‘Getting the Reader on Side’: Exploring Adolescent Online Political Discourse

Abstract

In recent years there has been growing awareness of the need to support primary and secondary students in developing competencies for active and participatory citizenship. Among the essential competencies identified in a recent study of politically active teachers was the ability to expand ideas into arguments. This article reports on the early stages of a study which aims to describe key semiotic resources used by adolescents engaged in political or social activism. The study is first contextualised within current literacy, education and youth studies research. Resources used by one young social activist to argue a case and raise awareness on her weblog are then analysed and the implications for e-learning discussed.