The book provides a detailed description of the design of a reading curriculum for language learners using the ideas of developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky and literary critic Michael Bakhtin.
A major theme in Vygotsky's cultural historical theory is the role of "spontaneous and scientific concepts" in children's and adolescents' cultural development. Therefore, the book's starting point is to discuss why classroom teachers, material and curriculum designers need to focus on reading related concepts in reading instruction and reading curriculum design.
Michael Bakhtin wrote extensively on the concept of dialogue. He explained how texts form an ongoing dialogue in societies. He also described how a person can became an active participant of that ongoing dialogue. The book describes how Bakhtin's dialogism and key concepts in his theory can be used in reading instruction and material design. The book contains a complete sample curriculum and actual lesson plans that can be directly used or adapted to meet the needs of a diversity of learners ranging from middle school students to university students. I believe the book is also useful for teachers of Turkish as a mother language as a source of inspiration to design a curriculum based on Vygotsky's and Bakhtin's ideas.
