This volume brings together a number of people professionally engaged in the study of literacy, either because they are teachers or teacher educators of language and literacy, or because they are involved as social and/or educational workers researching or providing programs to address the needs of people at risk because of inadequate literacy skills. It thus sets up a dialogue between these two communities of writers, all bringing different perspectives to the issues, some from the context of Literacy Education, others from the context of Social Work. All are committed to the view that provision of effective literacy programs is a matter of equity and social justice, though the ways in which they address such a view can differ. Issues addressed include: the changing nature of literacy in the modern world; the impact of the multimodal environment in which literacy now functions; the implications of this environment for pedagogical practices in the teaching of literacy; the causes and consequences of social disadvantage in learning literacy among various groups; and means to address such disadvantage.