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Placing script and voice at a Navajo chapterhouse

1991; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 4; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0951839910040402

1366-5898

Daniel J. McLaughlin,

Second Language Learning and Teaching

This article describes literacy at a Navajo chapterhouse, the centerpiece of local tribal government. Understanding how people use and talk about print in chapterhouse settings requires an analysis of functions for oral and written communication. Limiting the analysis to a functional typology, however, precludes understanding how script and voice become available to individuals and constrain what they read, write, say and do. The study places the functional reporting of events within a hermeneutical framework that defines communication as an effect of power.