of schools in the urban centre of South Wales the book highlights the need for an alternative politics of education, if we were to meet the educational challenge of the late-twentieth century. The new vocationalism is revealed here as a policy for inequality both politically and in the classroom.

Up until the mid-1980s most pragmatic analysis had been done on spoken language use, considerably less on written use, and very little at all on literary activity. This has now radically changed. ‘Pragmatics’ could be informally defined as the study of relationships between language and its users. This volume, first published in 1991, seeks to reposition literary activity at the centre of that study. The internationally renowned contributors draw together two main streams. On the one hand, there are concerns which are close to the syntax and semantics of mainstream linguistics, and on the other, there are concerns ranging towards anthropological linguistics, socio- and psycholinguistics. Literary Pragmatics represents an antidote to the fragmenting specialization so characteristic of the humanities in the twentieth century. This book will be of lasting value to students of linguistics, literature and society. Roger D. Sell discusses the reissue of Literary Pragmatics here: http://www.routledge.com/articles/roger_d._sell_discusses_the_reissue_of_literary_pragmatics/