Abstract
This chapter makes an argument for bridging the gap between Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Literacy Studies from the perspective of so-called transmodalities, i.e. ways of using language that merge and blur the modalities of writing, speaking, listening, and reading. This argument is based on data from a qualitative case study that describes the transmodal practices of two trilingual high school students in a German classroom in the Midwestern US. More precisely, the study investigated how the high school students Jana and Karina (both pseudonyms), users of English, Latvian, and German, engaged in activities that mixed and blurred oral and literacy modalities in their German classroom. In addition, their multiple investments as language learners were examined. Findings showed that it was common for the two students to transgress and blur the boundaries of modalities, especially between writing and oral modes (“writing-speaking”). This helped them enact and display their investment in swift and accurate task completion as part of their good student identities, but could at times also threaten these investments. Transmodalities further played an important role in students’ navigating of their investments in their social standing and peer relationships.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Although, in the US, “world language education” and “modern language education” are becoming common alternatives, foreign language education is still used to refer to programs that offer language courses for non-L1-users, for example in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Mandarin. It is also still in the name of the biggest professional organization of the field, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
References
Arkoudis, S., & Love, K. (2008). Imagined communities in senior school mathematics: Beyond issues of English language ability. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 18(1), 71–90.
Bartlett, L. (2007). To seem and to feel: Situated identities and literacy practices. Teachers College Record, 109(1), 51–69.
Bigelow, M., & Watson, J. (2013). Literacy, and orality in L2 learning. In S. M. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 461–475). New York: Routledge.
Byrd Clark, J. (2008). So why do you want to teach French? Representations of multilingualism and language investment through a reflexive critical sociolinguistic ethnography. Ethnography and Education, 3(1), 1–16.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Psychology Press.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Multiliteracies: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An international journal, 4(3), 164–195.
Cumming, A. (1992). Instructional routines in ESL composition teaching: A case study of three teachers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 1(1), 17–35.
Ennser-Kananen, J. (2014). The right to be multilingual: How two trilingual students construct their linguistic legitimacy in a German classroom. Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
Ennser-Kananen, J. (2018). “That German stuff”: Negotiating linguistic legitimacy in a foreign language classroom. Journal of Language and Education, 4(1), 18–30.
Gao, X., Cheng, H., & Kelly, P. (2008). Supplementing an uncertain investment? Chinese alliances for English language learning. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 18(1), 9–29.
Gee, J. P. (1986). Orality and literacy: From the savage mind to ways with words. TESOL Quarterly, 20(4), 719–746.
Gee, J. P. (2015). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (5th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Gu, Q., & Maley, A. (2008). Changing places: A study of Chinese students in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication, 8(4), 224–245.
Harklau, L. (2002). The role of writing in classroom second language acquisition. Journal of Second Language Writing, 11(4), 329–350.
Hornberger, N. H. (Ed.). (2003). Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Kern, R., & Schultz, J. M. (2005). Beyond orality: Investigating literacy and the literary in second and foreign language instruction. The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 381–392.
Kinginger, C. (2004). Alice doesn’t live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity reconstruction. In A. Pavlenko & A. Blackledge (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 219–242). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kress, G. R. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London: Routlegde.
Lotherington, H., & Jenson, J. (2011). Teaching multimodal and digital literacy in L2 settings: New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 226–246.
Mackey, A., & Philp, J. (1998). Conversational interaction and second language development: Recasts, responses, and red herrings? The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 338–356.
Nicholas, H., Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2001). Recasts as feedback to language learners. Language Learning, 51(4), 719–758.
Norton, P. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9–31.
Norton, B. (2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation. Bristol: Multilingual matters.
Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412–446.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Pavlenko, A. (2002). Poststructuralist approaches to the study of social factors in second language learning and use. In V. Cook (Ed.), Portraits of the L2 user (pp. 277–302). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Pittaway, D. S. (2004). Investment and second language acquisition. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies: An International Journal, 1(4), 203–218.
Pomerantz, A. (2008). “Tú Necesitas Preguntar en Español”: Negotiating good language learner identity in a Spanish classroom. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 7(3–4), 253–271.
Potowski, K. (2007). Language and identity in a dual immersion school. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Rowsell, J., & Walsh, M. (2011). Rethinking literacy education in new times: Multimodality, multiliteracies, and new literacies. Brock Education Journal, 21(1), 53–62.
Scribner, S., & Cole, M. (1981). Unpackaging literacy. In M. F. Whiteman (Ed.), Writing: The nature, development, and teaching of written communication (pp. 71–87). New York: Routledge.
Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2002). Should I stay or should I go? Investigating Cambodian women’s participation and investment in adult ESL programs. Adult Education Quarterly, 53(1), 9–26.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (Eds.). (1997). Grounded theory in practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Tannen, D. (1980). Implications of the oral/literate continuum for cross-cultural communication. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Current issues in bilingual education: Georgetown University round table on languages and linguistics (pp. 326–347). Washington: Georgetown University.
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–93.
Watson, Jill. 2010. Interpreting across the abyss: A hermeneutic exploration of the initial literacy development by high school English language learners with limited formal schooling. Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
Weissberg, R. (2005). Talking about writing: Cross-modality research and second language speaking/writing connections. In P. K. Matsuda & T. Silva (Eds.), Second language writing research: Perspectives on the process of knowledge construction (pp. 93–104). New York: Routledge.
Williams, J. (2012). The potential role (s) of writing in second language development. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(4), 321–331.
Wortham, S. (2003). Curriculum as a resource for the development of social identity. Sociology of Education, 76, 228–246.
Wortham, S. (2004a). From good student to outcast: The emergence of a classroom identity. Ethos, 32(2), 164–187.
Wortham, S. (2004b). The interdependence of social identification and learning. American Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 715–750.
Wortham, S. (2009). Learning identity: The joint emergence of social learning and academic identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ennser-Kananen, J. (2019). “No, I’m Not Reading”: How Two Language Learners Enact Their Investments by Crossing and Blurring the Boundaries of Literacy and Orality. In: Bagga-Gupta, S., Golden, A., Holm, L., Laursen, H., Pitkänen-Huhta, A. (eds) Reconceptualizing Connections between Language, Literacy and Learning. Educational Linguistics, vol 39. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26994-4_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26994-4_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26993-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26994-4
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)