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..