Fandom and online interest groups

Within the scope of technology for language education, fandom and online interest communities encompass a range of affinity groups in which individuals can develop skills and knowledge potentially supporting language learning or language mastery relevant to use in online and offline contexts. Initial work on online interest groups investigated individual and collaborative literacy practices and identity development among users of pre-Web 2.0 technologies such as Usenet discussions and personal fan websites. More recent research on online interest groups, language learning and use looks to the creative work and gameplay of international and multilingual users whose communities have flourished as a result of Web 2.0 technologies, including fanfiction archives, gaming forums, and wikis, and more general social media platforms. Altogether, studies of fandom and online interest groups within the area of language, education, and technology have revealed ways in which language learners and language users make use of these online communities for language learning, identity work, and the development of other skills and knowledge and which hold implications for the integration of technology and digital practices in language teaching

“I Do Not Need Help to Define Myself” The Self-Location of Somali Immigrant Youth through Discourse and Agency

As she struggled to take the larger than average step up to the makeshift stage causing her skirt to rise off the floor, the eyes were upon her. As she collected herself and looked at the familiar faces in the brightly colored room, the eyes were upon her. Poem in hand, she prepared to speak