Hey Siri: Should #language, 😕, and follow me be taught?: A historical review of evolving communication conventions across digital media environments and uncomfortable questions for language teachers

Abstract

This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular mobile-(assisted) language learning (MALL) apps and the sophisticated evolutions in digital communication over the past 30 years. A team of researchers conducted an environmental scan to locate academic journals publishing on digitally-mediated language and language teaching/learning applications, and to determine topical themes and discussions. This scan was followed by a collaborative in-depth focused literature review to document technological advances and evolutionary changes in social communication across the lifespan of the WWW. The authors posit that language teaching theory and practice must attend to digital convergence and posthumanism, and pose uncomfortable questions for the language teaching profession, such as: What is the place of conversational digital agents in language teaching? Should new media grammar forms be specifically taught? Who is the arbiter of appropriate language use in digital communication?