In this presentation I offer insights into newly arrived refugees’ everyday lives and their quotidian digital literacy practices; more specifically, I explore, how three male Syrian newcomers utilize mobile technologies (i.e. smartphones) and online resources, such as multilingual social media platforms and instant messaging services, to support processes of settlement (e.g. passing a UK driver’s test or finding employment).
Drawing on data from my doctoral research, I examine a selection of interactional and visual data, such as audio-recorded, informal conversations and screen recordings of smartphones, which all provide insights into my key participants’ diverse multilingual and multimodal digital literacy practices. Data collection concerning this ethnography took place over an eight month period at different sites and in different spaces, varying noticeably in their statuses of authority and officialdom: community centres, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classrooms, places of worship, and the private homes of my participants were among the data collection sites.
My research project offers implications for adult language teachers and practitioners and others, who are concerned with newly arrived migrants; my findings indicate that mobile technologies, such as smartphones, play key roles in supporting and facilitating settlement processes (e.g. finding work). Thus, I put forward a technology inclusive pedagogy, which acknowledges the significance of mobile technologies and draws on the quotidian multimodal and multilingual digital literacy practices of our adult language students.
Om presentatören
Stefan Vollmer is an ethnographer and doctoral researcher at the University of Leeds, who is currently researching the digital literacy practices of newly arrived Syrian refugees in the United Kingdom. Stefan has a teaching background in language education and applied linguistics and has taught students of all ages in a range of countries in Europe and elsewhere.
Målgrupp
Av intresse för: lärare inom språkintro på gymnasieskolan och inom svenska för invandrare och vuxenutbildning i övrigt
Nyckelord: digital litteracitet, litteracitetspraktiker, mobiltelefoner