A Review of Discourse Analysis in Literacy Research: Equitable Access

This review represents research employing discourse analysis conducted by scholars interested in literacy issues in education across the age span preschool to adult during the last 10 years. Drawing from more than 300 studies, we discerned that a common theme was understanding how the literacy education of all students can be successfully accomplished. We organized the review into two complementary sections. The first section highlights discourse analytic approaches taken to investigate: Whose literacies count? Which literacies count? The second section explains the contributions the studies made, organized according to five questions: What are literate identities, how are they constructed, and by whom? How are disciplinary knowledges, discourses, and identities constructed? How can schools provide students with access to school-based literacies? What are the shifting roles of literacy teachers and learners within and outside of school? How does discourse analysis research address movement within and across literacy sites and practices in a contemporary, globalized, and increasingly digitally influenced world?