Web-based new literacies

'Web-based new literacies' is a sub-category of 'new literacies' which refers to this type of new literacies associated with the Web as a defining technology in the 21st century. This new term was devised by Mahmoud Abdallah in 2008 in an attempt to connect literacy with the Web as a new technology within a language learning context. It implies the mutual influence of both language on one hand, and new technologies represented in the Web on the other. Also, it clearly indicates the increasingly rapid convergence between language and the Internet as far as language learning and English teacher education are concerned.
Introduction
The so many emerging interpretations, insights and representations attached to the concept of literacy have recently turned it into a problematic concept that has come to mean different things to different people . In particular, the new technologies that have been emerging in our everyday life, and the sub-sequent literacy practices attached to them, have produced different labels that express the new forms that literacy has been taking in the information age; nowadays, we hear terms like ‘digital literacies’, ‘visual literacies’, ‘multiple literacies’, ‘computer literacies’, ‘Web literacy’, ‘e-literacies’, all of which can be included under a more general label: ‘new literacies’. .
This should not drive us to conclude the existence of a dichotomy of 'old' vs 'new' literacies. Rather, this should drive us to expand the traditional concept of literacy which revolves around the ability to read printed material, write using a pen, and communicate what we have in mind through traditional means, to include new dimensions imposed by new technologies, especially the Web and web 2.0 as a new generation that is sometimes referred to as the Read/Write web. The Web has been changing the ways in which we read, write, and communicate, and consequently, people have begun to talk about new literacy practices such as online reading, online writing, and Web-mediated communication. These new forms of literacy necessiate new knowledge, skills, and strategies that people, especially students, need to acquire so as to cope with the new requirements imposed by the 21st century. .
Origin
Web-based new literacies is a term coined in 2008 by Mahmoud Abdallah, assistant lecturer of Curriculum and TESOL Methodology at Assiut University College of Education, Egypt (www.mabdallah.bravehost.com) , while he was doing his PhD study at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, UK. His new label was intended to capture the new dimensions of the literacy concept within language learning contexts as far as the Web as a defining technology for literacy was concerned. The label was mainly derived from Leu (2002) and Leu et al. (2004) who define new literacies based on the Internet as: "The knowledge, skills, strategies, competencies and insights that allow us to successfully and effectively use the Internet and other ICTs to identify important problems, locate information, analyse the usefulness of that information, synthesize information to solve problems, and communicate the solutions to others.".
Hence, "Web-based new literacies" as a new label can be viewed as that type of new literacies which is related to the ways in which the Web is used and exploited for different purposes in different contexts. Generally, ‘New literacies’is a broad term with a multiple nature which indicates that technology and literacy are quickly converging.
In addition to being multiple, new literacies are always changing because everyday innovations come to the fore requiring certain literacies, and therefore, today’s literacies will become obsolete after sometime. This makes the concept wide and vague, and hence, if we use ‘new literacies’ without linking it to a specific reference, it might refer to all innovations and technologies. Therefore, when the Web is the main technology in focus, ‘Web-based new literacies’ would be the proper term to use.
Operational definition
Abdallah (2008) suggests the following operational definition for Web-based new literacies in the context of TESOL and pre-service EFL teacher education: "The up-to-date, Web-associated knowledge, insights, skills, strategies and competencies that EFL student teachers need for an effective employment of the Web in language learning which might lead to improving their literacy practices within learning contexts, and making them succeed as both lifelong learners and prospective teachers of English.".
List of some Web-based New Literacies
Based on empirical data resulting from documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, Abdallah generated the following list of some Web-based new literacies that need to be integrated into the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education with specific reference to Assiut University College of Education in Egypt:
1-Online Communication and Collaboration
1.1 Membership of online communities and the knowledge society;
1.2 Composing and writing online;
1.3 Meaning negotiation and idea sharing;
1.4 Online language practice.
2-Online Information Management and Knowledge Construction
2.1 Surfing the Web and locating information;
2.2 Online reading comprehension;
2.3 Critical Literacy Skills;
2.4 Synthesising information and constructing knowledge.
3-Accessing Web-based English Resources and Materials
3.1 Making use of the Internet as an online library for English learning;
3.2 Accessing authentic English material.

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