Exploring Out-of-School Identity Construction and Multiliteracy Practices of Two Teenagers: A European Case Study

Teenagers' online activities can reveal rich and varied literacy behaviours. While these teenagers may experience cultural and linguistic diversity out of school, and construct identity digitally using their literacy skills in a highly productive and engaged fashion, they may struggle to express their literacies and identities in school settings. When viewed through a New Literacies (Gee, 2000; Street, 1995) and Multiliteracies (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000) perspective, closer analysis of the predispositions, social attitudes, and activities of these teenagers reveal significant educational advantages that may go largely undetected by educators in the classroom. This thesis presents two ethnographic case studies, involving two teenagers, who actively sought out and engaged in online spaces where they could establish identities, practice multimodal literacies, and seek out affinity groups in keeping with their personal interests and abilities. Findings reveal that out-of-school literacy practices are sophisticated, multimodal, meaningful, real and important for identity construction in teenagers. Identities online and offline melt in a way that differentiation is non-existent for them, also literacy and identity practices seem not to be bound in this study to the physical place in which they occur, but to the actual opportunities to develop and implement these practices. They are not linked either to generational gaps or digital native divides. This research is of significance to educators as it demonstrates the manner in which digital technologies used by teenagers in out-of-school settings can inform multiliteracy practices in the classroom through the recognition of the role they already play in teenagers' literacy and identity construction.