Abstract
In order to set the stage for articulating a Vygotskian approach to literacy research, my first task is to define the term “literacy,” something that is harder to do now than it ever has been. The Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary (2003) defines literacy rather circularly as the “quality or state of being literate,” tracing the origins of the term to 1883. Literate in turn comes from the 15th Century and evolved from “Middle English literat, from Latin litteratus marked with letters, literate, from litterae, letters, literature.”
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Smagorinsky, P. (2011). The Background for Current Literacy Studies. In: Smagorinsky, P. (eds) Vygotsky and Literacy Research. Practice of Research Method, vol 2. SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-696-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-696-0_5
Publisher Name: SensePublishers
Online ISBN: 978-94-6091-696-0
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