"Bridging Activities," New Media Literacies, and Advanced Foreign Language Proficiency

Abstract

In this article we propose the pedagogical model bridging activities to address advanced foreign language proficiency in the context of existing and emerging internet communication and information tools and communities. The article begins by establishing the need for language and genre-focused activities at the advanced level that attend to the shifting social practices and emerging literacies associated with digital media. Grounded in principles of language awareness and the concept of multiliteracies, the bridging activities model centers on guided exploration and analysis of student selected or created digital vernacular texts originating in Web 2.0 and other technologies/practices such as instant messaging and synchronous chat, blogs and wikis, remixing, and multiplayer online gaming. Application of the model includes an iterative implementation cycle of observation and collection, guided exploration and analysis, and creation and participation. In sum, the bridging activities approach is designed to enhance engagement and relevance through the incorporation of students' digital-vernacular expertise, experience, and curiosity, coupled with instructor guidance at the level of semiotic form to explore interactional features, discourse-level grammar, and genre. The ultimate goal is to foster critical awareness of the anatomy and functional organization of a wide range of communicative practices relating to both digital and analogue textual conventions.

Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners

“…In the emerging new context where L2 learning apparently also occurs outside of the EFL classroom, there are great opportunities for teachers to build on young learners' extramural language experiences and from there move on to other language domains that are perhaps not as easily acquired extramurally. In fact, schools are responsible for bridging the gap between students' extramural language activities (or lack thereof) and learning activities intramurally, i.e., in the language classroom (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008). For example, by raising learners' awareness of the possible benefits of digital gaming, teachers can help empower gamers and non-gamers alike, for example by ''prompting them to seek opportunities to learn to use computers'' (Chapelle, 2001:165).…”

Student engagement and foreign language learning through online social networks

“…Yet this study does not mention the kind of improved skill either. However, some research (Clark & Gruba 2010;Alm 2006;Anderson 2007;O'Bryan & Hegelheimer 2007) support the argument that Web 2.0 mostly improves speaking skills whereas other research (Dooly 2007;Ramaswami 2008;Soares 2008;Thorne & Reinhardt 2008) indicate that Web 2.0 mainly targets and improves students' writing skill. The works of these researchers, therefore support our results in that using online social networks for language learning, based on their different features and facilities, mainly improve students' writing and/or speaking skills, without focusing much on reading or listening.…”

Web 2.0, Synthetic Immersive Environments, and Mobile Resources for Language Education

“…Importantly, wikis and blogs are spaces in which students have the potential to move from the conventional epistemic stance of knowledge consumer to that of knowledge producer, and, in so doing, to shift also from mere participation in an educational community to contributive and co-constitutive roles in that community. We would underscore, however, that L2 and general educational uses of these technologies require critical awareness of media literacies and may provide both new resources as well as precipitate significant challenges to teachers and administrators (for a discussion, see Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008). The remainder of this section reports on work currently underway in the CALL arena related to wikis, blogs, and social bookmarking.…”