Techreport,
Mobile literacies & South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Gugulethu
Research report, the Shuttleworth Foundation m4Lit project, (2010)
Abstract
What happens when an m-novel (a novel intended to be read on cell phones), a mobile website and an online social network are used to support South African teens’ leisure reading and writing?
The Shuttleworth Foundation's m4Lit project commissioned an m-novel, entitled Kontax, which was written by Sam Wilson and translated into isiXhosa by Nkululeko Mabandla. Written in the teen mystery genre, Kontax was targeted at teens aged between fourteen and seventeen years and was intitially published in daily episodes in both English and isiXhosa on the mobisite www.kontax.mobi (a
website designed specifically for use on mobile phones). It was later also released on local mobile social network and instant messaging platform, MXit.
The m4Lit research project investigated how South African teens responded to Kontax, and how compatible the m-novel was with teens' existing mobile literacy practices. The m4lLit research project focused on exploring an apparent paradox of literacy in South Africa. In most of the country's under-performing schools, a majority of teens are left behind academically, many experience difficulties with literacy instruction and most have limited access to books and computers. Yet, as a result of South Africa's mobile phone "revolution" and a thriving mobile youth culture, outside school teens increasingly enjoy frequent rich interactions with the written word and with digital technologies in their peer networks. The m4Lit project asked whether South African teens' enthusiasm about text on phones and their widespread access to mobile Internet could be used in a
literacy development project which attempted to bridge the gap between in-school and out-ofschool literacies, via leisure reading and writing of fiction.
A group of isiXhosa-speaking teens (ages 14-17) from Langa and Guguletu were recruited as m4Lit participants. Mobile internet access is pervasive in many South African urban areas, even for economically and educationally marginalized teens (Kreutzer, 2009), such as those who participated in this study. All participants were required to have some form of mobile internet access
(either via their own phone or via shared phones). The research project investigated whether these teens accessed the m-novel via their phones and whether reading a mobile novel online fitted in with their existing mobile literacy practices. Two surveys (n=61 and n=50), two focus groups (n=10),
and usability evalutions (n=8) were conducted. Data from the MXit campaign and from the Kontax mobisite were also analysed to gain insights into the responses of a broader audience.
