Situated Word Learning: Social Studies Inquiry and Digital Literacies

• In Event: 68.056 - Media in the Social Studies

Abstract

For over a decade, linguists and publishers have designated “Words of the Year” (WsOY) to highlight how current events influence public interest and drive Internet word search behavior.
In this study we examine how WsOY can foster critical digital literacy and illuminate essential aspects of inquiry and disciplinary thinking within social studies. We contend WsOY and online dictionaries are fertile ground for simultaneously supporting academic language development, digital literacy, critical historical literacy, comprehension, and disciplinary learning. We also examine how vocabulary instruction based on WsOY can encourage situated word learning as the non-linear, generative processes embedded in technology-mediated word learning are used to model the disciplinary heuristics of social studies and promote critical digital literacies.

Authors

• Tina Lane Heafner, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Nicholas Paul Triplett, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Laura Katherine Handler, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Dixie D. Massey, University of Washington