Digital Literacies and Adult English Learners

Digital literacies are the socially and culturally embedded practices that are required as part of 21st‐century life in nearly every domain, from work, to education, to health, as well as for personal and community purposes. Digital literacies include the linguistic, pragmatic, and technical conventions of digital communication with a teacher about their children, to a neighbor about a problem, or to a work supervisor about a scheduling issue. Adult English language learners can expect that the skills required to manage their lives and perform their work will change and require increasing technology skills and digital literacies. Language teachers can integrate digital literacies instruction into their existing lessons and curricula in a variety of ways that promote both English language learning and the acquisition of digital literacies so that learners can build digital resilience, which is the ability to deal with new and changing digital tools and contexts. Digital literacy activities need to be relevant to learners' goals, include multiple exposures, and support a try‐and‐see mindset. This entry addresses these concerns.