Description:
Local Literacies is a unique detailed study of the role of reading and writing in people's everyday lives. This reissue includes a completely new framing chapter which provides updates on the data and makes links to contemporary themes, in particular the connections between local and global activities, interfaces with institutional literacies, and the growing significance of digital literacies in everyday life.
Review Quotes:
'Local Literacies presents complex ideas, mixing debates from linguistics, social history and cultural studies; yet it is written with enviable clarity ... Anyone interested in literacy education needs to read this book.' - Jane Mace, South Bank University, UK
'A rare achievement. A holistic study of local literacies in one community which is both accessible and engagingly written. A book I would happily recommend to academics, practitioners, parents, teachers, community workers and the general public. Barton and Hamilton raise many questions, move debates about literacy forward, and reveal a broad understanding of the sheer complexity of literacies in ordinary people's lives. A stimulating and respectful book.' - Sarah Padmore, UK 'One of the best books on literacy I have read in my career. I can see myself going back to this book again and again, learning more each time I read it ... You can't leave the book without new insights about the nature of literacy in people's lives.' - David Bloome, Vanderbilt University, USA A rich ambitious book that explores insightfully how we govern ways the written and read word works for us. Barton and Hamilton disclose the heart of our vernacular literacies - close up framings of our time, space, relationship and transformational points in our lives.' - Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University, USA