Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research

by Leila Christenbury EdD, Randy Bomer PhD, Peter Smagorinsky PhD

Overview

The first comprehensive research handbook of its kind, this volume showcases innovative approaches to understanding adolescent literacy learning in a variety of settings. Distinguished contributors examine how well adolescents are served by current instructional practices and highlight ways to translate research findings more effectively into sound teaching and policymaking. The book explores social and cultural factors in adolescents' approach to communication and response to instruction, and sections address literacy both in and out of schools, including literacy expectations in the contemporary workplace. Detailed attention is given to issues of diversity and individual differences among learners.

Winner—Literacy Research Association's Fry Book Award!

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606239933
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	07/02/2010
Pages:	452
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Leila Christenbury, EdD, is Commonwealth Professor of English Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The author or coauthor of 12 books, she is a frequent speaker on issues of English teaching and learning and has been cited extensively in the national media. Dr. Christenbury has been honored with the David H. Russell Award and the CEE James N. Britton Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Additionally, she is a recipient of the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the National Reading Conference for the Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research. She is a former editor of English Journal, a past president of NCTE, and past interim dean of the VCU School of Education.

Randy Bomer, PhD, teaches in the Language and Literacy Studies Program in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also directs the Heart of Texas Writing Project. Formerly a middle and high school teacher, he has consulted with urban school districts across the United States. The author of two books and many journal articles, Dr. Bomer is a past president of NCTE.

Peter Smagorinsky, PhD, teaches in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. He currently chairs the NCTE Research Forum. Dr. Smagorinsky has received honors including the Raymond B. Cattell Early Career Award for Programmatic Research from the American Educational Research Association, the Janet Emig Award from NCTE’s Conference on English Education, and the Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award from the Association of Teacher Educators. He has published 14 books and numerous journal articles.

Table of Contents

Part I Overview 1

Chapter 1 Introduction Leila Christenbury Randy Bomer Peter Smagorinsky 3

Chapter 2 Sociocultural Constructions of Adolescence and Young People's Literacies Donna E. Alvermann 14

Chapter 3 Who Are Adolescents Today?: Youth Voices and What They Tell Us Sam M. Intrator Robert Kunzman 29

Part II Literacy in School 47

Chapter 4 Contexts for Adolescent Literacy Judith A. Langer 49

Chapter 5 Adolescents Who Struggle with Literacy Larry R. Johannessen Thomas M. McCann 65

Chapter 6 Proficient Reading in School: Traditional Paradigms and New Textual Landscapes David O'Brien Roger Stewart Richard Beach 80

Chapter 7 Fostering Adolescents' Engaged Academic Literacy Ruth Schoenbach Cynthia Greenleaf 98

Chapter 8 Divided against Ourselves: Standards, Assessments, and Adolescent Literacy James Marshall 113

Chapter 9 Adolescent Second-Language Writing Linda Harklau Rachel Pinnow 126

Chapter 10 Research on the Literacies of AAVE-Speaking Adolescents Jamal Cooks Arnetha F. Ball 140

Chapter 11 Digital Literacies in the Classroom Joan A. Rhodes Valerie J. Robnolt 153

Chapter 12 The Secondary English Curriculum and Adolescent Literacy Robert Burroughs Peter Smagorinsky 170

Chapter 13 Visual Arts and Literacy Michelle Zoss 183

Chapter 14 Policy and Adolescent Literacy Allan Luke Annette Woods 197

Chapter 15 Tracking and Ability Grouping Jo Worthy Holly Hungerford-Kresser Angela Hampton 220

Part III Literacy Out of School 237

Chapter 16 Preparing Adolescents for the Literacy Demands of the 21st-Century Workplace Anne Beaufort 239

Chapter 17 The Literacy Demands of Entering the University Kathleen Blake Yancey 256

Chapter 18 Literacy in Virtual Worlds Rebecca W. Black Constance Steinkuehler 271

Chapter 19 Reading and Writing Video: Media Literacy and Adolescents David L. Bruce 287

Part IV Literacy and Culture 305

Chapter 20 Literacy and Identity: Implications for Research and Practice Cynthia Lewis Antillana del Valle 307

Chapter 21 Latina/o Youth Literacies: Hidden Funds of Knowledge Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán María E. Fránquiz 323

Chapter 22 Beyond Hip-Hop: A Cultural Context View of Literacy Yolanda J. Majors Jung Kim Sana Ansari 343

Chapter 23 Boys and Literacy: Complexity and Multiplicity Michael W. Smith Jeffrey D. Wilhelm 360

Chapter 24 Lessons on Literacy Learning and Teaching: Listening to Adolescent Girls Barbara J. Guzzetti 372

Chapter 25 Literacy Issues and GLBTQ Youth: Queer Interventions in English Education Wayne Martino 386

Chapter 26 The Literacies of New Immigrant Youth Danling Fu Jennifer M. Graff 400

Chapter 27 American Indian Adolescent Literacy Mary Jiron Belgarde Richard K. Loré Richard Meyer 415

Author Index 431

Subject Index 441

Interviews

Researchers, scholars, and students in secondary literacy; teacher educators. Serves as a text in courses on adolescent literacy research.

Editorial Reviews

"Literacy Studies has been in need of a handbook on current topics in the field, and this one rewards with a thoughtful and troubling survey of pertinent issues."

Teachers College Record

"This handbook contributes significantly to the understudied—and misunderstood—domain of adolescent literacy. By attending to adolescents and their literacy practices within a variety of contexts, the editors and authors resist conventional assumptions about adolescents, literacy, and proficiency or struggle. I look forward to using this volume in my own research and in my work with graduate students and inservice and preservice teachers."—Elizabeth Birr Moje, PhD, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Education, University of Michigan

"At the very moment when policymakers are declaring a 'crisis' in adolescent literacy, this handbook offers a countervailing portrait of adolescents as deeply engaged in the literacies of their local and global worlds. This state-of-the-art collection turns adolescent literacy on its head, arguing that educators can learn a great deal from the new and hybrid literacies youth produce in their on/offline interactions. Schools have much catch-up work to do, and educators and policymakers will find themselves frequently returning to this volume as they begin to redesign policies, research, and curricula that take account of adolescents’ complex lives and literacies."—Marjorie Siegel, EdD, Teachers College, Columbia University

"The study of adolescent literacies is undergoing a considerable transition, and we need the kind of self-reflexive examination that this handbook provides. The editors and contributors have boldly produced a provocative work that challenges received wisdom and current policy even as it catalogues important developments in the field. In a time of literacy 'crisis' discourse, when adolescents are tested and regulated more than ever before, the Handbook responds with richly contextualized images of youth acting purposefully and creatively with literacy, both in and out of school. The volume's images of diverse adolescents and their literacies, along with careful examinations of theory, policy, and pedagogy, position the Handbook as a significant resource for graduate education in literacy studies."—Kevin M. Leander, PhD, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University

"My doctoral seminar on adolescent literacy benefited greatly from the remarkable range of this volume. The chapters are comprehensive and insightful, and they suggest promising directions for research in the years ahead. Because this volume is the first all-inclusive review of the research on adolescent literacy, it is a breakthrough work. It is sure to be the 'thinking center' of the adolescent literacy research community for some time to come."—Douglas K. Hartman, PhD, College of Education, Michigan State University

From the Publisher

"Teachers might find it hard to imagine that reading a research handbook could possibly equate to feeling, and breathing-in, a blast of fresh air....But such a feeling awaits you—it really awaits you—if you care to pick up and read the Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research....Truthfully, I don't remember reading and enjoying this type of text in my lifetime as an educator—not as a teacher, researcher, educational writer, college professor, or visiting scholar. The Handbook is carefully divided into four parts, not by our traditional reading, writing, listening, and speaking demarcations, but rather by the contexts in which literacy develops: in school, out of school, and in the multiple words of individual identities....The Handbook will help you and your peers clear the air of the Superman mentality we're living in by enriching your knowledge base and inspiring your own passions. You will deservedly feel the breeze from this Handbook window, while gaining new insights that will affect you on Monday morning...and for years to come."

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