The Techno-Literacy Practices of Young Children

Abstract

In many analyses of children’s ‘emergent literacy’ (Clay, 1966) practices, there is little acknowledgement of children’s engagement in techno-literacy practices. This article discusses findings from a survey undertaken in a working-class community in the north of England which aimed to identify the ‘emergent techno-literacy’ practices of a group of 44 children aged between two and a half and four years of age. It is argued that the multimodal textual competencies and semiotic choices of these ‘toddler netizens’ (Luke, 1999) should be more widely acknowledged within current curriculum frameworks for the early years.