Donald L. Rubin

This volume constitutes a unique contribution to the literature on literacy and culture in several respects. It links together aspects of social variation that have not often been thus juxtaposed: ethnicity/nationality, gender, and participant role relations. The unifying theme of this collection of papers is that all of these factors are aspects of writers' identities -- identities which are simultaneously expressed and constructed in text. The topic of social identity and writing can be approached from a variety of scholarly avenues, including humanistic, critical, and historical perspectives. The papers in the present volume make reference to and contribute to such humanistic perspectives; however, this book lies squarely within the tradition of social science. It draws primarily upon the disciplines of linguistics, discourse analysis, anthropology, social and cognitive psychology, and education studies. The constituent topics of social identity, style, and writing themselves lie at the intersections of several related fields of scholarship. Writing remains of peak interest to educators from many fields, and is still a "hot" topic. The instructional ramifications of the particular issues addressed in this volume are of vital concern to educational systems adjusting to the realities of our multicultural society. This publication, therefore, should attract a substantial and diverse readership of scholars, educators, and policymakers affiliated with many fields including applied linguistics, composition and rhetoric, communication studies, dialect studies, discourse analysis, English composition, English/language arts education, ethnic studies, language behavior, literacy, sociolinguistics, stylistics, women's studies, and writing research and instruction.

Composing Social Identity in Written Language

Susan Hynds

In this book, teacher educators and researchers show how classrooms can come alive when talk is used constructively. Following an introduction by Donald L. Rubin, the articles include: "Speaking Creatures in the Classroom" (Judith Wells Lindfors); "Oral Language and Learning" (Douglas Barnes); "Negotiation, Language, and Inquiry: Building Knowledge Collaboratively in the Classroom" (Cynthia Onore); "Asking Questions about Questions" (Theresa Roger and others); "Play Talk, School Talk, and Emergent Literacy" (Lee Galda and A. D. Pellegrini); "Talking Up a Writing Community: The Role of Talk in Learning to Write" (Anne Haas Dyson); "Talking in Writing Groups" (Anne Ruggles Gere); "Reading and Response to Literature: Transactionalizing Instruction" (Stanley B. Straw);"Teacher/Student Talk: The Collaborative Conference" (Muriel Harris); "Talking Life and Literature" (Susan Hynds); "Student Performance of Literature" (Elizabeth C. Fine); "Dramatic Improvisation in the Classroom" (Betty Jane Wagner); "Learning to Listen and Learning to Read" (Sara W. Lundsteen); "Oral Activities in the English Classroom" (Phil Backlund); "Language Diversity and Learning" (Lisa D. Delpit); "Bilingual/ESL Learners Talking in the English Classroom" (Sarah Hudelson); and "The Silent Sounds of Language Variation in the Classroom" (Jerrie Cobb Scott). (MG)

Donald L. Rubin

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