ABSTRACT
In order to show that the different orientations to literacy education are equally important and, moreover, that they are crucially interdependent, this chapter looks at the effects if the ideas embedded in the other orientations are ignored. Models that seek to integrate different orientations to literacy, like those of Green1 and P. Freebody and A. Luke are more helpful than those that insist on one or other approach. The need for sophisticated levels of literacy skills in the knowledge economy has led to what Green refers to as the 'literacy turn' or the 'triumph of literacy'. How literacy is constructed is contested; it spans a wide range of meanings from basic or functional literacy to the advanced ability to manipulate symbols and abstractions. The New Literacy Studies and work on multilingual education in South Africa show the necessity for education to be more inclusive of students' diverse languages and literacies.
