suggested discussion questions for Friday study group (November 2)

Dear all,

Questions below are for the study group meeting on November 2 and are based on

Thorne, S. L., & Black, R. (2008). Language and literacy development in computer-mediated contexts and communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 28.

1. After discussing Warschauer (1998), the authors say “socially and/or professionally relevant “strong purpose activities” tend to be more productive and engaging for participants.” Can you explain why? What would these activities look like in concrete terms?

2. What kind of positioning and new identity do you see different groups of students assume in the studies reported at INTER-CLASS AND INTER-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS? Why did the students decide to take different positions and identities? Why is assuming new identities important here?

3. When it comes to ICL2E, what are the potential gains? What are some key areas of conflicts and tensions? What suggestions do the authors provide as to how to deal with the conflicts in terms of (1) the teacher’s role and (2) keeping the “right” perspective? As a classroom teacher, do you agree?

4. In the emerging technology section, the authors discuss how online communities provide ELL youth with new forums for taking on powerful authorial and social roles and aspirations for learning languages, through online games, “fan fictions” “school-sanctioned literacy and language learning practices” (Black, 2007, here on p. 26). The concept of agency (as in activity theory) seems to be a key issue here. I suggest that we focus our discussion on agency. For example, do you think our classroom teaching supports the learner’s agency differently from these emerging technologies? How?

Have a wonder-full week!

- Chin-chi