Rethinking Gaps Literacies and Languages in Participatory Cultures

Growing efforts in the study of digital literacies push for continued (re)shaping of policy and pedagogical interventions. In this column, we take up concerns in participatory cultures to revisit a longstanding issue pertaining to language. Evident in the literature on digital literacies is an implicit treatment of language, particularly around whose languages are included. In our respective research, we are challenged by questions that seek to identify literacies and languages as repertoires of practice in youth's lives. We want to know, if youth are communicating and engaging each other across media platforms, what languages or linguistic forms are leveraged in their lives? In what ways are youth supported socially and educationally? We come together here to make language more explicit in the conversation.