School of something
FACULTY OF OTHER
Exploring the digital literacy practices
of newly arrived Syrian refugees
"Norskkonferansen", national conference on Norwegian as
Second Language
06.04.2017
Stefan Vollmer
[email protected]
Overview
Introduction
(1) Theory – Conceptions of Literacies
(2) Research – Data Samples
(3) Practice – Implications for language teaching
(4) Q & A
(1) Conceptions of Literacies
 What is literacy?
School of something
1.
Conceptions
of Literacies
FACULTY
OF OTHER
What we need to do is to ‘problematize’ literacy, to
show that it is not something that can be neatly and
easily defined, that any definition is likely to be
contested.
(Baynham, 1995:6)
Literacy, Literacies?
• Critique of ‘skill based’ or ‘universal’ definitions of literacy
• Street (1995, 2003) Literacy varies from one context to another and from
one culture to another
• “We decided that the outcomes of our discussions could be encapsulated
in one word – multiliteracies – a word we chose to describe two
important arguments [...]: the multiplicity of communications channels
and media, and the increasing saliency of cultural and linguistic
diversity." NLG (1996:63) (MXIT, supervernacular)
• Literacy is…”linked to cultural and power structures” (Velghe/Blommaert,
2014:90)
• Warschauer (2009:127f) “[…] Literacy Studies focuses on the kinds of
underrecognized literacy practices that occur in the home, community,
and other non-school settings; this perspective enables [to] […]
understand literacy practices that are often ignored or derided in society
at large […].” (Pearl – church life)
Towards an understanding of
Literacy Practices
from skill-based, monolithic, and decontextualized conception
of literacy
multilayered, multimodal, and plural take on literacy, which
takes social and cultural implications into consideration,
understands literacy as a wider social practice, and
acknowledges changing communications environments, where
literacy practices increasingly occur online, in the digital sphere
 notion of literacy practices and digital literacy practices
(2) Research – Data Samples
Digital Literacy Practices among
minority groups
Research regarding
digital literacy practices
of adult migrant
language and literacy
learners is scarce!
Digital Literacy Practices among
minority groups
Synopsis of current research:
1. Most information needs (settlement, housing, employment, health, and
education) of refugee migrants are negotiated online (Alam and
Imran, 2015). Smartphones and the Internet in general support
integration, information gathering, and resettling processes (Gilhooly
and Lee, 2014; Alam and Imran, 2015; Omerbasic, 2015),
2. Smartphones and access to the Internet help maintain relationships
and communication pathways on a local, national, and transnational
scale (Alam and Imran, 2015)
3. The Internet and mobile phones trigger informal language and literacy
learning processes (e.g. Blommaert and Velghe, 2012; Velghe and
Blommaert, 2014).
Context: Ongoing Doctoral
Research

Ethnographically informed and situated research explores newly
arrived Syrian refugees’ digital literacy practices, particularly those
displayed on smartphones and via social media. Over a data collection
phase of over six months, I followed three key participants’ trajectories
of re-settlement and re-integration, tracing and documenting their efforts
and daily experiences in reclaiming their new lives.
Data Samples
Example 1: Aban’s use of Google Translate
• Aban (mid 30s) is a plumber from Homs. He arrived
with his family in Leeds in early 2016. Prior to
coming to the UK, Aban had no experience in written
or spoken English.
• Pilot data is from May 2016. Aban uses Google
Translate to to translate my (English) interview
questions.
Aban: Google Translate
Why did you want to
come to England?
Google Translate
• Aban: expert user
• Fluid
online
translanguaging
practices (“Before I bought the
computer used phone”)
• Use of multimodal features such as
‘voice function’
• Integration
of
a
variety
of
technologies; ‘sharing function’,
shares translation directly on social
media or text messengers.
Data Samples
Example 2: Rojan’s use of YouNow
• Rojan (early 30s) is a Kurdish hospital lab technician
from Aleppo. He arrived with his brother and mother
in Leeds in the summer of 2016. Prior to coming to
the UK, Rojan had foundational knowledge in written
or spoken English. Rojan is an expert speaker of
Kurdish, Arabic, and Turkish. Currently, Rojan is
studying for the IELTS exam to be able to study in
the UK.
• Data is from January 2017. Rojan uses YouNow app
to improve his multilingual repertoire.
S: Stefan
R: Rojan
S: Oh it's live?
R: It's online. Live
S: OK, so this is
happening right
now?
R: Yeah. This is
R:I like that
because it's big
image.
S:You can just
tune in!
R:I can listen, I
can chat
something. This
is nice
S: You can say something!?
R: 'Hello'. 'How are you?'
S: Does she react?
R: You can ask something, if
you ask her
S: What do they talk about?
R: ‘How old are you?'
'Where are you?'
R: It's nice
(live?). It's
nice and I
learn
English.
Because I
listen
Data Samples
Example 3: The Syrian Community of Leeds Facebook
Group (SCLFBG)
• SCLFBG: Public Facebook Group, close to 1000 members.
Instigated by Saad, a a well-established Syrian born Leeds
resident, who has lived in the UK with his family for over a
decade.
• Data: Interview with Saad and content analysis of 200
multilingual posts
SCLFBG – Interview with Saad
Members use the group to find information [a]bout Leeds, about
activities, about things that we run through the community. Jobs, any
job offers, any queries they have that might be answered through our
Facebook group. So, sometimes we receive information or we receive
a question from somebody. We put that, if anybody’s got any
comment or if he knows the answer, he can put it in the answer
straight away, or they can discuss with each other. […] Lots of them
[Syrians], they don’t actually have a specific email […]. They, all the
time, like to communicate through Facebook. On the other hand we
can [upload] some photos. Photos can speak more than a hundred
words. [It is] easier to communicate on Facebook, than sending an
attachment. On Facebook you can reach about 800 members straight
away. By email, you cannot guarantee that you are reaching all of
them or they are interested in reading the emails […]. On Facebook,
it’s easier for me to use my phone for the Arabic keyboard. So I put
whatever I want in Arabic.
Data Samples
Content Analysis of 200 posts
Themes
(trans)national news / policy /
information relevant to newcomers in
the UK (46)
Examples
Brexit, council housing, NHS, Visa
application, Travel Ban guidelines, new
regulations on flying
Social events and ‘the Syrian Kitchen’ Family entertainment day, Trip to the
and the Syrian community in Leeds
Yorkshire Dales, Games Exchange
(47)
Day, Arabic School and Homework
club
Employment and Further Education
Formal and informal job offers in
opportunities (28)
Leeds, upcoming employment fairs
ESOL and English Language
provision (13)
Upcoming ESOL classes, idioms of
the week
New life in England (12)
Gas, electricity, and Internet provider
help, rules on circumcision,
Informal DVLA driving classes (7)
Bilingual informal sessions on DVLA
theory exam
(3) Implications
The data suggests:
•
Refugees can be expert users of ICTs, apps, and other online resources
concerned with daily translanguaging and informal multilingual language
practices
•
‘bottom-up’ platforms, such as FB groups are powerful, as they are fast
paced and well connected spaces. Due to its flat hierarchy and inclusive
layout, needs, wants, but also expertise of all members can be made
vocal almost instantly
•
social media platforms are spaces, where adult migrant language learners
are not only confronted with authentic and meaningful language but also
become producers of language
Newcomers’ daily lives
Language and
integration
classes
Daily engagement and
confrontation with new
language and issues
related to integration and
settlement through
informal online spaces
Takk!
References
Alam, K., & Imran, S. (2015). The digital divide and social inclusion among refugee migrants. Information
Technology & People, 28(2), 344-365.
Baynham, M. (1995). Literacy practices: investigating literacy in social contexts. London and New York:
Longman.
Blommaert , J., & Velghe, F. (2012). Learning a supervernacular: Textspeak in a South African
township. Papers in Cutlure Studies, 22. www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-researchgroups/Babylon/tpcs/
Gilhooly, D., & Lee, E. (2014). The Role of Digital Literacy Practices on Refugee Resettlement. Journal
of Adoloscent & Adult Literacy, 57(5), 387-396.
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new Media Age. London: Routledge.
Omerbašic´, D. (2015). Literacy as a Translocal Practice, Digital Multimodal Literacy Practices among Girls
resettled as Refugees. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(6), 472-481.
Street, B. (1995). Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy in Development, Ethnography and
Education. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Street, B. (2003). What's "new" in New Literacy Studies? Critical approaches to literacy in theory and
practice. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 5(2), 77-91.
The New London Group. (1996). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.
Velghe, F., & Blommaert, J. (2014). Emergent New Literacies and the Mobile Phone: informal Language
Learning, Voice and Identity in a South African Township. In B. Gerathy & Warschauer, M. (2009). digital
literacy studies: progress and prospects. In M. Baynham & M. Prinsloo (Eds.), the future of literacy studies.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stefan Vollmer
University of Leeds
Email: [email protected]
Blog: https://stefanvollmerblog.wordpress.com/
Publications: Vollmer, S. (forthcoming) An Interview with James
Simpson on translanguaging and ESOL. Bellaterra Journal of
Teaching & Language Learning & Literature. 10(2).
Vollmer, S. (forthcoming) Digital Citizenship for Syrian refugees.
In Cooke, M. and Peutrell, R. (eds) Brokering Britain. Multilingual
Matters. Bristol.
(4) Questions?