This book is about how language is used in the context of schooling. It demonstrates that the variety of English expected at school differs from the interactional language that students use for social purposes outside of school, and provides a linguistic analysis of the challenges of the school curriculum, particularly for non-native speakers of English, speakers of non-standard dialects, and students who have little exposure to academic language outside of schools. The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective builds on current sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic studies of language in school, but adds a new dimension--the framework of functional linguistic analysis. This framework focuses not just on the structure of words and sentences, but on how texts are constructed--how particular grammatical choices create meanings in the different kinds of texts students are asked to read and write at school. The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective *provides a functional description of the kinds of texts students are expected to read and write at school; *relates research from other sociolinguistic and language development perspectives to research from the systemic functional linguistics perspective; *focuses on the increasing linguistic demands of contexts of advanced literacy (middle school through college); *analyzes the genres typically encountered at school, with extensive description of the grammatical features of the expository essay, a gatekeeping genre for secondary school graduates; *reviews the grammatical features of disciplinary genres in science and history; and *argues for more explicit attention to language in teaching all subjects, with a particular focus on what is needed for the development of critical literacy. This book will enable researchers and students of language in education to recognize how the grammatical and discourse features of the language of schooling construct the content areas, role relationships, and purposes and expectations of schools. It also will enable them to better understand the nature of language itself and how it emerges from and helps to maintain social structures and institutions, and to apply these understandings to creating classroom environments that build on the strengths students bring to school.

This book addresses the linguistic challenges faced by diverse populations of students at the secondary and post-secondary levels as they engage in academic tasks requiring advanced levels of reading and writing. Learning to use language in ways that meet academic expectations is a challenge for students who have had little exposure and opportunity to use such language outside of school. Although much is known about emergent literacy in the early years of schooling, much less has been written about the development of advanced literacy as students move into secondary education and beyond. "Developing Advanced Literacy in First and Second Languages: Meaning With Power: "
*brings together work on first and second language acquisition and emphasizes the importance of developing advanced literacy in the first language, such as Spanish for bilingual students, as well as English;
*spans a range of theoretical orientations and analytic approaches, drawing on work in systemic functional linguistics, genre theory, and sociocultural perspectives;
*addresses the content areas of science, history, and language arts;
*provides specific information about genres and grammatical features in these content areas; and
*presents suggestions for teacher education.
What unites the contributors to this volume is their shared commitment to a view of literacy that emphasizes both the social contexts and the linguistic challenges. The chapters collected in this volume contribute in important ways to research and pedagogy on advanced literacy development for the multilingual and multicultural students in today's classrooms. This book is particularly useful for researchers and students in language and education, applied linguistics, and others concerned with issues and challenges of advanced literacy development in first and second languages.

This book addresses the linguistic challenges faced by diverse populations of students at the secondary and post-secondary levels as they engage in academic tasks requiring advanced levels of reading and writing. Learning to use language in ways that meet academic expectations is a challenge for students who have had little exposure and opportunity to use such language outside of school. Although much is known about emergent literacy in the early years of schooling, much less has been written about the development of advanced literacy as students move into secondary education and beyond. "Developing Advanced Literacy in First and Second Languages: Meaning With Power: "
*brings together work on first and second language acquisition and emphasizes the importance of developing advanced literacy in the first language, such as Spanish for bilingual students, as well as English;
*spans a range of theoretical orientations and analytic approaches, drawing on work in systemic functional linguistics, genre theory, and sociocultural perspectives;
*addresses the content areas of science, history, and language arts;
*provides specific information about genres and grammatical features in these content areas; and
*presents suggestions for teacher education.
What unites the contributors to this volume is their shared commitment to a view of literacy that emphasizes both the social contexts and the linguistic challenges. The chapters collected in this volume contribute in important ways to research and pedagogy on advanced literacy development for the multilingual and multicultural students in today's classrooms. This book is particularly useful for researchers and students in language and education, applied linguistics, and others concerned with issues and challenges of advanced literacy development in first and second languages.

This book is about language and how language is typically structured when it is used in the context of schooling. It demonstrates the ways that the variety of English expected at school differs from the interactional language that students use for social purposes outside of school, and provides a linguistic analysis of the challenges of the school curriculum, particularly for nonnative speakers of English, speakers of nonstandard dialects, and students who have little exposure to academic language outside of schools. discourseanalytic studies of language in school, but adds a new dimension the framework of functional linguistic analysis. This framework focuses not just on the structure of words and sentences, but on how texts are constructed how particular grammatical choices create meanings in the different kinds of texts students are asked to read and write at school grammatical differences between ordinary conversational interaction and the kinds of texts students are expected to read and write at school, based on a theoretically sound linguistic framework systemic functional linguistics; examines the relationship between research from other sociolinguistic and language development perspectives and research from the systemic functional linguistics perspective; focuses on contexts of advanced literacy (middle school through college) and the increasing linguistic demands that are placed on students at these higher levels; presents and discusses the genres typically encountered at school, with extensive description of the grammatical features of the expository essay, a gatekeeping genre for secondary school graduates; reviews the grammatical features of disciplinary genres in science, history, and mathematics; and argues for more explicit attention to language in teaching all subjects, with a particular focus on what is needed for the development of critical literacy in the content areas. relate the grammatical and discourse features of the language of schooling to the content areas, role relationships, and purposes and expectations it entails; to better understand the nature of language itself and how it emerges from and helps to maintain social structures and institutions; and to apply these understandings to creating classroom environments that build on the strengths students bring to school.