This popular text, now in its fourth edition, "unpacks" the various dimensions of literacy--linguistic and other sign systems; cognitive; sociocultural; and developmental--and at the same time accounts for the interrelationships among them. Distinguished by its examination of literacy from a multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspective, it provides a strong conceptual foundation upon which literacy curriculum and instruction in school settings can be grounded.

Linking theory and research to practice in an understandable, user-friendly manner, the text provides in-depth coverage of the dimensions of literacy, includes demonstrations and "hands-on" activities, examines authentic reading and writing events that reflect key concepts, and summarizes the concepts in tables and figures.

Changes in the Fourth Edition
* Addresses academic language, new literacies/multiliteracies, and their relationship to literacy learning
* More fully develops the developmental dimension of literacy in separate chapters on adult mediation and learner construction
* Expands the discussion of multimodal literacies
* Extends and integrates the discussion of bilingualism and biliteracy throughout the text
* Integrates instructional implications more fully throughout