The Role of Technology in Shaping Multilingual Language and Literacy Practices: Toward a Relational Pedagogy

This lecture was co-sponsored by LLRC
Date: Friday, October 2nd, 2015, 2:00-3:00 PM
Location: Poetry Center, Humanities 2001

Watch: The Role of Technology in Shaping Multilingual Languages and Literacy Practices

Lecture Abstract

Since the origins of writing, technology has always given people new ways to use and learn languages. This
talk will present examples of some ways that digital technologies are currently shaping language and literacy
practices in multilingual contexts. These changes raise important educational questions about how to deal with
new kinds of learners, new technologies, and new environments for language teaching. Rather than attempting
to distinguish between “new” literacies and “old” literacies (linked to "new" and "old" technologies), I propose an
approach that brings attention to relationships between current and past literacy practices in order to prepare
learners for the future. This approach involves reflection on how technologies and media influence the design of
communication and embody values and fundamental ideas about what communication is. The presentation will
develop a set of principles and goals for this educational approach, then propose ways to achieve those goals
through a "relational pedagogy" that focuses on how meanings emerge from interactions among material, social,
and individual resources.

About the Speaker: Richard Kern

Richard Kern is Professor of French and Director of the Berkeley Language Center at the University of California at Berkeley. He teaches courses in French linguistics, language, and foreign language pedagogy, and supervises graduate teaching assistants. His research interests include language acquisition, literacy, and relationships between language and technology. He is Associate Editor for Language Learning & Technology and Editor of the Teacher’s Forum section of L2 Journal. He is the author of Language, Literacy and Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2015).