A Positive Discourse Analysis of Adolescents' Use of Back-Channeling Technology During Literary Discussions

• In Event: 70.067 - Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: 70.067-2 - Literacy: Cognitive and Affective Factors

Abstract

Backchanneling technology makes it possible for students and teachers to engage in real-time online conversations using networked devices while face-to-face discussions take place. Grounded in critical sociocultural theory, this study examined how adolescents used this digital tool during literary discussions in two 10th-grade English classrooms in the South. Positive discourse analyses of adolescents’ face-to-face and online dialogue revealed the ways in which students used this tool (a) to promote metacognitive reflection, (b) to encourage others and celebrate insightful contributions, and (c) to engage in dialogic exchanges across discourse environments. These findings suggest that students and teachers can use backchanneling technology to enhance learning during inquiry-based literary discussions—a responsive and complex literacy practice that can promote adolescent literacy achievement.

Authors

• James S. Chisholm, University of Louisville

• Bryan Quillen