Understanding Language Choices is an introductory textbook for anyone studying the motivations behind language use choices. It provides an introduction into the numerous factors, both internal and external, influencing such choices in a speech community: language attitudes, language learning, identity, the mobility of the community, and much more. The book also provides a foundation for the study of linguistic variation within a speech community, as well as an introduction to methods of da...

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,...

It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and ...

Language, Literacy and Diversity brings together researchers who are leading the innovative and important re-theorization of language and literacy in relation to social mobility, multilingualism and globalization. The volume examines local and global flows of people, language and literacy in relation to social practice; the role (and nature) of boundary maintenance or disruption in global, transnational and translocal contexts; and the lived experiences of individuals on the front...

There’s another fun way for your kids to learn and master reading – reading with the dinosaurs! This edition of Children’s Early Learning Books presents dinosaurs trying to ace their language and vocabulary skills. Your kids will have a good time flipping the pages and see different kinds of dinos lying around bearing words. Get this cool book now!

In this major new text, Joshua Fishman charts the rise of vernacular literacy in Europe, and the major social and economic changes that attended it. Following the story up until the present day, the book looks at how European colonizers viewed vernacular literacy efforts in their current and former colonies, and how technology affects vernacular literacy both now and in the future.

This book aims to enhance and challenge our understanding of language and literacy as social practice against the background of heightened globalisation. Juffermans presents an ethnographic study of the linguistic landscape of The Gambia, arguing that language should be conceptualised as a verb (languaging) rather than a countable noun (a language, languages). He goes on to argue that sociolinguistics should not be defined as the study of ‘who speaks what language to whom, and when and to ...

Of interest in their own terms as a significant cultural practice, reading groups also provide a window on the everyday interpretation of literary texts. While reading is often considered a solitary process, reading groups constitute a form of social reading, where interpretations are produced and displayed in discourse. The Discourse of Reading Groups is a study of such joint conceptual activity, and how this is necessarily embedded in interpersonal activity and the production of...

Routledge A Level English Guides equip AS and A2 Level students with the skills they need to explore, evaluate and enjoy English. Books in the series are built around the various skills specified in the assessment objectives (AOs) for all AS and A2 Level English courses.Focusing on the AOs most relevant to their topic, the books help students to develop their knowledge and abilities through analysis of lively texts and contemporary data. Each book in the series covers a dif...

This book explores the everyday reading and writing experiences of children from Chinese families living in Britain. Using an ethnographic approach, the author presents in-depth case studies of three migrant children, all of whom received some education in mainland China before moving to Britain. The theoretical framework is based on the New Literacy Studies approach and the author introduces a new conceptual and analytical term: the «Literacy Events Network».The study investigates...

Literacy and the Bilingual Learner explores the literacy development of bilingual learners in London (UK) schools and colleges through a series of vignettes and case studies of learners and their educational experiences.

Navigating Languages, Literacies and Identities showcases innovative research at the interface of religion and multilingualism, offering an analytical focus on religion in children and adolescents’ everyday lives and experiences. The volume examines the connections between language and literacy practices and social identities associated with religion in a variety of sites of learning and socialization, namely homes, religious education classes, places of worship, and faith-related...