David Barton & Mary Hamilton 
Situated Literacies [PDF ebook] 
Theorising Reading and Writing in Context

Situated Literacies is a rich and varied collection of key writings from leading international scholars in the field of literacy. Each contribution, written in a clear, accessible style, makes the link between literacies in specific contexts and broader social practices.
Detailed ethnographic studies of a wide variety of specific situations, all involving real texts and lived practices, are balanced with general claims about the nature of literacy. Contributors address a coherent set of issues:
* the visual and material aspects of literacy
* concepts of time and space in relation to literacy
* the functions of literacies in shaping and sustaining identities in communities of practice
* the relationship between texts and the practices associated with their use
the role of discourse analysis on literacy studies
These studies, along with a foreword by Denny Taylor, make a timely and important contribution to literacy theory and suggest directions for the further development of the field. Situated Literacies is essential reading for anyone involved in literary education.