ABSTRACT
From the perspective of multicultural education, nine variables are considered important in shaping an individual’s cultural identity: ethnicity, social class, primary language, gender, age, religion, geographic region, place of residence, and exceptionality. Considerable evidence points to a gap between the literacy achievement of students of diverse backgrounds and those of mainstream backgrounds. In short, students of diverse backgrounds benefit from literacy learning situations in which all four language processes—reading, writing, listening, speaking—are linked. Students with ownership use literacy for purposes they set for themselves, and make reading and writing a part of their everyday lives. One of the experts’ agreements concerns the importance of having students share the reading they do. Students of diverse backgrounds, like all students, improve their reading abilities when teachers support independent reading. The chapter focuses on reasons for avoiding use of a narrow, behaviorist model in classrooms with students of diverse backgrounds.
