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Table of contents
Acknowledgementsvii
Introduction1
Modeling and promoting functional literacy3 Part 1: The construct of functional literacy35
Literacy, myths and legacies: lessons from the history of literacy37 The construct of oral and written language61 Text processing and its relevance for literacy75 Cross-cultural perspectives on literacy95 Functional literacy in a changing world113 Part 2: Literacy and development133
Literacy and the making of the Western mind135 The cognitive psychology of literacy: some basic findings151 Socio-cultural determinants of literacy development163 The social impact of literacy185 Linguistic diversity and literacy development199 Part 3: Attaining literacy in developing societies221
Problems and pseudo-problems in literacy development: focus on Latin America223 Continua of biliteracy: Quechua and empowerment in Peru237 Literacy education and gender: the case of Honduras257 Literacy and development in South-East Asia279 Literacy and development in Africa: the case of Tanzania291 Part 4: Attaining literacy in industrialized societies303
Writing systems and literacy: the alphabetic myth revisited305 Assesment of adult literacy difficulties321 Emergent literacy and education333 Towards a taxonomy of early literacy difficulties349 Dialogue systems and interactive literacy instruction371 Part 5: Promoting functional standards of literacy387
A comparative perspective on functional literacy levels389 Towards a socio-cultural model of literacy education405 The question of functionality in literacy: a systemic approach425 Literacy for work programs445 Literacy in a global perspective: the year 2000 and beyond473 Subject index485
List of contributors491
