This volume contains a collection of seminal articles and recent research which are important reading for anyone wanting to understand current theoretical developments within the field of language and literacy studies. The collection reflects a growing recognition over the past decade of the importance of social factors in language and literacy development. The focus has shifted from talking about skills and competences to investigating the relationships between language and literacy practices, personal identities and social and cultural processes. It provides an important resource of classic articles (some of which are not easily obtainable) and up-to-date research for teachers, students and researchers working in language studies, anthropology and education.

The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies is an accessible guide to the major topics, debates and issues in English Language Studies. This authoritative collection includes entries written by well-known language specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds who examine and explain established knowledge and recent developments in the field. Covering a wide range of topics such as globalization, gender and sexuality and food packaging, this volume provides critical overviews of:

• approaches to researching, describing and analyzing English
• the position of English as a global language
• the use of English in texts, practices and discourses
• variation and diversity throughout the English-speaking world.

Fully cross-referenced throughout and featuring useful definitions of key terms and concepts, this is an invaluable guide for teachers wishing to check, consolidate or update their knowledge, and is an ideal resource for all students of English Language Studies.

The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies is an accessible guide to the major topics, debates and issues in English Language Studies. This authoritative collection includes entries written by well-known language specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds who examine and explain established knowledge and recent developments in the field. Covering a wide range of topics such as globalization, gender and sexuality and food packaging, this volume provides critical overviews of: approaches to researching, describing and analyzing English the position of English as a global language the use of English in texts, practices and discourses variation and diversity throughout the English-speaking world. Fully cross-referenced throughout and featuring useful definitions of key terms and concepts, this is an invaluable guide for teachers wishing to check, consolidate or update their knowledge, and is an ideal resource for all students of English Language Studies.

Using English provides an invaluable introduction to the study of English for students of language and linguistics. It examines the way in which the English language is used today in different contexts and in many parts of the world, by both native and non-native speakers. Issues of language use in speech and writing, in work and play, and in persuading and informing are explored and illustrated with data and readings from around the English-using world. The reader is introduced to the adaptations and variations in English language use and to debates relating to how these are perceived and evaluated by different groups of users. For this second edition, key material from the earlier bestselling book, Using English: From Conversation to Canon, has been reorganized and updated, and entirely new material has been introduced. This new content is based on recent research in the field, as well as on contemporary thinking about how speakers and writers use the English language to accomplish a huge range of purposes in a variety of linguistic and cultural settings. Drawing on The Open University's wide experience of writing accessible and innovative texts, this book: explains basic concepts, easily located through a comprehensive index, includes contributions by experts in the field, such as Mike Baynham, Adrian Beard, Guy Cook, Sharon Goodman, Almut Koester, Janet Maybin and Neil Mercer, contains a range of source material and commissioned readings to supplement chapters.

How has children's literature been defined? In what ways has it changed over time? How are the classics of children's literature established? What is the impact of digital media and globalization on books for children?
"Children's Literature: Approaches and Territories" provides a social and literary overview of the field of Anglophone children's literature: its history and genres, its current concerns and its possible future directions. Emphasising how children's literature is embedded in the social life of children and adults, the collection brings together lively and accessible scholarly essays by leading scholars, some reprinted and others newly commissioned. It includes sections on poetry, drama and picture books and is supported by detailed introductory material, suggestions for further reading and a colour plate section reproducing illustrations from key children's texts.