ADOLESCENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS‟ SECOND LANGUAGE LITERACY ENGAGEMENT IN WORLD OF WARCRAFT (WOW) By ZHUO LI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Zhuo Li 2 To my beloved family and friends 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I appreciate this precious opportunity to acknowledge and thank those who have helped me academically and personally along the way. Though I cannot enumerate all of them here, I am writing in hopes that they can begin to understand just how grateful I am for their incredible support and unforgettable help. Whenever I felt frustrated on this long and winding journey of doctoral studies, I found strength in my committee, my colleagues, my friends, and my family. Without them, this dissertation would not have been possible. I owe my deepest gratitude to my committee: Dr. Maria Coady, Dr. Richard Ferdig, Dr. Zhihui Fang, Dr. Roger Thompson, and Dr. Linda Behar-Horenstein. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Coady. She has been such an understanding and supportive mentor ever since I started studying at the University of Florida (UF). Dr. Coady‟s guidance, encouragement, support, kindness, and patience enabled me to think and act as a researcher, though, a novice one. In the beginning stages of my dissertation, Dr. Coady helped me shape my research questions. Then, she revised my prospectus, and later, my dissertation drafts for three iterations. Long discussions with and valuable feedback from Dr. Coady assisted me in synthesizing my fragmented thoughts. I always felt her trust in me. Dr. Coady is a marvelous mentor, inspiring and encouraging me at all times, even opening many doors for my professional growth. Teaching an ESOL foundation course with Dr. Coady was one of the most rewarding experiences during my doctoral studies. Dr. Coady is my role model as an innovative educator, a 4 dedicated researcher, an intelligent scholar, and an inspiring and responsible mentor. I believe she is the one who will have far reaching influence over my whole life. I would like to extend a hearty thank you to Dr. Ferdig. It was Dr. Ferdig‟s course, “Society, Technology, and Culture,” that peaked my interest in the research topic on gaming. Without his encouragement, I would not be able to co-author with two e-tech fellows to publish a book chapter about second language acquisition and gaming. That sparked my further interest in doing research on this topic. I will never forget Dr. Ferdig used the word “expert,” encouraging me to mentally position myself as a promising researcher in my field and plan what I should do to make it a reality. I feel deep appreciation for his willingness to serve as a co-chair on my committee even after he left UF. Dr. Fang was always available whenever I needed help with my research. He kindly shared literature related to my study, loaned me books, and gave me detailed feedback on my prospectus. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Fang for letting me sit in on his academic writing course; from this, I gained a lot of practical skills in writing. I marvel at Dr. Fang‟s high scholarly productivity, which urges me to work harder in the future. I genuinely appreciate his tremendous encouragement and perceptive advice as I struggled to write my dissertation. Dr. Thompson kindly allowed me to sit in on his second language teaching class, which widened my vision of using technology innovatively in language classrooms. He remembered my research and brought back handouts about 5 gaming research for me when he attended an international conference in Hong Kong. When he was on vacation in Utrecht, Netherlands, he emailed his feedback on my prospectus in time. Still, I shall never forget Dr. Thompson wore a cute pink T-shirt to my dissertation proposal defense and later told me that pink was his family color which he wore to bring me good luck. He stayed on my committee for a while even after he retired. I will keep reading Dr. T‟s interesting blogs and applaud his adventures around the world. I was very fortunate to have Dr. Behar-Horenstein on my committee after Dr. Thompson left. I cannot imagine how my dissertation proposal would have been drafted without taking her proposal writing course in the very beginning. I also enjoyed her course on professional preparation for working in academia. Dr. BH‟s vitality, enthusiasm, and cheerfulness are absolutely contagious. Her glowing smile is just like Florida sunshine, which always makes me feel uplifted. Over the past few years, I have encountered many supportive professors at the School of Teaching and Learning at UF. I am heartily thankful to Dr. Colleen Swain, who once stayed on my committee and inspired me to embark on research work related to educational technology. I would also like to thank Dr. Ester Johanna De Jong and Dr. Candace Harper for remembering me and emailing me useful literature related to my research topic. I sincerely thank Dr. Danling Fu, who always welcomes us international students so warmly to have get-togethers at her house. This means a lot to us who are so far away from our families while studying here. Also, I am 6 deeply impressed by Dr. Fu‟s solid work ethic and strong self-discipline, which inspire me to strive for greater efforts in my research. I am greatly indebted to many great colleagues. Special thanks must go to my study group members: Vasa Buraphadeja, Hsiao-Yu Chang, Chu-Chuan Chiu, Juan Du, He Huang, Jiyoung Kim, Joanne Laframenta, Feng Liu, Qing Liu, and Shih-Fen Yeh. I thank my dear buddies for their keen interest in my dissertation and constructive feedback on my data analysis and presentations. In the context of “social constructionism” during our regular meetings every Friday afternoon, their input into my work has supplied me with fresh impetus for my research. I also wish to thank Byeon Seongah, Ya-Yu Cloudia Ho, and Jemina Espinoza Howlett, who were once my office neighbors, for sharing learning and teaching experience with me. The camaraderie among us all makes this long journey not so lonely. I believe you will be “Phinally Done” soon! Furthermore, I really appreciate the company of Ivy Haoyin Hsieh (Dr. Ivy!) and later Chu-Chuan when we burned the midnight oil on the third floor in Norman Hall. I would also like to thank Sandra Hancock (Dr. Hancock!) who offered me help as I prepared for my qualifying exam and greatly soothed my nerves. Moreover, I am thankful for Patricia Jacobs, who let me interview his son about gaming experience in the initial stage of my pilot study. I would like to thank my friends, Kertesha Riley and Tom Livsey, who generously offered me editing help. Their valuable time and keen sense of language largely contributed to the final version of my dissertation. 7 A number of friends from afar who always extended their help and support deserve my sincere appreciation. Those friends include Juan Xiao (娟儿) and her family, Rongrong Wu, Huang Lin, Dr. Mingfang He, Dr. George Cox, Dr. John Dieobolt, Mr. Lili Li, Yi Feng, Min Zhang and her family, Yi Liu and her family, Lian He, Xia Peng, Ni Zeng, Xiaoyan Ye, Jianzhong Ma, Julan Feng (冯姐). Their constant concern and emotional support are very important to me and greatly enrich my life. It is a pleasure to thank those who have provided me with financial support over these past years. I would like to sincerely acknowledge UF Alumni Fellowship, which supported me for four years. I am extremely grateful that the College of Education kindly deferred my admission and fellowship for one year when I was not able to start my doctoral studies in Fall 2004. Otherwise, it would never have been possible for me to pursue my PhD. The work leading to this dissertation has also been financially supported by the International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) Doctoral Dissertation Grant and Association for Academic Women Madelyn Lockhart Dissertation Fellowship at UF. Furthermore, I am grateful to my advisor, Dr. Coady, and Dr. Cynthia Hsien Shen in the Chinese Studies Program at UF, who offered me teaching assistant jobs during my write-up stage. All of the financial support mentioned above has significantly contributed to the completion my research and writing. Thanks are also due to the four participants and their parents. Recruiting participants for my research was not easy. Without their support, I would not be able 8 to do my research. My special thanks go to the parents, whose open attitudes towards my research made this happen. I would also like to express my earnest appreciation to my TIRF doctoral dissertation grant proposal reviewers, Dr. Jonathan deHaan, Dr. James Gee, and Dr. Yong Zhao, for their valuable time, assiduous efforts, and precious feedback. Last, but by no means least, my deepest debt of gratitude is to my family. The unconditional love and the unwavering support from my parents, Jingcheng Li (李镜 城) and Yilian Hu(胡义莲), are appreciated far beyond words. I was lucky enough to have my parents visit me during my dissertation writing. They always gave me a nice “meal call” whenever delicious food was prepared by my dad. They took care of my daughter 24/7 so that I could lock myself in my office and write. I owe them so much that I can never pay back. 亲爱的爸爸妈妈，谢谢你们一直以来的信任、鼓励 和不计回报的爱。谢谢你们对女儿追求的梦想总是给予无限的支持，对女儿的任性总 是给予永远的包容。你们辛苦了！In addition, I appreciate my brother, Peitao Li, my sister-in-law, Ping Wang, and my nephew, Changxuan Li, for their faith in me and continuous support.