Download or read book Literate Systems and Individual Lives written by Edward M. Jennings and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1991-07-03 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book raises important questions concerning the "shame" of illiteracy. What does it mean to students to be drawn into a world where family and friends cannot follow? Can the same person appear literate and illiterate at the same time? Is literacy, for that matter, an either/or condition? Does it "hurt" to be illiterate in more than one language, more than one culture? To whom can literacy education be a threat instead of a promise? The chapters in this book confront the unknowable implication of joining literate systems, and carry us toward an understanding that can help literacy practitioners and policy-makers at local, national, and international levels to better understand the issues involved in this important area of work.