¿Quieres Chatear? Chatting as a Space for the Development of Hybrid Cultural Practices

• In Event: Latino/a Students Using New Digital Technologies to Develop Hybrid Literacies and Craft Agentive Selves

Abstract

Mexican-heritage children have been noted to supplement their learning of digital literacies with their cultural and language experiences in after school settings (Vásquez, 2003). We suggest that technology holds the potential to create a space that supports the exploration and development of hybrid cultural practices and identities. Research suggests that children’s use of digital media is intertwined with their cultural, family, and school practices (Denner, 2010; Stevens, Satwicz, McCarthy, 2008). It is important to understand how children’s practices in on-line spaces, such as social networking websites, help construct use of language, cultural practices, and technology. With the predominance of social networking websites such as Myspace.com among Latinos, many youth may make use of the imbedded chat features to communicate with friends and family (QuantCast, 2007a; 2007b). Social networks do not exist in isolation from the cultural practices and values of the youth that use them. We argue that it is important to understand how diverse youth with diverse experiences adopt and shape the use of these new digital technologies.

Underrepresented students in low income areas are often encouraged to enroll in low level computer courses, including schools that offer advanced computer science courses. Students may identify as techies, but counselor’s and teacher’s perception of a student’s intelligence influences what courses and classes they experience (Margolis, 2008). These assumptions may extend to teacher’s perception of student's intelligence and their use of social networking websites. For example, girls that used Whyville, a social networking website that teaches science concepts, were often perceived as more intelligent by their teachers than girls who used more traditional social networking websites to strengthen friendships (Denner, 2010). These findings highlight the importance of better understanding what youth learn from using digital tools to communicate.

The present research study provides an analysis of eight Mexican-heritage youths use of a chatting feature found on Puente, a social networking website provided by a computer science program in a predominantly Mexican-heritage community. This computer science program encourages Mexican-heritage youth in elementary, middle, and high school to pursue computer science careers via after school classes. We will present an in-depth content analysis of the chatting practices of 8 participants who frequently used Puente’s chatting feature. The participants were chosen based on the frequency of their use of the Puente social networking website. We analyzed the hybrid practices the children developed in this space by analyzing their chat logs for language use, references to Mexican cultural practices and U.S. dominant cultural practices, exploration of identity, creation of codes to discuss personal issues, and relationships that were created across schools and grade levels.

Preliminary analysis highlights Mexican-heritage youths’ creation of hybrid practices during conversations (Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, & Tejeda, 1999). The participants showed use of code switching, encouraging their friends’ academic endeavors, and investment in family and mainstream U.S. cultural practices. The Mexican-heritage youth created new ways of using written Spanish and English, and used chat as a means for privacy, for sharing cultural knowledge, mentoring, and reinforcing and creating new hybrid practices.

Authors

• Omar Ruvalcaba, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Jill Denner, Education, Training, and Research Associates

• Jacob Martinez, ETR Associates