Abstract
South Africa’s communication landscape has changed and is still changing because many previously disadvantaged areas have benefitted from the construction of roads, provision of electricity and installation of satellites. As a result, many previously disadvantaged learners have access to digital media in their homes. In this article, we argue that the immersion of many learners in digital media at home advances literacy achievement. Drawing on insights from cultural historical activity theory and multimodal social semiotics, we discuss the nature of learners’ digital resources at home and how these resources could be meaningfully and critically used to advance literacy. Data were collected from Grade 9 learners in two King Williams Town schools in the form of questionnaires, focus group discussions, informal Facebook-Messenger conversations, one-on-one interviews with teachers and lesson observations. The analysis of data shows that many learners in this study are becoming digitally literate, irrespective of their socio-economic status or rural–urban location. However, digital literacy does not seem to be used as a base to advance literacy as advocated in the new curriculum and assessment policy statements.
Highlights
The majority of post-apartheid South African learners struggle to achieve higher order cognitive levels in literacy as reported by the Progress International Reading Literacy Skills (Howie, van Staden, Tshele, Dowse & Zimmerman 2012)
This study demonstrated an awareness of ethical responsibilities and a commitment to ethical research processes, with ethical clearance approved by the committee of Rhodes University (G11M3009)
The study yielded a number of findings
Summary
The majority of post-apartheid South African learners struggle to achieve higher order cognitive levels in literacy as reported by the Progress International Reading Literacy Skills (Howie, van Staden, Tshele, Dowse & Zimmerman 2012). Drawing on insights from cultural historical activity theory and multimodal social semiotics, we discuss the nature of learners’ digital resources at home and how these resources could be meaningfully and critically used to advance literacy. This article draws on insights from the cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), digital/visual/media literacy and empirical evidence gathered from a Grade 9 learners’ questionnaire, focus group discussion, informal Facebook conversations, oneon-one teachers’ interviews and lesson observations to support this argument.
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