This volume is an edited collection of essays that was based on a conference organized at the University of California, Davis in 2000. It consists of a preface and 13 chapters. The editors have managed to assemble a respectable and versatile group of contributors: Celce-Murcia, Baugh, Gee, García, Lemke, Martin, Christie, Merino and Hammond, Ramanathan, and Scarcella. These contributors, because of their varied backgrounds, guarantee a well-rounded account of literacy development from the viewpoints of functional linguistics, sociocultural theory, and SLA.

As its title indicates, the book covers issues of literacy development in both first and second languages. In a sense, the collection is an implicit reaction to the criticism targeted toward bilingual programs that quite often leave the students with a command of language considerably beneath advanced literacy. Three populations are identified as vulnerable in that they may not, without intervention, develop advanced literacy: bilingual, English as a second language, and African American students (pp. 4–5). This identification, although to an extent realistic, may simultaneously reinforce stereotypes of immigrant and Black students, and the implication that these groups—and these groups alone—are the vulnerable ones is probably my sole criticism of this book.

With advanced schooling now available to large numbers of students from disadvantaged households (and not just immigrants or African Americans), the language gap between the norm and the discourse patterns that students bring to school with them is no longer an issue merely for teachers and students in lower levels of formal schooling. Students' primary discourses—the discourses they have been socialized into before entering institutions of higher learning—are not going to be enough, and they need to learn to be fluent in secondary discourses as well. The changing world is introducing new kinds of literacies—for instance, Lemke (chapter 2) discusses the recently developed demands of multimedia literacy. It is the process of guiding students into these new discourses in which instructors have a key role: They can either aid the students toward higher levels of literacy or end up functioning as gatekeepers to these discourses of power.

The book offers a good balance between research and pedagogical aspects of teaching advanced literacy. Examples are plentiful. The illustrations of varying literacy skills are often contrastive, ranging from analyses of successful versus nonsuccessful lab reports (Schleppegrell, chapter 6) to multimedia semiotics portraying Web pages intended for different audiences (Lemke, chapter 2). In this contrastive vein, examples of discourses representing a variety of levels are analyzed throughout the book.

The research frame advocated in several chapters makes clear connections, with explicit references, to Hallidayan Systemic-Functional Linguistics—a welcome feature in a book published in North America. Learning new registers and genres is seen as a way into advanced literacy. Focus on form and a meta-awareness of language and textual organization are seen as tools into mastering the new discourses. As Martin (p. 111) puts it, learning “by osmosis” does not necessarily work for nonmainstream students. Celce-Murcia (p. 143) writes about “raising the students' conscious awareness” of grammatical resources. As Scarcella (p. 220) implies, lack of explicit corrective feedback may function as a subconscious gatekeeping device—an unfortunate development that could be remedied by attention to form. Consciousness-raising should, however, be emphasized not only among the students; heightening (language) teachers' metacognitive understanding is also emphasized as a means to empowerment (Ramanathan, chapter 10).

The teachability of advanced literacy is pronounced throughout the book (e.g., Christie, p. 66), and the measurability of achieved advanced literacy is underscored (e.g., Colombi, chapter 4). In offering ways to both teach and research advanced literacy, the book does not remain at the level of abstractions. Nominalizations, lexical density and growth, and grammatical metaphor (p. 67) are used as examples of how to define advanced literacy. On the other hand, sociolinguistic competence is not ignored either. As Gee puts it, in the context of teaching academic discourse to nonnative speakers, “teaching language ought to be about teaching meaning making within Discourses” (p. 173).

The editors identify their audience as “researchers, teachers, and students” (p. vii). Anyone working on teacher training and literacy research can benefit from the multiple aspects presented in this book. Advanced literacy for all may be a utopian goal, but those working in institutions of higher learning should at least be aware of the challenges on the way, as well as of the remedies available to their students on the journey.