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Ways with Words, first published in 1983, is a classic study of children learning to use language at home and at school in two communities only a few miles apart in the south-eastern United States. 'Roadville' is a white working-class community of families steeped for generations in the life of textile mills; 'Trackton' is an African-American working-class community whose older generations grew up farming the land, but whose existent members work in the mills. In tracing the children's language development the author shows the deep cultural differences between the two communities, whose ways with words differ as strikingly from each other as either does from the pattern of the townspeople, the 'mainstream' blacks and whites who hold power in the schools and workplaces of the region. Employing the combined skills of ethnographer, social historian, and teacher, the author raises fundamental questions about the nature of language development, the effects of literacy on oral language habits, and the sources of communication problems in schools and workplaces.
This book, first published in 1983, traces language patterns and cultural differences between 'Roadville' and 'Tracton'.
Childhood and family life have changed significantly in recent decades. What is the nature of these changes? How have they affected the use of time, space, work and play? In what ways have they influenced face-to-face talk and the uses of technology within families and communities? Eminent anthropologist Shirley Brice Heath sets out to find answers to these and similar questions, tracking the lives of 300 black and white working-class families as they reshaped their lives in new locations, occupations and interpersonal alignments over a period of thirty years. From the 1981 recession through the economic instabilities and technological developments of the opening decade of the twenty-first century, Shirley Brice Heath shows how families constantly rearrange their patterns of work, language, play and learning in response to economic pressures. This outstanding study is a must-read for anyone interested in family life, language development and social change.
As parent, reading partner, and social science observer, Shelby Wolf documented countless moments during the preschool and early grade-school years of her two daughters. The Braid of Literature interweaves her careful observations and analysis with Shirley Brice Heath's insightful commentary, drawing on current research in anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive psychology. Together, they have produced an unusual study of two young children who are learning to negotiate between the multiple texts of their everyday lives and their make-believe story worlds. For researchers, this book will serve as a rich resource on a range of interdisciplinary topics. For parents and teachers, it is dramatic confirmation of the important role that literary language can play in children's literacy and socialization.
For the most part, those who teach writing and administer writing programs do not conduct research on writing. Perhaps more significantly, they do not often read the research done by others because effective reading of articles on empirical research requires special knowledge and abilities. By and large, those responsible for maintaining and improving writing instruction cannot -- without further training -- access work that could help them carry out their responsibilities more effectively. This book is designed as a text in graduate programs that offer instruction in rhetoric and composition. Its primary educational purposes are: * to provide models and critical methods designed to improve ...
A thirty year study tracking the changes in family life and language development in 300 working-class families from 1981 onwards.
In an era characterized by the rapid evolution of the concept of literacy, this handbook focuses on multiple ways in which learners gain access to knowledge and skills. It explores the possibilities of broadening current conceptualizations of literacy to include the full array of the communicative arts.
This monograph addresses the challenge of improving literacy learning for all children, especially those in language-minority classrooms. The monograph introduces some of these classrooms in detail, examining and describing their literacy practices and setting forth some of the principles of learning and language that underlie them. It is the result of long-term collaboration between a classroom teacher and a university researcher, and provides a model for university-school collaboration. The monograph sets the stage for future collaborations between practitioners and researchers that can suggest new and creative ways to improve school-based literacy learning. Special attention is focused on the following: cultural and linguistic differences; inside the classroom; writing, learning, and the teacher's role; literate behavior and literacy skills; and building theory and practice together. Suggestions for implementing cross-grade tutoring projects and references and a reading list are appended. (JL)
Covers the history of reading and children's literature in the eighteenth century. Drawing upon the Jane Johnson (1706-1759) archives in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the Lilly Library, University of Indiana, it is able to document the typical reading practices of an upper middle class family in this period. More particularly, it draws on these unique collections to throw light on a series of questions currently preoccupying scholars in the fields of the history of reading, the history of children's literature, and the history of women. At the same time, the human presence of Jane Johnson and her children gives this book a wide appeal to non-specialist readers through its thorough use of the Johnson archives.
The authors weave together narratives of practice and theory that draw on their own field work and that of a novice ethnographer. Their stories take us outside the usual progression of how-to-do-ethnography, which moves from research question to data collection and analysis to publication. Readers learn of the motivations and mishaps behind the authors’ own classic ethnographic studies of language, multimodal literacies, and community practices. The authors use their stories to illustrate the power of curiosity, connection, and continuity in ethnographic pursuits. Keeping language and literacy the central concern, this volume offers practical ways for ethnographers to sustain their attenti...