SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
    EDUCATION 341-3
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    LITERACY: ORIGINS, CONSEQUENCES AND IMPLICATIONS
    ?
    FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE
    (E1.00) ?
    (Cat #42905)
    Spring Semester, 1993
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    Instructor: S. deCastell
    (January 5—April 2)
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    Office:
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    MPX8639
    Tuesday, 4:30 - 7:20 p.m. ?
    Telephone: 291-3627
    Location: MPX 7610
    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
    assignedcourse 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
    coveredin the course ....................................................................................30% (10-12 pages)
    4.
    a final exam, for which questions will be provided in advance ..........................30%
    REQUIRED TEXTS
    Perspectives on Literacy. Kintgen, E. Kroll, B. and Rose, M. Southern Illinois University Press.
    Broken Words. Calamal, Peter. Southam Press.
    RECOMMENDED TES
    Literacy. Society 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.

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