English in Urban Classrooms: A Multimodal Perspective on Teaching and Learning - Softcover

English in Urban Classrooms is a ground-breaking text that spans a range of issues central to school English today. It extends not only to the spoken and written language of classrooms, but also to other modes of representation and communication that are important in English teaching. This includes image, gesture, gaze, movement and spatial organisation.

The team of experienced and expert authors collectively examine how English is shaped by policy, institutions and the social relations of the classroom. By connecting issues of policy and social context, the book provides a detailed account of factors such as:

• the characteristics of urban multi-cultural schools
• teacher formation and tradition
• the ethos of school English departments
• the institutional changes that have shaped school English in urban classrooms
• students' experiences of learning.

This book offers a fascinating and enlightening read, not only to those involved in English teaching, but also to educational researchers, policymakers, linguists and those interested in semiotics and multi-modality.

Gunther Kress is Professor of Education and English at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has an interest in the interrelations in contemporary texts of different modes of communication and their effects on forms of learning and knowing. His recent publications include Reading Images(1996) with T. van Leeuwen; Before Writing: Rethinking the Paths to Literacy (1997); Multimodal Discourse(2001) with T. van Leewuen; and Literacy in the New Media Age (2002).

My research interests centre around three areas of specialization: 1) Research theory and methodologies: Visual and Multimodal research and and Video-based research2) Technology mediated teaching and learning: notably its affect on classroom practices, and subject knowledge3) Multimodal school based research: with a focus on urban schooling, identities, policy and curriculumRecent research project areas include: the development of multimodal methods for researching digital data and environments, the effects of government technology initiatives on learning in the secondary school and the home, and the changing practices of teaching and learning in the classroom.

Jill Bourne is Professor of Primary Education at the University of Southampton, UK and is past Vice-Chair of the International Applied Linguistics Association.