Report from Middle-Earth: fan fiction tasks in the EFL classroom

Sauro, Shannon; Sundmark, Björn

doi:10.1093/elt/ccv075

Cited by 41 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Researchers have found that affinity spaces contribute to improvements in reading (Steinkuehler, Compton-Lilly, & King, 2010) and writing (Black, 2007) literacy of both native English speakers and English language learners. Previous research has explored applications of these spaces in language instruction, including incorporating topics from popular culture in courses and engaging students in online writing (Sauro & Sundmark, 2016). Other adaptations have used the online content of affinity spaces as materials for language analysis in the classroom (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008).…”

Section: O N C E P T U a L O R T H E O R E T I C A L F E A T U R E mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This feedback, which for decades has been facilitated in class by the teacher and the peer-review process (Mendonça & Johnson, 1994), could be enhanced through affinity space use. For instance, students could be prompted to write short fanfiction based on their favorite movies, books, or games (Sauro & Sundmark, 2016). The instructor might review the existing fanfiction as models first (Kell, 2009;Sauro, 2017).…”

Section: Passionate Audiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In ELL instruction, suggestions from research include designing courses around popular culture and technology (Black, ). For example, in one study, Sauro and Sundmark () prompted students to engage in digital collaborative fanfiction writing using the popular fan media franchise The Hobbit .…”

Section: Features Of Affinity Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As students’ English proficiency improves, they could start writing and posting their fanfiction (Sauro & Sundmark, ). A writing teacher could also guide students through an academic writing process using students’ affinity spaces.…”

Section: Features Of Affinity Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Harnessing writing in the wild: Practical applications of affinity spaces for English language instruction

Halaczkiewicz

2019

TESOL Journal

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In this article the author explores ways in which affinity spaces (Gee, 2004) can be adapted for English language instruction. Affinity spaces attract participants who enthusiastically share their passions, such as popular culture, video games, or literature. Researchers have found that affinity spaces contribute to improvements in reading (Steinkuehler, Compton‐Lilly, & King, 2010) and writing (Black, 2007) literacy of both native English speakers and English language learners. Previous research has explored applications of these spaces in language instruction, including incorporating topics from popular culture in courses and engaging students in online writing (Sauro & Sundmark, 2016). Other adaptations have used the online content of affinity spaces as materials for language analysis in the classroom (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008). This article breaks down the characteristics of affinity spaces (Gee & Hayes, 2012) and proposes them as a framework aimed to harness the benefits of affinity spaces for English language classroom adaptation. These practical applications include student‐selected course activity topics, sharing student writing online, and taking on leadership roles in an online environment.

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Section: O N C E P T U a L O R T H E O R E T I C A L F E A T U R E mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Passionate Audiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Features Of Affinity Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Features Of Affinity Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Harnessing writing in the wild: Practical applications of affinity spaces for English language instruction

Halaczkiewicz

2019

TESOL Journal

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“…Only recently has research begun to look at the use of fanfiction as a model for pedagogical tasks for the teaching of languages in formal classroom contexts. This can be seen in the work of Sauro and Sundmark (2016), who explored the incorporation of a task-based fanfiction project into a teacher education course for future secondary school English teachers at a university in Sweden. The use of collaborative blog-based fanfiction was found to effectively bridge the concurrent teaching of language and literature to these advanced learners of English and to simultaneously serve as a model for the type of teaching tasks these future teachers could use with their own students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critically examining the use of blog-based fanfiction in the advanced language classroom

Sauro¹,

Sundmark²

2018

ReCALL

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This paper critically examines the integration of online fanfiction practices into an advanced university English language classroom. The fanfiction project, The Blogging Hobbit, was carried out as part of a course in the teacher education program at a Swedish university for students who were specializing in teaching English at the secondary school level. Participants were 122 students who completed the course in 2013 and 2014. In both classes, students were organized into groups of three to six to write collaborative blog-based role-play fanfiction of a missing moment from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novelThe Hobbit. The 31 resulting pieces of collaborative fanfiction, the online formats they were published in, the 122 reflective essays produced by the two classes, and interviews with a focal group of participants were used to explore how technology and learners’ experience with this technology may have mediated the resulting stories. In addition, the classroom fanfiction texts were compared with comparable online writing published in the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (Ao3) to identify thematic and stylistic differences. The results showed that students’ lack of familiarity with publishing in blogs often posed a challenge that some groups were able to overcome or exploit to facilitate or enhance the readability of their completed stories. Compared to online fanfiction, the classroom fanfiction was less innovative with respect to focal characters yet more collective in its focus, with stories being told from multiple characters’ perspectives.

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Toward Langua‐technocultural Competence

Sauro¹,

Chapelle²

2017

The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning

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Report from Middle-Earth: fan fiction tasks in the EFL classroom

Cited by 41 publications

References 9 publications

Harnessing writing in the wild: Practical applications of affinity spaces for English language instruction

Harnessing writing in the wild: Practical applications of affinity spaces for English language instruction

Critically examining the use of blog-based fanfiction in the advanced language classroom

Toward Langua‐technocultural Competence

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