Interrogating critical digital literacies in the Chinese context: insights from an ethnographic case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building on Darvin and Norton’s (2015. “Identity and a Model of Investment in Applied Linguistics.” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35:36–56) model of investment that recognises the intersection of identity, capital, and ideology, this ethnographic case study traces a Chinese EFL learner – Frances (Pseudonym) and examines how she transcends the barriers of entry to engage in critical digital literacies in the wider transcultural and transnational digital world. The analysis of data from multiple sources reveals that what constitutes Frances’s criticality as a digitally literate person includes: (1) the stance she adopted to interrogate technological affordances and constraints; (2) the great deal of capital she was able to negotiate in the digital wilds; (3) the positions she agentively took for self-expression and equitable communication in the multicultural, diverse, and unjust world. The findings also highlight that critical digital literacies can present a socially imaginable and cosmopolitan future for Chinese college students in the era of globalisation. Based on the discussion of these findings, a situated understanding of critical digital literacies and a critical digital pedagogy model are proposed to advance the agenda of critical digital language education in China and beyond.