(Re-)contextualising Storytelling with Children in English L2

This chapter discusses how digital multiliteracies and multimodal practices are shared and re-contextualised in a mobile-assisted community of language teachers; the case study is YELL/TELL (Young/Teen English Language Learners), a professional online community open to student teachers, language teachers, language educators and volunteer narrators in English L2. Underpinned by research in multiliteracies and multimodality, the study focuses on Mobile-Assisted Language Teacher Education (MALTE) as a way to support student teachers and experienced teachers in their initial and lifelong development through mobile-assisted learning. We analyse mobile-assisted practices for teacher education in the project Storytelling with Children in English L2, based on narrative events for children whose native language is not English. We discuss how professional actions performed by language teacher narrators (searching, planning, rehearsing, performing, reflecting on practice, assessing one’s work, sharing recordings and comments, re-contextualising resources) are facilitated, or problematically informed, by mobile-assisted exchanges during the different phases of the project. Among the advantages of MALTE, the study highlights the enhanced agency of the teacher students/narrators, the active co-construction of professional knowledge together with peers and educators, the use of authentic communication for professional purposes in multimodal settings and through a variety of media, and sharing language competence and knowledge across educational institutions (in our case university and the local library).