Learning about HIV/AIDS in Uganda: Digital Resources and Language Learner Identities

While the HIV/AIDS epidemic has wrought havoc in the lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa, access to information about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of the disease remains a challenge for many, particularly young people. In a context in which discussion of sexuality is frequently taboo, and information about HIV/AIDS in the mother tongue is limited and often difficult to access, information about HIV/AIDS on global healthcare websites, frequently in English, offers alternative access to crucial and possibly life-saving data. This paper reports on an action research study undertaken in a rural Ugandan village in 2006, in which 12 young women participated. The focus of the study was a digital literacy course, which was developed with the primary aim of helping participants to gain access to information about HIV/AIDS through global health websites, available in English, Uganda's official language. The primary sources of research data included written observations by the course instructor, two questionnaires given to the participants, and participant coursework. The central questions we are addressing in this paper are as follows: (i) To what extent is digital languaging productive for accessing information about HIV/AIDS in African communities? (ii) Under what conditions does digital languaging take place? Our use of the term languaging is taken from the work of Swain (2006) and her colleagues. Our findings confirm that digital languaging enhanced access to HIV/AIDS information and provided multiple opportunities for English language learning. Further, the conditions under which digital languaging took place is best understood with reference to theories of investment, imagined identities, and language learning (Norton, 2000; in press). We address challenges and possibilities associated with digital languaging in African communities, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of our research for poorly resourced communities in Africa and elsewhere.