Contradictions in Learning to Teach Digital Literacy Practices in an EFL Public Setting: An Activity Theory Analysis

Abstract

Teaching reforms, methods for teaching efl and institutional requirements present a significant number of contradictions in the activity system of efl pre-service teachers (pst). As novice practitioners, efl pst are exposed to these con­tradictions while engaging in new activity systems, particularly when learning to put theory into practice. Hence, this case study examines the contradictions that an efl pst, from a university in Córdoba, Colombia, faced when incorporating digital literacy practices (dlp) in her planning as a result of her interaction with the activity theory (at) ele­ments. It also describes the shifts in agency that occurred when she was exposed to contradictory dynamics of teaching. The study involved the pst and a group of 35 students in 10th grade. Class observations and semi-structured inter­views with the pst revealed contradictions in terms of mediating artifacts, objects, division of labor, and rules. They also indicated how the identified contradictions could form the basis for a shift in her teaching activity system. These results suggest teaching programs should not only concentrate on how much our students learn new strat­egies but also on how much they have acquired transferable skills for transforming their contexts. Keywords: Activity theory; contradictions; digital literacy practices; pre-service teachers; efl; teacher education.

Keywords

• activity theory
• contradictions
• pre-service teachers
• digital literacy practices
• EFL
• teacher education