Recent scholarship in multiliteracies-oriented pedagogies has advocated for greater attention to fostering 'textual thinking', understood as forms of literacy that consider the complexities of semiotic choices made by authors, and their underlying meanings, rhetorical purposes, and cultural contexts. This kind of engagement with texts calls upon…

This paper shares some insights into the notion of having EFL students collectively respond to literature. Understanding and appreciating a piece of literature is determined by how one can convey the concepts and words to new situations. During this process, several types of interaction happen: interaction between experience and the text,…

Although secondary school teachers have long been aware of the pedagogical possibilities of Louise Rosenblatt's Reader Response (articulated first in "Literature as Exploration," 1938) and I. A. Richards' Close Reading (first broached in "The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of…

This article focuses on the ways "hevruta" learning can contribute to teachers' capacity to be present to self, other, subject matter and the cultural context in which the learning occurred. "Hevruta" learning, when conceptualized for the purposes of teachers' professional development, brings to the fore both the interpretive and relational…

Uses Martin Jamison's "Rivers" to illustrate a reader-response approach to poetry. Describes the process of students creating their own "poems," while analyzing the author's poem. Concludes that this approach encourages the necessary personal connection required for poetic involvement. (JAD)

Addresses that distinctive contribution of English to the development of students' literate capabilities as they progress through the years of schooling. Develops a framework for thinking about the nature of knowledges and the repertoires of literate practice made available to students of the English classroom. Explains different understandings…

Criticizes contemporary approaches to literature instruction that inculcate passivity. Proposes a system of teaching literature that promotes cultural literacy and active, rather than passive, reading by encouraging students to discover cultural messages and make their own interpretations of the cultural infrastructure and culture-specific values…

Describes instructional techniques, based on schema theory, which enable English as a second language (ESL) students to revise their writing to meet the expectations of English-speaking readers. Illustrates this approach by examining a Chinese-speaking student's first revision of an essay. (RS)

This article discusses reading and writing as (1) cognitive processes influenced by social and cultural contexts; (2) sociocognitive processes; (3) a social relationship between authors and readers; and (4) social and cultural activities. Pedagogy and politics in the whole language classroom are also discussed. (JDD)

Social studies and language arts teachers can enliven and enrich history studies through personalization. This approach can empower children to see history itself as having a spirit as well as a body. Reading and writing activities should allow students to see history as the kind of study that opens the individual up to different visions. Children…