Focusing on the sociolinguistic dimensions of literacy, this sourcebook builds upon Mina Shaughnessy's contributions to the study of basic writing by gathering together contemporary research, theory, and practice on the subject. The 39 essays and their authors include: "Defining Basic Writing in Context" and "Perspectives on Legacies and Literacy in the 1980s" (L. Troyka); "Literacy, the Basics, and All That Jazz" (T. Farrell); "Literacy and Orality in Our Times" (W. Ong, S. J.); "The Insiders" (E. Delattre); "Writing on the Margins: The Concept of Literacy in Higher Education" and "Teaching Basic Writing: An Alternative to Basic Skills" (D. Bartholomae); "Remedial Writing Courses: A Critique and a Proposal" (M. Rose); "Literacy in Culture and Cognition" (P. Bizzell); "Cultural Literacy" (E. Hirsch, Jr.); "Language, Ethnicity, and Change" (O. Patterson); "The Adult Literacy Process as Cultural Action for Freedom" (P. Freire); "Reading and Writing a Text: Correlations and between Reading and Writing Patterns" (M. Salvatori); "Research on Basic Writers: Theoretical and Methodological Issues" (K. Greenberg); "Error-Analysis and the Teaching of Composition" (B. Kroll and J. Schafer); "Politics and Practices in Basic Writing" (A. Lunsford); "Basic Writing Textbooks: History and Current Avatars" (R. Connors); "Facts, Artifacts, and Counterfacts: A Basic Reading and Writing Course for the College Curriculum" (D. Bartholomae and A. Petrosky); "The Writer as Conscious Reader" (L. Troyka); "New Perspectives on the Speaking-Writing Relationship: Implications for Teachers of Basic Writing" (L. Ede); "Teaching the Vocabulary of Academic Discourse" (S. Stotsky); "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar" (P. Hartwell); "The Uses--and Limits--of Grammar" (S. D'Eloia); "The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers" (S. Perl); "Classical Rhetoric and the Basic Writer" (L. Troyka); "Cognitive Development and the Basic Writer" (A. Lunsford); "Reinventing Daily Life: Self-Study and the Theme of 'Work'" (I. Shor); "Using the Letters, Diaries, and Oral Testimonies of Ordinary People to Teach Writing" (L. Hoffman); "Teaching Invention to Basic Writers" (S. Wyche-Smith); "The Development of Discursive Maturity in College Writers" (J. Hays); "Experiential vs. Expository: Is Peaceful Coexistence Really Possible?" (J. Nudelman and A. Schlosser);"Vocabulary" and "Beyond the Sentence" (M. Shaughnessy); "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers" (N. Sommers); "Recognition, Representation, and Revision" (A. Berthoff); "Remedial Writers: The Teacher's Job as Corrector of Papers" (J. Butler); "Writing and Reading as Collaborative or Social Acts: (K. Bruffee); "A Variation on Peer Critiquing: Peer Editing as the Integration of Language Skills" (S. Hanson and L. Vogt); "Thinking about Thinking: Pedagogy and Basic Writers" (L. Mapp); and "Microcomputers and Writing Instruction" (M. Southwell). Three bibliographies consisting respectively of books and monographs; dissertations; and articles conclude the book. (MS)