Over the past year I’ve spent time working with Dr. Martha Castaneda from Miami University of Ohio editing a special themed issue of the Tapestry Journal. The journal is released openly online, and provides guidance for literacy and language educators.

The articles in this special issue of Tapestry provide scholars and practitioners with a set of focused theoretical and empirical pieces that explore current digital literacy practices for working with English Learners (ELs). From expanding the theoretical framework and ensuring best practices are followed when teaching digital literacies to ELs to intervention studies examining the use of digital literacies by teachers with their
own students as well as for personal cultural and language growth, this special issue will give and provide the reader with questions to ponder and tools necessary to use promising technologies when working with ELs. Please feel free to use the links below to access the publications.

Exploring New Paths to Academic Literacy for English Language Learners

Mayra C. Daniel and Dong-Shin Shin, propose a revised paradigm for understanding the role technology plays in learning in today’s digital world. Important for the journal’s audience, the authors encourage and provide specific examples on the selection and use of materials to raise the academic achievement of English Learner.

Please review an interview with Mayra Daniel below.

Please review an interview with Dong-Shin Shin below.

Microblogging: Using Digital Literacies to Engage Middle School English Learners

Carolyn J. Stuff and Susan Casey, discuss theory and practice of using microblogging to facilitate English Learners’ competence and confidence in using technology. According to the authors, not only do online spaces provide students with an opportunity to share their own views, projects, student can also access and connect with others, including native speakers, who have similar interests.

Multiliteracy in Three English as a Second Language (ESL) Middle School Classrooms

Elena Andrei, presents an investigation of a multiliteracy teaching intervention. Using Caw’s (2006) definition of multiliteracy, the researcher found that teachers focused mainly on electronic literacy, rather than expanding the notion of literacy to include critical and socio-cultural literacy.

Please review an interview with Elena Andrei below.

Problems and Possibilities: Emergent Bilinguals and Multimodalities

Kathy Marie Bussert-Webb, we learn about the author’s experience in teaching and researching experiences of emergent bilinguals. The author argues that the learners lack mentorship when learning about digital tools. Finally, the author goes on to present promising digital practices that could specifically be used with this population of students.

Please review an interview with Kathy Marie Bussert-Webb below.

Toward Integrative CALL: A Progressive Outlook on the History, Trends, and Issues in CALL

Kasumi Yamazaki, the author proposes a re-conceptualized view of CALL that considers evidence from SLA theories and combines with Integrative CALL that views language as a social construct. A case is made for creating theory based CALL activities.

Please review an interview with Kasumi Yamazaki below.

Literacy in our Lives, Past, Present and Future: Exploring Digital Stories by UAE Pre-service Teacher

Patience A. Sowa, presents a research study on how pre-service teachers using multimodal digital storytelling. The author researched what the digital narratives reveal about the pre-service teachers’ experience as well as how the pre-service teachers used multimodal digital texts in becoming literate in Arabic and English.

Book Review – Language Learning With Technology: Ideas for integrating technology in the classroom

This special issue of Tapestry also contains a review by Joe Terantino and Susanne Kelley of a new book Language learning with technology: Ideas for integrating technology in the classroom by Graham Stanley (Cambridge University Press). The reviewers conclude that the volume is valuable for ways to integrate technology in the language classroom.

 

Image CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Reidab