Literacy and Language in East Asia

This book critically explores why Asian nations are on top of the world in student achievement tests in reading and literacy, yet governments and industry in these nations are anxious about a crisis in education.

Why are governments anxious about the capabilities and skills of school and university graduates in a global economy when there is a Asian economic boom? The authors explore questions about how the Asian countries value test-based examination curriculum and its influence on the practices of teaching learning and the lives of young people in Asia. The authors describe the challenge of change for East Asian nations to develop more relevant approaches to literacy and language and more inclusive societies focussed on the needs of young people and not exam results.

Dr Marilyn Kell is a researcher at Charles Darwin University, Australia.

Professor Peter Kell is Head of School and Professor of Education at Charles Darwin University, Australia.

Résumé

This book critically explores why some Asian nations are on top of the world in students' achievement tests in reading and literacy, yet governments and industry in these nations are anxious about a crisis in education.

Why are governments anxious about the capabilities and skills of school and university graduates in a global economy when there is a Asian economic boom? The authors explore questions about how the Asian countries value test-based examination curriculum and its influence on the practices of teaching learning and the lives of young people in Asia. The authors describe the challenge of change for East Asian nations to develop more relevant approaches to literacy and language and more inclusive societies focussed on the needs of young people and not exam results.

Contenu

Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- What is literacy and why is it important?.- High Stakes Testing, Literacy Wars, Globalisation and Asia.- League Tables and the Politics of Ranking.- Global Testing: PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS.- International Testing: The Global Education Space Race?.- Schooling, national development and growth in Asia.- The East Asian Miracle economies, inequalities and schooling.- Literacy and workforce capabilities.- The New Dynamic and shifting approaches literacy and language in East Asia.