Young people being literate in a digital space: what can textspeak tell us?
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Date
2015
Authors
Wiebesiek, Lisa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
Recognising the challenge facing many young South Africans in accessing affordable,
appropriate reading material and content, the FunDza Literacy Trust produces texts,
including novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction written for a young adult
audience. The focus in this article is on the short stories which are made available via a
cellular telephone-based social networking platform called Mxit. Users of the FunDza
Mxit platform are able to read short stories and can also comment on what they
have read on interactive discussion boards. In their comments on these discussion
boards, users make extensive use of a form of written English to which I will refer as
textspeak. The discussion boards create a digital space in which users can engage
in literate activities that encompass both the traditional aspects of literacy (the
mechanics of reading and writing), and the social aspects of literacy (the ideologies
and power relations present and represented in a text). Using critical literacy as a
framework, and a qualitative textual analysis approach, I analyse one short story and
the user comments from the interactive discussion board on that story. My analysis
of the user comments suggests three themes: 1) using textspeak, young people are
engaging in literate activities; 2) this engagement demonstrates a promising level
of literacy among the users; and 3) the users are engaging critically with texts and
their social messaging and functions, and, therefore, are displaying a level of critical
literacy. From this analysis, I conclude that there is potential in using digital platforms
like the FunDza Mxit platform, and forms of language like textspeak, to encourage
young people in South Africa to develop critical literacy about important issues that
affect their lives, such as gender and sexuality, agency, and risk and vulnerability.
Description
Keywords
Agency, Critical literacy, FunDza Literacy Trust, Literate activities, Mxit
Citation
Wiebesiek, L. (2015). Young people being literate in a digital space: what can textspeak tell us?. Perspectives in Education, 33(4), 107-120.