Literacy and advanced foreign language learning: Rethinking the curriculum

Abstract

Advanced level language learning has to do with much more than 'language' per se. It requires familiarization with new frames of interpretation, new genres, new social practices, and new ways of thinking in and about the language in question.This chapter argues that these kinds of familiarization are largely issues of literacy, and it explores ways in which literacy can be used as an organizing principle to design language curricula that problematize the linguistic, cognitive, and social relationships that link readers, writers,texts, and culture. Sample literacy project ideas are presented in the Appendix to exemplify this problematizing approach to language teaching.