Thorne, S. L., & Reinhardt, J. (2008). "Bridging activities," new media literacies, and advanced foreign language proficiency.

CALICO Journal, 25(3), 558-572.

"In this article we propose the pedagogical model bridging activities to address advanced foreign language proficiency in

the context of existing and emerging internet communication and information tools and communities. The article begins by

establishing the need for language and genre-focused activities at the advanced level that attend to the shifting social practices

and emerging literacies associated with digital media. Grounded in principles of language awareness and the concept of

multiliteracies, the bridging activities model centers on guided exploration and analysis of student selected or created digital

vernacular texts originating in Web 2.0 and other technologies/practices such as instant messaging and synchronous chat,

blogs and wikis, remixing, and multiplayer online gaming."

Constance Steinkuehler's Site

          "I am an educational researcher studying massively multiplayer online games (MMOs or virtual worlds) from a learning sciences

          & new literacy studies perspective. I’m especially interested in what young adults learn from online play."

Todd Bryant: Using World of Warcraft and Other MMORPGs to Foster a Targeted, Social, and Cooperative Approach Toward Language Learning.

          "Much of the current research in second language acquisition (SLA) stresses the social aspect of language acquisition. Creating a

          learner-centered environment that a) fosters collaboration and communication, b) keeps learners motivated and on-task, and c) gives

          them a say in choosing their goals and how to achieve them, can be extremely challenging. Students will benefit from a framework

          that offers a wide variety of solutions to a given "real life" situation--solutions that require different amounts of time as well as

          vocabulary and grammar in the target language."