This strand of Zayed University’s Languaging research cluster sets out to tell a new story about academic reading in the Arab region. It looks at the role of digital reading in higher education, and in particular the multimodal affordances that social media has to offer bilingual readers. ‘Multimodal’ refers to the different modes of a particular text or event (for example: graphic, linguistic, audio, image, video, hypertext, etc.); and social media such as Instagram or Snapchat include a mix of these modes. Considering the positive attitudes to digital reading and social media in the UAE (Wischenbart, 2011) in contrast to a resistance to academic reading in the Arab region (Rajab and Al-Sadi, 2015), social media may offer the potential to help students engage with academic reading, through sharing images, discussion and interaction (Machin, 2007).  This study uses multimodal analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001, 2010; Jewitt et al., 2016) and ideas from the Change Laboratory (Engeström, 2005) for a design-based intervention to address the challenges of academic reading and comprehending complex subject content in English as a second language.

Drawing on the literature surrounding bilingual readers, we know that reading across different languages is problematic for a number of reasons, including the struggle to comprehend difficult vocabulary, grammar and structures. In addition, understanding texts may depend on unfamiliar background or cultural references. At the same time, bilingual readers are also grappling with new concepts in their subject matter. Literacy in the UAE, for example, is high compared to other nations in the region, at 90% according to the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (Al-Suwaidi, 2012), placing it third in the Arab region. Yet despite the ability to read, according to the Arab Thought Foundation, actual reading levels are low in the region. Amin-Ali (2017) suggests that an Arab child, on average, reads for six minutes per year. This depressing figure, comprising a broad regional collective of 15 countries, reflects a global decline in the reading of traditional paper texts (Ridge, 2016).

Our current project, inspired by UAE national initiatives like the 2016 Year of Reading, seeks positive solutions to these challenges. It uses the methodology of the Change Laboratory, based on a systematic approach to bringing about design-based change, devised by Yrjö Engeström of the University of Helsinki. In this approach, participants apply their social media skills to designing reading campaigns to encourage and support learners attempting academic texts. Drawing on the multimodal resources of social media, including audio, video, weblinks and discussion forums, participants build social media reading campaigns to share interesting resources, strategies and support for reluctant and struggling readers. In 2018, social media reading applications are a significant trend, as opportunities to read on the go and access multimodal, manageable or snackable content appeals to many. The success of reading apps like Hooked and Serial Box (Hayes, 2018), taking a serialized approach to reading as well as embedding academic reading texts in multimodal affordances, could lend much-needed support to academic reading in higher education. The publishing industry is in transition and modernizing in response to evolving reading habits (Howe, 2017); and higher education needs to keep up with these developments. Exploring how multimodal social media reading resources could support learners in higher education is crucial in going beyond the academic reading impasse.