View Content #28274

This week, just in time for the election, we shift our discussion of pragmatics and interculturality to the digital world through an exploration of political memes and the use of language and embedded cultural information. In this video, we offer insight into the language of memes and questions readers can ask when figuring out their meaning. 

There are a few ways to get connected with us this week:

• Join our InterCom Live! session. We connect on Facebook every Monday at 11:00 am Pacific. To join us, open CASLS's Facebook page at the designated time. Can't make it? The InterCom Live! events are always recorded, and you can find them on our Facebook page.
• Check out the Activity of the Week. This week, we provide an activity in which learners analyze and create political memes. 

​When it comes to intercultural communication, digital discourse and media literacy are key skills language learners need, especially when analyzing and engaging with political discourse. Furthermore, the background knowledge and cultural information required to interpret an image with a small amount of text is key to understadning and can serve as a springboard for research and discussion.

​Without taking a stand on any of the sides, this activity encourages learners to critically think about memes in their own language and the target language while also exploring the cultural and political information to decipher their meaning correctly. For more information on digital discourse and L2 learning, see Sykes (2019). 

Happy deciphering! We are excited to continue our exploration of pragmatics and digital discourse this week.