College Composition and Communication Sep 2009

Gaming, Student Literacies, and the Composition Classroom: Some Possibilities for Transformation

Jonathan Alexander

Abstract

This article explores the literacy narratives of two “gamers” to demonstrate the kinds of literacy skills that many students actively involved in computer and video gaming are developing during their play. This analysis becomes part of a larger claim about the necessity of re-visioning the place of gaming in composition curricula. Ultimately, the author argues that we should use complex computer games as primary “texts” in composition courses as a way to explore with our students transformations in what literacy means.

Journal
College Composition and Communication
Published
2009-09-01
DOI
10.58680/ccc20098303
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy digital rhetoric literacy studies
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (13)

  1. Rajabalipour (2026)
    From play to page: How flexibility and growth-oriented mindset shape knowledge …
    Computers and Composition
  2. Rivard et al. (2025)
    A Room to Play: The Infrastructure of Game Pedagogy
    Computers and Composition
  3. Girdharry (2025)
    From Cheating to Cheat Codes: Integrating Generative AI Ethics into Collaborati…
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Coleman (2021)
    Restorying With the Ancestors: Historically Rooted Speculative Composing Practi…
    Written Communication
  5. Selber (2020)
    Historicizing Infrastructural Contexts for Teaching and Learning: A Heuristic f…
    Computers and Composition
Show all 13 →
  1. Jiang (2020)
    “I Never Know What to Expect”: Aleatory Identity Play in Fortnite and Its Impli…
    Computers and Composition
  2. Caravella et al. (2019)
    The Rebel Alliance: Analyzing Student Resistance in Digital Reflective Writing
    Computers and Composition
  3. Misak (2018)
    A (Virtual) Bridge Not Too Far: Teaching Narrative Sense of Place with Virtual …
    Computers and Composition
  4. Nielsen (2015)
    Identity Performance in Roleplaying Games
    Computers and Composition
  5. Monty (2015)
    Everyday Borders of Transnational Students: Composing Place and Space with Mobi…
    Computers and Composition
  6. Comer et al. (2015)
    The Pedagogy of the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives: A Survey
    Computers and Composition
  7. Sabatino (2014)
    Improving Writing Literacies through Digital Gaming Literacies: Facebook Gaming…
    Computers and Composition
  8. Mason (2013)
    Video Games as Technical Communication Ecology
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 28 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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