ESL literacy: language practice or social practice? [An article from: Journal of Second Language Writing]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Second Language Writing, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This paper examines literacy policy and practice in six Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) classrooms. The study focused on three questions: (1) What literacy practices did these newcomers participate in their new country? (2) How did their teachers understand the role of writing in their learners' lives? (3) What and why did their learners write in their LINC classes? Our results indicate that while the LINC learners had a broad and varied understanding of the role of writing in their lives, both they and their teachers viewed writing in LINC classes as a vehicle for the development of linguistic accuracy rather than as a socially situated practice.