The following paper was presented at the 49th UKLA International Conference in Liverpool, 5th 7th July, 2013.
Appropriating the Literacy Practices of the Other in a Virtual World Natasha Anne Rappa National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Abstract This paper is based on a study conducted largely within an avatar-based three-dimensional virtual environment known as Second Life (http://secondlife.com/). Research on virtual world identities has largely examined how the resources of the virtual world are used to construct alternative or multiple identities for self-expression and/or self-empowerment (Merchant, Gillen, Marsh, & Davies, 2013; Peachey & Childs, 2011). The intent of this study was to create an opportunity for adolescents to look beyond their chosen selves and become ‘the Other’, or members of marginalised communities (Luke, 2003), through engagement in the latter’s literacy practices. Participants were embodied as disabled persons situated in role-plays revolving around discriminatory incidents where they employed adaptations of dramatic techniques like verbatim theatre and forum theatre. In this paper, I mapped out a variety of discourse positions undertaken by students in response to the discriminatory encounter to explore how far Second Life can be used to engage with alterity. My findings illustrate great variability in how adolescents positioned themselves when confronted with a power differential and reflect the persistence of binaries between the able-bodied and disabled. Introduction Disability issues have been brought to the forefront in the Singapore education system with recent policy initiatives undertaken by the Singapore Ministry of Education. Ten percent of teachers in primary schools have been trained to identify and work with children with mild learning disabilities under the Training in Special Needs policy initiative in 2005 (Tam, Seevers, Gardner III, & Heng, 2006). A one-stop centre and new schools for children with autism have also been established over the last few years (My Paper, 2011; Ng, 2009). 10,000 students with special needs have been integrated into the 365 primary and secondary schools and pre-university institutions in Singapore and each school at the primary and secondary levels has at least one allied educator to provide learning and behavioural support (Chia, 2013; http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/landscape/). Despite these measures to support students with disabilities, the question remains as to how many able-bodied students can and will identify with their disabled peers. As such, this study explores how able-bodied students respond when they are embodied as adolescents with disabilities in Second Life (SL) and are subjected to discriminatory actions. It aims to explore how these students engage with alterity and represent the Other when they are the Other and when they as the Other are being marginalised. Methodology (a) Site and Participants The study was implemented between March 2013 and June 2013. It involved three groups of five 17-year old students studying the General Paper in a pre-university institution in Singapore. The institution was selected because of its infrastructure and a research-oriented culture focused on the integration of new media into the academic curriculum. In addition, in 2007, it piloted a study using
role-playing in SL to facilitate perspective-taking on issues relating to euthanasia and globalisation in the General Paper (Ho, Rappa, & Chee, 2009; Rappa, Yip, & Baey, 2009). The current study built on this previous research by examining able-bodied students’ identification with and perspectival representations of adolescents with disabilities through the process of embodiment. (b) Curricular Design A multifaceted curricular intervention was implemented to help enhance students’ capacity for perspective-taking on disability issues. This comprised students i) analysing the lexical and grammatical choices used in news articles to construct different realities of persons with disabilities, ii) individually analysing specific case studies in which a disabled individual narrated or wrote about their disability and its effect on them and their relations within their social sphere (see Table 1), iii) role-playing in SL in which participants used verbatim theatre to infuse their utterances with words drawn from the aforementioned cases of disabled persons. The scenario involved a disabled student subjected to prejudicial treatment by two students and defended by another two students. There were three iterations of role-playing. The first two iterations involved students subsequently employing forum theatre techniques to collectively reflect on their enactments so as to deconstruct the narrative of oppression. These group reflections were facilitated in-world by the teachers and researcher. The last iteration was modified to give weight to students drawing on the case study to support their enactments by getting them to decide on one case study to review as a group just before proceeding to role-play in SL. The teacher-facilitated group reflection in this iteration was not implemented due to manpower and time constraints. Table 1. List of Cases S/No Type of Disability 1 Autism case 1 2 Autism case 2 3 Cerebral palsy 4 Paraplegia
5
Absence of limbs
Cases
Source
Carly Fleischmann
(a) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0 (b) Excerpts of Carly’s Voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciBCvssKLHc
Mathew Ryan Morin Charisse Dr William Tan
Kevin Michael Connolly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nnuHj5M5FE (a) http://singaporeheroes.weebly.com/williamtan.html (b) Excerpts of No Journey Too Tough (a) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCUOw3IbeeQ (b) Excerpts of Double Take
(c)Data Collection Data were obtained from research participants at various stages of the project implementation. For the purposes of this paper, I focused solely on the data retrieved from SL as able-bodied students role-played adolescents with disabilities. (d) Analytical Approach The approach adopted is Clarke’s (2005) qualitative method of analysis known as positional mapping. The goal in positional mapping is to represent as many as possible positions articulated in
a discourse on their own terms. These positions are not correlated/ associated with persons or groups or institutions. As such, the participants’ discourse positions in response to discrimination during their role-play were mapped to illustrate as full a range of positions as possible in an an attempt to understand how able-bodied adolescents enacted their roles as persons with disabilities and provided insights into how simplistic or complex such enactments were. (RQ: What discourse positions by able-bodied adolescents role-playing persons with disabilities confronting discrimination can be mapped?) Analysis and Findings Daniel In the third role-playing session by Group 1, Daniel role-played a student diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prior to role-playing, Daniel had examined a news clip and excerpts written by 14-year old Carly Fleischmann who has ASD. During the role-play, Daniel’s utterances were very similar to the statements made by Carly in her writing and he shifted from explaining to commanding to appealing to asserting his rights (see Table 2, Figure 1). As such, he deliberately appropriated the literacy acts she employed to make her disability comprehensible to her readership and to help them understand her position. Table 2. A comparison of Carly Fleishmann and Daniel’s literacy acts Excerpt Literacy acts Carly’s statements in her Daniel’s written utterances in writing SL role-play 1 Steven: why are you always moving? cant you be still? It’s distracting me in class. Explaining If I could stop it I would but Daniel: I cant control my body it is not like turning a switch movements and I cant express off myself like how you people can Henry: u know u are so slow Commanding Take time to know me before Daniel: don’t judge me you silly you judge me guy 2 Appealing I wish I can put you in my Daniel: If only you can switch body for just one day so you bodies with me, you would can feel what its like understand 3 Henry: You should just leave this school now. Im sorrrrrrrrrrrrrry Asserting Rights I want to be able to go to Daniel: why should I. I deserved school with normal kids my rights to be here
Figure 1: Daniel (upfront) sitting apart from his group members in Second Life Cindy In a second role-playing session by Group 2, Cindy role-played a student who had ASD. She opted for autism case 2 before engaging in role-play. In this case, 17-year-old Mathew Ryan Morin produced a video in which he explained the nature of his disability. Mathew, with a diagnosis of autism and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) emphasised that he would not change anything about himself and saw his disability as integral to his identity. He also spoke confidently of what he hoped to achieve in future (see Table 3). Cindy did appropriate his literacy acts in that she too asserted her uniqueness. However, she added a new dimension. Building on his sense of self-confidence, she incorporated trash talking 1 by proclaiming her own awesomeness in response to an insult directed at her (see Table 3, Figure 2). Table 3. A comparison of Mathew Ryan Morin and Cindy’s literacy acts Excerpt Literacy acts Mathew’s Literacy Cindy’s written utterances in SL utterances in his Acts role-play video 1 Proclaiming I wanna prove the Paul: ironically I’m the person determination world wrong and who’s nearest to the autistic person make something Talking Cindy: Yeah, cause I’m awesome. out of myself and trash Hahaha build my future Janet: [chosen gesture is laughter] Nobody or nothing uh lame how can you be awesome is going to get in you’re DISABLED DUDE please my way know your place Paul: I second that Shannon: ohh….that’s harsh Janet: MUHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA 1
Trash talking refers to “disparaging, taunting, or boastful comments especially between opponents trying to intimidate each other” (www.merriam-webster.com).
Asserting Uniqueness
I am what I am If there was a cure for autism and/or ADD, I would not take it
Asserting Cindy: cause disabilities make Uniqueness you unique! hah! one-of-a-kind..
Figure 2: Cindy (on the right) confronting Janet’s mockery in Second Life Shannon In the first role-playing session by Group 2, Shannon adopted the stance of a bully. This is evident from her own reactions to taunting another student who had walked in circles and had said that he was dizzy. She had initially remarked, “Serve you right. hahahaha” and then questioned the consistency of this statement with her role, “Wait why am I bullying people”. She next activated the gesture menu, placed her cursor over the crying gesture and paused for five seconds (see Figure 3). However, she chose not to click on it and exited the menu. Later when Cindy wondered out loud how to bully Shannon, Shannon responded, “Why not I bully you instead”. Shannon thus made a conscious decision not to behave like a victim and instead acted as a bully or aggressor by threatening her peers. As such, she did not appropriate the literacy acts she encountered in her chosen autism case as no one with ASD in the two cases positioned themselves as bullies.
Figure 3: Shannon placing her cursor over the cry gesture option in Second Life Rick In second role-playing session by Group 1, Rick chose to role-play the wheelchair-bound avatar. Before the role-play, Rick selected the case on paraplegia in which Dr. William Tan had written about his experience with polio and growing up without the use of his legs. During the role-play, Rick made very rapid shifts from one literacy act to another—explaining, crying (emoticon), withdrawing and finally ramming his wheelchair into the others (see Table 4; Figures 4, 5 and 6). Rick’s final literacy act bore the strongest resemblance to Dr. Tan’s response to being bullied. In this case, Dr. Tan described how the children in his kindergarten teased him, pulled his ears and pinched him. As a result, he caught hold of their hands and bit them very hard. It is plausible that Dr. Tan’s aggressive response to bullying actually sanctioned such responses in Rick’s eyes. Table 4. Rick’s literacy acts Excerpt Literacy Rick’s utterances during role-play Acts 1 Daniel: Can you stop getting all the attention from the teachers Im going to fail my summer test if this continues Jeff: Since he is here now why don’t you go find the teachers mr smarty pants Steven: You better watch out Tom Explaining Rick: Im not Teacher just want to help me Daniel: Teachers are having a meeting Crying Rick: :’( Withdrawing (Rick backs away from the group initially and then pushes his Ramming wheelchair forward and rams it into the others)
Figure 4: Rick explaining to the group
Figure 5: Rick withdrawing from the group
Figure 6: Rick ramming his wheelchair into Daniel
The four participants’ whose role-play I analysed appropriated to varying degrees the literacy acts they had read or watched in the case studies. I first identified these literacy acts and then developed two continuums ranging from reconciliatory to hostile and those reflecting emotion to those reflecting reason to identify their discourse positions. I then traced each participant’s shifts in discourse positions for the duration of the role-playing session (see Figure 7). The initial discourse positions assumed by the four participants in response to discrimination were located in different quadrants. More significantly, most of the responses concluded within the emotional–hostile and hostile–reasoning quadrants. This suggests that these are the positions young people may eventually assume when they face continued marginalisation and hostility.
Emotional
Withdraw
Physical aggression
Hostile
S Threaten to bully Cry
Talk C Trash
Command behavioural change
DISCOURSE POSITIONS
Assert uniqueness
Appeal for empathy R
Reconciliatory
Assert rights
Explain teacher’s attention
Explain D disability condition
Reasoning
Figure 7: Discourse positions undertaken in response to discrimination In terms of positional shifts, Daniel (D) made the largest shifts; beginning in the reconciliatory– reasoning quadrant, moving across the reconciliatory–emotional quadrant and the emotional–hostile
quadrant and finally concluding within the hostile–reasoning quadrant. Rick (R) moved from the reasoning–reconciliatory quadrant, across the reconciliatory–emotional quadrant and on to the emotional–hostile quadrant. Cindy (C) moved from the emotional–hostile quadrant to the hostile – reasoning quadrant. In contrast, Shannon (S) remained solely within the emotional–hostile quadrant. These positional shifts raise questions for continuing research. Do these shifts reflect what happens in real life? Do the rapid switches from one literacy act to another, or from one discourse position to another, simply reflect students’ playful explorations of the affordances of SL? Does this mean that students need more guidance in deciding on positions? Conclusion Unlike other literacy events where there are established norms for literacy practices, in a virtual world, this is not the case. This points to the affordance of the virtual world as a place for experimenting with identity and identification with the hope of bridging the self-other gap. However, upon analysing the participants’ literacy acts and discourse positions, I saw great variability in how adolescents positioned themselves when they were placed in a power relation different from that to which they were accustomed. Their responses ranged from closely emulating the cases they had examined, imitating selectively, building on what they had read or watched to disregarding these cases completely. In addition, their interactions were multi-layered and complex as they assumed different identities simultaneously while they interacted within SL and in the classroom. The interactions between their identity enactments in the virtual world and the real world could have influenced their discourse positions. My analysis also illustrates that the binaries between the able-bodied and disabled persisted in terms of how the participants responded to their marginalisation despite efforts at deconstructing the narrative of oppression by means of forum theatre. As such, the next stage of analysis would be to examine the various data sources to account for these positional shifts and ongoing binaries. This could enable educators to come up with a more effective means of helping the more powerful put themselves in the shoes of the disempowered in a way which closes the gap between self and other and help researchers establish a more systematic approach to analysing identifications. Acknowledgements The study reported in this paper was funded by a research grant, SUG30/12 NAR, from the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The author would like to thank Dr Julia Davies and the teachers and students who participated in the study. Address National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University 1 Nanyang Walk Singapore 637616 Email
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