Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity, Article Critique Example

Lam, Wan Shun Eva (2009). Multiliteracies on instant Messaging negotiating local, translocal, and transnational affiliations: A case of an adolescent immigrant. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4) 377-397.

What Does the Story Report

Multiliteracies on Instant Messaging n Negotiating Local, Translocal, and Transnational Affiliations: A Case of an Adolescent Immigrant by Wan Shun Eva Lam is acase study about the instant messaging practices of a young girl who moved to the United States from China. The study was a qualitative investigation that studied the development of multiliteracies by use of new media. The data was conducted by collecting the screen recordings of the girl’s conversations via media. The data collected suggested that the girl illustrated a process of social and semiotic use of her native language and that of her second language. The fact that she continued a transnational network of friends is phenomenal. Not only did she maintain her old friendships, but she integrated new friendships using her new language. Thus, she was working diligently to build a language repertoire. This study presents a closer look at how technology is used in aiding literacy competency.

The Questions

The researcher sought to answer the following questions: (a) how do migrant youth of Chinese origin use digital media to negotiate social relationships with diverse linguistic and cultural communities across countries? and (b) How does participation in multilingual and transgeographic online networks affect youths’ literacy use and learning; in particular, how are diverse linguistic resources mobilized to develop social networks across countries?

The Study/Participants

The information for this study was collected from a larger comparative study. The participants were recruited by survey and screening interviews. A transnational communication survey was conducted at high schools that had a large number of immigrant students. About 19 percent of the original study was from China, and amazingly, and 73 percent of those stated that they used the internet to communicate with friends and family in China.  Of those students, 20 of them were chosen who had stated they used transnational communication. The key participant became known as Kaiyee, a 17 year old girl who had recently migrated to the United States with her parents. She was from Shanghai, China. She was chosen because the researchers felt an instant rapport with Kaiyee and because she was not a native speaker of Cantonese, which was the dominant language of Chinese immigrant communities.  The researcher felt that she was a great candidate because her case would show how multilingualism networks can bridge gaps of social and geographical spaces. The interviews and data were collected over a period of 7 months. There were home observations, semi structured interviews, screen recordings of IM exchanges and retrospective reflection on the exchanges. Kaiyee used two different IM program- Windows Messenger and Tencent QQ. According to the passage, Windows Live Messenger is an IM client developed by Microsoft and has a user demographic that spans the globe. Tencent QQ (QQ for short; Tencent Holdings Limited, Shenzhen, China) is the most popular IM program in China and has been used in South Africa for several years. Kaiyee had started using QQ in China and adopted Windows Live Messenger after coming to the United States so she could use it to communicate with people both locally and overseas.

Timing/ Sequence

The conversations between Kaiyee and the researcher took place mostly in one-on-one conversation. The voice conversations were recorded via a voice recorder. Later, the researcher wrote field notes in a narrative form. The narrative explained what was seen and heard during the observation. All of Kaiyee’s friends were informed that she was participating in a study. They agreed to have the conversations recorded or screen shot. More than 14 hours of screen recording were made. The one difficulty that was encountered was the fact that there was a 12 hour time difference between China and the area of the United States that Kaiyee lived in. As a result, very little real time recordings of many of Kaiyee’s IM conversations. Consequently, the researcher was never able to record any conversations with Kaiyee childhood friend, Rong.  However, Kaiyee provided the researcher with a 50 minute recorded dialogue on her IM program. There were a total of eight interviews completed in person. Each interview lasted between one hour and one and a half hours. These were in addition to the observational recordings.

Data Analysis

According to the researcher, data analysis involved using qualitative procedures of inductive and interpretive coding, cross-comparison of codes, and triangulation across data”, which she studied from Charmaz, 2006; Coffey & Atkinson, 1996).  The analysis of the data was based upon Analysis was interview transcripts, recordings of 600 entries of IM exchanges, and field notes and audio-recorded transcripts from observations. The theoretical perspectives led to an interpretive frame for which the researcher developed codes. For example, concepts such as social affiliation, design of online networks, social and semiotic resources, hybridity in language use and representation, and mobilizing of resources across networks, were used to identify certain data. The researcher used a method of comparison to look for commonalities between varying pieces of data. These commonalties were signaled by recurrence of repetitive codes and patterns across several media types. Those patterns were then identified and compared to more complex data. This processed continued several time over and more complex similarities were located.  The researcher analyzed how multiple dialects were used in various IM exchanges within social networks.  Next, she analyzed the use of both standard and non-standard languages that represented various forms of English and Chinese orthographies.  Adhering to Sebba (2007) and Androutsopoulos (2000), the researcher adopted a social and cultural, rather than a technological view of orthography. The researcher felt that adequate communication was far more than just the use of standard conventions of writing. For each social group, practices and linguistic variations are prone.

Results

Certainly, Kaiyee’s ability cannot be based solely upon information gathered from her media outlets. However, the data that was collected suggests that her interactions with multiple languages and cultures have increased her linguistic abilities. Most immigrants find themselves shuttling between what is considered standard English and the bits and pieces of their old language they have integrated into the second language. According to the article,

“Her linguistic and literate repertoire includes standard American English, hip-hop English, the Shanghainese dialect that she used in her family, Cantonese and Mandarin that predominated in her immigrant community, and both Mandarin and Shanghainese that connected her to people and events in China, particularly her hometown Shanghai. Such a linguistic and literate repertoire is associated with the diverse multilingual mileux experienced by the youth across local and translocal and blended forms in her IM writing as she navigated the complex linguistic and semiotic economies within which her social networks were embedded”.

As a result of this infiltration, Kaiyee’s language is a plethora of many different vernaculars. Historically, Cantonese has been the dominant language in Chinese immigrant communities

Critique

This study is qualitative because it seeks to determine if a particular method will alter the outcome of a usual phenomenon. The use of the media technology and communication technique may alter the outcome of language used by immigrants. The researcher chose this participant in part because she too, was once an immigrant from China. She was able to relate the issues Kaiyee was facing. So, this research was very personal to her. However, She did not allow that to interfere with her collection of data. As a result, I do not believe there were any conflicts of interest. I believe the information was presented in such a way that was easily read and understood. However, I would have liked to see a more in-depth description of exactly how the programs were used. It did not specify which techniques were being used to correct and initiate language progression.

Most Powerful

The most powerful part of this research can be summed up in the following quote:

“Although the concept of multiple literacies allows us to recognize the diverse and socially specific practices of reading and writing, scholars associated with the New London Group (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kalantzis & Cope, 2001; New London Group, 1996) proposed the concept of multiliteracies to describe the literate abilities to navigate and negotiate across diverse social practices and text forms that are integral to our changing societal contexts”.

I feel this is so important because within the school systems, more traditional ways are being used to integrate immigrant students into their second language. However, this information shows that it might be so much easier if the child is allowed to communicate with peers of different language backgrounds. If this method is used, teachers do not have to worry about implementing reward strategies or other extrinsic ways of enticing students to want to learn. These students will be driven by the desire to communicate with each other. The reward is the gift of communication and friendship. My goal as an educator is not only to foster learning of content, but to do it in such a way that   helps students to develop a deep love and respect for knowledge, others, their environment and the environments and cultures of their global neighbors. I hope to create an atmosphere where the voice of each student is heard regardless to the language he/she speaks; students should feel free to express themselves. For me, teaching provides an opportunity for constant learning and growth, and sometimes that can be a fun experience. One of my hopes as an educator is to instill a love of learning in my students as I share my own passion for learning with them. I feel there is a need for compassionate, resilient, and committed individuals who are excited about working with children and young adults. In our competitive society it is important for students to not only receive an adequate education, but to work with someone who is aware of and sensitive to their individual needs.  Immigrant students are unique and learn in various ways, just as native English speakers do. I value others culture and will always strive to be the best educator that I can be. Finally, it teaches us that sometime education does not have to be so structured. This was really a good example of incidental teaching. The student was able to learn and improve by chance occurrence.

After reading this article any educator would be inspired to rethink the way teaching takes place. Likewise, students often learn better from each other than they do from adults. This is a prime example because Kaiyee was able to learn from her peers, environment, and essentially the use of social media and messaging outlets. However, I would like to see this research completed from the opposite perspective. I would like to see this research completed on a native English speaker who is learning a new language in a foreign country. Will the media usage have the same affect on native English speakers? This was a great read.

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