CUR 527 - Language, Literacy, Culture

Credits: 3.0
Note Full Title: Examining Issues in Language, Literacy, and Culture: An Educational Perspective
This course is intended to provide a forum for educators to explore issues related to how students’ individual cultures as well as school culture shapes and is shaped by pedagogical practices, with a focus on literacy and language learning. Areas of concentration will be: oral language learning and use, literacy acquisition, secondary language learning, literacy and the community, and literacy and new technologies. These topics will be examined through a socio-cultural theoretical lens, in that culture is central to the understanding of language and teaching, and explore ways educators can support the language and literacy growth of all learners in a diverse society. Am emphasis will be placed on the transformative functions of language and literacy, the view that they can effect social change and create more inclusive, democratic societies.

Students will complete an investigative project in which they research an educational problem related to language, literacy and culture, and create a proposal for improvement in the educational setting.