Chapter 12: Literacy in Digital Environments:Connecting Communities of Language Learners

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight issues regarding the reading/writing connection in foreign language education and to describe several recent research and pedagogical initiatives at San Diego State University that have explored this connection. These initiatives and research programs have been partially funded by the United States Department of Education, International Programs, Title VI, and by the City Heights Project, sponsored by Price Charities and San Diego State University. The element that the initiatives have in common is a refocusing on new populations of speakers (writers) and listeners (readers) engendered by widespread use of internet technologies and pedagogical approaches derived from social constructivist theory, primarily Vygotsky-based approaches, and from a decade of research into L2 computerized hypertextual reading.