该领域的教师在涉及语言（例如，第一和第二语言学习，社会语言学）和识字研究的各个子领域中进行研究。语言子领域包括ESL / ELL和传统学习者的双语/多种语言，语言社会化，教育的社会语言学，语言和身份以及在学校的语言教学中使用技术。扫盲子领域包括写作和修辞学方面的问题，包括写作的历史和理论以及写作指导，学科写作和整个课程的写作，写作评估，扫盲的社会语言学，包括课堂话语和知识建构，以及数字技术对写作和交流的影响。
Faculty in this area do research in a variety of sub-fields dealing with language (e.g., first and second language learning, sociolinguistics) and literacy studies. The language sub-fields include bilingualism/multilingualism of ESL/ELL and heritage learners, language socialization, sociolinguistics of education, language and identity, and the use of technology in language teaching and learning in the schools. The literacy sub-fields encompass issues in composition and rhetoric, including history and theory of composition and writing instruction, writing in the disciplines and writing across the curriculum, assessment of writing, sociolinguistics of literacy, including classroom discourse and the construction of knowledge, and the impact of digital technologies on writing and communication.