A GENRE THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON DIGITAL ... - ETD

literacy practices. I then interrogate extant research on digital storytelling for ways in which
digital storytelling has been conceived and treated as an object of analysis. In doing so, I identify
gaps in extant theories and methodologies, which fall short of capturing the paradoxical nature of
digital storytelling as a both durable and dynamic site of social action. I then suggest ways in
which various dimensions of genre theory may help to fill in such conceptual and
methodological gaps. In offering genre theory as an alternative framework, I argue that the
conceptual and methodological constructs gleaned from this work can be extended to guide
research of a wider range of new literacy and cultural practices.
How I Became Involved in Digital Storytelling
In the fall of 2007, I was a graduate teaching assistant facilitating an English methods
course offered to pre-service teachers en route to their teaching certificate and future career as
English teachers. As a Chinese national who went through a different path in my earlier
educational career, I found myself, together with the pre-service teachers, learning about the
various theoretical and pedagogical traditions that were shaped by and would continue to shape
the educational experiences of these young professionals and their future students. I loved the
energy of the class and the community of colleagues I had come to know, to learn from, and to
share with. Amidst of lively discussions and engaged participation, however, there were
murmurs of excited anticipation that was becoming increasingly intense as the semester wore off
quickly. On the syllabus, the professor had indicated a rather unusual component to the course.
Each participant in the course, including me, was to create a digital story about oneself. I was
not as excited as the rest of the class. I could tell a story in Chinese; I was actually very good at
4