Within the framework of the home literacy model, this study investigated the relationship between home formal and informal literacy experiences and the development of orthographic skills among Chinese beginning readers. A total of 143 children and their parents participated in the study, with parents completing questionnaires on family background…

Although there has been research on literacy as a sociocultural practice, L2 literacy researchers have yet to incorporate and consider how the material characteristics of a writing system interact with sociocultural factors in shaping literacy practices. Drawing on conceptions of literacy as a sociocultural practice, psycholinguistic and…

This paper examines the key linguistic arguments underpinning Basil Bernstein's theory of "elaborated" and "restricted" "codes". Building on a review of selected highlights from the collective critical response to Bernstein, the paper attempts to clarify the relationship of the theory to "deficit" views…

This article draws on research carried out in a Chinese complementary school in Scotland. The research focused on children's experience of learning to read Chinese and on the strategies that they used to support their learning. Here, I provide an account of one particular aspect of this research, namely the creation of a dialogic space for…

Conducting research into young learner experiences of school poses methodological challenges which are compounded when, as is increasingly the case, the classroom interaction is multilingual and the research methods are participatory. Each new or adapted method sheds further light on the issues that can arise. Researcher-initiated role play is a…

In this paper I argue that an understanding of the role of language and literacy in learning disciplinary content should be a key component of the pedagogical content knowledge covered in the preparation of high school teachers. I identify three components of this "literacy pedagogical content knowledge" (LPCK): knowledge about how…

A framework for language planning categorizes 22 language planning goals in terms of the intersections between 3 types (status, corpus, and acquisition) and 2 approaches (policy and cultivation) of language planning. The model helps literacy developers to answer the question of which literacies to develop for what purpose. (Contains 44…

Dunlop's account of narrative resolves puzzles about second-order desire and evincing complex emotions, but it works with a too simple view of emotion. This article suggests how a different view of the connection between narrative and emotion can have similar consequences. (five references) (Author/LB)

Argues that the solution to underachievement in mathematics lies in explicit teaching of non-narrative genres and a recognition of a mathematical tradition that lies outside of individual authorship. (Author/JL)

French Creoles are spoken in many different parts of the world, including the Indian Ocean, United States, Caribbean, and South America. These Kweyol speech communities are described, in the Kweyol Project, which examines Kweyol language issues and the establishment of a Kweyol Literacy Scheme. (Contains 15 references.) (LB)

Addresses problems that arise when literacy education is brought from national and international centers to people whose identity is with local languages and literacies. Local literacies are defined with respect to different languages and writing systems, invented local literacies, and vernacular literacies. (Contains 33 references.) (Author)

Focuses on the problem of cultural stereotyping in work on intercultural communication. Describes recent interest in culture in relation to language learning and the problematic nature of the concept of culture. Concludes that Chinese attitudes toward academic study are diverse, and argues that culture is a contested area of discourse. (15…

A case study shows how three university students see their experience of learning to write in the academic community in relation to their previous uses of writing. A clear finding is that they all had a strong sense of the university as another "world of literacy" that was difficult to enter and that offered not enough support. (LB)

Explores whether children acquire semantic structures from early book reading experiences by examining similarities between discourse structures of stories read to and written by two small children. The generative relationship of prototypic and derived stories is demonstrated by the high correspondence between both constituent structure and…

Comments on the use of mother-tongues in written communication and basic education, using literacy programs in multilinguistic contexts as an example of the plurality of literacies. Democracy and citizenship, and the social demand for communication competence in postindustrial societies, are discussed with respect to the continuity dimension of…