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
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