`[This book] has definitely aided my understanding of the processes involved in taking a critical stance and would enable me to pick out and maybe even teach the different facets of critical thinking. It has also developed my knowledge in the field of language and literacy education′ - British Journal of Educational Studies Following other volumes in the Learning to Read Critically series, Learning to Read Critically in Language and Literacy aims to develop skills of critical analysis and research design. It presents a series of examples of `best practice′ in language and literacy education research at a time when literacy development and learning through language are key policy issues. This book is an overview of issues in Language and Literacy Education research, as well as a guide to appropriate research methods, and how to do a literature survey. Leading researchers present a research project, together with their gloss on why they did it that way; what they found, or did not find, and why the research worked or in some cases did not work. The book is intended as a reference and teaching text for taught postgraduate courses in the area of language and literacy. This series, edited by Mike Wallace, supports research-based teaching on masters and taught doctorate courses in the humanities and social sciences fields of enquiry. Each book is a ′three in one′ text designed to assist advanced course tutors and dissertation supervisors with key research-based teaching tasks and aims to: • develop students′ critical understanding of research literature • increase students′ appreciation of what can be achieved in small-scale investigations similar to those which they undertake for their dissertation • present students with major findings, generalisations and concepts connected to their particular field.