Online fanfiction communities provide adolescent English‐language learners (ELLs) with a forum for engaging in an array of sophisticated literacy practices. This article draws on constructs from literacy studies and second‐language acquisition as conceptual bases for exploring the writing, reviewing, and social practices in an online fanfiction community. Analyses focus on how the networked structure of such sites facilitates English‐language learning and promotes writing by providing ELLs with access to a broad audience of readers and multiple community writing resources. By highlighting the social and interactive nature of writing in this space, connections among language, literacy, and identity are emphasized. In conclusion, the author explores some of the possibilities that networked computer environments offer for developing authentic, interactive writing activities in the classroom.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of research and pedagogical experimentation relating to the uses of technology in second (L2) and foreign language education. The majority of this research has usefully described and examined the efficacy of in-class and directly classroomrelated uses of technology. This article broadens the scope of inquiry to include L2 and foreign language-related uses of technology that extend into the interstitial spaces between instructed L2 contexts and entirely out-of-school noninstitutional realms of freely chosen digital engagement. Two demographically and sociologically significant phenomena are examined in detail; the first focuses on participation in Internet interest communities such as fan fiction and virtual diaspora community spaces and the second describes a continuum of three-dimensional graphically rendered virtual environments and online games. A review of research in each of these areas reveals extended periods of language socialization into sophisticated communicative practices and demonstrates the salience of creative expression and language use as tools for identity development and management. In the final section of the article, we suggest a number of possibilities for synergistically uniting the analytic rigor of instructed L2 education with the immediacy and vibrancy of language use in digital vernacular contexts.IN THE FOREWORD TO A RECENT BOOK EXamining knowledge and learning processes using technology, the acclaimed information technologist John Seely Brown (2008) described a number of differences between predictable and relatively static traditional literacies and emergent literacies that accompany new media, Web 2.0 tools, 1 and other digitally mediated practices, stating that:

This article draws on constructs in second-language acquisition, literacy, cultural, and media studies as theoretical bases for examining how networked technologies and fan culture provide a young English language learner (ELL) with a site for developing her English language and writing skills. During this process, she also develops an online identity as a popular, multiliterate writer. To understand how this happens, the notion of identity is explored as a fluid construct that shifts over time with this ELL's long-term participation in a fan community. Popular and fan culture are also examined as points of affiliation and as dialogic resources that she appropriates, both in her writing and in her interactions with other fans. In so doing, the article demonstrates how popular culture and technology converge to provide a context in which this adolescent ELL is able to develop a powerful, transcultural identity, discursively constructed through the different cultural perspectives and literacies that she and other fans from across the globe bring to this space.

What are the affordances of online gaming environments for second language learning and socialization? To answer this question, this qualitative study examines two college-age Spanish learners' experiences participating in the Spanish language version of the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Using data culled from participant observation, interviews, logs of in-game chat, and student journal entries, we describe how the design of the game, cultural norms for its use, and participants' own abilities interact to afford distinct opportunities for language learning for these two students. Discussion focuses on how online games might be used for language teaching and learning in ways that take full advantage of the medium's affordances for both experienced and inexperienced players.

This article draws from literature on language, literacy studies, and 21st century skills to explore how English‐language learning (ELL) youths, through their engagement with digital technologies and popular media, are developing the sort of proficiencies that have been identified as crucial to effective participation in an increasingly globalized and technology‐oriented society. Analysis focuses on websites related to media fandom and highlights the sophisticated ways in which ELL youths make use of new technologies to learn, create, and communicate with other youths from across the globe. In conclusion, the article explores the potential implications of youths' out‐of‐school practices for 21st century classrooms. ملخص البحث: تجمع هذه المقالة من الأدب في اللغة والدراسات التعلمية ومهارات القرن الحادي والعشرين كي تستكشف كيف مراهقو تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية ومن خلال انشغالهم بالتقنيات الرقمية ووسائل الإعلام الشعبية هم يطورون أنواع الكفاءات التي قد تبينت أنها ضرورية للقيام باشتراك فعال في مجتمع يتزايد فيه التوجه التقني والعولمي. ويركز التحليل على المواقع على الشبكة العالمية ذات العلاقة بمعجبي وسائل الإعلام ويوضح الطرق المعقدة التي يستخدم مراهقو تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية التقنيات الجديدة للتعلم والإبداع والاتصال بمراهقين آخرين من دول أخرى في العالم. وفي الختام تستكشف هذه المقالة الأعقاب المحتملة من ممارسات المراهقين خارج المدرسة في صفوف القرن الحادي والعشرين. 本文借鉴有关语言、读写文化研究及二十一世纪技巧的文献，探索青年英语学习者，如何透过数位科技及大众媒介的参与来发展那些被识别为必需的技巧，以便他们能有效参与日趋全球化和以科技为本的社会。资料分析集中于与所有媒介爱好者有关的网站，并且凸显出青年英语学习者如何以老练的方式，利用新科技来学习、创作及和与其他青年人作跨越全球的沟通联络。本文以探索青年人在校外的文化实践对二十一世纪教室的潜在含义作为总结。 Cet article s'appuie sur la littérature relative au langage, aux études relatives à la littératie, et aux savoir‐faire du 21ème siècle pour examiner comment des jeunes qui apprennent l'anglais (EEL), du fait de leur investissement dans les technologies numériques et les médias courants, développent le genre de compétences que l'on considère comme cruciales pour participer effectivement à une société de plus en plus globalisée et orientée vers la technologie. L'analyse est centrée sur les sites informatiques liés aux médias de fans et montre quels sont les moyens technologiques sophistiqués dont se servent les jeunes EEL pour apprendre, créer et communiquer avec les autres jeunes dans le monde entier. En conclusion, l'article examine les implications potentielles pour l'école du 21ème siècle des pratiques des jeunes hors de l'école. На основе имеющихся публикаций по вопросам языка, грамотности и навыков, необходимых в XXI веке, авторы исследовали, как молодежь, для которой английский язык не является родным, обретает – благодаря цифровым технологиям и современным медийным средствам – ключевые умения и навыки для жизни во все более глобализированном, компьтеризированном мире. Анализ, производившийся по вебсайтам фанатов попкультуры, выявил технологически сложные способы, которые используют подростки, изучающие английский как второй язык, для изучения нового, создания собственных текстов и общения со сверстниками в разных частях планеты. В заключение рассматривается потенциал у...