Primary teacher reference book which considers literacy in the primary school. Defines literacy and the influence of educators' decisions and outlines various community and cultural resources which shape what children bring to the classroom. Also looks at how children perceive the possibilities and potentials of literacy and discusses the possibilities for teaching children a critical social literacy. Includes a bibliography.

Literacy - the ability to produce and interpret written text - has long been viewed as the basis of all school achievement; a measure of success that defines both an 'educated' person, and an educable one. In this volume, a team of leading experts raise questions central to the acquisition of literacy. Why do children with similar classroom experiences show different levels of educational achievement? And why do these differences in literacy, and ultimately employability, persist? By looking critically at the western view of a 'literate' person, the authors present a perspective on literary acquisition, viewing it as a socially constructed skill, whereby children must acquire discourse strategies that are socially 'approved'. This extensively-revised second edition contains an updated introduction and bibliography. This volume will continue to have far-reaching implications for educational theory and practice.

This new edition of the much-loved Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy has been revised and updated to retain its cutting-edge focus on emergent and important areas of research. This comprehensive work guides the reader through current social, cultural and historical analysis on a global scale. The new edition contains a greater range of methodologies, and chapters on: - space and literacy - disabilities and early childhood literacy - digital literacies - indigenous literacy - play and literacy - policy In the Handbook, readers will find coverage of all the key topics in early childhood literacy. The exceptional list of contributors offers in-depth expertise in their respective areas of knowledge. The Handbook is essential for Undergraduate students; Masters students; PhD students; CPD students; researchers, and literacy-centre personel. ′The second edition of this internationally respected and widely used text encompases a myriad of new issues and insights, both through new contributions and thoughtfully revised chapters which raise fresh questions and challenges for research and practice. In pushing the boundaries still further, the handbook retains its rightful place at the forefront of research into early childhood literacy practice in the 21st century′ -Professor Teresa Cremin, Open University UK ′This handbook provides in-depth knowledge of insights and theories about the dynamic process of how children come to know literacy as thinking humans in social and cultural spaces. There is a rich array of research perspectives of children′s meaning-making through family and digital liteacies, play and literacy, and in-school and out-of-school literacy experiences′ - Yetta Goodman, Regents Professor, University of Arizona

In 28 essays selected from the proceedings of the XXII International Congress of FILLM held at Assumption University, Bangkok, scholars and teachers of languages and literatures have noted, bemoaned and analyzed the waning influence of the humanities to varying degrees. They have raised questions, offered solutions and vigorously defended their languages and literatures, often in no uncertain terms - not as a politically correct thing to do, but as a human obligation. The papers presented here are true to the spirit of the Congress from the moment of the keynote address to what followed in a spontaneous outbreak of voices from scholars of more than 70 universities throughout the world. For the first time, in an international congress, scholars have described with great sensitivity many languages and literatures often considered the periphery, in a sincere attempt to understand 'the other', thus making a passionate plea for inclusion in the umbrella of the world's languages and literatures. With contributions by keynote speaker and authority on Comparative Literature Gayatri Spivak, USA and plenary speakers Vridhagiri Ganeshan, India; Roger Sell, Finland; Antoine Compagnon, France; and Chetana Nagavajara, Thailand this volume is of immense interest to scholars and teachers of languages and literatures the world over.

This book explores Singapore’s language education system. Unlike previous volumes, which discuss the bilingual requirement for learning, it focuses on Singapore’s quadrilingual system, bringing together articles on each of the four languages – English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil – as well as articles that examine more than one language. It highlights past successes, current concerns, and future directions for language education. The book focuses on classroom pedagogy in all four official languages, showcasing how languages are taught and learned in Singapore as a basis for better understanding the system “from the inside out.” The authors present empirical, classroom-based studies on language pedagogy in all four languages, as well as updated information on the current socio-political context and how it has influenced attempts at pedagogical innovation. Consideration is given to the dialectical relationship between policy and practice. The chapters also include discussions of pre-school-age learning, influences of language policy, home literacy practices, and commentaries by international language-in-education scholars. This approach also provides a basis for international comparison – especially for those who are interested in fostering English proficiency while maintaining one or more national languages. The volume is particularly important in light of the continuing international efforts to integrate English into national educational systems where it is not the dominant language.

Negotiating Critical Literacies in Classrooms brings together accounts of educators who have sought to make a difference in the lives of their students through literacy education--from university classrooms in the United States, England, and South Africa, to policy and curriculum development in Singapore and Australia. Each chapter represents the results of extended research on classroom practice. The authors in this collection write as teachers. The literacy classrooms they explore range from the early years of schooling, to primary and secondary education, through to community and university sites. Although the volume is organized around different levels of education, clearly overlapping themes emerge across the chapters, including identity formation and textual practices, politicizing curriculum and textbook production, and changing the power relations in classroom talk around text. An overarching theme of this collection is the belief that there is no one generic, universal critical literacy--in theory or in practice. Rather, the authors reveal how a range of theories can serve as productive starting points for educators working on social justice agendas through the literacy curriculum, and, equally important, how particular critical literacy theories or pedagogies must be worked out in specific locations. In each of these accounts, educators explain how they have taken a body of theory and worked with and on it in classrooms. Their rich portrayals and narratives of classroom realities illustrate the unanticipated effects of pedagogies that emerge in specific contexts. Experiences from the classrooms have led them to revise theories that are central to critical literacy, including constructs such as "empowerment," "resistance," and "multiple readings." This collection documents what occurs when educators confront the difficult ethical and political issues that evolve in particular classroom situations. Negotiating Critical Literacies in Classrooms is appropriate as a text for courses in language and literacy education, and will be of broad interest to educational researchers, practitioners, and theorists. The practical classroom focus makes this book accessible and of interest to a wide range of teachers and an excellent resource for professional development. The international scope will appeal to a global educational readership.

Using the concept of multiliteracies and multimodality, this book provides foundation knowledge about the new and continuously changing literacies of the 21st century. It details the five semiotic systems (linguistic, visual, auditory, gestural and spatial) and how they contribute to the reading and writing of increasingly complex and dynamic texts that are delivered by live, paper or digital technologies. One of the main tenets of the book is that social, cultural and technological developments will continue to give rise to changing literate practices around texts and communication, requiring a rethinking of classroom practices that are employed in the teaching of literacy. Therefore, the role of talk, together with traditional lesson structures, is examined and the concept of dialogic talk is introduced as a way of moving towards an effective pedagogy for the teaching and learning of multiliteracies and multimodality. The book also demonstrates that children’s literature can provide a bridge between old and new literacies and be an effective vehicle for introducing the five semiotic systems to all age groups. Comprehensive and accessible, this book addresses the issue of translating complex theories, research and concepts into effective practice, by providing the reader with four avenues for reflecting upon and implementing the ideas it contains: Reflection Strategies that enable the reader to gauge their understanding of key concepts; Theory into Practice tasks that enable the trialling of specific theoretical concepts in the classroom; Auditing instruments provide specific tasks related to assessment of student performance and evaluation of teacher pedagogy; QR codes immediately link the reader to multimodal texts and further references that illustrate and enhance the concepts being developed.

Understand how children become literate and mold a confident reader with this easy to read resource

"....undeterred by sociological pessimism, Colin Lankshear hacks away at the underbrush, clearing a path for a new critical-liberatory discourse" James Paul Gee, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. This book explores everyday social practices and how they influence who people are, what they become, the quality of their lives, the opportunities and possibilities open to them, and those they are denied. It focusses especially on language and literacy components of social practices, asking: How are language and literacy framed within different social practices? How are social practices in turn shaped and framed by language and literacy? What are the consequences for the lives and identities of individuals and groups? How can we understand these relationships, and build on this understanding to develop critical forms of literacy and language awareness that enhance human dignity, freedom and social justice? In addressing these questions the book draws on social practices from diverse settings: from classrooms using conventional texts to so-called "enchanted workplaces"; from a Third World peasant cooperative enterprise to modern technologically-equipped homes and classrooms. The result is a rich sociocultural account of language and literacy, which challenges narrow psychological and skills-based approaches, and provides an excellent theory base for informing the practice of literacy educators. It will be compelling reading for academics, teachers and students of language and literacy education, critical literacy, discourse studies and cultural studies.

The research in this unique collection lies at the interface between the fields of bilingualism and literacy. It deepens our understanding of the significance of reading and writing as social practices and opens up new lines of inquiry for research on multilingualism. The authors incorporate theoretical and methodological insights from both fields and provide detailed accounts of everyday practices of reading and writing in different multilingual settings. The focus is primarily on linguistic minority groups in Britain and on the language and literacy experiences of children and adults in rural and urban communities. Together, the chapters of the volume build up a rich and illuminating picture of specific ways in which literacy is bound up with cultural practices and with different ways of seeing the world. They also address fundamental questions about the relationship between language, literacy and power in multi-ethnic contexts.