This review of research offers a synthesis and analysis of research studies that address issues of language and literacy practices and learning in transnational contexts of migration. We consider how theoretical concepts from transnational migration studies, including particular Boudieusian-inspired concepts such as transnational social field,…

An important goal of research on specific learning disorders (such as dyslexia, or specific reading disability, or dysgraphia, or specific writing disorder) is to elucidate the universal characteristics and cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences of literacy acquisition and disability. However, despite the acknowledged necessity of…

The topic of bilingualism has aroused considerable interest in research on language acquisition in recent decades. Researchers in various fields, such as developmental psychology and psycholinguistics, have investigated bilingual populations from different perspectives in order to understand better how bilingualism affects cognitive abilities like…

A review of the status of research on literacy concludes that vagueness and ambiguity of definition, measurement, methodology, and evaluation continue to grip the large body of literacy research, debates, and programs, with the underlying assumptions made about the concept of monolingual societies resulting in overly simplified and speculative…

Investigates some of the affinities between the traditions of communicative competence and literacy studies by examining the historical and current use of ethnographic methodology in such studies. Describes how communicative competence theory is "branching out" into communicative approaches to second language pedagogy, mingling both psychological…

This paper: (1) examines the internal word structure of Cantonese in terms of root, stem and affix; (2) discusses general problems of word analysis in Chinese with reference to Cantonese and Mandarin; (3) examines the issue of distorted translations from Mandarin into English resulting from faulty word analysis; and (4) looks briefly at the…

Reviews the notion of communicative competence in light of its relevance for issues in literacy and the teaching of reading. Defines four components of communicative competence, i.e., grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence. Discusses their role in the reading process in light of linguistic theory and classroom research.…

Challenges existing assumptions about literacy and literacy learning in an effort to both demonstrate and explore the transactive potentials of theory and methodology in the study of literacy. (HOD)

A multidimensional approach analyzes the linguistic characteristics of 26 Somali spoken and written registers. Somali represents a different language type, and no single dimension adequately describes the relations among registers. Findings are related to previous analyses of English, Tuvaluan, and Korean. (27 references) (Author/LB)

Defines and discusses the concept of small languages. Topics addressed include political status; official status (e.g., as a national language); distinctiveness; robustness or the degree of feasibility; social function; education to support the language; functions of literacy; and appropriate technology for use with particular languages. (12…

Presents the advantages of an analytic, constructivist, holistic view of language learning and training, whether native or foreign, written or oral, productive or receptive. Argues that context (setting the linguistic forms in a communicative competence framework) is the critical issue. (HOD)

Romanes is the collective name for dialects spoken by over six million Rom throughout the world. It is felt that a standard language is an essential factor for the attainment of a united future and the possible creation of the Gypsy state of Romanestan. This paper deals with some of the problems involved in creating such a unified and standardized…

These proceedings contain six conference papers with commentary and discussion: (1) Dell Hymes, "On Communicative Competence," (2) David McNeill, "How to Learn a First Language," (3) Wayne O'Neil, "A Theory of Linguistic Performance," (4) William Stewart, "Social Dialect," (5) Paul Cohen, "Some Methods in Sociolinguistic Research," and (6) S. Alan…

Intended to provide a basis for a sociolinguistic theory of reading by placing reading within a discussion of the formal and functional characteristics of language use in social settings, this book explores the state of the art of reading and literacy, the relations between spoken and written language, and explanations of reading failure. Chapters…

Encouraging the appreciation and assessment of children's language and communication, from birth to the age of eight, is the focus of this volume. Following an introduction, chapter 2 elaborates on the interactionist framework, citing recent studies related to the acquisition of oral language and literacy, while the next two chapters describe…