Bilingualism, Cognitive Flexibility, and Electronic Literacy

Abstract

Electronic text (e-text) is any information displayed via a computer screen including audio, video, graphics, and the written word. As the amount of our reading and writing with electronic texts increases, so do the number of questions concerning the literacy implications of that activity. English Language Learners (ELLs) represent a rich window through which we can begin to glimpse the ways electronic texts are shaping the language and literacy of the electronic age. Given the special skills, abilities, and diversity of experiences of ELLs, we propose that the unique features of e-text can effectively interact with these qualities in such a way as to help us better understand both the goals, processes, and special characteristics of the bilingual experience and the acquisition of electronic literacy skills. Moreover, interaction of the emerging bilingual’s qualities with the unique features of electronic texts provides a novel perspective from which both evolving definitions of electronic literacy and second language and literacy instructional practices can be probed.