Editorial introduction.

Unsworth, Len ; Baxter, David ; Buckland, Corinne 等

This issue reports on research projects dealing with very practical issues in pedagogy in three different areas of language and literacy education. The first two articles deal with 'parents as literacy tutors' programs, while the third article reports research on primary school children's reading of computer-based information texts, and the final paper concerns the role of oral language interaction in leaning contexts in socially disadvantaged schools.

The first paper by Gary Woolley and Ian Hay provides a review of the literature dealing with the benefits in using parents, para-professionals and peers as trained tutors to assist struggling readers. Key features of successful programs include ongoing tutor training and supervision and ensuring that tutors have the capacity to enhance students' engagement with text, use of strategies, and motivation, by fostering the students' reading competency, autonomy and reading self-concept. This paper provides an appropriate framing for the second paper by Beverley Axford, which reports on results of a successful 'parents as tutors' program in the School of Education at the University of Canberra. This paper describes the program offered to parents/carers and children in the Schools and Community Centre at the University of Canberra. It draws on the results of an evaluation of parents' perceptions of the value of the program for their families carried out in 2005, indicating that the program taught a significant number of the adult participants how to more effectively work with their struggling children and, in doing so, reduced stress and tension and created more space for independent learning to take place. In this process both adults and children grew in confidence.

The third paper, by Maureen Walsh and her colleagues Jennifer Asha and Nicole Sprainger, reports on a project investigating the ways in which primary school students negotiate computer-based information texts in the curriculum areas of English, science and human society and its environment. The authors develop a table of children's digital reading practices derived from their observations and explore the use of metalanguage associated with visual literacy in facilitating children's work with images as part of their reading of informational texts in electronic formats.

The fourth paper, by Pauline Jones, deals with interpretations of the New South Wales English K-6 Syllabus in respect of the role of oral language development and metalanguage in facilitating learning in primary school classrooms. The author provides case study data suggesting that the discrepancy in access to professional development between teachers in metropolitan and rural/regional areas results in different understandings of the theoretical and practical bases of the oral language development component of the Syllabus and hence differences in the opportunities for learning among children in metropolitan and rural/regional classroom contexts.

The papers in this volume reflect the productive collaborative engagement of Australian teachers, teacher educators and researchers in addressing challenging issues central to the further enhancement of literacy education and learning. Future issues will further showcase the range and impact of such research. We warmly invite the submission of papers reporting other such work on various fronts of improving literacy education. To support authors we are currently developing an extended network of experienced reviewers who will provide constructive responses and advice on papers submitted for peer review. Informal inquiries regarding possible publication of work in preparation are also very welcome. We look forward to receiving more submissions from experienced and novice authors.