Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:29:23.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Technologies, Identities, and Expressive Activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2015

Steven L. Thorne ,
Shannon Sauro  and
Bryan Smith
Steven L. Thorne
Affiliation:
Portland State University and University of [email protected]
Shannon Sauro
Affiliation:
Malmö [email protected]
Bryan Smith
Affiliation:
Arizona State [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Digital communication technologies both complexify and help to reveal the dynamics of human communicative activity and capacity for identity performance. Addressing current scholarship on second language use and development, this review article examines research on identity in digital settings either as a design element of educational practice or as a function of participation in noninstitutionally located online cultures. We also address new frontiers and communication in the digital wilds, as it were, and here we focus on cultural production in fandom sites and the processes of transcultural authoring and community building visible in these settings.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 35 , March 2015 , pp. 215 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Black, R. W. (2008). Adolescents and online fanfiction. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

This book presents an ethnographic analysis of adolescent English language learners’ fan fiction authoring and participation in attendant online communities. This research illustrates that fan fiction communities provide rich opportunities for the engaged and interactive use of English, as well as other languages, that resulted in improved composition skills through the creation of narrative identities that developed over time.

Chen, H. (2013). Identity practices of multilingual writers in social networking spaces. Language Learning & Technology, 17 (2), 143–170.

This longitudinal study of two multilingual writers illustrates the power and importance of employing mixed methods in examining SNS interaction. Using multiple methods the author was able to illuminate learners’ own voices and beliefs, allowing for a more complete analysis of the data. While Facebook allowed both participants to navigate across multiple languages, cultures, and identities, they presented themselves differently in the form, quantity, and quality of their SNS use.

Klimanova, L., & Dembovskaya, S. (2013). L2 identity, discourse, and social networking in Russian. Language Learning & Technology, 17 (1), 69–88.

This article illustrates the importance of employing dynamic methodologies in researching online leaner identity. In a two-semester study of interaction between nativeand nonnative speakers on the Russian language SNS site VKontakte, the researchers explored how L2 learners of Russian and Russian heritage speakers discursively established their online L2 identities when interacting with native speakers. They presented clear and compelling benefits of employing interpretive phenomenological analysis of the participants’ experiential accounts of the interaction, especially when it comes to illuminating issues related to power relationships in establishing online identities.

Leppänen, S. (2008). Cybergirls in trouble? Fan fiction as a discursive space for interrogating gender and sexuality. In Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. & Iedema, R. (eds.), Identity trouble: Critical discourse and contested identities (pp. 156–179). Houndmillls, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

This study of young fans in Finland explores how young women write different types of fanfiction including genre parodies and self-insert romantic or tragic fanfiction in English to interrogate gender and sexual identities in Finnish society.

Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44 (4), 412–446.

This state-of-the-art article provides an overview of postructuralist approaches to language, identity, power, and constructs such as investment and imagined communities. It also includes an insightful section on digital technologies, identity, and language learning.

REFERENCES

Black, R. W. (2005). Access and affiliation: The literacy and composition practices of English- language learners in an online fanfiction community. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49, 118–128.Google Scholar
Black, R.W. (2006). Language, culture, and identity in online fanfiction. E-learning, 3, 180–184.Google Scholar
Black, R. W. (2008). Adolescents and online fanfiction. New York, NY: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Black, R.W. (2009). Online fan fiction, global identities, and imagination. Research in the Teaching of English, 43, 397–425.Google Scholar
Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Block, D. (2007). The rise of identity in SLA research, post Firth and Wagner (1997). Modern Language Journal, 91, 863–876.Google Scholar
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Blommaert, J., & Rampton, B. (2011). Language and superdiversity: A position paper. Working Papers in Urban Language & Literacies Paper, 63, 2–22. Retrieved from http://www.kcl.ac.uk/innovation/groups/ldc/publications/workingpapers/70.pdGoogle Scholar
Blyth, C. (2008). Research perspectives on online discourse and foreign language learning. In Magnan, S. (ed.), Mediating discourse online (pp. 47–70). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolter, J. D. (1991). Writing space: The computer, hypertext, and the history of writing. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A socio-cultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7, 585–614.Google Scholar
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the networked society. Cambridge, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Castells, M. (1997). The power of identity. Cambridge, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Chen, H. (2013). Identity practices of multilingual writers in social networking spaces. Language Learning & Technology, 17 (2), 143–170.Google Scholar
Chun, D. M. (1994). Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactive competence. System, 22 (1), 17–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danet, B., & Herring, S. (2007). The multilingual Internet: Language, culture, and communication online. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Davies, , B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Dörnyei, Z. & Ushioda, E. (eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9–42). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2009), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Duffett, M. (2013). Understanding fandom: An introduction to the study of media fan culture. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. Modern Language Journal, 81, 285–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gee, J. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Guamán, L. (2012). EFL teenagers’ social identity representation in a virtual learning community on Facebook. PROFILE Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 14 (2), 181–194.Google Scholar
Higgins, C. (ed.). (2011). Identity formation in globalizing contexts. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, R., & Thomas, M. (2009). Identity in online communities: Social networking sites and language learning. International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society, 7 (2), 109–124.Google Scholar
Hills, M. (2002). Fan cultures. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hult, F. M. (2014). Covert bilingualism and symbolic competence: Analytical reflections on negotiating insider/outsider positionality in Swedish speech situations. Applied Linguistics, 35, 63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamison, A. (2013). Fic: Why fanfiction is taking over the world. Dallas, TX: Smart Pop Books.Google Scholar
Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. New York, NY: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Kasper, G. (2012). Conversation analysis and interview studies. In Chapelle, C. (ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1022–1027). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kelm, O. (1996). The application of computer networking in foreign language education: Focusing on principles of second language acquisition. In Warschauer, M. (ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 19–28). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.Google Scholar
Kern, R. (1995). Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers: Effects on quantity and characteristics of language production. Modern Language Journal, 79, 457–476.Google Scholar
Kern, R. (2014). Technology as pharmakon: The promise and perils of the Internet for foreign language education. Modern Language Journal, 98, 340–357.Google Scholar
Kern, R., Ware, P., & Warschauer, M. (2004). Crossing frontiers: New directions in online pedagogy and research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 243–260.Google Scholar
Kim, E. Y., & Brown, L. (2014). Negotiating pragmatic competence in computer mediated communication: The case of Korean address terms. CALICO Journal, 31, 264–284.Google Scholar
Kitade, K. (2014). Second language teachers’ identity development through online collaboration with L2 learners. CALICO Journal, 31, 57–77.Google Scholar
Klimanova, L., & Dembovskaya, S. (2013). L2 identity, discourse, and social networking in Russian. Language Learning & Technology, 17 (1), 69–88.Google Scholar
Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (eds.). (2007). A new literacies sampler. New York, NY: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kress, G. (2005). Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 22, 5–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, W. S. E. (2006). Re-envisioning language, literacy, and the immigrant subject in new mediascapes. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 1 (3), 171–195.Google Scholar
Lemke, J. (2002). Language development and identity: Multiple timescales in the social ecology of learning. In Kramsch, C. (ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 68–87). London, UK: Continuum.Google Scholar
Leppänen, S. (2007). Youth language in media contexts: Insights into the functions of English in Finland. World Englishes, 26 (2), 149–169.Google Scholar
Leppänen, S. (2008). Cybergirls in trouble? Fan fiction as a discursive space for interrogating gender and sexuality. In Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. & Iedema, R. (eds.), Identity trouble: Critical discourse and contested identities (pp. 156–179). Houndmillls, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leppänen, S. (2009). Playing with and policing language use and textuality in fan fiction. In Hootz-Davies, I., Kirchhofer, A., & Leppänen, S. (eds.), Internet fictions (pp. 62–83). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar
Leppänen, S., Kytölä, S., Jousmäki, H., Peuronen, S., & Westinen, E. (2014). Entextualization and resmiotization as resources for identification in social media. In Seargeant, P. & Tagg, C. (eds.), The language of social media: Identity and community on the Internet (pp. 112–136). Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Leppänen, S., Pitkänen-Huhta, A., Piirainen-Marsch, A., Nikula, T., & Peuronen, S. (2009). Young people's translocal new media uses: A multiperspective analysis of language choice and hetero-glossia. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 1080–1107.Google Scholar
Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: Social organization in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menard-Warwick, J., Heredia-Herrera, A., & Palmer, D. S. (2013). Local and global identities in an EFL Internet chat exchange. The Modern Language Journal, 97, 965–980.Google Scholar
Merchant, G. (2006). Identity, social networks and online communication. E-Learning, 3 (2), 235–244.Google Scholar
Miller, D., & Slater, D. (2000). The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford, UK: Berg.Google Scholar
Mills, N. (2011). Situated learning through social networking communities: The development of joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and a shared repertoire. CALICO Journal, 28, 326–344.Google Scholar
Nelson, G., & Temples, A. L. (2011). Identity construction as nexus of multimembership: Attempts at reconciliation through an online intercultural communication course. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 10, 63–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies. Harvard Educational Review, 66 (1), 60–92.Google Scholar
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. Harlow, UK: Longman.Google Scholar
Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44 (4), 412–446.Google Scholar
Paolillo, J. C. (2007). How much multilingualism? Language diversity on the Internet. In Danet, B. & Herring, S. C. (eds.), The multilingual Internet: Language, culture, and communication online (pp. 408–430). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Parks, R., & Floyd, K. (1996). Making friends in cyberspace. Journal of Communication, 23, 409–425.Google Scholar
Pasfield-Neofitou, S. (2011). Online domains of language use: Second language learners’ experiences of virtual community and foreignness. Language Learning & Technology, 15 (2), 92–108.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 28 (2), 163–188.Google Scholar
Petersen, S. A., Divitini, M., & Chabert, G. (2008). Identity, sense of community and connectedness in a community of mobile language learners. ReCALL, 20, 361–379.Google Scholar
Philips, S. (1972). Participant structures and communicative competence: Warm Springs children in community and classroom. In Cazden, C. B., John, V. T., & Hymes, D. (eds.), Functions of language in the classroom (pp. 370–394). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
RaceFail '09. (n.d.). Fanlore website. Retrieved September 4, 2014 from the Fanlore wiki: http://fanlore.org/wiki/RaceFail_’09Google Scholar
Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Reinhardt, J., & Chen, H. (2013). An ecological analysis of social networking site-mediated identity development. In Lamy, M.-N. & Zourou, K. (eds.), Social networking for language education (pp. 11–30). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinhardt, J., & Zander, V. (2011). Social networking in an intensive English program classroom: a language socialization perspective. CALICO Journal, 28, 326–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, K. (2006). “Being the teacher”: Identity and classroom conversation. Applied Linguistics, 27 (1), 51–77.Google Scholar
Sauro, S. (2009). Strategic use of modality during synchronous CMC. CALICO Journal, 27 (1), 101–117.Google Scholar
Simpson, J. (2013). Identity alignment on an ESOL class blog. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 32 (2), 183–201.Google Scholar
Sullivan, N., & Pratt, E. (1996). A comparative study of two ESL writing environments: A computer-assisted classroom and a traditional oral classroom. System, 29, 491–501.Google Scholar
Thompson, C. (2008). Brave new world of digital intimacy. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L. (2003). Artifacts and cultures-of-use in intercultural communication. Language Learning & Technology, 7 (2), 38–67.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L. (2009). “Community,” semiotic flows, and mediated contribution to activity. Language Teaching, 42 (1), 81–94.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L. (2012). Gaming writing: Supervernaculars, stylization, and semiotic remediation. In Kessler, G., Oskoz, A., & Elola, I. (eds.), Technology across writing contexts and tasks (pp. 297–316). San Marcos, TX: CALICO Monograph.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L. (2013). Digital literacies. In Hawkins, M. (ed.), Framing languages and literacies: Socially situated views and perspectives (pp. 192–218). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L., & Black, R. (2007). Language and literacy development in computer-mediated contexts and communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 133–160.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L., & Black, R.W. (2011). Identity and interaction in Internet-mediated contexts. In Higgins, C. (ed.), Identity formation in globalizing contexts (pp. 257–278). New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L., & Fischer, I. (2012). Online gaming as sociable media. ALSIC: Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d'Information et de Communication, 15 (1). doi: 10.4000/alsic.2450. Retrieved from http://alsic.revues.org/2450Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L., & Ivković, D. (in press). Multilingual Eurovision meets plurilingual YouTube: Linguascaping discursive ontologies. In Koike, D. & Blyth, C. (eds.), Dialogue in multilingual, multimodal, and multicompetent communities of practice. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Thorne, S. L., & Reinhardt, J. (2008). “Bridging activities,” new media literacies, and advanced foreign language proficiency. CALICO Journal, 25, 558–572.Google Scholar
Thurlow, C., & McKay, S. (2003). Profiling “new” communication technologies in adolescence. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 22, 94–103.Google Scholar
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
van Compernolle, A. R., & Williams, L. (2012). Reconceptualizing sociolinguistic competence as mediated action: Identity, meaning making, agency. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 234–250.Google Scholar
Van De Mieroop, D., & Clifton, J. (2012). The interplay between professional identities and age, gender and ethnicity. Pragmatics, 22, 193–201.Google Scholar
Vandergriff, I. (2013). “My major is English, believe it or not”—Participant orientations in nonnative/native text chat. CALICO Journal, 30, 393–409.Google Scholar
van Lier, L. (2000). Constraints and resources in classroom talk: Issues in equality and symmetry. In Candlin, C. N. & Mercer, N. (eds.), English language teaching in its social context: A reader (pp. 90–107). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Vossen, G., & Hagemann, S. (2007). Unleashing Web 2.0: From concepts to creativity. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.comGoogle Scholar
Warschauer, M., & Grimes, D. (2007). Audience, authorship, and artifact: The emergent semiotics of Web 2.0. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 27, 1–23.Google Scholar
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zheng, D., & Newgarden, K. (2012). Rethinking language learning: Virtual worlds as a catalyst for change. International Journal of Learning and Media, 3, 13–36.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, D. H. (1998). Discoursal identities and social identities. In Antaki, C. & Widdicombe, S. (eds.), Identities in talk (pp. 87–106). London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar