Literacies are always learned in particular social places and spaces, and the nature of a site shapes the experiences people have of learning literacies there. This paper considers the experiences of staff in two contrasting workplaces: an early years centre, and an adult education college. Both are educational workplaces, and staff are engaged in…

This paper considers the policy environment of adult literacy as a space within which sites of learning are shaped and given value. It explores the interplay between international, national and local visions of what literacy is, who literacy learners are and what counts as learning, thereby linking broader social formations with local practices of…

Despite certain important critiques, much of the work on teacher questions has centered on the distinction between referential and display questions as well as their roles in creating more or less communicative classrooms. With some notable exceptions, few have delved into the specificity of how questions work in the details of classroom…

Prior research investigating the relationships between immigrants' linguistic abilities in the target language of the host country and their settlement experiences has done so largely from the perspective of language proficiency. Instead of language proficiency per se, we investigated this relationship from the perspective of a competency-based…

This study looks at how language ideologies affect and are revealed in language socialization practices in a majority-L1 adult ESL classroom, particularly looking at language use and policy. It draws on recent theories and critiques of language socialization (Bayley & Langman, 2011; Bronson & Watson-Gegeo, 2008; Garrett &…

This paper describes 3 language learning approaches common in many urban and rural Ojibwe communities, as well as the ideologies of endangerment that drive and sustain them. Drawing from collaborative language revitalization work with teachers, learners, and community leaders, we analyze some of the teaching and learning practices that lead to the…

This paper aims to contribute a sociocultural theoretical perspective for the creative identity work involved in the ongoing process of learning and using literacies. Drawing on anthropological theories of identity formation, I argue that people employ cultural resources, such as cultural artefacts, to develop new identities and literacies. I…

Sociocultural perspectives on literacy include various theories focused on the myriad ways in which people use literacy in context, which include a strong emphasis on power relations. Yet, these theories also have important differences, and many in the field of literacy do not clearly differentiate among them. I provide a critical overview of…

This paper explores how literature circles work in the context of L2 instruction through a close scrutiny of classroom interactions in an adult ESL class where nine ESL learners read fictional works and discussed the readings. The paper examines the characteristics of student interactions with the literary text and with other group members,…

This article discusses how Sarah Lamond, a Japanese language teacher in Sydney, Australia has juggled three of her identities: second language (L2) learner, L2 user, and L2 teacher. Data come from four interviews used to create an edited life history. These data are used to draw attention to the relationship between L2 learner and language user.…