Minami 1991g

Minami, Masahiko. 1991g. "Review of 'The place of local-language literacy in rural development in Cameroon: Presentation of an experimental program' by Robinson, C. 1990." (Review originally appeared in HERbetween 1990 and 1991). In Minami and Kennedy 1991. Interest level: academic.

Connects two different dimensions of linguistics--generative grammar represented by Noam Chomsky and sociolinguistics represented by Dell Hymes and William Labov. Believes that other varieties of American English, such as Black English traditional language, share the same deep structure of Standard English, in spite of surface differences.

Authors disagree with developmental psycholinguists who describe literacy as depersonalized and decontextualized. Presents an alternate picture that illustrates the development of literacy as a movement from one set of contexts (home language use) to another (classroom language use). Robinson believes students must develop competencies required in specific contexts, and advocates functional literacy. Authors agree the role of the teacher is of an "experienced participant in the community rather than sole authority" (page 117).

• Bibliography module: Minami 1991g
• In overview module: Bibliography (Literacy): M
• In modular book: Bibliography (Literacy), by Doris Gallemore, Trudi C. Hunt, Jeanne Swanson, and Stephen L. Walter
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

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