LINGUIST List 9.973

Mon Jun 29 1998

Books: Written Language & Literacy

Editor for this issue: Anita Huang <anitalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Bernadette Martinez-Keck, Books on Written Language & Literacy

John Benjamins Publishing would like to call your attention to the
following new titles in the field of Written Language & Literacy:


WRITING AND IDENTITY

THE DISCOURSAL CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Roz Ivanic

1997 xiv, 346 pp. Studies in Written Language and Literacy, 5

US/Canada: Cloth: 1 55619 322 X Price: US$89.00

 Paper: 1 55619 323 8 Price: US$29.95

Rest of the world: Cloth: 90 272 1797 1 Price: NLG 178

 Paper: 90 272 1798 X Price: NLG 60

John Benjamins Publishing web site: http://www.benjamins.com

For further information via e-mail: servicebenjamins.com

Writing is not just about conveying 'content' but also about the
representation of self. (One of the reasons people find writing difficult
is that they do not feel comfortable with the 'me' they are portraying in
their writing. Academic writing in particular often poses a conflict of
identity for students in higher education, because the 'self' which is
inscribed in academic discourse feels alien to them.)

The main claim of this book is that writing is an act of identity in
which people align themselves with socio-culturally shaped subject
positions, and thereby play their part in reproducing or challenging
dominant practices and discourses, and the values, beliefs and interests
which they embody. The first part of the book reviews recent
understandings of social identity, of the discoursal construction of
identity, of literacy and identity, and of issues of identity in research
on academic writing. The main part of the book is based on a
collaborative research project about writing and identity with mature-age
students, providing:

o a case study of one writer's dilemmas over the presentation of self;

o a discussion of the way in which writers' life histories shape their
presentation of self in writing;

o an interview-based study of issues of ownership, and of accommodation
and resistance to conventions for the presentation of self;

linguistic analysis of the ways in which multiple, often contradictory,
interests, values, beliefs and practices are inscribed in discourse
conventions, which set up a range of possibilities for self-hood for
writers.

The book ends with implications of the study for research on writing and
identity, and for the learning and teaching of academic writing.

The book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of
social identity, literacy, discourse analysis, rhetoric and composition
studies, and to all those concerned to understand what is involved in
academic writing in order to provide wider access to higher education.



WRITING DEVELOPMENT. An interdisciplinary view

Edited by: Clotilde Pontecorvo, Universita di Roma, "La Sapienza",
Italy

1997 xxxii, 338 pp. Studies in Written Language & Literacy, 6

US/Canada: Cloth: 1 55619 324 6 Price: US$69.00

Rest of the world: Cloth: 90 272 1799 8 Price: NLG 138

John Benjamins Publishing web site: http://www.benjamins.com

For further information via e-mail: servicebenjamins.com


This volume presents a selection of papers presented at a series of three
workshops organized by the Network "Written Language and Literacy" as
launched by the European Science Foundation. The main topics making up
Writing Development are: (1) Writing and literacy acquisition: Links
between speech and writing, with contributions by David R. Olson, Claire
Blanche-Benveniste, Emilia Ferreiro, Ruth Berman, Liliana Tolchinsky &
Ana Teberosky; (2) Writing and reading in time and culture, with
contributions by Collette Sirat, Francoise Desbordes, Harmut Gunther,
Peter Koch, & Jean Hebrard: (3) Written language competence in
monolingual and bilingual contexts, with contributions by Michel Fayol &
Serge Mouchon, Georges Ludi, & Ludo Verhoeven; (4) Writing systems, brain
structures and languages: A neurolinguistic view, with contributioris by
Giuseppe Cossu, Heinz Wiimmer & Uta Frith, & Brian Butterworth. The
volume heads off with an extensive introduction "Studying writing and
writing acquisition today: A multidisciplinary view".

- ------------------------------------------------------------

Bernadette Martinez-Keck Tel: (215) 836-1200

Publicity/Marketing Fax: (215) 836-1204

John Benjamins North America e-mail:berniebenjamins.com

PO Box 27519 

Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 


Check out the John Benjamins web site:

http://www.benjamins.com

The following contributing LINGUIST publishers have made their backlists available on the World Wide Web:

1998 Contributors