This book examines oral and written communicative practices of a binational network of Mexican immigrants in Chicago and their relatives and friends remaining in three rural Mexican towns. The book's primary goals are to demonstrate the richness of the linguistic and cultural resources available to adult Mexicanos and to provide a basis for intervening effectively in their own and their children's educational development. Chapters discuss: (1) the concepts of "home fronts" and "contact zones" and the parameters of imagined Mexicano communities; (2) Mexican immigration, settlement patterns in Chicago, and negotiating the transition between home fronts; (3) metaphorical representations of orality and literacy, the ideologies of constitutive metaphors in literacy studies, and orality and literacy as rhetorical practices; (4) oral language use in everyday life; (5) the social characteristics, discourse framing, and topical content of personal letters; (6) autobiographical writing and the place of self and gender in theories of autobiography; and (7) implications for educational policymaking and for culturally responsive curriculum development and pedagogy. (Contains approximately 200 references, notes, an index, and an explanation of transcription conventions.) (SV)