Functional Perspectives on Education and Discourse

Language, Education and Discourse is divided into two sections. Part one covers early childhood and the growing development of a language system from the basic semiotic system of the infant. This is followed by an analysis of the beginnings of literacy in kindergarten, the introduction to writing in primary school and the ideological content of reading material. Part two furthers this analysis by looking at discourse in secondary and tertiary education. The contributors pose questions about the role and importance of teaching grammar in the school system, and finally examine how to refine the discourse of education. This book will be useful to academics interested in the latest functional perspectives on language and education.

Researchers in linguistics and education explore how language is being used in education, and changes in the knowledge and skills that pupils bring to their learning and in the new roles that teachers are asking learners to take on. They begin with early childhood and the growing development of a language system from the basic semiotic system of the infant, including a framework for tracing the development of children's writing in primary schools and an analysis of a children's history text. Then they consider discourse in secondary and tertiary levels of education, posing questions about the role of teaching grammar in the school system and the earlier misconceptions about its importance in developing the discourse of the young learner. Some of the studies are from a 1999 international conference in Singapore. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Joseph Foley, is a Language Specialist with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation, Regional Language Centre in Singapore. For over 20 years he taught in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore.