Dimensions of Literacy A Conceptual Base for Teaching Reading and Writing in School Settings

This popular text, now in its fourth edition, “unpacks” the various dimensions of literacy—linguistic and other sign systems; cognitive; sociocultural; and developmental—and at the same time accounts for the interrelationships among them. Distinguished by its examination of literacy from a multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspective, it provides a strong conceptual foundation upon which literacy curriculum and instruction in school settings can be grounded. Linking theory and research to practice in an understandable, user-friendly manner, the text provides in-depth coverage of the dimensions of literacy, includes demonstrations and “hands-on” activities, examines authentic reading and writing events that reflect key concepts, and summarizes the concepts in tables and figures. Changes in the Fourth Edition• Addresses academic language, new literacies/multiliteracies, and their relationship to literacy learning• More fully develops the developmental dimension of literacy in separate chapters on adult mediation and learner construction• Expands the discussion of multimodal literacies• Extends and integrates the discussion of bilingualism and biliteracy throughout the text• Integrates instructional implications more fully throughout

CONTENTS PrefaceAcknowledgmentsFourth Edition Introduction PART 1INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1 — A Multidimensional View of Reading and Writing PART 2THE LINGUISTIC AND OTHER SIGN SYSTEMS DIMENSION OF LITERACYCHAPTER 2 — The Nature of Language and Other Sign SystemsCHAPTER 3 — Oral and Written Language RelationshipsCHAPTER 4 — Language Variation PART 3THE COGNITIVE DIMENSION OF LITERACYCHAPTER 5 — The Constructive Nature of PerceptionCHAPTER 6 — The Reading ProcessCHAPTER 7 — Understanding Written DiscourseCHAPTER 8 — The Writing Process PART 4THE SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSION OF LITERACYCHAPTER 9 — Understanding Literacy as Social PracticesCHAPTER 10 — The Authority of Written Discourse PART 5THE DEVELOPMENTAL DIMENSION OF LITERACYCHAPTER 11 — Constructing the Written Language SystemCHAPTER 12 — Mediating the Written Language System References

Stephen B. Kucer is Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at Washington State University, Vancouver, USA.