South Africa’s communication landscape has changed and is still changing because many previously disadvantaged areas have benefitted from the construction of roads, provision of electricity and installation of satellites. As a result, many previously disadvantaged learners have access to digital media in their homes. In this article, we argue that the immersion of many learners in digital media at home advances literacy achievement. Drawing on insights from cultural historical activity theory and multimodal social semiotics, we discuss the nature of learners’ digital resources at home and how these resources could be meaningfully and critically used to advance literacy. Data were collected from Grade 9 learners in two King Williams Town schools in the form of questionnaires, focus group discussions, informal Facebook-Messenger conversations, one-on-one interviews with teachers and lesson observations. The analysis of data shows that many learners in this study are becoming digitally literate, irrespective of their socio-economic status or rural–urban location. However, digital literacy does not seem to be used as a base to advance literacy as advocated in the new curriculum and assessment policy statements.

中文翻译：

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我们正在教授批判性数字素养吗？九年级学生的数字交流实践

南非的通讯格局已发生变化，并且仍在变化，因为许多以前处于不利地位的地区已从道路建设，电力供应和卫星安装中受益。结果，许多以前处于不利地位的学习者可以在家中使用数字媒体。在本文中，我们认为，许多学习者在家里沉浸在数字媒体中可以提高读写能力。借鉴文化历史活动理论和多模式社会符号学的见解，我们讨论了学习者在家中数字资源的性质以及如何有意义地和批判地利用这些资源来提高识字率。数据以问卷调查，焦点小组讨论，非正式的Facebook-Messenger对话，与老师进行一对一的访谈和课堂观察。数据分析表明，本研究中的许多学习者正在变得具有数字素养，而不论他们的社会经济地位或农村到城市的位置如何。但是，数字素养似乎并未像新课程和评估政策声明中所提倡的那样被用作提高素养的基础。