This chapter opens the volume’s investigation of several major questions – What is technology? What is literary technology? Is literature a technology? – by responding to Walter Ong’s opposition of the naturalness of oral speech and the artificiality of “technologized” writing. It presents a historical overview of the consequences of the development of writing in the West. Considering indigenous texts by such Haida authors as Skaay and Ghandl, MacRae pushes against standard scholarly accounts of the teleological triumph of print that have served to provide “an intellectual bulwark for imperialism and colonialism.” MacRae positions orality and oral performance as rich and generative technologies whose complex affordances are impossible to render in other media: Writing and printing, he argues, “impact literature and culture” primarily “by leaving things out: gestures, colors, coughs, shouts, and murmurs, the sound of falling rain: the entire three-dimensional world of human experience.”

The spread of literacy throughout the world made it necessary to develop a systematic (stage-based) and effective (quick and inexpensive) way of teaching reading that could be delivered to many (different) people simultaneously with the use of the ever-changing textures of reading. In this chapter, it will be shown that all of these considerations, when contemplated holistically, define the parameters of the genetic system that is the foundation of literacy in general and (a)typical reading and writing in particular. Yet it is a distal one, with the proximal foundation being the brain. It will be concluded that the genetic bases of (a)typical reading and writing is nothing more than the genetic bases of a brain that, pressured by the demands and opportunities imposed by modern society, has turned itself into a reading and writing (i.e., literate) brain.

This chapter aims to unravel the contribution of the neuroscience of reading to the study of literacy development across languages and writing systems. The development of early literacy can be adversely impacted by neurodevelopmental disorders and socioeconomic disparities that have lasting effects on child and adolescent cognition. The goal of this chapter is to address the continuum of literacy development in two critical stages, birth-to-six and six-to-ten years old, and their respective language and brain milestones: the hardwired brain networks for speech, and the adaptation of brain regions for reading. The discussion attempts to disambiguate neurodevelopmental disorders and socioeconomic factors that influence early literacy, and the associated effects on brain function and structure. It is concluded that there is emerging evidence for a near-universal brain system that develops with learning to read across writing systems and the chapter addresses the dynamic relations among brain networks for reading, speech and writing across the two age spans. It is also claimed that the neuroscience of reading has the potential to inform prediction of reading achievement, identification of risk for reading difficulties, and possibly, choice of intervention and of the age ranges that are more amenable to treatment.

This chapter aims to synthesize evidence from large-scale studies on the magnitude of disparities in students’ literacy development between students from low socioeconomic and language minority backgrounds and their more advantaged counterparts in the United States and Canada, particularly on reading skills. Among various structural inequalities that are relevant to reading, the focus is on socioeconomic status (SES) differences and linguistic diversity (and their inter-relationships). It is explicitly acknowledged that extensive structural inequalities also exist for indigenous peoples in both countries across a range of education, health, and social outcomes. The focus is on language minority learners in this chapter primarily because the large-scale research that has examined disparities in reading development has provided valuable insight regarding students from immigrant backgrounds. By focusing the lens on reading development in language minority learners, we do not intend to minimize or obscure the very real barriers to equitable education in indigenous communities, nor do we intend to convey that structural forces that affect immigrant students can generalize to indigenous communities. Instead, we echo calls to address the sociocultural context of reading development and education more broadly in indigenous communities in both countries.

This chapter presents detailed demographics on the status of literacy development in South America from the perspective of its educational and sociopolitical context. Despite several efforts to achieve proper literacy development levels, challenges and obstacles remain for several developing countries, including most of South America. In this continent, underachievement encompasses sociocultural, economic, and political factors that affect - in varyingdegrees - education in general, and especially reading instruction policies. Substantial efforts have been made so far, and South America, with a diverse population of near 431 million, has achieved several educational goals in the past decade. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, primary school coverage has become almost universal, and average years of schooling approach those of the developed countries. Nevertheless, even if illiteracy has largely decreased, the quality of literacy skills remain poor for both children and adults. This chapter discusses public policies and the choice of reading-instruction methods, one aspect that has likely had a strong influence on the development of reading skills throughout several countries of this continent.

This chapter focuses on early literacy acquisition as embedded in specific social contexts such as the child's home environment. During the last three decades, the role of parental support, or family support when those other than parents are involved in promoting children's literacy at home was broadly examined within a monolingual context. Concerning a bilingual context, numerous studies have shown that literacy acquisition in minority languages in a home or community setting might serve as a springboard for literacy acquisition in the second language. However, less is known on parental support of biliteracy among language-minority children. Thus, together with home support in the monolingual context, this chapter addresses research evidence on literacy practices in different languages provided by family members to children growing up in bilingual or multilingual homes. A brief overview of prominent theoretical frameworks is provided that outlines parental support and literacy development among children. In addition, drawing mainly on examples from North America, Israel, and other high-income-country contexts, research on parental support in a monolingual context is explored.

This chapter focuses on literacy and linguistic diversity in India as the second most populous nation in the world. India is home to different types of writing systems and linguistic situations; however, literacy acquisition in the region is often defined using alphasyllabic akshara orthographies and multilingualism. Both these characteristics have significant implications for the theory, practice, and policy of literacy acquisition in India. In India, only 44 percent of students in government schools can read Grade-2-level texts in Grade 5 fluently. Within India, there is, however, wide variation, with literacy rates being significantly higher in private schools and in urban areas. We begin with a brief description of the historical and contemporary state of multilingual education policy and practice in India. In addition, the psycholinguistic underpinnings of learning to read in akshara orthographies and of biliteracy acquisition with at least one akshara orthography will be uncovered. Finally, future directions related to literacy development research and practice among diverse populations in India are discussed.

This chapter focuses on literacy development in East Asia, the eastern region of the Asian continent. Students in most East Asian countries perform well in literacy. However, migrant communities still face struggles, leading to fewer opportunities in the labor market. East Asia has a very long history of literary practice. With China being the largest and oldest country in East Asia, its writing system has a profound impact in the region. The modern Chinese writing system is used not only by the 1.4 billion people in Mainland China but also in Chinese-speaking regions such as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It is further used by Chinese-heritage speakers in Singapore, Malaysia, and countries around the world. However, most East Asian countries are biscriptal. This chapter starts out with an overview of the writing systems used in China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia, followed by a description of the educational system in relation to literacy in each country. In the remaining part of the chapter the focus is on individual variation, neurological foundations and environmental factors related to literacy development in Chinese. Finally, the chapter presents a comparison of the factors related to literacy development in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

This chapter offers an overview of literacy development in Europe. The European Union is a political and economic union of twenty-seven Member States. Its members are industrialized nations that value inclusion and allow free movement of its citizens within the union. Good skills in reading, mathematics, and science are viewed as a prerequisite for integration in the knowledge society, but challenges remain. The chapter starts out by presenting evidence related to the spread of literacy in Europe and discusses current notions about the relationship between schooling and literacy abilities and about the role of skills for full integration in society. Furthermore, evidence is provided on the variation in reading development in different orthographies and its relationship with home and school factors. In particular, current literacy achievement levels in primary and secondary school are related to home-background factors. Finally, the chapter discusses how comparative reports on literacy development in European Member States can contribute to our understanding of reading development in Europe and inform policy decisions.

This chapter deals with global literacy development in relation to writing systems. A global perspective on literacy compels attention to global variation in languages and writing systems. The history of writing involves processes of discovery, borrowing, and modification, which language communities go through when they move toward a literate society. These processes require choices to be made regarding the graphic forms and how they connect to the spoken language and to broader cultural and educational considerations, including how new generations can learn this writing to understand their language. Across the globe, writing systems have developed varying solutions as to how to represent their spoken language, that is, its phonological, morphological, and semantic properties. In this chapter, some of the solutions to this mapping problem through invention and variation will be examined , and cognitive principles aiding the process of learning to read across languages and writing systems are proposed. The chapter concludes that writing systems follow the same set of operating principles in learning to read but that the they differences between them do matter for in terms of understanding the weighting of reading procedures and different educational challenges. It is also emphasized that all writing systems are learnable, and instruction effectively geared toward their specific properties may be successful for most children.

This chapter goes into literacy education and literacy development in Russia. The understanding of literacy in Russia requires analysis of several issues. To begin with, historical changes in the provision of education in the region, and the introduction of a modern educational system in preschool (kindergarten age four-to-six years) and primary school (Grades 1-4) need to be considered. This is because, in recent years, a transformation has been recorded in both the number of educational institutions and the nature of the educational process. Furthermore, the Russian scholarship on writing and reading disorders requires examination alongside several internal contradictions and inconsistencies in the approaches to psychological and pedagogical support available for children with these disorders. The situation may be described as a disconnection between the diagnostic processes and remedial methods used in Russia and the international experience. This chapter starts out with a description of the Russian writing system. This will be followed by an overview of teaching and assessment methods used over the past decades. Finally, a reflection will be provided on the identification of children with reading problems and remediation of those problems.

In this introductory chapter, we examine the worldwide distribution of literacy, its development with schooling, and the sources of individual variation in literacy outcomes. Various perspectives on global variation are discussed while also aiming for a common framework to describe literacy development that recognizes demographic boundaries in the world, on the one hand, and its global variation as a function of bio-ecological markers on the other hand. In this introduction, we draw attention to the wealth of recent research on variations in literacy development that arise across regions and that reflect the multiple interrelated influences of individual, home, school, and societal factors. Furthermore, observations on the neurobiological and ecological markers related to global literacy are discussed. These include the role of writing systems, genetics, brain foundations, self-regulation, and sociocultural, contextual, teacher, and parental factors in global literacy development. An explanatory framework is also provided showing that literacy development involves gaining reading fluency and spelling to facilitate reading comprehension and writing, that it builds on language, and that child characteristics and home- and school-support factors combine to influence individual variation, within an indirectly influential sociopolitical context.

This chapter focuses on literacy and linguistic diversity in Australia. Literacy educators in Australian schools face challenges, including cultural and linguistic diversity among students, communities, and workplaces; variable support from governments in fiscally unstable times; and continual professional and public debates over curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, and over the role of research and policy. But Australian educators also encounter distinctive, and some at least distinctively inflected historical, cultural, and economic features that have a bearing on their literacy efforts. To background our discussion of those efforts, the chapter opens with a selection of Australia’s demographic and administrative characteristics. This is followed by a discussion of the challenges and opportunities presented to research, practice, and policy by educational engagements with Aboriginal and migrant communities. Implications for the close relationship of literacy to community languages, to pedagogy, to policy formation and maintenance, and to research are also highlighted. Finally, international perspectives on Australian literacy education are presented, including those based on national and international assessment programs.

In this final chapter, a wide-angle perspective is provided on the major issues that arise when one thinks globally about literacy. Despite many important differences across the globe, literacy development suggests some general patterns that reflect nearly universal phases and shared operating principles. Although the “development” of literacy begins early through natural processes of language development and conceptual development, it is school experiences, explicitly designed to teach reading, that we expect to ensure the achievement of literacy. Each classroom within a school is its own literacy ecosystem, with one or more teachers, students, literacy curriculum materials, assesments, and regulated interactions. The classroom itself is embedded within other systems – the school, the community, the larger school administrative units, and local, regional, and national government control agents. A Global Literacy Framework is presented, showing that literacy development is embedded in language development and can be predicted by (a) system factors, referring to variations in the linguistic and writing systems, (b) child factors, associated with the neurobiological foundation of children’s learning capacity, and (c) support factors, associated with processes in the home and at school. All these influences exist within a sociopolitical context that exerts influence broadly across the system.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 represent an important opportunity to improve learning globally. In this light, this chapter draws on a unique set of early literacy assessment results and demographic information from six African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia) to better understand the role that language plays in influencing early reading outcomes. While these data have been published in individual country reports, the information has not been analyzed and released prominently in the narrative surrounding learning outcomes in the region, although data like those presented in this chapter have begun to reverse this tendency. Following this introduction, a brief history is provided of postcolonial trends in literacy acquisition and language policyin sub-Saharan Africa from about 1960 to the present day, documenting the current language of instruction policies for twenty countries. Key questions are also outlined to drive the interest in gaining a better understanding of the variation in literacy acquisition in a selection of target countries for which we have data; then the chapter documents the data and methods usedas well as the results. Finally, the chapter discusses the implications of this work a for future policy and planning to achieve the promises made under the SDGs.

This chapter goes into the role of children’s self-regulation in their transition from home to school. Over the last two decades, a sizable body of research has documented the importance of the early childhood years as a critical foundation not only for a successful transition to school, but for literacy success in elementary school and beyond. There is evidence that a complex set of factors in the child, family, school, and larger sociocultural context, independently and in interaction, shape the growth of early literacy skills over that crucial time period. Recently, attention has focused on a set of skills called self-regulation (also known as executive function or effortful control), which has been shown to uniquely impact children’s literacy development and academic growth across the school years, as well as success in adult life. This chapter focuses on how self-regulation can be conceptualized. In addition, it examines the extent and nature of individual differences in self-regulation during the transition to school and what unique impact it has on early literacy and later academic achievement. Finally, it is explored to what extent self-regulation can be modified through appropriate environmental stimulation in the home and school environment.

In the present study the effects of the literacy ecology of the home on children’s literacy development in rural Rwanda were examined. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected as part of a larger randomized control trial of a literacy intervention in eastern Africa. First, the Literacy Ecology theoretical framework is described as a frame of reference for the present study. Second, survey, ethnographic, and child-reading data are reported from a rural district in Rwanda; these illustrate connections between home and community literacy and children’s early reading achievement. Finally, future directions and implications of the findings for efforts to improve children's early literacy attainment in lower- and middle-income countries are explored.

This chapter goes into the postcolonial development of literacy in the Caribbean. To begin with, the sociolinguistic background of language and literacy planning in native and (ex-)colonial languages across Caribbean nations is highlighted. Over the past century, a far-reaching process of decolonization has taken place in the Caribbean, a region of insular territories with mostly native Creole-speaking communities, in between North and South America. Special attention is given to the use of these languages in education and the effects on the actual attainment of literacy levels in native and colonial languages across Caribbean states. There is an additional focus on postcolonial literacy development in the Dutch Caribbean; this is an interesting case in which the Creole language Papiamentu has become highly valued in media, education, and other social domains, replacing Dutch. The focus is on the gradual implementation of Papiamentu literacy in the curriculum, and the literacy levels in native Papiamentu and Dutch as a (foreign) colonial language throughout the primary grades, and their relations with school success. Finally, a future perspective on postcolonial literacy development in the Caribbean is provided.