2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE)
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Mark Dressman
Abstract
This chapter makes an argument for the role of ethnographic play in the study of informal digital learning of English (IDLE) as a complement to the work of applied linguistic research. In most cases, the initial impulse to study IDLE is itself a result of researchers’ playful observation of youth learning English from engagement with a wide variety of digital media. IDLE is therefore a fundamentally cultural, anthropological phenomenon requiring a range of methods to be understood in its fullest context. A review of the history of ethnography presents its key practices as complementary to the more quantitative approaches of applied linguistics research. These include participant observation; analysis of artefacts; narrative, thick description; case study; grand theorization; and confession. An ethnographic approach also provides a check on reductionism, implications for language pedagogy, and assistance in building general knowledge about IDLE as a global, contextualised phenomenon. The chapter concludes with a “confessional” account of studying IDLE ethnographically in Morocco, illustrating again the need for the playfulness of ethnographic research as a complement to the temperance of careful measurement and design.
Abstract
This chapter makes an argument for the role of ethnographic play in the study of informal digital learning of English (IDLE) as a complement to the work of applied linguistic research. In most cases, the initial impulse to study IDLE is itself a result of researchers’ playful observation of youth learning English from engagement with a wide variety of digital media. IDLE is therefore a fundamentally cultural, anthropological phenomenon requiring a range of methods to be understood in its fullest context. A review of the history of ethnography presents its key practices as complementary to the more quantitative approaches of applied linguistics research. These include participant observation; analysis of artefacts; narrative, thick description; case study; grand theorization; and confession. An ethnographic approach also provides a check on reductionism, implications for language pedagogy, and assistance in building general knowledge about IDLE as a global, contextualised phenomenon. The chapter concludes with a “confessional” account of studying IDLE ethnographically in Morocco, illustrating again the need for the playfulness of ethnographic research as a complement to the temperance of careful measurement and design.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
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Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
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Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
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Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
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Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
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Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
-
Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
-
Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
-
Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
-
Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
-
Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
