Author Description

Two of the most crucial areas of education - the development of oral language and the acquisition of literacy - are examined here with an effective combination of theory and practice. The sociocultural perspective is illustrated through descriptions of learning by populations usually neglected in treatments of language and literacy - American Sign Language Users, second-language speakers, and minority students. The book covers a broad range of ages, backgrounds, locations, and literacy concerns from preschool to law school. Although the populations and literacy issues are diverse, the book's unity is provided by a broadly shared theoretical framework.. Sociocultural Approaches to Language and Literacy will be valuable to educators at every level and to researchers in applied linguistics, psychology, adult literacy programs, and English as a second language.