"Sociocultural Contexts of Language and Literacy, Second Edition" engages prospective and in-service teachers in learning about linguistically and culturally diverse students, and in using this knowledge to enrich literacy learning in classrooms and communities. The text is grounded in current research and theory that integrate sociocultural and constructivist concepts and perspectives and provide a framework teachers can use to develop strategies for teaching reading, writing, and thinking to diverse students.
The focus on English literacy development does not imply advocacy for "English only" or ESL as the primary mode of literacy instruction. Rather, the authors take the position that learners need to develop literacy in their native language and that the concepts and skills learned in developing the native language create a foundation of strength from which students can develop English literacy.
Part I introduces relevant research and language learning theories. PartII provides research reviews and information about literacy learning within specific culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The chapters in Part III challenge the reader to view the multiple social, intellectual, cultural, and language differences children bring to the classroom as an opportunity for learning and building on the diversity among students. Activities and suggested readings at the end of each chapter involve readers in reflection, observation, meaning making, and the construction of application processes for their new understandings.
New in the "Second Edition: "
*updated research and theory on multilingual and second language literacy;
*a focus on the interpretation of theseresearch findings to make them useful for teachers and teacher educators in understanding and articulating the research bases for literacy practices;
*attention to current intensely debated issues, such as standards, the phonics movement, and high-stakes testing; and
*new activities and suggested readings.

The landmark developments of Greek culture and the critical works of Greek thought and literature were accompanied by an explosive growth in the use of written texts from the sixth through the fourth centuries B.C.E. The creation of the "classical" and the perennial use of Greece by later European civilizations as a source of knowledge and inspiration would not have taken place without the textual innovations of the classical period. This book considers how writing, reading, and disseminating texts led to new ways of thinking and new forms of expression and behavior.

The first printed collection of riddles in German, the so-called AStraAburger RAtselbuchA, ran to 39 known editions covering a period of 280 years from 1510 to 1789. This makes it one of the most successful early modern books in German on a worldly subject. At a very early stage, the popularity of the riddles and joke questions contained in the collection spawned not only a spate of counter-publications but also various imitations. As a best-seller it initiated a whole new genre, the 'RAtselbuch'. To this day, its numerous representatives have handed down in written form a wide range of riddles frequently classified as "folk riddles."

Scottish education and literacy have achieved a legendary status. A campaign promoted by church and state between 1560 and 1696 is said to have produced the most literate population in the early modern world. This book sets out to test this belief by comparing the ability to read and write in Scotland with northern England in particular and with Europe and North America in general. It combines extensive statistical analysis with qualitative and theoretical discussion to produce an important argument about the significance of literacy and education for the individual and society of relevance not just to the Scottish experience but to a far broader social and geographical area.

Literacy in American Lives traces the changing conditions of literacy learning over the past century as they were felt in the lives of ordinary Americans born between 1895 and 1985. The book demonstrates what sharply rising standards for literacy have meant to successive generations of Americans and how--as students, workers, parents, and citizens--they have responded to rapid changes in the meaning and methods of literacy learning in their society. Drawing on more than 80 life histories of Americans from all walks of life, the book addresses critical questions facing public education at the start of the twenty-first century.

Literacy in American Lives traces the changing conditions of literacy learning over the past century as they were felt in the lives of ordinary Americans born between 1895 and 1985. The book demonstrates what sharply rising standards for literacy have meant to successive generations of Americans and how--as students, workers, parents, and citizens--they have responded to rapid changes in the meaning and methods of literacy learning in their society. Drawing on more than 80 life histories of Americans from all walks of life, the book addresses critical questions facing public education at the start of the twenty-first century.

This introduction to the expanding field of literacy studies has been fully revised for the second edition. It explores recent developments and new research that has contributed to our understanding of literacy practices, reflecting on the interdisciplinary growth of the study of reading and writing over the past decade.

An introductory textbook on the growing field of literacy studies, fully updated for the new edition

Includes new sections detailing recent completed studies of literacy practices, and the use of new technologies

Distinguishes between the competing definitions of literacy in contemporary society, and examines the language and learning theories which underpin new views of literacy

Now features additional material on cross-cultural perspectives, US-based examples, and information detailing current educational policy.

How many people could read and write in the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans? No one has previously tried to give a systematic answer to this question. Most historians who have considered the problem at all have given optimistic assessments, since they have been impressed by large bodies of ancient written material such as the graffiti at Pompeii. They have also been influenced by a tendency to idealize the Greek and Roman world and its educational system. In Ancient Literacy W. V. Harris provides the first thorough exploration of the levels, types, and functions of literacy in the classical world, from the invention of the Greek alphabet about 800 B.C. down to the fifth century A.D. Investigations of other societies show that literacy ceases to be the accomplishment of a small elite only in specific circumstances. Harris argues that the social and technological conditions of the ancient world were such as to make mass literacy unthinkable. Noting that a society on the verge of mass literacy always possesses an elaborate school system, Harris stresses the limitations of Greek and Roman schooling, pointing out the meagerness of funding for elementary education. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans came anywhere near to completing the transition to a modern kind of written culture. They relied more heavily on oral communication than has generally been imagined. Harris examines the partial transition to written culture, taking into consideration the economic sphere and everyday life, as well as law, politics, administration, and religion. He has much to say also about the circulation of literary texts throughout classical antiquity. The limited spread of literacy in the classical world had diverse effects. It gave some stimulus to critical thought and assisted the accumulation of knowledge, and the minority that did learn to read and write was to some extent able to assert itself politically. The written word was also an instrument of power, and its use was indispensable for the construction and maintenance of empires. Most intriguing is the role of writing in the new religious culture of the late Roman Empire, in which it was more and more revered but less and less practiced. Harris explores these and related themes in this highly original work of social and cultural history. Ancient Literacy is important reading for anyone interested in the classical world, the problem of literacy, or the history of the written word.

You may take for granted that you can read these words. But many people cannot, and that's what this book is about. Tens of millions of Americans today lack the skills to complete a job application, read a recipe, find their way on a street map, calculate a restaurant bill or follow a favorite passage of scripture. Throughout history, people have shared personal experiences through stories. This is a book of 30 such stories from the front lines of the literacy movement in Alabama. In their own words, these people recount in very personal terms their motivations and dreams along the spectrum of learning and teaching. All profits from the sale of this book are donated to the Literacy Council of West Alabama and the Literacy Council in Birmingham.

This text, based on Louise M. Rosenblatt's transactional model of literature, focuses on the application of transactional reader-response theory in the classroom. It grows from frequent requests from secondary school and college teachers for teaching suggestions on how to put theory into practice. This is not a "What should I do on Monday?" cookbook, but an expression of the practice of theory in college and secondary school classrooms.
The chapters portray a spectrum of strategies--including biopoems, expressive and imaginative writing, journal writing, readers' theater, role playing, and unsent letters--using as examples individual works from several genres. Recognizing that teachers who may have been trained in other theories and methodologies may be hesitant about their quite different role and expectations in the reader-centered classroom, the authors provide stepping stones to develop readiness and confidence, suggestions, and insights to ease the transition to the transactional model of teaching and learning.
Pedagogical features:
* An "explanatory introduction" to each section defines its orientation and describes the content and direction of the chapters it contains.
* "Invitations" elicit engagement of readers with concepts, attitudes, or strategies presented in the chapters; they invite readers, as individuals or members of a small group, to consider ideas or to practice a strategy, among other activities, in order to enhance understandings.
* A "glossary" defines key concepts and strategies discussed in the text.
* A "bibliography" provides an extensive list of resources--books and journal articles--both theoretical and applied.
New in the second edition:
* "Six new chapters"--three deal with the roles of film-as-literature in the English classroom, and three with enhancing multicultural understandings.
* "Updates and revisions" to several chapters that appeared in the first edition.
* "Invitations," new in this edition, have been added to focus and expand readers' thinking.

What role has writing played in the development of our modern understanding of language, nature and ourselves? Drawing on recent advances in history, anthropology, linguistics and psychology, the author offers a bold new perspective on how writing and reading have historically and developmentally altered our understanding of language, mind and nature. These understandings, Olson argues, are by-products of living in a "world on paper."

This book consists of a series of studies, each by a specialist in a different period or area of the ancient history of the Mediterranean world and northern Europe, examining the relationship between power and the use of writing in ancient society. The studies range in date from c. 600 B.C. to A.D. 800. It is intended not to provide a complete coverage of the ancient world but to use particular case studies to examine ways in which the relationship between literacy and power can be analyzed.

Developments in cultural history and literary criticism have suggested alternative ways of addressing the interpretation of reading. How did people read in the past? Where and why did they read? How were the manner and purpose of reading envisaged and recorded by contemporaries - and why? Drawing on fields as diverse as medieval pedagogy, textual bibliography, the history of science, and social and literary history, this collection of fourteen essays highlights both the singularity of personal reading experiences and the cultural conventions involved in reading and its perception. An introductory essay offers an important critical assessment of the various contributions to the development of the subject in recent times. This book constitutes a major addition to our understanding of the history of readers and reading.

Literacy continues to be a central issue in anthropology, but methods of perceiving and examining it have changed in recent years. In this 1995 study Niko Besnier analyses the transformation of Nukulaelae from a non-literate into a literate society using a contemporary perspective which emphasizes literacy as a social practice embedded in a socio-cultural context. He shows how a small and isolated Polynesian community, with no access to print technology, can become deeply steeped in literacy in little more than a century, and how literacy can take on radically divergent forms depending on the social and cultural needs and characteristics of the society in which it develops. His case study, which has implications for understanding literacy in other societies, illuminates the relationship between norm and practice, between structure and agency, and between group and individual.

This book examines the progress of literacy in ancient Greece from its origins with the introduction of the alphabet in the eighth century to the fourth century, when the major cultural institutions of Athens became totally dependent on alphabetic literacy. Professor Robb introduces much new evidence and re-evaluates older evidence to demonstrate that early Greek literacy can only be understood in terms of the rich oral culture that immediately preceded it, one that was dominated by the oral performance of epical verse, or "Homer". The eventual dependence of Athenian democratic institutions, notably law and higher education, on the technology of writing contributed to the "miracle" of Greece.

This is a study of the psychological development of readers of fictional stories across the whole lifespan. The author argues that regardless of personality and background, readers go through a regular sequence of stages as they mature from childhood to adulthood, which affects how they experience and respond to stories. Each subsequent stage requires an advance to a way of thinking about a story which is qualitatively different from the previous one. Appleyard's evidence for these claims is drawn from numerous studies of reading and from interviews with readers of all ages. The developmental perspective provides a useful framework for assessing the implications of competing theories of reading, for charting the evolution of young readers as they mature, and for locating and understanding the varied responses of adult readers. Literary theorists, teachers of reading and literature at every level, developmental psychologists, and general readers interested in the power of reading should find this a useful book.

In this compelling collection of first-person stories, adults who have made outstanding achievements in adult literacy were paired with writers to tell of their transition to reading. These are people who have had the courage to overcome the barrier of words to break into a broader sense of themselves, to feel more empowered in the world. Courageous, too, is the very sharing of these stories, in which private moments are opened wide with the hope that others will take the same steps. Whether confronting undiagnosed dyslexia, a Canadian Tire store manager to ensure Christmas for a child, written tests for the military, certification exams, or jumping from an airplane, these people are heroes.

Each of the seven worksheets consists of eight types of challenges that will have students drawing, transforming words, and writing creative sentences. Student Workbook 1 starts at the beginning of Reading Primer R1 and finishes at the end of Reading Primer R2. Your learner will hop from beginning to read, to learning the basics of grammar, to expressing themself through writing.

This book investigates the ways in which literacy was important in early mediaeval Europe, and examines the context of literacy, its uses, levels, and distribution, in a number of different early mediaeval societies between c. 400 and c. 1000. The studies, by leading scholars in the field, set out to provide the factual basis from which assessments of the significance of literacy in the early mediaeval world can be made, as well as analysing the significance of literacy, its implications, and its consequences for the societies in which we observe it. In all cases, the studies represent recent research and bring evidence such as the recent archaeological discoveries at San Vincenzo al Volturno to the subject. They provide fascinating insight into the attitudes of early mediaeval societies towards the written word and the degree to which these attitudes were formed. This period is shown as fundamental for the subsequent uses of literacy in mediaeval and modern Europe.

Becoming a Reader argues that, whatever our individual differences of personality and background, there is a regular sequence of attitudes we go through as we mature, which affect how we experience fiction, from the five-year-old child absorbed in the world of fantasy play, through the seventeen year old critical seeker of the truth, to the middle-aged reader recognizing their own experiences in fictional characters. Becoming a Reader argues that this sequence of responses can be worked out and described. The evidence for these claims is drawn from numerous studies of reading and from interviews with a great many readers, young and old. The developmental perspective provides a useful framework for assessing the implications of competing theories of reading and for charting the evolution of individual readers. Finally, in allowing us to predict our reading experience, the book allows us, as adults, to choose what to do with the power which reading gives us.

Today, young people write in their leisure time far more than they did 15 years ago. Most often they use the new media to do their writing. This book explores whether the frequent writing of short messages and e-mails and participation in chats and social networks like Facebook have an influence on writing in school. Are there any similarities and relationships between the texts written in school and the private texts? For the first time, based on comprehensive data from Swiss students, this book provides empirical answers to these questions.

The poor performance of pupils in reading comprehension tasks has caught the attention of all stakeholders in the education industry in recent times. Efforts at tackling this problem have often always focused on linguistic, psychological and sociological factors, neglecting pedagogical factors. While schools may not be able to do much to change a child's socio-linguistic background for instance, much could be achieved by altering the methodologies of teaching. The findings reported in this book are geared towards upgrading the quality of reading instruction at the primary and secondary levels. The Direct-Reading-Thinking-Activity-Approach discussed in this book, is aimed at encouraging pupils to make use of their natural abilities to make and confirm predictions as they read. Teachers, teachers-in-training, curriculum planners, policy makers, parents and the society in general will find this book useful in improving reading comprehension pedagogy.

Recent advances in cognitive psychology, socio-linguistics, and socio-anthropology are revolutionizing our understanding of literacy. However, this research has made only minimal inroads among classicists. In turn, historians of literacy continue to rely on outdated work by classicists (mostly from the 1960's and 1970's) and have little access to the current reexamination of the ancient evidence. This timely volume seeks to formulate interesting new ways of conceiving the entire concept of literacy in the ancient world, as text-oriented events embedded in particular socio-cultural contexts.
In the volume, selected leading scholars rethink from the ground up how students of classical antiquity might best approach the question of literacy in the past, and how that investigation might materially intersect with changes in the way that literacy is now viewed in other disciplines. The result will give readers new ways of thinking about specific elements of "literacy" in antiquity, such as the nature of personal libraries, or what it means to be a bookseller in antiquity; new constructionist questions, such as what constitutes reading communities and how they fashion themselves; new takes on the public sphere, such as how literacy intersects with commercialism, or with the use of public spaces, or with the construction of civic identity; new essentialist questions, such as what do "book" and "reading" signify in antiquity, why literate cultures develop, or why literate cultures matter.
Containing new work from today's outstanding scholars of literacy in antiquity, Ancient Literacies will be an indispensable collection for all students and scholars of reading cultures in the classical world.

These new Set 6A (Blue) Storybooks are designed to give children extra practice, and to develop their fluency and vocabulary further before moving on from the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme. The books are matched to the phonic progression of the existing Storybooks and provide extra practice for children learning the Set 2 and 3 sounds. They include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends and familiar settings. Activities at the start help children to practise the sounds and words from the story and questions at the end of the story help to develop children's comprehension. Detailed lesson plans are provided on Read Write Inc. Phonics Online. The books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

In one of the largest cities of western Christendom, the trading metropolis Venice, writing and reading had ceased to be the preserve of the clerical body as early as the 11th and 12th centuries. Several thousand Venetian documents from the period prior to 1200 reveal that large sectors of the population already had elementary writing skills. The study examines the use made of writing by merchants, the role of the written medium in everyday Venetian life, and schools and teachers in Venice. The study is the first to provide detailed insight into the progress of literacy in a major medieval European city.