Representations Of Language Learning And Literacy

Representations of language learning and literacy, also known as “literacy narratives” are a staple of literature. They tell stories of conflict that illuminate the sociocultural dynamics whereby we learn to speak, read, and write. Yet, they tend to be read as stories about the “powers” of language and literacy – the power to make someone “human”, to form identity, and improve one’s social status. This book introduces the “literacy narrative approach”, a methodology for the study of literacy narratives that accounts for the conflict that pervades them. It achieves this by focussing on how the texts represent the interactions between writing and other semiotic modes (multimodality). Sitting at the interface between theory and practice, it provides three practical applications of the literacy narrative approach and, in the process, develops a theoretical perspective for thinking about language learning, literacy, and communication as they are practised in the real world.

This edited volume unpacks the familiar concepts of language, literacy and learning, and promotes dialogue and bridge building within and across these concepts. Its specific interest lies in bridging the gap between Literacy Studies (or New Literacy Studies), on the one hand, and SLA and scholarship in learning in multilingual contexts, on the other. The chapters in the volume center-stage empirical analysis, and each addresses gaps in the scholarship between the two domains. The volume addresses the need to engage with the concepts, categorizations and boundaries that pertain to language, literacy and learning. This need is especially felt in our globalized society, which is characterized by constant, fast and unpredictable mobility of people, goods, ideas and values. The editors of this volume are founding members of the Nordic Network LLL (Language, Literacy and Learning). They have initiated a string of workshops and have discussed this theme at Nordic meetings and at symposia at international conferences.

With K-8 teachers in mind, Andrea Honigsfeld offers this user-friendly, accessible resource to address the diverse language and literacy proficiencies that exist in so many U.S. classrooms today. Andrea unpacks the five levels of language acquisition, based on the TESOL framework, and introduces practical strategies that can be applied across grade levels and content areas to support EL students' academic language and literacy development. With an emphasis on culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy, peer interaction, and scaffolding, Andrea offers instructional practices organized into five predictable strands at each level of language acquisition: Visual supports Learning by doing Oral language production Reading supports Writing supports Filled with student vignettes, teacher and student work samples, and authentic classroom examples, Growing Language and Literacy will become every teacher's guide to moving their English learners from one stage of language acquisition to the next.

Literacy and the Politics of Representation aims to uncover the constructed nature of public understandings of literacy by examining detailed examples of how literacy is represented in a range of public contexts.

The second edition of this successful book describes and explains the development of children's spoken and written language. Drawing on both classical and recent research studies, the processes whereby literacy is achieved during the period from infancy to about 8 years of age are traced. The authors emphasize the importance of early experiences with language in relation to later developments of literacy, highlighting the connections between learning to talk and learning to read and write. Garton and Pratt argue that the social contexts within which talking, reading and writing are learned are essential for the development of literacy. Theoretical positions and research studies that support the argument are discussed, to provide a broad contextual framework. Early chapters describe the processes of spoken language development and the theoretical explanations put forward to account for them. Subsequent chapters discuss the development of reading and writing, as well as theoretical connections between spoken and written language development.

Describes how intellectual development of bilingual children differs from that of monolingual children.

Literacy is an important concern of contemporary societies. This book offers a comprehensive survey of recent efforts to understand the nature of written language and its role in cognition and in social and intellectual life. The authors represent a wide range of disciplines - cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, education, history and philosophy - and address a wide range of questions. Is literacy a decisive factor in historical and cultural change? Does it alter the mental and social lives of individuals? If so how and via what mechanisms? Does learning to read and write change children's speech, thought or orientation to language? What are children and adults learning when they acquire literate skills? Are there differences - linguistic, psychological and functional - between speaking and writing? And are there differences between oral and written languages?