In many analyses of children’s ‘emergent literacy’ (Clay, 1966) practices, there is little acknowledgement of children’s engagement in techno-literacy practices. This article discusses findings from a survey undertaken in a working-class community in the north of England which aimed to identify the ‘emergent techno-literacy’ practices of a group of 44 children aged between two and a half and four years of age. It is argued that the multimodal textual competencies and semiotic choices of these ‘toddler netizens’ (Luke, 1999) should be more widely acknowledged within current curriculum frameworks for the early years.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agamben, G. (1993) Infancy and History: The Destruction of Experience. Trans. Liz Heron. London: Verso .
2.
Alexander, K. J., Miller, P. J., Hengst, J. A. (2001) ‘Young Children’s Emotional Attachments to Stories’ , Social Development10(3): 374-398 .
3.
American Academy of Pediatrics (2001) ‘Children, Adolescents and Television’ , Pediatrics107(2): 423-426 . Available at: http://www.aap.org/policy/re0043.html (accessed November 2002).
4.
Barrs, M. (1988) ‘Maps of Play’ in M. Meek and C. Mills (eds) Language and Literacy in the Primary School. London: Falmer Press .
5.
Barthes, R. (1993) Mythologies. Trans. Anette Lavers. London: Vintage .
6.
Barton, D. and Hamilton, M. (1998) Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One Community. London: Routledge .
7.
Bigum, C. and Green, B. (1992) ‘Technologizing Literacy: The Dark Side of the Dream’ , Discourse: the Australian Journal of Educational Studies12(2): 4-28 .
8.
Brooker, L. (2002) Starting School: Young Children Learning Cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press .
9.
Buckingham, D. (1993) Changing Literacies: Media Education and Modern Culture. London: Tufnell .
10.
Cairney, T. H. and Ruge, J. (1998) Community Literacy Practices and Schooling: Towards Effective Support for Students. Canberra: DEET .
11.
Campbell, R. (1999) Literacy from Home to School: Reading with Alice. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books .
12.
Carrington, V. (2001) ‘Emergent Home Literacies: A Challenge for Educators’ , Australian Journal of Language and Literacy24(2): 88-100 .
13.
Clay, M. (1966) Emergent Reading Behaviour. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Auckland.
14.
Cohen, S. (1987) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. (2nd edn.) Oxford: Blackwell .
15.
Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M., eds (2000) Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures. London: Routledge .
16.
Dyson, A. H. (2001a) ‘Where Are the Childhoods in Childhood Literacy? An Exploration in Outer (School) Space’ , Journal of Early Childhood Literacy1(1): 9-39 .
17.
Dyson, A. H. (2001b) ‘Donkey Kong in Little Bear Country: A First-Grader’s Composing Development in the Media Spotlight’ , The Elementary School Journal101(4): 417-433 .
18.
Gee, J. P. (2003) What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan .
19.
Gell, A. (1998) Art and Agency: Towards a New Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
20.
Gillen, J. (2002) ‘Moves in the Territory of Literacy? The Telephone Discourse of Three-and Four-Year-Olds’ , Journal of Early Childhood Literacy2(1): 21-43 .
21.
Hall, N. (1987) The Emergence of Literacy. London: Hodder & Stoughton .
22.
Hart, A. (2000) Researching Media Teaching in England. Southampton: Southampton Media Education Group . Available at: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~mec (accessed November 2001).
23.
Hicks, D. (2001) ‘Literacies and Masculinities in the Life of a Young Working-class Boy’ , Language Arts78(3) 217-226 .
24.
Holland, D.Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D. and Cain, C. (2001) Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Harvard: Harvard University Press .
25.
Huizinga, J. (1976) ‘Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon’, in R. Schechner and M. Schuman (eds) Ritual, Play and Performance: Readings in the Social Sciences/Theatre, pp. 46-66. New York: The Seabury Press .
26.
Kenner, C. (2000) Home Pages: Literacy Links for Bilingual Children. Staffordshire: Trentham Books .
27.
Kinder, M. (1991) Playing with Power in Movies: Television and Video Games from Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Berkeley: University of California Press .
28.
Kress, G. (1998) Before Writing: Rethinking the Paths to Literacy. London: Routledge .
29.
Kress, G. (2003) Literacy in the New Media Age. London: Routledge .
30.
Lankshear, C., Gee, J. P., Knobel, M. and Searle, C. (1997) Changing Literacies. Buckingham: Oxford University Press .
31.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
32.
Livingstone, S. and Bovill, M. (1999) Young People, New Media. London: London School of Economics .
33.
Luke, A. and Luke, C. (2001) ‘Adolescence Lost/Childhood Regained: On Early Intervention and the Emergence of the Techno-Subject’ , Journal of Early Childhood Literacy1(1): 91-120 .
34.
Luke, C. (1999) ‘What Next? Toddler Netizens, Playstation Thumb, Techno-literacies’ , Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood1(1): 95-100 .
35.
Makin, L. and Jones Diaz, C. (2002) Literacies in Early Childhood: Changing Views and Challenging Practice. Sydney: Maclennan and Petty .
36.
Makin, L., Hayden, J., Holland, A., Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Jones Diaz, C. and McNaught, M. (1999) Mapping Literacy Practices in Early Childhood Services. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training and NSW Department of Community Services .
37.
Marsh, J. (2002a) ‘Colloquium: Electronic Toys: Why Should We Be Concerned? A Response to Levin and Rosenquest’ , Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood3(1): 132-137 .
Marsh, J. (2003a) ‘Contemporary Models of Communicative Practice: Shaky Foundations in the Foundation Stage?’ , English in Education77(1): 38-46 .
40.
Marsh, J. (2003b) ‘One-way Traffic? Connections between Literacy Practices at Home and in the Nursery’ , British Educational Research Journal29(3): 369-382 .
41.
Marsh, J. and Millard, E. (2000) Literacy and Popular Culture: Using Children’s Culture in the Classroom. London: Paul Chapman .
42.
Marsh, J. and Thompson, P. (2001) ‘Parental Involvement in Literacy Development: Using Media Texts’ , Journal of Research in Reading24(3): 266-278 .
43.
Martinez, M., Roser, N. and Dooley, C. (2003) ‘Young Children’s Literary Meaning Making’, in N. Hall, J. Larson and J. Marsh (eds) Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy, pp. 222-234. London, New Dehli, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
44.
Millard, E. (1997) Differently Literate: Boys, Girls and the Schooling of Literacy. London: Falmer .
45.
Miller, L. (2001) ‘Shaping Early Childhood through the Literacy Curriculum’ , Early Years21(2): 107-116 .
46.
Moje, E. (2000) ‘Critical Issues: Circles of Kinship, Friendship, Position and Power: Examining the Community in Community-based Literacy Research’ , Journal of Literacy Research32: 77-112 .
47.
Neuman, S. and Dickinson, D. K., eds (2001) Handbook of Early Literacy Research. New York: Guilford Press .
48.
Orellana, M. F. (1994) ‘Appropriating the Voice of the Superheroes: Three Preschoolers’ Bilingual Language Uses in Play’ , Early Childhood Research Quarterly9(2): 171-193 .
49.
Paechter, C. F. (2003) ‘Masculinities and Femininities as Communities of Practice’ , Women’s Studies International Forum26(1): 69-77 .
50.
Pahl, K. (1999) Transformations - Children’s Meaning Making in a Nursery. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books .
51.
Palmer, P. (1986) The Lively Audience: A Study of Children Around the TV Set. Sydney, London: Allen & Unwin .
52.
Richardson, L. (2000) ‘Writing: A Method of Inquiry’, in N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, pp. 923-948. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
53.
Robinson, M. (1997) Children Reading Print and Television. London: Falmer Press .
54.
Rodriguez, M. V. (1999) ‘Home Literacy Experiences of Three Young Dominican Children in New York City’ , Educators for Urban Minorities1(1): 19-31 .
55.
Roskos, K. and Christie, J. (2001) ‘Examining the Play-literacy Interface: A Critical Review and Future Directions’ , Journal of Early Childhood Literacy1(1): 59-89 .
56.
Sanger, J., Willson, J., Davies, B. and Whitaker, R. (1997) Young Children, Videos and Computer Games. London: Falmer Press .
57.
Seiter, E. (1999) ‘Power Rangers at Preschool: Negotiating Media in Child Care Settings’, in M. Kinder (ed.) Kids’ Media Culture, pp. 239-262. Durham, NC: Duke University Press .
58.
Singer, D. G. and Singer, J. L. (2001) Handbook of Children and the Media. New York: Sage .
59.
Strauss, A. L. (1987) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
60.
Sutton-Smith, B. (1986) Toys as Culture. New York: Gardner Press .
61.
Talburt, S. (2002) ‘Verifying Data’ . Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Sacramento, California, November 21-24. Available at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/pdf/ASHE_talburt.doc (accessed August 2003).
62.
Teale, W. H. and Sulzby, E., eds (1986) Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation .
63.
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
64.
Whitehurst, G. J. and Lonigan, C. J. (2001) ‘Emergent Literacy: Development from Prereaders to Readers’, in S. Neuman and D. K. Dickinson (eds) Handbook of Early Literacy Research, pp. 11-29. New York: Guilford Press .
65.
Xu, S. H. (1999) ‘Young Chinese ESL Children’s Home Literacy Experiences’ , Reading Horizons40(1): 47-64 .
