Focusing on multiple ways in which learners gain access to knowledge and skills, this handbook explores the possibilities of broadening current conceptualizations of literacy to include the full array of the communicative arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing). The handbook pays particular attention to the visual arts of drama, dance, film, art, video, and computer technology. It contends that the communicative and visual arts encompass everything from novels and theatrical performances to movies and video games and that new methods for transmitting information have been developed that include music, graphics, sound effects, smells, and animations. According to the handbook, these methods, although used by television shows and multimedia products, represent an unexplored resource in the field of education. The handbook contains 64 chapters organized in 7 sections. The sections and their editors are as follows: (1) "Theoretical Bases for Communicative and Visual Arts Teaching" (Paul Messaris); (2) "Methods of Inquiry in Communicative and Visual Arts Teaching" (Donna Alvermann); (3) "Research on Language Learners in Families, Communities, and Classrooms" (Vicki Chou); (4) "Research on Language Teachers: Conditions and Contexts" (Dorothy Strickland); (5) "Expanding Instructional Environments: Teaching, Learning, and Assessing the Communicative and Visual Arts" (Nancy Roser); (6) "Research Perspectives on the Curricular, Extracurricular, and Policy Perspectives" (James Squire); and (7) "Voices from the Field" (Bernice Cullinan and Lee Galda). Information contained in the handbook is intended to be useful in planning literacy programs for students of today and tomorrow. Both a name index and a subject index are provided. (NKA)