Introduction

Abstract

Literacy and Language in East Asia: Shifting Meanings, Values and Approaches is a book that explores the nature and character of literacy in the twenty-first century as it relates to the rapidly changing and growing East Asia region. Global organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), national governments, education authorities and employer organisations are all placing increased emphasis on literacy as a determiner of national productivity in what is now the fastest growing region on the globe. Over 15 years, East Asian countries have achieved consistently high scores and rankings in school-based international literacy student achievement tests such as the Programme for International Students Achievement (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). In a region where achievement in schooling and advancement are highly valued this global leadership is interpreted by many as evidence of a shifting global balance in science, technology and learning. Combined with shifts in global economic power to China in the wake of the global financial crisis this book arrives at a time of an Asian ascendency in the economic, social and educational spheres of contemporary life.