Sustainable Language and Literacy Learning: A Critical Trace in English Language Education

In recent years, interdisciplinary studies have become one of the most inspiring and productive of human pursuits so that it can provide a format for connections and conversations giving rise to new knowledge. Such a wedding interest has also been gleaned in issues of English in Education from New literacy perspective and emerged an overgrowing field named English language and literacy education. However, understanding of what constitutes English literacy and who is a literate person in English in the 21 century has become a complex puzzle. A paucity of an integrated pattern or more plausible definition of literacy has brought about many challenging approaches to those working in the newly- made field. Scrutinizing most approaches which have so far posed can bring them under the wing of two different views i.e. cognitive and sociocultural approaches to the language and literacy education. This explanatory study is to take into account some of the main heeds of these two general approaches. Such a task can provide a more integrated definitional pattern for all those who are in the front. It can also act as a conceptual construct for curriculum developer, teachers and all educational practitioners to move consciously in achieving a more durable learning and teaching in the educational terrain.