ABSTRACT

This chapter theorizes two central concepts in the book: academic literacies and immigrant youth. From sociocultural and critical perspectives, academic literacies refer to the range of meaning-making and meaning-communicating practices, which are situated in institutional contexts and ideologically constructed. Immigrant youth are conceptualized as simultaneously having resources and being a resource to their peers, family, and community. The chapter also includes a rationale for a book on academic literacies in these times when new literacies and technologies are changing how young people use literacy. The significance of academic literacies, the book argues, is that although it is just one type of literacy, it is one that urban immigrant youth will need access to and be able to control if they wish to succeed in school. Chapter 1 ends with an overview of the book, accompanied by individual chapter descriptions.