Academic, emotional, and social growth in the second language classroom: A study of multimodality

This study sought to understand the relationships between socioemotional learning (SEL), second language learning, and digital literacies, and specifically addresses multimodal instruction and composition. Twenty-two students in an intermediate high school French classroom were asked to read an authentic francophone novel and take on one character's persona by creating an Instagram post that reflected that character's viewpoint. Students shared their posts with the class, discussed connections to the novel, and reflected on their composition process. Three data sources were iteratively coded using inductive and deductive methods. The Four Resources Model was adapted for this activity and framed the analysis. Students showed evidence of humor and empathy which led to decreased language anxiety and improved socioemotional learning. The use of an authentic text and the integration of commonly used, real-world social media tools encouraged SEL and helped lower language anxiety. Recommendations and implications for instruction are discussed.