A Posthumanist Orientation and Cross-National, Online Bilingual Digital Storytelling

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Bibliographic Details
Title: A Posthumanist Orientation and Cross-National, Online Bilingual Digital Storytelling
Language: English
Authors: Zheng Zhang (ORCID 0000-0002-5794-0664)
Source: Language Teaching Research. 2026 30(5):2687-2718.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 32
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Early Adolescents, Multilingualism, Story Telling, International Programs, Computer Uses in Education, Mandarin Chinese, English (Second Language), Computer Mediated Communication, Asynchronous Communication
Geographic Terms: Canada, China
DOI: 10.1177/13621688231199567
ISSN: 1362-1688
1477-0954
Abstract: This cross-national, online biliteracy project connected 13 Canadian and Chinese bi/multilingual learners aged 11-15 years. The research was informed by posthuman conceptualizations of literacy, biliteracy, modes, and media, and disrupted binary thinking about mind/body, first language (L1) / second language (L2), and language/materiality in literacy education. A diffractive methodology facilitated exploration of how the dynamic relationship-building between humans and nonhuman entities shaped the bi/multilingual learners' digital storytelling. The project intended to enable a generative assemblage that positioned languages, media, and places as interconnected, agentive repertoires. It supported bi/multilingual learners' connection-making with various semiotic resources and their situated lifeworlds and opened opportunities for them to create new forms of meaning. Findings also show that the generative assemblage was affectively rewarding and enabled bi/multilingual learners to be fully engaged in their digital story creation and eager to try more. The article proposes a biliteracy orientation that nurtures ethical meaning-making across languages, modes, and media.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1508231
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This cross-national, online biliteracy project connected 13 Canadian and Chinese bi/multilingual learners aged 11-15 years. The research was informed by posthuman conceptualizations of literacy, biliteracy, modes, and media, and disrupted binary thinking about mind/body, first language (L1) / second language (L2), and language/materiality in literacy education. A diffractive methodology facilitated exploration of how the dynamic relationship-building between humans and nonhuman entities shaped the bi/multilingual learners' digital storytelling. The project intended to enable a generative assemblage that positioned languages, media, and places as interconnected, agentive repertoires. It supported bi/multilingual learners' connection-making with various semiotic resources and their situated lifeworlds and opened opportunities for them to create new forms of meaning. Findings also show that the generative assemblage was affectively rewarding and enabled bi/multilingual learners to be fully engaged in their digital story creation and eager to try more. The article proposes a biliteracy orientation that nurtures ethical meaning-making across languages, modes, and media.
ISSN:1362-1688
1477-0954
DOI:10.1177/13621688231199567