world. One aspect of the discussion of the literacy hypothesis has been whether literacy is attached to the social context in which it takes place or is culturally neutral. In the Amish community, literacy is very much a reflection of the community, a cultural tool, and a means of cultural expression. Fishman compares Amish literacy and mainstream school literacy, and he finds that while there are differences, there are also important similarities in intent if not in execution. Mainstream teaching desires the sort of critical reading that the Amish child encounters at home. a major difference is found in the fact that in mainstream education, the issue of the recognition and elucidation of writing as an art is valued, while it is not valued at all in the Amish community. Reading for the Amish on one level is a practical matter, and only those elements of writing which allow the reader to make sense of what is being said are considered important. More subtle aesthetic distinctions are not important.
Yet the account of literacy in the Amish world supports aspects of the literacy hypothesis and re
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