English and literacy : a more open marriage or time for a divorce?

The author examines the relationship between English and literacy and presents an overview of the different, currently available views about literacy/literacies. The author presents the idea that while the skills developed in English are literacy skills, a key issue for literacy educators is the extent of the claims made for the territory of English itself. He uses the notion of a 'claims spectrum' to show how such claims have varied 'wildly' throughout the history of the subject. The author also engages with some current curricular and political concerns, and in the second half of the paper, he closes in on the question: 'What does English essentially concern itself with and what does it do that no other curriculum does?' This paper presents the connections and possible disjunctions in English/literacy education.