175-012 First & Second Language Literacies

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Subject Description

This subject is an introduction to the study of first and second language literacy, locating literacy within broader debates about what it means to be literate. Topics include: social, cultural and cognitive effects of becoming literate on both individual and social levels; development of writing systems; literacy and oracy; changing forms of literacy such as cultural literacy and media literacy; the importance of looking at literacy in terms of 'literacy events' or 'literacy practices' in specific contexts. Students will aslo examine issues of second language literacy; literacy in languages other than English, and in cross-cultural contexts; the nature of second language reading and writing processes; literacy and gender, literacy and politics, literacy in Aboriginal Australia, critical literacy, and current debates over literacy in Australian schools.