Edu
tion
488-4
Literacy: Its Origi
Educational
INTERSESSION., 1986
Monday & Wednesdayq 5:30 - 9:30
Location: MPX 7506
Special Topics.
is, Consequences., and
Implications
Instructor: Dr. S. deCastell
Office:
MPX 8545
Phone:
291-3627
E: g
iii
401/402
or equivalent, or 60 hours of credit..
This course focuses on the relationship between literacy and cognition
with special reference to the central place of reading and writing in
the school curriculum.. We will explore two competing views of this
relationship between literacy and cognition: on the one hand, the view
represented by Walter Ong that "writing restructures consciousness",
and on the other hand, the view represented by Shirley Heath that it
is not literacy
prse.,
but the particular functions and uses of
literacy in any given social context that determine whether and to
what extent literacy has significant effects upon cognitive
development.. This debate, labelled by one recent writer as "the great
divide" controversy (Street, 1985) will be pursued in the course
through the reading and discussion of two required texts: Ong's
OraUty and Literacy ,which focuses on the origins and development of
literacy., and Heath's
an ethnographic study of two
lower working-class communities in the southern U.S., which proposes
various ways in which teachers can and should approach literacy
instruction as a means of promoting students' cognitive development..
Evaluation
Students will be asked to write a short essay on each text (25% each),
to contribute actively to seminar discussions, and to submit a final
essay (507..) on a topic of their own choosing relevant to course
concerns.. There will be no final exam for this course..
ReQuired Texts:
Ong., Walter..
Heath, Shirley..
L4ays_^Jith Words:__LangU
!
ggg,_Life and Work in
Communities
and
Classrooms..
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