When teachers work with students to construct a metalanguage that they can draw on to describe and analyze graphic novels, and then invite students to apply that metalanguage in the service of composing multimodal texts of their own, teachers broaden students' analytical frameworks. In the process of doing so, teachers empower students. In this…

Examines Olson' hypothesis that literacy, by allowing development of explicit prose, the differentiation of data from interpretation, and the growth of metalanguage, has altered human cognition and made modern, scientific thought possible. It is argued that this proposal lacks sufficient evidence, substance and coherence to support a case for any…

Because the spelling of many words in the English language (and in many other languages as well) depends on their morphemic structure, children have to have some knowledge about morphemes in order to learn to read and write. This raises the possibility that children gain much of their explicit knowledge about morphemes as a direct result of…

Discusses the value of second language (L2) learning and suggests that students who learn an L2 in school can develop literacy skills faster than students who do not learn an L2. Examines the role of metalinguistic awareness, the role of language learning in literacy development, and literacy in its cultural context. (Author/VWL)

This article presents parts two and three of a three-part article that explores the role that school language learning can play in the development of literacy, as well as the role that the teaching of literacy can play in language learning. (Author/VWL)