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SIMON FRASER UNWERSrn
EDUCATION 341-3
LITERACY: ORIGINS, CONSEQUENCES AND IMPLICATIONS
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FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE
Spring Semester, 1991
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Instructor: Dr. S. deCastell
(January 7 - April 5)
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Office: ?
MPX8639
Wednesday, 4:30 - 7:20 p.m.
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Telephone: 291-3627
Location: MPX 7506
PREREQUISITE:
60 hours of credit.
OVERVIEW
This course provides an introduction to the study of literacy from an interdisciplinary perspective.
We shall explore the origins of western literacy, the conditions which favoured its development
and the role of literacy in social evolution, the economic and cultural values of literacy, and the
effects of literacy on cognitive processes. Of particular interest is the reliance on formal
educational institutions for the mass transmission of literacy. We will be looking in some detail
at the varying conceptions of literacy that educators have traditionally valued, and we will be
looking at some of the current research and scholarship that attempts to explain, justify and
prescribe educational practices intended to increase literacy.
PURPOSE
By the end of the course, students should be able to identify, analyze, and justify or criticize the
aesthetic, communicative, cognitive and socially-transformative consequences attributed to or
associated with the acquisition of literacy. They should know something of its history and be
aware of the range of definitions traditionally and currently given to literacy. They should have
some understanding of the distinctive contributions of conceptual study and empirical research
into literacy, and understand both the capacities and limitations of each of these approaches to
literacy research and practice.
EVALUATION
Grades are based upon four components:
1.
consistent and active participation in seminars, including presentations of assigned
course readings - 20%.
2.
a book review of one of the supplementary texts - 20% (6-8 pages)
3.
a major paper on a topic of the student's own choice, relevant to topics covered in the course -
30% ( 10-12 pages)
4.
a final exam, for which questions will be provided in advance - 30%.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Perspectives on Literac y
. Kintgen, E. Kroll, B. and Rose, M. Southern Illinois University Press.
Broken Words. Calamal, Peter. Southam Press.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Literac y . Societ y
and Schooling: A Reader (eds. S. deCastell, A. Luke and K. Egan). Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1986.
Additional readings will be made available to students at cost.
A detailed outline of topics and schedule of readings will be made available at the first class, along
with a list of recommended readings.