Situated Language and Learning

Why do poor and minority students under-perform in school? Do computer games help or hinder learning? What can new research in psychology teach educational policy-makers? In this major new book, James Gee tackles the 'big ideas' about language, literacy and learning, applying his findings to real problems facing educationalists today. He tackles controversial debates such as the New Literacy Studies, and the idea that the academic language required to study, for example, Mathematics and the Sciences, is exclusionary and places unfair demands on poor and minority students. Gee also explores learning outside the classroom, looking at computer and video games and comparing the way a child interacts with others and technology to learn and play, with school-based learning in science classrooms. Bringing together the latest research from a number of disciplines, "Language, Literacy and Learning" is a bold, ambitious book by a leading figure in the field. It is essential reading for anyone interested in education and language.

James Paul Gee is the Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA. His previous publications include Social Linguistics and Literacies (Taylor & Francis 1996, 2nd edition), An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (Routledge 1999), and What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003).

1. Introduction  2. A Strange Fact about not Learning to Read  3. Language and Identity at Home  4. Stimulations and Bodies 5. Learning and Gaming  6. Affinity Spaces  7. Shape-shifting Portfolio People  8. A Final Word: The Content Fetish  References