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Virtual Sites as Learning Spaces pp 269–294Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Conceptualization of Time, Space, and the Body in Virtual Sites and the Impact on Language Learner Identities

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Abstract

The introduction of digital technologies into language learning and teaching is not only changing the nature of learning but also the nature of the learner. Our traditional understanding of learner identity is closely associated with educational institutions and particular notions of time, place, and the body. This chapter draws on sociocultural and poststructuralist theory and social semiotic approaches to explore how time, place, and the body are conceptualized differently in online learning environments and how this affects our understanding of what learner identity means today. The new digital media offer language learners the opportunity to engage with the larger social world and negotiate language as a social practice, thus enabling learners to make an investment in the practices of a target language community and helping them to develop imagined identities. However, there are also challenges associated with interacting in virtual sites, and learners have to develop appropriate literacy skills.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Regine Hampel

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  1. Regine Hampel
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Correspondence to Regine Hampel .

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  1. School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden

    Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta  & Ylva Lindberg  & 

  2. Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Giulia Messina Dahlberg

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Hampel, R. (2019). The Conceptualization of Time, Space, and the Body in Virtual Sites and the Impact on Language Learner Identities. In: Bagga-Gupta, S., Messina Dahlberg, G., Lindberg, Y. (eds) Virtual Sites as Learning Spaces. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26929-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26929-6_10

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