ABSTRACT
In 1996 the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) combined forces-not, it must be said, without considerable professional strain-to issue Standards for the English Language Arts for educators, students, parents, curriculum designers, and policy makers in the United States (IRA/NCTE, 1996). The document was a milestone in the nearly four-centurylong journey to connect the traditional four arts of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. But the Standards did more than recapitulate the arts of language. It broadened and extended the conception of language arts by adding “viewing” and “visually representing” to the mix of communication modes. In nearly every respect, it represented a revised destination.
