The aim of this module is to introduce digital language and literacy as an area of study. We will focus especially on Internet-based discourse, including for example e-mail messages, Twitter, discussion lists, chat, Social Network Sites, HTML and Web pages, blogging, and virtual communities. In this module, we will investigate the nature of digital text(s) as a Mode of Discourse, including the relation between text, meaning, human agency and technology.

Digital technology plays a prominent role in our everyday life, shaping – as well as being shaped by - the way we learn, work and live. According to JISC, an estimated 77% of UK jobs involve some form of information and communications technology (ICT) competence. This module explores the nature of language in the digital age and issues related to digital literacy. This includes considering the register and genre of various types of digital text (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, wikis, Tumblr, etc.), including the semiotic resources available and the relationship between text, meaning, human agency and technology. In doing so digital language will be explored in various contexts (e.g. personal, work, education).

This module will develop students’ understanding of some of the following areas: textually-mediated communication, digital research methods, digital language and literacies in social and historical contexts. It will also develop skills in applying linguistic theories, methodologies and tools, such as sociolinguistics, functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis to digital contexts.

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Identify the historical antecedents of contemporary communication technologies
• Give examples of legal issues relevant to digital literacy
• Describe the current status and evolution of language/s on the internet
• Find information online (text, video, audio, people, technology, expertise)
• Undertake text manipulation (e.g. mashups)
• Explain the difference between the dissemination and broadcast of information
• Analyse digital data and identify issues of research ethics in digital contexts
• Think critically
• Compare and contrast theoretical explanations

Skills:

• Summarise reading material
• Develop basic IT skills
• Author a digital document (using editing software or online templates)
• Retrieve information in a useful form (e.g. knowing about file formats, best practice in sharing information)
• Analyse digitally circulated media forms, e.g. texts transposed from one digital context to another (e.g. blog to Twitter, website to Youtube video)

Timetabled sessions include2 lectures and 1 seminar per week. During seminars, you will be developing digital literacy skills and gaining experience in online environments.Lectures are supplemented with visual support such as PowerPoint slides and handouts. These are made available to students via Learning Central. Audio and video content may be used in this module where appropriate to illustrate important concepts. Transcripts are provided where the audio or visual texts are analysed in detail or are a core element of the lecture/seminar.

• Summarise reading material
• Develop basic IT skills
• Author a digital document (using editing software or online templates)
• Retrieve information in a useful form (e.g. knowing about file formats, best practice in sharing information)
• Analyse digitally circulated media forms, e.g. texts transposed from one digital context to another (e.g. blog to Twitter, website to Youtube video)
• The module is also relevant to all the employability pathways.

This module is assessed by coursework only. There are two components to the coursework. The first involves a written plan of approximately 800 words which outlines the student's project, including a statement of aims, an outline and two annotated bibliography entries.  The second component is a written report of no more than 2400 words which demonstrates the student's ability to analyse digital media, summarise relevant literature, compare and contrast theoretical explanations and author a digital document (e.g. blog, website, wiki, hypertext essay).

The written plan is both formative and summative since the assessment is marked and students are given formative feedback in advance of the submission of the written research report. Detailed feedback is provided for the research report at the end of the module.  

The module is assessed according to the Assessment Criteria set out in the English Language and Communication Course Guide. Otherwise, there are no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Syllabus Content may include

• Historical context of digital text
• Text and Mode of discourse
• Writing and reading in the digital age
• Transmedia narratives
• Hypertext and hypermodality
• Digital contexts, communities and networks, e.g. Twitter, Social Network Sites, Blogs and Wikis
• E-grammar (including language play and creativity)
• Methodology and ethics in digital language research
• Professionalism and codes of practice in digital texts
• Technology and text

Baym, N. (2010) Personal Connections in the Digital Age.  Cambridge, UK/Maiden, USA: Polity Press.

Jones, R & Hafner, C. (2012) Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction.  London and New York: Routledge.

Myers, G. 2009  The Discourse of Blogs and Wikis. London: Continuum.

Page, R. (2012) Stories and Social Media: Identities and Interaction. London: Routledge.

Thomas, M. (Ed.). (2011). Deconstructing Digital Natives: Young People, Technology and the New Literacies. London: Routledge.

Thurlow, C. & Mroczek, K. (eds) (2011) Digital Discourse: Language in the New Media. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

There are also very useful online journals you are expected to check regularly for up-to-date research in this area:

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.  Available online at:  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1083-6101

Language @ Internet.Available online at: http://www.languageatinternet.org/articles

New Media & Society

Discourse, Context and Media