Recent Applications of New Literacy Studies in Educational Contexts

I would like to set out some principles on which application of the New Literacy Studies (NLS) to education could be based (Street 1997, 1999). Firstly, what is NLS, and how might it be relevant to schooling? NLS represents a shift in perspective on the study and acquisition of literacy, from the dominant cognitive model, with its emphasis on reading, to a broader understanding of literacy practices in their social and cultural contexts (Gee, 1996; Street, 1993). This approach has been particularly influenced by those who have advocated an ethnographic perspective, in contrast to the experimental and often individualistic character of psychological studies of reading (Barton 8c Hamilton, 2000; Collins, 1995; Heath, 1993). NLS approaches focus on the everyday meanings and uses of literacy in specific cultural contexts and link directly to how we understand the work of literacy in educational contexts.

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