Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings

Abstract

Nancy H. Hornberger (ed.), Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings (Bilingual Education and Biliteracy 41). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2003. Pp. 370. Pb $39.95.The collection of articles in Nancy Hornberger's edited book Continua of biliteracy provides a notion of historical development and a sampling of research applications for a specific conceptualization of the phenomenon of biliteracy and multiliteracy. The collection reviews 13 years of theoretical and qualitative research generated by Hornberger's (1989) initial presentation of the continua of biliteracy. The book includes three chapters by Hornberger: the original article, the revision and development of the continua of biliteracy in light of developments in literacy research through the 1990s, written with Skilton-Sylvester (Hornberger & Skilton-Sylvester 2000), and finally an extension of the themes developed in the original model through the metaphor of ecology (Hornberger 2002). These three articles function as a theoretical framework consisting of the past, present, and future directions in research generated through this conceptualization. The other chapters report on research that utilizes Hornberger's framework, covering the issues of language policy, literate identities, teacher roles, and pedagogical practice in various locations, such as the United States, Latin America, Wales, South Africa, and India. This range of issues in a variety of settings demonstrates the robustness of the theory and exemplifies for the reader some of the options of application that it offers.