JAAL

222Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation: Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction

By Sheelah M. Sweeny

The Rationale for New Literacies

As quote by Sweeny, Vacca stated that for previous generation, teachers taught reading and writing separately and different subject. However, we realize that the two processes of them are interdependent and complementary; they influence each other. We live in digital era at the moment. Semiotics shows that language and communication as stable system with defined rules (theoretically), but in digital technology era, everybody can be the producer and collaborators. The digital age is synonymous with rapid change. If the way of communication is changing, educators need to adapt to the new literacy contexts. That is why ICT involves here.
Schools need to use ICT so that students are prepared to function in a world where new literacies are the expectation and the norm because in the digital age,everyone can access freely. Not only that, Tony Wagner cited by Sweeny suggests area of skills that students should have before graduating. They are:
1. problem-solving and critical thinking
2. collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. agility and adaptability
4. effective written and oral communication
5. accessing and analyzing information
6. curiosity and imagination

Connecting to Teaching Standards

Technology standards are often given scant attention due to budget constrains, limited access to technology, and inadequate investment in teacher training. Standards are used to promote the types of skills that students need to be successful, productive adults in an information-rich society and serve encourage teachers to include technology as an integral component of their pedagogy


Changes in Written Communication

Communication thoughts and ideas plus multimodal texts will be accomplished through the use of variety of media and formats. Those tools make author thinks not only about the content but also about the presentation and the audience. The media that can be used are IM, hyperlinks to recorded materials, text, visual images.

Students’ Use of Technology

In digital age, technology is not something new or complicated for the students. Technology makes students as digital natives and the teachers as the digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). Technology makes the communication and learning more meaningful and engaging the students of the digital era.

Integrating the Internet and Writing Instruction

The use of technology for educators and learners is to find or create the task, searching for specific contents, activity, and sharing information. Technology also can give feedback, suggestions, and ideas. Ways to integrate the internet with writing instruction are authors as mentors and editing and revising. In author as mentor, the teacher involves the author to give mentoring lesson to the learners. Here, the learners can directly interact with the author. Meanwhile, in editing and revising, the learners can post the work via internet, then, many people, even his/her classmate, can edit and then he/she can revise it. It is very beneficial for educators and the students. Actually, the teacher can also have internet workshop.


New Approaches for Writing Instruction

The ways are messaging applications and having online forum. For the first way, educators can engage the students to find article or text which they like best. Then, they make the summary and it should be posting via message text in hand phone or another social network. In online forum, they can use Skype or forum or conference at Yahoo! in order to share their ideas.