Bridges Between Home and School Literacy: Social Bases for Early School Literacy*

Abstract

In this chapter early literacy is defined in terms of literate language, a register of language typified by verbally explicated meaning and talk about talk. We explore various social arrangements which support children's use of literate language. Concentrating on the peer system, we examine the roles of diverse and close social contacts, as well as the ways in which individual differences mediate these factors, on children's use of literate language. We call for more research on the ways in which specific aspects of the social context are related to specific dimensions of literate language *Work on this paper was partially supported by a grant from the National Reading Research Center at UGA and UMD. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to either author at College of Education, Aderhold Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.