The purpose of this case study was to explore
the L2 language development and digital literacy practices of an adult fan and second language
learner of English. It consisted of a series of structured and
semi-structured interviews and email correspondence that took place between 2014 and 2015. It also included analysis of specific social
media posts that the participant, Steevee, identified as illustrative of her experiences
and practices. This study builds upon prior work in online
fandom for l
anguage learning, which explored the identity and language development of young
fans in online spaces, who were writing fanfiction or created fan websites. It falls within the category of extramural
English, a term that describes “English-related activities that learners come in contact with
or are engaged in outside the walls of the English classroom, generally on a voluntary
basis.” Many studies of extramural English have documented,
for example, learning as a result of online gaming. First, a
little background on the fandom that
Steevee was a part of. Sherlock Holmes is a London-based, famous
fictional private detective who was created by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and
appeared in detective novels and short stories between 1887 and 1927. The detective stories of Holmes and his colleague
Dr. Watson have inspired a great many adaptations over the years. One such recent and extremely popular adaptation
is the British television series “Sherlock,” which imagines Sherlock Holm
es and John Watson
living in 21st-century London. This show first aired in 2010 and developed
an active fandom on social media sites such as Tumblr and Twitter. Subsequent seasons are aired every two to
three years, leaving fans long periods to speculate the resolution to each season’s
cliffhanger. While the show is on hiatus, fans naturally
write fanfiction and speculation among other things, and when filming begins, many like
going to the filming sites to see if they can gather information to
guess the plot of
the show. This practice of going to and gathering information
on the filming, referred to as “setlock” by the Sherlock fandom, is relevant to Steevee’s
case.
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