Literacy myths, legacies, & lessons : new studies on literacy /

This collection of Graff's essays describes and justifies literacy in ways that consider traditional, as well as newly recognized, technological views of literacy. For example, beyond commonly established definitions, Graff posits that in the Global South, competence in native languages constitutes as genuine a literacy as competence in well-established world languages. Nearly one-third of the book is devoted to restating and justifying the concept of the literacy myth--a critique of literacy as the "precursor to . . . economic development, democratic practice, cognitive enhancement and upward mobility.. From the start, Graff (English, Ohio State Univ.) makes it clear that he writes as a historian, not someone in a school of education. This is an unfortunate perpetuation of a bias against a field rich in the research of the history, application, and effects of literacy. After discussing interdisciplinary study programs in various settings, he provides an instructive overview of his conception of the interdisciplinary program that he developed at Ohio State University (OSU). The book ends with a detailed description of the origin and development of literacy studies at OSU. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. R. Roth emerita, Rockhurst University