Description
Book SynopsisLiteracy researchers have rarely studied families of urban Appalachian background, yet, as Purcell-Gates demonstrates, their often severe literacy problems provide a unique perspective on literacy and the relationship between print and culture. A compelling case study details the author's work with one such family.
Trade ReviewAn engaging book that makes a unique contribution to literacy research by offering answers to the ‘why’s’ of low literacy… [It] graphically portrays the ways in which the mainstream society and the educational system effectively exclude [the illiterate]…
Other People’s Words is a highly readable and richly layered exploration of literacy learning. As qualitative research, it accomplishes what no empirical study can—it transcends the subjects of the study, making vast connections to the functions and effects of literacy practice in lives of adults, children, families, schools, and communities. -- Lynn Sampson * Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy *
A powerful depiction of the literacy learning process. -- Doris Bergen * Readings *
This two-year case study of the author’s work with one family is situated within a more general concern for families whom the educational system seems to be failing… Replacing a predominant deficit view of low socio-economic status minority populations, the author adopts a sociocultural view of learning and an emergent literacy perspective in this detailed account of the acquisition of literacy and the relationship between print and culture. Engagingly written and widely referenced, this is a useful book for anyone considering the nature of family literacy and the interface of literacy learning and cultural experiences, including teachers, students and parents. * National Literacy Trust’s 1997 Bibliography *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Literacy, Schools, and Society 1. Nonliterate in an American City 2. Jenny and Donny's World 3. A World without Print 4. Becoming Literate: Donny 5. In Her Own Words: Jenny 6. Print Enters the World of Donny and Jenny 7. Who Reads and Writes in My World? 8. Exclusion and Access 9. The Complexities of Culture, Language, Literacy, and Cognition Appendix: Research Procedures and Stances Notes References Index
