Mirroring worldwide debates on social class, literacy rates, and social change, this study explores the intersection between reading and social class in Singapore, one of the top scorers on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) tests, and questions the rhetoric of social change that does not take into account local spaces and practices. This comparative study of reading practices in an elite school and a government school in Singapore draws on practice and spatial perspectives to provide critical insight into how taken-for-granted practices and spaces of reading can be in fact unacknowledged spaces of inequity. Acknowledging the role of social class in shaping reading education is a start to reconfiguring current practices and spaces for more effective and equitable reading practices. This book shows how using localized, contextualized approaches sensitive to the home, school, national and global contexts can lead to more targeted policy and practice transformation in the area of reading instruction and intervention. Chapters in the book include: * Becoming a Reader: Home-School Connections * Singaporean Boys Constructing Global Literate Selves: School-Nation Connections * Levelling the Reading Gap: Socio-Spatial Perspectives The book will be relevant to literacy scholars and educators, library science researchers and sociologists interested in the intersection of class and literacy practices in the 21st century.

This volume presents a representative cross-section of the more than 200 papers presented at the 1994 conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. The contributors reflect multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives -- English, speech communication, philosophy, rhetoric, composition studies, comparative literature, and film and media studies. Exploring the historical relationships and changing relationships between rhetoric, cultural studies, and literacy in the United States, this text seeks answers to such questions as what constitutes "literacy" in a post-modern, high-tech, multi-cultural society?

This volume constitutes a unique contribution to the literature on literacy and culture in several respects. It links together aspects of social variation that have not often been thus juxtaposed: ethnicity/nationality, gender, and participant role relations. The unifying theme of this collection of papers is that all of these factors are aspects of writers' identities -- identities which are simultaneously expressed and constructed in text.
The topic of social identity and writing can be approached from a variety of scholarly avenues, including humanistic, critical, and historical perspectives. The papers in the present volume make reference to and contribute to such humanistic perspectives; however, this book lies squarely within the tradition of social science. It draws primarily upon the disciplines of linguistics, discourse analysis, anthropology, social and cognitive psychology, and education studies.
The constituent topics of social identity, style, and writing themselves lie at the intersections of several related fields of scholarship. Writing remains of peak interest to educators from many fields, and is still a "hot" topic. The instructional ramifications of the particular issues addressed in this volume are of vital concern to educational systems adjusting to the realities of our multicultural society. This publication, therefore, should attract a substantial and diverse readership of scholars, educators, and policymakers affiliated with many fields including applied linguistics, composition and rhetoric, communication studies, dialect studies, discourse analysis, English composition, English/language arts education, ethnic studies, language behavior, literacy, sociolinguistics, stylistics, women's studies, and writing research and instruction.

This volume explores higher level, critical, and creative thinking, as well as reflective decision making and problem solving -- what teachers should emphasize when teaching literacy across the curriculum. Focusing on how to encourage learners to become independent thinking, learning, and communicating participants in home, school, and community environments, this book is concerned with integrated learning in a curriculum of inclusion. It emphasizes how to provide a curriculum for students where they are socially interactive, personally reflective, and academically informed.
Contributors are authorities on such topics as cognition and learning, classroom climates, knowledge bases of the curriculum, the use of technology, strategic reading and learning, imagery and analogy as a source of creative thinking, the nature of motivation, the affective domain in learning, cognitive apprenticeships, conceptual development across the disciplines, thinking through the use of literature, the impact of the media on thinking, the nature of the new classroom, developing the ability to read words, the bilingual, multicultural learner, crosscultural literacy, and reaching the special learner.
The applications of higher level thought to classroom contexts and materials are provided, so that experienced teacher educators, and psychologists are able to implement some of the abstractions that are frequently dealt with in texts on cognition. Theoretical constructs are grounded in educational experience, giving the volume a practical dimension. Finally, appropriate concerns regarding the new media, hypertext, bilingualism, and multiculturalism as they reflect variation in cognitive experience within the contexts of learning are presented.

This volume explores higher level, critical, and creative thinking, as well as reflective decision making and problem solving -- what teachers should emphasize when teaching literacy across the curriculum. Focusing on how to encourage learners to become independent thinking, learning, and communicating participants in home, school, and community environments, this book is concerned with integrated learning in a curriculum of inclusion. It emphasizes how to provide a curriculum for students where they are socially interactive, personally reflective, and academically informed.
Contributors are authorities on such topics as cognition and learning, classroom climates, knowledge bases of the curriculum, the use of technology, strategic reading and learning, imagery and analogy as a source of creative thinking, the nature of motivation, the affective domain in learning, cognitive apprenticeships, conceptual development across the disciplines, thinking through the use of literature, the impact of the media on thinking, the nature of the new classroom, developing the ability to read words, the bilingual, multicultural learner, crosscultural literacy, and reaching the special learner.
The applications of higher level thought to classroom contexts and materials are provided, so that experienced teacher educators, and psychologists are able to implement some of the abstractions that are frequently dealt with in texts on cognition. Theoretical constructs are grounded in educational experience, giving the volume a practical dimension. Finally, appropriate concerns regarding the new media, hypertext, bilingualism, and multiculturalism as they reflect variation in cognitive experience within the contexts of learning are presented.

Researchers from a variety of disciplines have collected verbal protocols of reading as a window on conscious reading processes. Because such work has occurred in different disciplines, many who have conducted verbal protocol analyses have been unaware of the research of others. This volume brings together the existing literature from the various fields in which verbal protocols of reading have been generated. In so doing, the authors provide an organized catalog of all conscious verbal processes reported in studies to date -- the most complete analysis of conscious reading now available in the literature.
When the results of all of the studies are considered, there is clear support for a number of models of reading comprehension including reader response theories, schema perspectives, executive processing models, and bottom-up approaches such as the one proposed by van Dijk and Kintsch. The summary of results also demonstrates that none of the existing models goes far enough. Thus, a new framework -- constructively responsive reading -- is described. This new model encompasses reader response, schematic and executive processing, and induction from word- and phrase-level comprehension to higher-order meaning. The important concept in this new model is that readers respond to bits and pieces of text as they are encountered, all as part of the overarching goal of constructing meaning from text.
This volume also includes a critical review of the thinking aloud methodology as it has been used thus far. This examination suggests that it continues to be an immature methodology, and that much work is needed if a complete theory of conscious processing during reading is to be developed via verbal protocol analysis. Finally, after reviewing what has been accomplished to date, the authors provide extensive discussion of the work that remains to be done and the adequacy of the verbal protocol methodology for permitting telling conclusions about text processing.

During the last 20 years, there has been an enormous amount of research examining sources of coherence in reading. A major tenet of this work has been the distinction between two major sources of coherence. "Text-based" sources of coherence are contained within the text itself -- use of headings to indicate aspects of a text's macrostructure; "reader-based" sources of coherence encompass the information and strategies that the reader brings to the comprehension process. Many early models of reading comprehension emphasized text-based sources of coherence as a way of understanding how a representation of the text is constructed in memory. However, during the last decade, there has been a clear shift of theoretical perspective away from viewing reading comprehension as a process of representing a text to viewing comprehension as a process of representing what a text is about. This has led to a greater emphasis on reader-based sources of coherence. The purpose of this book is to bring together the large body of evidence addressing the roles of text-based and reader-based sources of coherence in reading comprehension. The contributors present the current state of cognitive theory and research on comprehension of discourse.

Researchers from a variety of disciplines have collected verbal protocols of reading as a window on conscious reading processes. Because such work has occurred in different disciplines, many who have conducted verbal protocol analyses have been unaware of the research of others. This volume brings together the existing literature from the various fields in which verbal protocols of reading have been generated. In so doing, the authors provide an organized catalog of all conscious verbal processes reported in studies to date -- the most complete analysis of conscious reading now available in the literature.
When the results of all of the studies are considered, there is clear support for a number of models of reading comprehension including reader response theories, schema perspectives, executive processing models, and bottom-up approaches such as the one proposed by van Dijk and Kintsch. The summary of results also demonstrates that none of the existing models goes far enough. Thus, a new framework -- constructively responsive reading -- is described. This new model encompasses reader response, schematic and executive processing, and induction from word- and phrase-level comprehension to higher-order meaning. The important concept in this new model is that readers respond to bits and pieces of text as they are encountered, all as part of the overarching goal of constructing meaning from text.
This volume also includes a critical review of the thinking aloud methodology as it has been used thus far. This examination suggests that it continues to be an immature methodology, and that much work is needed if a complete theory of conscious processing during reading is to be developed via verbal protocol analysis. Finally, after reviewing what has been accomplished to date, the authors provide extensive discussion of the work that remains to be done and the adequacy of the verbal protocol methodology for permitting telling conclusions about text processing.

Parental involvement in the teaching of reading and writing has often lagged behind practice, though schools in many countries now recognise the importance of parental involvement. The ideas presented in this book offer new ways of thinking about parental involvement and should interest both researchers and practitioners. It relates the recent growth of involvement to broader considerations of the nature of literacy and historical exclusion of parents from the curriculum.; Descriptions are given of key findings from research into pre-school literacy work with parents and parents hearing children read, and a framework to underpin practice is offered. The author gives a critique of evaluation methods in the field and suggests how parental involvement should be evaluated together with a view of research findings to date and issues needing further study. The book concludes with an appraisal of what was learned from research and what needs further enquiry.

Assessment and accreditation of prior learning systems are now widely used in colleges to open up access for potential students by harnessing their prior learning, knowledge and skills. But one major issue, language and literacy, has not yet been adequately addressed, and our education system still presents many barriers for non-native speakers of English. "APL and the Bilingual Learner" focuses on practical and pro-active ways of approaching these problems.
Meena Wood explores both ways of resourcing APL systems and also how to integrate them into the college's organizational structures. The central chapters look in detail at model systems for assessing prior linguistic ability, accrediting evidence from overseas qualifications, and also explore the role of the guidance advocate worker. There is a strong focus on teaching and learning skills, and case studies and examples illustrate how APL systems can be of benefit to all students.

According to UNESCO's statistics, the number of illiterates in the world is verging on one million. A conservative estimate of the number of children who have no access to schooling brings that figure to more than one hundred million. School failure, brought about by overcrowding, poor facilities, unqualified teachers, and lack of materials only adds to the problem. The authors in this volume cover the many facets of the fight for literacy.

Every day in classrooms, teachers and students think about and with text. Their beliefs about what text is, who created it, and how to evaluate it are an influence, often a profoundly important one, on how they use text. This book brings together research on epistemology, belief systems, teacher beliefs, and text -- research that is usually presented separately, and in different disciplines. The editors illustrate what a cross-disciplinary body of work looks like, what varied insights are possible, and when the central concerns are beliefs and text.
Written by respected researchers in the fields of psychology and education, the chapters are clustered thematically into three sections:
* childrens' and adults' beliefs about text.
* beliefs about what should be taught and how particular content should be taught and assessed in classrooms.
* commentary on knowing versus believing, on the literatures that inform this body of work, and on belief systems.
The first to address this important topic in a single volume, this book provides an essential synthesis of current research in an active area of inquiry. The chapters are pieces framed in a time and place with particular intentions -- one of those intentions is that they separately and as a whole stimulate discussion about beliefs and text.

In order for students to reap the benefits of graphic novels, teachers need to first incorporate them into their classrooms. Graphic novels are not only a viable option to improve student retention of literature, but also the cornerstone of several potential lesson plans. The multimodal nature of graphic novels allows teachers to shape their lessons in new directions. When the validity of graphic novels is no longer a question, students and teachers alike will discover the countless benefits of multimodal learning.

The concepts of the past, centered more narrowly on traditional ways of learning to read and write, no longer suffice in a society that requires higher level skills from an increasingly diverse student population. Providing a new direction in literacy education, the chapters in this volume offer a revitalized perspective of literacy. They focus on the forms that literacy will take in the future, the influence of changing technologies and multimedia on curriculum and instructional practices, and on effective learning environments. These chapters incorporate the insights of researchers in several disciplines to examine ways of helping students develop the broad-based literacy skills they will need in order to participate fully in American society.
Teachers, teacher educators, and others concerned with the future of nurturing and schooling will find challenging ideas for redefining instruction in literacy in this book.

Over the last twenty years a major area of cognitive psychology has developed centred upon research into the issues of how visually presented words are processed so that they can be read and understood. The focus has been on how words are stored in the mental lexicon and retrieved during the reading process. If we possessed no mental lexicon, we would be unable to read. This book dedicates itself to a critical evaluation of the ideas that have emerged from this body of research. The text outlines the major models of lexical processing that have been put forward in the literature, and how they explain the basic empirical findings that have been reported. It then goes on to consider the possible influence that sentential context has on lexical processing, the impact of the pronunciation of a word on its visual processing, and the role played by internal word structure (i.e., syllables and morphemes) in the recognition of a word. A connectionist style model emerges during the course of the evaluation of these issues. This book is suitable for advanced students and researchers, and is intended to serve as a springboard for discussion and an inspiration for empirical research.

First published in 1982, this influential and classic text poses two questions: what is it that a child learns when he or she learns to write? What can we learn about children, society and ourselves, by looking at this process? The book is based on a close analysis of a series of written texts by primary school children and is written for student teachers with little or no knowledge of linguistics. In this new edition, Gunther Kress has made extensive revisions in the light of recent developments in linguistics and in education.
The theoretical focus is now a social semiotic one, which allows a fundamental rethinking of issues such as 'preliteracy' and broad social and cultural questions around the making of texts.

Through the years, research on reading has made enormous contributions to helping us understand how students learn to read and how teachers can best instruct them. Research continues to add to our fundamental knowledge of reading in significant ways, thus adding more pieces to the puzzle -- for example, finding answers to how students learn content in other school subjects through reading, and what strategies teachers can use to help their students do this more effectively.
"Reading Research into the Year 2000" describes the dynamic process that the Department of Education engages in to plan and execute a reading research agenda. It was written to inform a wide ranging public -- those who will benefit directly or indirectly, from reading research findings, including those who use research applications, as well as those who conduct the research.
Moreover, it was written to make public the process of establishing a national R&D Center. Few people outside the Department of Education are aware of the procedures that are undertaken. The editors believe that if more people are in the know, they will be more likely to participate in the entire process -- from generating research ideas to submitting applications -- and that this greater participation is essential if we are to garner divergent thinking about how to solve critical education research issues. They have made a significant step toward breaking down barriers to full participation, and paved the way for greater involvement of non-traditional players in competing for a national R&D Center award.

This volume investigates the interconnections between language and literacy in terms of the structures of language as well as the linguistic contexts of literacy. The work for this book was generated in order to focus on studies of the acquisition and impact of literacy on traditional assertions of linguistic analysts. The contributors show that claims regarding descriptions of the linguistic competence of native speakers contain phonemic, morphemic, and sentential constructs applicable only to literate language users. They also suggest that syntactic formalities -- elements lacking extensional reference -- are unlikely in the absence of literacy, and that the notions of "sentencehood" and syntactic well-formedness are functions of literacy. Finally, the book reviews the basic notions of literary relativity and the role of literacy in communication and civilization.

This volume unites spelling and word recognition -- two areas that have largely remained theoretically and empirically distinct. Despite considerable advances in the investigation of processes underlying word perception and the acknowledgement of the seminal importance of lexical access in the reading and writing processes, to date the development and functioning of orthographic knowledge across both encoding and decoding contexts has rarely been explored. The book begins to fill this void by offering a coherent and unified articulation of the perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive features that characterize an individual's advancing word/orthographic knowledge, providing evidence for a common knowledge base underlying spelling in writing and word recognition in reading. From a developmental perspective, the studies and syntheses presented in this volume blend insights from psychology and language study with those from clinical and classroom observations. These insights help explain how individuals, from preschool through adolescence, develop knowledge of the orthographic system underlying word structure in English and how they apply this knowledge in actual writing and reading contexts. Implications are drawn for the assessment and teaching of spelling, vocabulary, and word analysis from primary through middle grades.

"Talking About Literacy" re-examines dominant notions of what literacy is and challenges the reactive solution to the issue of simply teaching the illiterate basic reading and writing skills. The subject of literacy contains enormous emotional and political associations, and the job of literacy educator often involves changing attitudes and challenging prejudices. Adult literacy education means not only teaching courses in "basic skills," or "language support," but also designing strategies which encourage people to see that these courses may meet their own interests--and educating them and others to rethink their own negative attitudes toward "illiteracy."
This book looks in detail at five principles which Jane Mace suggests are central to the education of people who often can read, but wish they could read better; or who can technically write, but have a desire to do so with more expression and coherence. These principles focus on five themes: "context, inquiry, authorship, equality" and "community," which take seriously the view that adult students are writers as well as readers, and that they have an entitlement to be read, as well as to read others.
"Talking About Literacy" relates a set of ideas about literacy and learning to a range of examples from adult education and training, addressing the social contexts in which people read and write, whether for recreation or for academic and vocational purposes. While addressed primarily to those educating adults in the critical and confident use of reading and writing, this book will also be of interest to anyone who wishes to examine underlying assumptions about literacy and illiteracy.

Over the past three decades, our conceptualizations of literacy and what it means to be literate have expanded to include recognition that there is a qualitative difference in how we communicate through modalities such as the visual, audio, spatial, and linguistic and that different modes are combined in complex ways to make meaning. The field of multimodality is concerned with how human beings use different modes of communication to represent or make meaning in the world. Despite the rapid growth of international research in this area, accounts of a broader range of global sites, particularly economically under-resourced and culturally diverse contexts such as Sub-Saharan Africa, remain under-researched and under-represented in the literature. This book contextualizes a range of literacies including health literacies, community literacies, family literacies, and multilingual literacies within broader modes of communication, most specifically play and the visual. The claim is that powerful pedagogies, methodologies and theories can be constructed by taking a more detailed look at multimodal meaning-making in diverse contexts. By describing and analyzing multimodal practices and texts across a diverse range of contexts, the book highlights different constructs, issues and emerging questions dealing with the study of literacies and multimodality.

In the words of Aldous Huxley, "Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting." Few people question the value of reading; in fact, most extol its virtues. As our culture becomes more complex, reading plays an increasingly greater role in satisfying personal needs and in promoting social awareness and growth. In the last 20 years, the teaching of this invaluable skill has focused so intensely on comprehension and prediction from context that it has lost sight of the significance of automaticity and fluency in the word-identification process. Reading is a synthesis of word recognition and comprehension; thus, this text is about these basic processes and their integration. A common plea from teachers today is that research and psychology be translated into teaching behavior. Therefore, the aim of this book is twofold: one, to identify, report, organize, and discuss those bits of data, research and theory that are most relevant to the teacher's understanding of the reading process; and two, to help educators to interpret and apply theory and research data to everyday classroom teaching, as well as to the problems encountered frequently in developmental and remedial teaching.

How does a young child begin to make sense out of squiggles on a page? Is learning to read a process of extending already acquired language abilities to print? What comprises this extension? How children learn to read, and especially how children are taught to read, are problems of sustained scientific interest and enduring pedagogical controversy. This volume presents conceptual and theoretical analyses of learning to read, research on the very beginning processes of learning to read, as well as research on phonological abilities and on children who have problems learning to read. In so doing, it reflects the important discovery that learning to read requires mastering the system by which print encodes the language. The editors hope that some of the work offered in this text will influence future research questions and will make a difference in the way instructional issues are formulated.

Twelve chapters present a wide range of theory and method. Case examples throughout. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.