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Part of
Digital Social Reading and Second Language Learning and Teaching
Edited by Joshua J. Thoms and Kristen Michelson
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 21] 2024
► pp. 48–72

Chapter 3
Critical historical literacy in world languages through digital social reading

| University of Pennsylvania
| University of Pennsylvania

This exploratory study reports on digital social reading (DSR) interactions in an advanced collegiate German course. Using a stancetaking perspective, we examine how learners linguistically conceptualize, discuss, and draw on historical thinking strategies of continuity and change to evaluate historical, social, and cultural patterns in texts and how their interactions mediate peer-to-peer learning. Preliminary findings suggest that DSR can mediate peer-to-peer interaction in a critical content-based course. We conclude with suggestions for future research and teaching. The results of this study indicate that an interactional analysis of stancetaking can help researchers and instructors understand how such peer-to-peer mediation of disciplinary language and thinking approaches emerges in DSR.

Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
    • DSR in world languages
    • Stancetaking in digital social reading
    • Historical literacy in a world language
    • Description of the course
  • The design of the study
    • Digital social reading in Perusall
  • Methods
  • Results and analysis
    • Beginning to read history and coming to terms with the present
    • Guided reading questions as mediation
    • Becoming an expert through collaboration
  • Discussion
  • Limitations and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
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