A collection of reports on literacy and literacy issues includes a variety of perspectives and descriptions of diverse programs and is divided into three sections. The first examines broad questions of literacy: "On the Study of Literacy" (David Bendor-Samuel); "Linguistics and Literacy" (Gloria Kindell); and "Literacy in…

Draws on experience with a transdisciplinary literacy project in writing development at the secondary level to address the sub-field of "writing-literacy," writing as a linguist working across an applied versus theoretical frontier. (Author/VWL)

An exploration of the increasingly important role of linguistics in literacy research and instruction reviews literature on reading comprehension, written language, orthography, metalinguistics, classroom language use, reading disabilities, native tongues, nonstandard dialects, bilingual education, adult literacy, and second-language reading. (86…

Literacy in francophone Africa, where literacy is still a privilege, is reviewed in terms of the complex linguistic situation, effects of population change, concepts and definitions of literacy, promotion of literacy in adult nonformal settings (e.g., African language literacy materials, multilingual settings). (23 references) (LB)

A study of the various facets and dimensions of literacy programs in South Asia indicates that literacy is viewed as a means of human resource development geared toward meaningful participation of all sectors in society, with individual programs varying according to the magnitude of illiteracy, national goals, linguistic setting, and regional…

Literacy in South America must be understood in terms of the linguistic diversity there, where only 2 of 14 nations and territories are monolingual. Oral traditions, standardization of indigenous languages, nonstandard varieties of colonial languages, bilingual education and mother tongue literacy, literacy teaching, and politics are discussed.…

Describes the Local Languages Literacy Project in the Southern Sudan; delineates the most important educational, socioeconomic, and linguistic variables affecting the success of large-scale literacy programs in Africa; and questions the widely held assumption that indigenous language literacy is essential to subsequent literacy in the prestige…

A review of Maghreb language and literacy covers the following: historical and cultural context; sociolinguistic situation; language policies and planning; language and literacy use; literacy education in three instructional contexts (Quranic, public primary, and adult literacy schooling); and future directions. (42 references) (LB)

A discussion of economic and social arguments that advance adult literacy is followed by a review of definitions of literacy, issues of literacy instruction, issues of language, and issues of assessment and evaluation. (91 references) (LB)

This review covers the status of languages and literacy in the countries of southern Africa, policies of literacy promotion, and the emerging symbioses among spoken languages and among literacies in mother tongues, national or official languages, and metropolitan languages. Five statistical tables are included. (66 references) (LB)

A review of the status of research on literacy concludes that vagueness and ambiguity of definition, measurement, methodology, and evaluation continue to grip the large body of literacy research, debates, and programs, with the underlying assumptions made about the concept of monolingual societies resulting in overly simplified and speculative…

A review of the status of adult literacy, focusing on the United States, discusses the definition and assessment of literacy, functional and occupational literacy, and literacy instruction. Includes a 27-citation annotated bibliography and a large unannotated bibliography. (CB)

An analysis is provided of the belief that theories developed about literacy within different academic disciplines and development campaigns have been built around contradictory assumptions. The conclusion is made that research is needed in order to make literacy instruction more functional in adult literacy programs. (109 references) (GLR)

Focuses on genre and its application in language teaching and learning. Suggests genre approaches have had an impact on how we understand discourse and transform literacy education in different contexts around the world. Describes studies on generic integrity and variation, and the ways that genres are seen as similar and different in terms of…

New and emerging perspectives of educational contexts of literacy are reviewed that emphasize the inseparability and reciprocal influence of literacy practices with the social and ideological agendas of the communities, institutions, and settings in which the literacy practices are embedded. Research on conversational contexts of literacy…