Making readers literate, that is what transition literacy is all about. L1–L2 transition literacy introduces the isolated minority language speaker to a world of information and ideas outside his own culture; L2–L1 literacy restores to the L2 reader his cultural and linguistic heritage. Both have a significant role to play in literacy programs among the minority language groups of the world.
Trudell outlines two types of transition literacy: from L1 (mother tongue) to L2 (language of wider communication) and vice versa. She shows how the strategies differ for each, describing situations in which one or the other might be used and the benefits of such programs. She then focuses on L2–L1 transition literacy, describing four different kinds of literacy materials: alphabet charts, self-teaching primers, transition primers for class use, and spelling/writing guides. She also gives examples of where these materials are being used.
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