The object of this book is literacy, which it explores as a sociolinguistic process that places language and its use at the center of all its expressions.

According to this study, literacy is not only a technical training but also a set of guidelines for the use of knowledge, so it is not simply the ability to read and write, but a socially constructed phenomenon.

In the pages of the book, literacy, which is usually described as the ability to produce and interpret written text, is treated as structurally interactive and therefore socially mediated through transactions in various communicative contexts. According to this broader perspective, literacy defines not only the concept of an educated individual but also, and above all, that of an "educable" individual.

The study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the processes followed by educational institutions in modern urban societies, through the study of specific cases of verbal interactions of students, which represent personal experiences within these institutions.

By studying the often unexpressed beliefs and biases on which students' judgments are based, along with the verbal transactions in which the speakers participate, the authors of the book's texts infer the way in which evaluations are constructed and the way in which educational outcomes are shaped. In this way, the process of attending school, a key component for social reproduction, is explored through a micro-analytical perspective and through an in-depth analysis of verbal communication in specific educational environments.

Finally, the book focuses on one of the most important problems that arise in the design of modern educational policies: the need to achieve a higher level of literacy through public education.