Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Acknowledgements; 2. Introduction; 3. Modeling and promoting functional literacy (by Verhoeven, Ludo); 4. Part 1: The construct of functional literacy; 5. Literacy, myths and legacies: lessons from the history of literacy (by Graff, Harvey J.); 6. The construct of oral and written language (by Blanche-Benveniste, Claire); 7. Text processing and its relevance for literacy (by Noordman, Leo); 8. Cross-cultural perspectives on literacy (by Street, Brian); 9. Functional literacy in a changing world (by Levine, Kenneth); 10. Part 2: Literacy and development; 11. Literacy and the making of the Western mind (by Olson, David R.); 12. The cognitive psychology of literacy: some basic findings (by Bertelson, Paul); 13. Socio-cultural determinants of literacy development (by Leseman, Paul); 14. The social impact of literacy (by Barton, David); 15. Linguistic diversity and literacy development (by Verhoeven, Ludo); 16. Part 3: Attaining literacy in developing societies; 17. Problems and pseudo-problems in literacy development: focus on Latin America (by Ferreiro, Emilia); 18. Continua of biliteracy: Quechua and empowerment in Peru (by Hornberger, Nancy H.); 19. Literacy education and gender: the case of Honduras (by Westen, Monique van der); 20. Literacy and development in South-East Asia (by Daswani, Chander J.); 21. Literacy and development in Africa: the case of Tanzania (by Yambi, Josephine); 22. Part 4: Attaining literacy in industrialized societies; 23. Writing systems and literacy: the alphabetic myth revisited (by Coulmas, Florian); 24. Assesment of adult literacy difficulties (by Doets, Cees); 25. Emergent literacy and education (by Pontecorvo, Clotilde); 26. Towards a taxonomy of early literacy difficulties (by Leij, Aryan van der); 27. Dialogue systems and interactive literacy instruction (by Bouwhuis, Don); 28. Part 5: Promoting functional standards of literacy; 29. A comparative perspective on functional literacy levels (by Loxley, William); 30. Towards a socio-cultural model of literacy education (by Dubbeldam, Leo); 31. The question of functionality in literacy: a systemic approach (by Hammond, Jennifer); 32. Literacy for work programs (by Ooijens, Jan); 33. Literacy in a global perspective: the year 2000 and beyond (by Wagner, Daniel); 34. Subject index; 35. List of contributors