Theories of Literacy

Catalog description

While theories of literacy have, for the most part, been determined by the primacy of reading and writing script, more recent scholarship in literacy theory and history has served to challenge such limitations. Many contemporary perspectives on literacy view scripted text as one component of complex acts and practices of written communication that occur in social contexts. Studies that examine such communicative acts in their local contexts reveal that literate practices and the texts that are produced are imbued with social and cultural values and traditions and the needs and desires of individuals. As the statements above illustrate, theories of literacy themselves are embedded within the values and assumptions of individuals, institutions, and academic specialization. Examines some of these theories, their influences on academic scholarship and pedagogy, the ideological assumptions that inform them, and how we might view these theories within broader social-cultural landscapes.