
Ekaterina TourMonash University (Australia) · Faculty of Education
Ekaterina Tour
About
36
Publications
16,967
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403
Citations
Introduction
Digital/new literacies
The use of digital technologies in language education including TESOL
Digital parenting
Transmedia storytelling/narrative
Multimodality and visual pedagogies
Digital media and learning
Critical pedagogy and technology
Sociocultural theories of language, technology and education
Visual research methodology
Virtual ethnography
Publications
Publications (36)
This article addresses a critical gap in international research concerning digital literacies and empowerment among adults who are English as an additional language (EAL) learners. In the Australian context, where digital communication and services are embedded in all aspects of life and work, proficiency in digital literacies, including advanced t...
Matt Sroka talks with Katrina Tour and Ed Creely about a framework they developed with colleagues for teaching Digital literacies to adults from migrant and refugee backgrounds. This framework is interesting and important in its own right, but their work also offers valuable tools and guidance for literacy teachers and scholars across various field...
The importance of digital literacies for adult language learners from migrant and refugee backgrounds has been widely recognized. However, there is relatively limited conceptual and practical guidance for practitioners. To address this concern, we developed a pedagogical framework and a practical guide for teachers in the Adult Migrant English Prog...
Background
In today's society, a growing body of literature attests to the importance of young children's early digital literacy skills in their home environments and how acquisition of these digital literacy skills relates to their future learning and digital literacy.
Objectives
Research on young children's digital literacy practices at home was...
In countries such as Australia, the bi/multilingual student demographic is increasing. Bi/multilingual students are commonly learning alongside monolingual students and also Indigenous and first-and-second-generation immigrant students who have a great range of exposure to heritage languages. In this article, we explore how literacies and language...
Digital literacies are critical for adults from migrant and refugee backgrounds as they settle in a new country. However, institutions, leaders, and teachers often feel uncertain about how to teach digital literacies. Using the notions of digital literacy practices and assemblages, this article reports on a qualitative case study and explores how 3...
It has been widely recognised that plurilingual pedagogy offers many benefits both for language learning and learning in general. However, in contexts where the linguistic profile of students is diverse, it can still be challenging for teachers to view working with the language resources of their students as feasible. In this article, we discuss ho...
While digital multimodal composing, underpinned by a critical literacies approach, provides opportunities for students to make informed semiotic choices and voice concerns about social issues, there is limited research exploring how digital multimodal composing is employed to interrogate and challenge the entanglements of language, immigration stat...
This conference paper is an introduction to the new Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) Framework and Guide (2022) for digital literacies in the Australian context.
It is well-established in both scholarship and policy documents that students’ home language practices can be leveraged as a key resource for their learning. However, it can be challenging for teachers to embed students’ language resources in class activities in ways that link to wider learning objectives. We report how the inclusion of home langua...
The complex nature of teaching draws teachers to read so as to satisfy their curiosities, problem-solve and innovate. However, teachers find it challenging to access and learn from educational research findings. Through our work as ‘consultant coaches’ in one Australian school over the duration of one school year, we co-constructed strategies to su...
Offering a new perspective on adult English language education, this book provides theoretical and practical insights into how digital literacies can be included in the learning programmes for newly arrived adults from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Enhancing Digital Literacies with Adult English Language Learners takes readers inside Langfield,...
Securing the quality of Australian education is a key policy target, and teaching workforce development has long been identified as the means to that end. This case of personalised professional learning in a school through a series of interactions between teachers and university-employed teacher educators (as academic coaches) speaks to teachers’ p...
Language learners often require appropriate scaffolding to engage in digital multimodal composing to maximise its potential for learning. This illuminates the need for pre-service teachers to be ready for these experiences both on teaching placements and at the beginning of their careers. However, little is known about their readiness for digital m...
A strength-based approach to teaching digital literacies can advance language education for adults from refugee and migrant backgrounds, preparing them for life in a new country. This article draws on a 6-month ethnographic study at an adult English language center in Australia and explores teachers’ perspectives and practices related to teaching d...
Despite the professional learning benefits that may be realised through participation in research, many institutions and teachers are reluctant to get involved. They (correctly) anticipate that it will require some time, effort, and commitment. They may understand that research is important for improving education practices but more direct and imme...
Teaching digital literacies as social practices is challenging for many English as an Additional Language (EAL) practitioners. There is not much research that offers effective approaches and specific examples. Drawing on the ‘3D’ model (Green [2002]. “A Literacy Project of Our Own.” English in Australia 134: 25–32), this exploratory study developed...
Using a sociocultural perspective and a case study design, this research examined how three migrant parents in Australia viewed and supported children’s learning in digital spaces and the reasons behind these perspectives and practices. The study found that the participating parents mainly valued and actively supported technology‐based mechanical l...
It has been widely acknowledged that learners of English as an additional or second language need to develop rich repertoires of digital literacies to be able to read, write, and communicate in digital spaces in English. However, finding appropriate approaches is challenging for many practitioners, and teaching digital literacies often focuses on b...
It is widely acknowledged that to be able to teach digital literacies as an integral part of second language (L2) education, teachers need to engage in relevant professional learning. However, there appears to be lack of understanding as to what counts as relevant professional learning (PL) for L2 contexts, which has its own specificities. In respo...
Digital technologies are increasingly used by children and adults in their everyday lives and these practices have attracted researchers’ and practitioners’ attention. However, everyday digital literacy practices are difficult to examine. They require appropriate research methods and visual methods have potential here. Although some visual methods...
Since desktop computers were introduced into educational settings in the late 1970s, researchers have been trying to find ways to explain the meaning-making processes involved when digital technologies are used that might inform curriculum and pedagogy. Much important work has been done to devise effective ways to investigate the complex connection...
In the field of Literacy Studies, online spaces have been recognised as providing many opportunities for spontaneous and self-initiated learning. While some progress has been made in understanding these important learning experiences, little attention has been paid to teachers' self-initiated professional learning. Contributing to the debates about...
It is widely acknowledged that to be able to teach language and literacy with digital technologies, teachers need to engage in relevant professional learning. Existing formal models of professional learning are often criticised for being ineffective. In contrast, informal and self-initiated forms of learning have been recently recognised as meaning...
Over the last few years there have been important calls for new literacies to become an
integral part of language education. Yet traditional approaches to technology continue to
persist in many contexts. Although the role of teachers in this problem has been
acknowledged, little is known about how teachers’ everyday digital literacy practices
influ...
Since desktop computers were introduced into educational settings in the late 1970s, researchers have been trying to find ways to explain the meaning-making processes involved when digital technologies are used that might inform curriculum and pedagogy. Much important work has been done to devise effective ways to investigate the complex connection...
A significant body of literacy and language research over the last two decades has been informed by a sociocultural perspective and an associated qualitative design, which are often seen as valuable and appropriate for researching literacy. As an emergent researcher, whose understanding of language education was mostly informed by individualistic p...
Recent decades have been characterised by dramatic technological and
socioeconomic changes which have had significant influence on the social
realm in terms of human lives, employment and professional practices. In the
context of globalisation, these transformations have important implications
for the TESOL field – learners need a wide range of sop...
In the era of globalisation, ESL (English as a second language) speakers frequently engage in technology-mediated international business, culture, science and education. They need to be able to participate in these practices in meaningful, intelligent and reflective ways. This requirement highlights the importance of developing students' critical c...
The use and ongoing advances of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have increased opportunities for different practices in everyday living, learning, work and entertainment. In many countries, digital technology has become not only a significant element of life but also an important demand placed on people by society and its instituti...
In Australia, information and communication technologies (ICT) are a significant element of a multicultural and multilingual society. However, some people (in particular, international students, immigrants, refugees) may experience many challenges because they use technology in English as their second language (ESL) and in a new sociocultural envir...