Seeking the green basilisk lizard : Acquiring digital literacy practices in the home

Research confirms that young children engage in digital literacy practices in the home. While there is an emerging body of work that documents the diversity of these practices, there is little research that examines their acquisition in situ. This article uses conversation analysis to describe and explicate the social accomplishment of a number of activities that led to and constituted a young child’s Google search to find information about a lizard. Discussion of the child’s activities considers the local and situated use of technology, including how the child and adult jointly obtained the information needed by the child to read and write texts related to the search. The article establishes ways that social interaction contributes to young children’s acquisition and use of digital literacy practices, including when learning about print and about techology itself.

Keywords : conversation analysis, digital literacy practices, home, social accomplishment, young children