View Content #26831

By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director

Digital discourse(s), defined by Sykes (in press) as “language patterns occurring in digitally-mediated interactions, or as a result of digitally-mediated interaction, even if that occurs by analog means” are fundamental for full participation in the world today.  Their appropriate, or inappropriate, use are high stakes, economically impactful, and critical to social understanding. Take, as just two examples of many, Kylie Jenner’s single Tweet about SnapChat which is thought to be significantly responsible for the company’s stock taking a hit and the user-base dramatically dropping or the use of hashtags like #metoo or #lapazsinagua where a single hashtag catalyzed or unified discourse around a political movement or fundraising effort. However, the large variety or users and online language patterns and preferences, the rapidly changing platforms and communicative expectations, and prolific appearance of sensitive topics and polemic viewpoints make the teaching and learning digital discourse(s) in the world language classroom challenging.

Nevertheless, learning how to use, interpret, and create digital discourse(s) is fundamental. It enables learners to –

1. engage with extended communities beyond traditional academic domains,
2. explore subtle, yet critical cultural and political practices in their first, and subsequent languages, and
3. examine cultural and interpersonal phenomena in ways that may, or may not, be salient via other mechanisms (from Sykes, in press).

In this month’s InterCom, we explore ways this can be done in the world language classroom through the exploration of a variety of digital discourse patterns (e.g., hashtags, emojis, and games) and provide activities educators can use to facilitate the learning of world languages.

Reference

Sykes, J. (in press, 2019). Emergent Digital Discourse(s): What can we learn from hashtags and digital games to expand learners’ second language repertoire? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39.