ENGH298

Introduces students to theories of literacy and language as a social practice, examining how literacy is affected by economic change in dynamic interplay with social, cultural, and linguistic differences. These dynamics shape the messages children receive in schools, the ways that families interact with one another, and the rhetoric of intelligence, achievement, and individual worth. Observes how communities are steered by many languages at once, recognizing that our sense of "normal" around English monolingualism is a convenient myth. Places special interest in non-school literacies, those that are nurtured within communities often outside the radar of mainstream testing and credentialing mechanisms. Students may spend one evening a week as conversation partners and literacy tutors with adult English language learners at the Neighborhood House in Morristown.

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