The Impact of an International Multimedia Writing Exchange on Adolescent Language Learners’ Literacy Development

Paige Ware

This project will examine how an international online multimedia literacy exchange between adolescent English language learners both engages the students with literacy and impacts their writing in English. The study will be conducted across two years. In the first year, adolescent English language learners (ELLs) in the U.S. and adolescent English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Spain will self-select to participate as part of an after-school program. In the second year, students in the U.S. and Spain will participate as part of their required English language arts class in school. Such a two-stage, after-school and in-school, design allows for a comparison of (1) how adolescent language learners engage with an international online multimedia exchange in both types of settings, and (2) how such engagement ultimately impacts their writing in English. The study will provide a linguistically-grounded analysis of how innovative uses of technology can impact adolescents’ literacy engagement and writing development in the contexts of both after-school and in-school settings. As a step in helping close the “second-level digital divide,” the findings will document how language growth takes place when youth are engaged in purposeful writing with peers using digital literacy. For teachers seeking ways to draw on new digital literacy in their instruction, the findings should provide evidence that the type of engagement and language use generated around multimedia literacy can also lead to growth on students’ more traditional pencil-and-paper writing skills.

About Paige Ware

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