.

Frances Christie is Honorary Professor of Education at the University of Sydney and Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Melbourne. She has worked for many years in language and literacy education, and has had a considerable research and publishing record in the area. Recent books have included (2002), Classroom Discourse Analysis: A Functional Perspective, Continuum: London and NY; (2005) Language Education in the Primary Years, University of NSW Press: Sydney; (with J.R. Martin, eds.) (2007), Language, Knowledge and Pedagogy: Functional Linguistic and Sociological Perspectives, Continuum: London and NY; (2008) (with B. Derewianka), School Discourse: Learning to Write across the Years of Schooling, Continuum: London and NY.

Alyson Simpson is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. She teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate pre-service teacher programs and supervises research candidates studying in the area of literacy / English education. Her research projects have examined designs for elearning and concepts of visual literacy in higher education and primary schools. She is the co-author of Children’s Literature and Computer Based Teaching, Oxford University Press: London (2005) and author of Reading Under the Covers: Helping Children to Choose Books, Primary English Teaching Association: Newtown (2008).