Language and Literacy

The Graduate Center offers an interdisciplinary concentration in Language and Literacy. The concentration draws upon the faculty and resources from educational psychology, developmental psychology, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences. Students enrolled in these or other doctoral programs may elect to take courses in this area.

The Language and Literacy Concentration is intended to provide students with greater depth in the study of language processing, communication, and development that involves both spoken language and written language in social and cultural contexts. This domain includes the course of language development through the lifespan, including speaking, reading, comprehending print and speech, writing, and spelling. Courses focus on how beginners of all ages acquire reading, writing, and spelling skills and on the impact of instruction on learning. Also considered are normal as well as atypical language acquisition, including disabilities such as dyslexia and alexia, and the relationship between brain structures and language as well as the breakdown of spoken and written language skills in brain-damaged adults. Courses explore the role of native language literacy in acquiring reading and writing skills in a second or subsequent language and focus on theory and research on the nature and role of diverse social situations and cultural knowledge on the development of literacy and language. Use of written and spoken language in various settings is considered (e.g., parents and homes during the preschool years; teachers and classrooms during the school years; work settings during the adult years). Connections between literacy and mathematical skills are of interest. Various types of instructional interventions, media, and their effects are studied, and the role of language and literacy as instruments of access and power are also considered. Courses related to dialects, bilingualism, and second language acquisition focus on linguistic structures underlying spoken and written language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and orthography. Training in the conduct of research includes a variety of methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative.

Students who pursue this concentration will benefit in several ways. By extending their graduate work to include courses in four different Ph.D. programs, students will acquire a greater diversity of perspectives and hence an edge in tackling issues involving language and literacy. Students will be better prepared to conduct research that addresses the social needs of New York City where literacy learning is a major problem at all educational levels and in many programs, including the elementary grades, programs for reading-disabled students, adult education programs for students with limited literacy skills, and programs to teach English to foreign students. Having a background in language and literacy that supplements students' preparation in any of the four Ph.D. programs contributing to this concentration should also enhance their employability.

Graduate students who wish to pursue the Language and Literacy Concentration will design a program in consultation with a faculty member participating in this concentration from the student's home department. In planning dissertations focused on language and literacy, students are encouraged to tap the resources of various departments.

For information, contact Professor Linnea Ehri, Coordinator, Ph.D. Program in Educational Psychology, The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, 1-212-817-8294, or one of the following assistant coordinators: Professor Charles Cairns, Ph.D. Program in Linguistics, 1-212-817-8501; Professor Colette Daiute, Ph.D. Program in Psychology, 1-212-817-8711; Professor Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. Program in Speech and Hearing Sciences, 1-212-817-8804.

[Bulletin, 10/01; pp. 292-308]