Multicultural Issues And Literacy Achievement

by Au; Kathryn H.

• ISBN13: 9780805844016
• ISBN10: 0805844015
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-09-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled,Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings.In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume. Key features of this important new book include: *Teaching Flexibility.Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups. *Issues Organization.Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered. *Social Constructivist Perspective.Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
1 Students of Diverse Backgrounds and the Literacy Achievement Gap	1	(17)
Pluralist and Assimilationist Stances	2	(2)
Students of Diverse Backgrounds: Facts and Figures	4	(4)
The Concept of Culture	8	(4)
Literacy in the Age of Globalization	12	(3)
The Literacy Achievement Gap	15	(2)
Summary	17	(1)
2 Understanding the Gap: Explanations and Solutions	18	(19)
Explanations for the Literacy Achievement Gap	18	(1)
Explanations at a Macrolevel	19	(3)
Explanations at the Classroom Level	22	(14)
Summary	36	(1)
3 Discourses and Literacy in the Home and Community	37	(18)
Multiple Literacies	27	(14)
Translating as a Family Literacy Practice	41	(2)
Literacy Demands in the Inner City	43	(2)
Gee's Concept of Discourse	45	(3)
Primary and Secondary Discourses	48	(5)
Summary	53	(2)
4 Workshop Approaches to Literacy Learning	55	(20)
Acquisition Versus Learning	55	(1)
Application to Classroom Literacy Learning	56	(3)
Workshop Approaches	59	(1)
Readers' Workshop Example: Book Club Plus	60	(11)
General Principles for Strengthening Literacy Instruction	71	(3)
Summary	74	(1)
5 Ownership and Building a Classroom Community	75	(19)
Ownership of Literacy	75	(2)
Anthropological Perspectives	77	(10)
Creating a Literate Classroom Community	87	(6)
Summary	93	(1)
6 Providing Instruction in Reading Comprehension Strategies	94	(19)
Importance of Higher Level Thinking	94	(2)
When Should Comprehension Strategies Be Taught?	96	(2)
What Comprehension Strategies Should Be Taught?	98	(6)
How Should Comprehension Strategies Be Taught?	104	(7)
Summary	111	(2)
7 Culturally Responsive Instruction in Multiethnic Classrooms	113	(20)
Key Characteristics of Culturally Responsive Instruction	113	(2)
Responses to Frequently Asked Questions	115	(5)
Curriculum Content	120	(2)
Social Processes in the Classroom	122	(10)
Summary	132	(1)
8 Second Language Learners, Multiliteracy, and the Language of Power	133	(20)
English Language Learners	133	(5)
Research Findings	138	(3)
Two-Pronged Approach	141	(1)
Fostering a Multiliterate Classroom Environment	141	(4)
Assessing Students' Literacy in the Primary Language and in English	145	(2)
Following Consistent Routines	147	(2)
Providing Comprehensible Input	149	(1)
Using the Primary Language as a Bridge to Literacy	149	(3)
Summary	152	(1)
9 Effective Instruction of Phonics and Other Skills	153	(20)
Perspective on Skill Instruction	153	(3)
Provide a Meaningful Context for Skill Instruction	156	(2)
Provide Instruction to Address All Three Stages of Word Identification Development	158	(7)
Teach Skills in an Integrated Manner to Strengthen Students' Understandings and Allow Time for Instruction in Comprehension and Higher Level Thinking	165	(4)
Teach According to a Six-Step Process That Leads to the Independent Application of Skills	169	(3)
Summary	172	(1)
10 Schoolwide Change to Improve Literacy Achievement	173	(22)
The Staircase Curriculum	173	(3)
Whole School Reform Models and Package Programs	176	(1)
Dimensions of School Change	177	(3)
Standards and the Staircase Curriculum	180	(1)
Rationale for the Standards-Based Change Process	181	(1)
The To-Do List	182	(10)
Regular Reporting and Rising Expectations	192	(1)
Concluding Comments	193	(2)
References	195	(14)
Author Index	209	(4)
Subject Index	213