In this groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary book, Rebecca Rogers explores the complexity of family literacy practices through an in-depth case study of one family, the attendant issues of power and identity, and contemporary social debates about the connections between literacy and society. The study focuses on June Treader and her daughter Vicky, urban African Americans labeled as "low income" and "low literate." Using participant-observation, ethnographic interviewing, photography, document collection, and discourse analysis, Rogers describes and explains the complexities of identity, power,...

Accessible yet theoretically rich, this landmark text introduces key concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis and situates these within the field of educational research. Beyond providing a useful overview, it contextualizes CDA theories and methods in accounts of discourse in classroom and other settings, and identifies the ways in which these forms of language are connected to theories of learning. Detailed analytic procedures are included - to demystify the process, to allow researchers to have a conversation about issues of trustworthiness of interpretations and their value to...