Them Children: A Study in Language Learning

One of the major purposes of this book is to examine some of the real-life conditions under which children actually learn their language, how families instill values about the use or nonuse of language, and how they use it in an everyday context. Although some related theoretical issues are included, the author's goal is to describe communication habits and family interaction in the home environment of one community called Rosepoint. Rosepoint could be any small community in America. It stands for the common situation in America in which the educational system and the child's background and experience are not congruent. The variety of cultures that make up American society puts an extraordinary burden of understanding on every level of the education system. This book makes an important contribution to a better understanding of the processes of socialization in a multicultural world.

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Kawagley, A Yupiaq Worldview: A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit (ISBN 0881338591); Lancy, Studying Children and Schools: Qualitative Research Traditions (ISBN 1577661702); Philips, The Invisible Culture: Communication in Classroom and Community on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation (ISBN 0881336947); Rosenfeld, "Shut Those Thick Lips!": A Study in Slum School Failure (ISBN 0881330221); and Spindler, Education and Cultural Process: Anthropological Approaches, Third Edition (ISBN 088133958X).