Home, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world* - Revista Española de Pedagogía
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Home, School, and City: Cultivating language
in a digital world*
Casa, Escuela y Ciudad: el cultivo del lenguaje
en un mundo digital
M. Rosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, PhD. Associate Professor. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (marrgonz@ucm.es).
Gonzalo JOVER, PhD. Professor. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (gjover@ucm.es).
Alba TORREGO, PhD. Assistant Professor. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (altorreg@ucm.es).
Abstract: as the ability to enjoy dusty volumes of old
This paper aims to show the importance classics languishing on library bookshelves.
of language and the challenges it faces in Rather, it can be defined as a set of strate-
the digital revolution by considering the gies that enable personal development and
possibilities for cultivating it during adoles- participation in society. This extension of
cence in three fundamental spaces: Homes, the concept inexorably involves the compe-
Schools, and Cities. It starts by analysing tence of acting creatively in digital environ-
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
the dual function of language as a means of ments. Unfortunately, these environments
both communication and representation, as go largely unheeded at School, where they
how one receives one’s heritage and imag- are relegated to the mundane world of play.
ines and projects one’s future. It then con- At Home, however, digital discourse can
revista española de pedagogía
siders the false dichotomy between digital be experienced as unfathomable, where
competency and reading skills in light of the digital divide makes it a world apart.
the latest results from the Programme for Therefore, collaboration between School
International Student Assessment (PISA). and Home becomes vital for ensuring that
Reading can no longer be understood just adolescents’ immersion in the digital world
* This work was done within the framework of the “Preparation of a predictive model for developing critical thinking in
the use of social networks (CritiRed)” Project, granted for 2019-2022 in the Research Challenges of the Spanish Ministry of
Science, Innovation, and Universities call for funding, with reference number: RTI2018-095740-B-I00-(2019-2022).
Revision accepted: 2020-09-30.
This is the English version of an article originally printed in Spanish in issue 278 of the revista española de pedagogía.
For this reason, the abbreviation EV has been added to the page numbers. Please, cite this article as follows: González
Martín, M. R., Jover, G., & Torrego, A. (2021). Casa, Escuela y Ciudad: el cultivo del lenguaje en un mundo digital |
Home, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 79 (278), 145-159.
https://doi.org/10.22550/REP79-1-2021-03
https://revistadepedagogia.org/ ISSN: 0034-9461 (Print), 2174-0909 (Online)
145 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
leads to critical, responsible participation puede entenderse hoy solo como la capacidad
in citizenship. de disfrutar del polvo de los grandes textos
del pasado encerrados en las bibliotecas, sino
Keywords: language, adolescence, digital com- que se define como un conjunto de estrate-
petence, multimodal communication, PISA re- gias que permiten el desarrollo personal y la
port, school, home, city. participación en la sociedad. Esta ampliación
del concepto involucra inexorablemente la
competencia para moverse creativamente en
Resumen: los entornos digitales. A pesar de ello, estos
Este trabajo pretende mostrar la im- entornos no reciben la atención necesaria
portancia del lenguaje y los retos que se le en la Escuela y se ven relegados al ámbito
presentan en la llamada revolución digital, de lo cotidiano, de lo lúdico. En el círculo de
prestando atención a las posibilidades de su la Casa, el discurso digital puede ser vivido
cultivo durante la adolescencia en tres espa- como algo inabarcable, afectado por una bre-
cios educativos fundamentales: Casa, Escuela cha que lo presenta como un mundo aparte.
y Ciudad. En primer lugar, se analiza la doble La colaboración de la Escuela y la Casa resul-
función del lenguaje como modo de comunica- ta, sin embargo, ineludible si queremos que la
ción y de representación, como vía por la que inmersión adolescente en el mundo digital dé
se recibe la herencia y se imagina y proyecta lugar a una participación ciudadana crítica y
el futuro. A continuación, de mano de los últi- responsable.
mos resultados del Programme for Internatio-
nal Student Assessment (PISA) se aborda la Descriptores: lengua, adolescencia, compe-
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
falsa dicotomía que contrapone la competen- tencia digital, comunicación multimodal, in-
cia digital a la capacidad lectora. Esta ya no forme PISA, escuela, casa, ciudad.
revista española de pedagogía
“The world was so recent that many limits of my world”. This statement pro-
things lacked names, and in order to indi- duced the linguistic turn, which intro-
cate them it was necessary to point.” duced language as a key tool for under-
standing reality. This has given rise to
One hundred years of solitude. much-debated philosophical positions,
Gabriel García Márquez such as linguistic solipsism, but it has
also led to theories that exalt language as
a collective activity.
1. Introduction
One of the most influential claims in According to Humboldt (Di Cesare,
the philosophy of the 20th century was 1999), knowledge is a process of config-
made by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1975): uration that happens not only “with”
“The limits of my language mean the language but “in” language. Language is
146 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
the quintessential manifestation of the senting and knowing reality, and the chal-
human spirit and the creativity of hu- lenges posed for it by the so-called digital
mankind as a whole is revealed in it. This revolution, considering the possibilities
means that it is hard to perceive what we for cultivating it during adolescence in
have not made language; it becomes invis- three fundamental educational spaces: the
ible to thinking, to discussion. Therefore, Home, the School, and the City.
cultivating language means cultivating
the world view, the relationship with the
world and the other, cultivating thought 2. Language: representation and
and discussion, thinking and living, the knowledge of reality
belief and the idea. Transmitting a language means help-
ing to understand a way of seeing the
Language is home to the maternal world, of feeling it, of thinking it, and of
soul, history, affective roots, feeling and accommodating the sense from which
consciousness, the mysteries in which every society in this world is interpreted.
life is rooted. We have the same experi- Language nourishes beliefs and ideas ac-
ence as Arendt for whom “German was cording to Ortega y Gasset:
[her] Heimat (‘home’)” (Young-Bruehl,
We should, therefore, leave this term —
2006, p. 64). Each mother tongue is the
ideas — to denote all that appears in our
home from which an individual thinks
life as the result of our intellectual activity.
the world and understands itself and the But beliefs are presented to us with a dif-
other. Language is the home and founda-
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
ferent character. We do not arrive at them
tion of reasoning, rigour, the rational, di- after a labour of understanding; instead
alogue and agreement. As Arendt notes, they already operate deep within us when
“a certain deafness to linguistic meanings we set out to think about something. This
… has resulted in a kind of blindness is why we do not usually formulate them,
but instead are happy to allude to them as
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with respect to the realities they corre-
spond to” (Arendt, 1972, pp. 145-146). we generally do with all that is reality itself
The study of language reveals itself to be for us. Theories, in contrast, even the most
truthful ones, exist only while they are be-
a way of arriving at knowledge of reality.
ing thought: hence they must be formula-
For Humboldt, language is not a completed
ted (Ortega y Gasset, 1983, p. 384).
task but an activity; a repeated effort
by the spirit to enable articulated sound This shows us that everything we are
to become the expression of thought (Di able to think in reality already occupies
Cesare, 1999). Therefore, an education a secondary place if we put it into rela-
that values itself respectfully and openly tionship with our true beliefs. “We do not
cares for its language and the cultivation think about them now or then: our rela-
of intelligence that this contains. tionship with them comprises something
much more efficient; it consists of …
The present work sets out to show the having them at all times, without pause”
importance of language as a way of repre- (ibid., p. 386).
147 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
Language has this capacity to be a be- arguing, its metalanguage. True profound
lief and to express and communicate ideas: novelty with a deep and sincere response
cannot be provided if we do not truly con-
We forget too readily that language is
sider language in depth. A generation that
already thought, doctrine. When using it
does not take what it receives seriously
as an instrument for more complex ideolo-
gical combinations, we do not take serious- cannot provide a renovation that contains
ly the primary ideology that it expresses, the density that what is received houses
that it is. When, by chance, we cease to or that can respond to it. Therefore, it will
concern ourselves with what we wish to be necessary to take this legacy seriously.
say through preestablished turns of phrase Taking it from its reference points, read-
and we pay attention to what they tell us ing it from its moment. Literature, with its
for their own account, we are surprised by historical path, must not be pushed aside
their incisiveness, their perceptive uncove- by the study of grammar, for example.
ring of reality. (ibid., p. 393)
And, the first thing to recognise is that
If we forget the depth and the roots of there is no single form of language, just as
our belief, we cannot think it. A theoret- there is no single form of rationality. The
ical reflection that does not consider in great mathematician and grandfather of
depth one’s individual thinking that ap- computing, Charles Babbage, once wrote
pears in language itself remains blind to to the poet Alfred Tennyson:
an irreplaceable knowledge and it remains
In your otherwise beautiful poem, one
blind even to itself.
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
verse reads:
Aristotle, according to Nussbaum’s in-
"Every moment dies a man, every mo-
terpretation, recognises that “To set down ment one is born".
the phainomena is not to look for belief-free
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fact, but to record our linguistic usage and I need hardly point out to you that this
the structure of thought and belief which calculation would tend to keep the sum to-
usage displays the phainomena does not tal of world’s population in a state of perpet-
mean finding facts stripped of beliefs but ual equipoise, whereas it is a well-known
registering new linguistic uses and the fact that the said sum total is constantly
structure of thought and beliefs that they on the increase.
reveal” (Nussbaum, 2015, p. 319).
I would therefore take the liberty of sug-
gesting that, in the next edition of your
Consequently, accompanying new
excellent poem, the erroneous calculation
generations in the task of embracing and
to which I refer should be corrected as fol-
reconsidering the origin and facilitating lows: “Every moment dies a man, and one
their innovation, requires an in-depth con- and a sixteenth is born”. I may add that
sideration of language; an in-depth con- the exact figures are 1.167, but something
sideration of its meanings, its metaphors, must, of course, be conceded to the laws of
its structure, its way of expressing and meter. (Ahearn, 2012, p. 53)
148 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
The letter is probably part of a joke be- reason, attempts that might come to noth-
tween members of the Royal Society, but ing without the committed involvement of
it reflects two complementary forms of teachers. Logic and grammar, like seman-
rationality: the scientific-mathematic and tics and semiotics are fundamental axes for
the poetic-existential. Both are profound, rationality and for cultivating intelligence.
both true, both absurd if one reads the
other with a closed mind. Distinguishing between problems and
mysteries, transcending a reductionist and
Both forms of rationality enrich the instrumental reason, must be accompa-
human being, they are typical of it, but nied by the cultivation of language in the
they blind humanity if one attempts to field of social and political life. Language,
interpret the world without the other. which is the
Teaching how to decide which matters
protean place dwelling of thought, is the
pertain to each one is part of the rigour of
great resource for naming, defining and un-
an expanded rationality, of an open reason.
derstanding things, “that which is”, reality
To do so, it is necessary to distinguish be- itself. But language loses its epiphanic and
tween problems and mysteries, as Marcel innovative power, its unveiling and decla-
(1987) helped us to do. What is clear is that rative force, when social relationships and
language tackles, sets forth, describes, ex- community links are hidden and disappear.
plains, and comprehends both problems Language then, as Wittgenstein observed,
and mysteries, both argumentative ratio- “marches in the void”. (Uña, 2014, p. 17)
nality that can handle formal mathematical
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
logic and comprehending or approaching Language must abide by its values, by
the mysteries of life. the links through which it is rooted as a
dwelling place that provides it with the
So, the language to be cultivated must sap that feeds meanings, but it must also
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be that which addresses problems and that be aware of its limits and the possibility of
which considers mysteries. These rational- other languages that expand the outlook
ities complement each other without any and depth when considering reality in dif-
need to come into conflict. They enrich ferent ways.
each another by showing the need to main-
tain the mystery and wonder in science and Furthermore, language can become to-
technology, as well as the need to ensure talitarian as it seeks to contain reality in
rigorous argumentation regarding what itself and does not allow itself to be exceed-
concerns existence. This fruitful and co- ed, completed, expanded by it:
herent dialogue is part of the inheritance
But certainly for the present age, which
of our own history, which schools must jeal-
prefers the sign to the thing signified, the
ously protect. Ortega’s vital reason or Zam- copy to the original, fancy to reality, the
brano’s poetic reason are two magnificent appearance to the essence, … for in these
attempts among others to limit the domina- days illusion only is sacred, truth profane.
tion of instrumental reason over a broader Nay, sacredness is held to be enhanced in
149 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
proportion as truth decreases and illusion dents in reading comprehension, in com-
increases, so that the highest degree of
mand of language. This has undergone
illusion comes to be the highest degree of
large variations over the different edi-
sacredness. (Feuerbach, preface to the se-
cond edition of The Essence of Christianity, tions of the test, but, in general, has al-
cited by Debord, 1967, p. 7) ways been below the mean of the OECD
states, with small numbers of students
Language acts as an external teacher achieving the highest performance levels
(García Baró, 2018), as the legacy deriv- (MEFP, 2020, p. 14).
ing from others that illuminates reality
for us. It is also an inner teacher, insofar With regards to the action of families
as it shapes us and helps us to understand specifically, the latest PISA report shows
who we are and what paths open up be- that “without detracting from the efforts
fore us. Nonetheless, insofar as it is sepa- of formal education to reduce social in-
rated from reality and from one’s self and equalities, the socioeconomic and cultur-
from the other it becomes a pure illusion, al situation of families is still the most
it ceases to act as an external and inner reliable variable for predicting school
teacher and becomes a totalitarian concep- attainment” (ibid., p. 28). Accordingly,
tion, in control. students from advantaged socioeconomic
groups have a mean performance in read-
ing that is significantly higher than that
3. Crossroads for language in a of students from disadvantaged groups.
digital world Across the OECD countries as a whole,
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
In July 2020, alarm bells sounded. After the mean score for the former group is
a delay of several months in publishing 88 points higher than for the latter. In
the data, the results for Spanish students Spain this difference is 74 points (ibid.,
in the most recent reading evaluation by pp. 29-31).
revista española de pedagogía
the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) had dropped 19 points These results from the PISA report
compared with the previous edition giving were published in the peculiar circum-
the lowest figure in 14 years and putting stance of the obligatory lockdown result-
Spain below the mean of the countries of ing from the Covid-19 pandemic, with stu-
the European Union and OECD (MEFP, dents at home supposedly following online
2020). teaching, something that has led to calls
for better training in digital competence,
Although some technical explana- not just for teachers and students, but also
tions were offered that might cast doubt for families. Also regarding this compe-
on the validity of these results (OECD, tence, if the lockdown experienced in 2020
2019), the truth is that they intensified has made one thing clear, this is the signif-
the feeling, which had been persistent icant impact of family conditions on stu-
since the first international evaluations, dents’ chances, aggravated by the so-called
of the low performance of Spain’s stu- digital divide.
150 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
The concurrence of the publication of be regarded only as the capacity to enjoy
the PISA results with lockdown and calls dusty volumes of old classics languishing
for better digital training inspired a de- on library bookshelves. Instead the OECD
bate: we demand greater digital capacity defines it as a set of strategies that ena-
among students, while we leave them in ble students “to achieve one’s goals, to de-
a state of illiteracy with regards to read- velop one’s knowledge and potential, and
ing. But is this really a dichotomy? Let us to participate in society” (MEFP, 2020, p.
consider another current phenomenon: 8). Nowadays the information that makes
“post-truth”, a term chosen in 2016 by this social knowledge and participation
the Oxford University Press as its word possible mainly reaches us through digital
of the year. Post-truth has been defined media, and it is significant that in Spain
as “a result of societal mega-trends such young people’s low reading competence
as a decline in social capital, growing eco- scores run in parallel with the population’s
nomic inequality, increased polarization, general difficulties with distinguishing the
declining trust in science, and an increas- truthfulness of information. In a survey
ingly fractionated media landscape” (Le- carried out by Ipsos in 27 countries, 57%
wandowsky et al., 2017, p. 353). It offers a of Spanish people admitted that that they
distorted reality that is manipulated to in- had sometimes believed a false news story,
fluence public opinion through emotions. making them the Europeans most prone
to falling into this trap the (Ipsos, 2018).
One key element in understanding
post-truth in the media is fake news. Dur- Of course, it is not just a matter of
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
ing the Covid-19 pandemic not only have introducing digital resources into edu-
health, economic, and social systems been cation, as though a magical effect from
put at risk, but false and manipulated in- exposure to them could be expected. In-
formation has proliferated, so much so stead, much of this effect depends on how
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that the World Health Organization has these resources are used and some indis-
said that one of its objectives was to fight criminate forms of exposure in everyday
against the “infodemic”. This term refers activity can in fact have an outcome
to an excess of information on a subject opposite to the one desired (Vázquez-
that, mixed with fear, speculation, and Cano, 2017; Fernández-Gutiérrez et al.,
rumours, is amplified and distributed to 2020; Vázquez-Cano et al., 2020). There
a global audience through the use of tech- is a real risk that idolising the digital will
nologies (García-Marín, 2020). The spread give new wings to the modern hostility
of the “infodemic” has caused numerous towards language and the old “bookish
problems for public health (Zarocostas, pedagogy” in contrast with direct exper
2020). imentation with things, denounced by the
German educationalist Otto Friedrich
Reading competence cannot be ignored Bollnow. This hostility, according to
in relation to these types of phenomena Bollnow, can only come from a weak com-
that surround current life. It can no longer prehension of the mutually generative
151 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
relationship between words and things increase in interlocutors, making it very
and of the central place of language in the difficult to know all of the factors — prove-
constitution of the human being: nance, accuracy, intention, etc. — needed
to be able to interpret the language. Inter-
Man only becomes himself through lan-
preting this information is already com-
guage. He only rises above the vacillating
plex, but we must add the multimodality
time by virtue of the freely chosen bond to
the word that transcends time. The dignity of texts, in which meaning can only be
of language as a medium of education is, understood by combining the word with
ultimately, based on this. (Bollnow, 1974, the image, audio, animation, or intertex-
p. 206) tuality and hypertextuality, which oblige
us to construct the discourse, and even the
But this bond which Bollnow discusses hybridisation of textual genres (Cassany,
nowadays has distinctive characteristics. 2012).
One of the terms that best defines the
current social, technological, and cultural An awareness of the importance of
advances and changes is convergence language in education can help us to re-
culture. This term refers to the “flow of discover its potential and pay sufficient
content across multiple media platforms, attention to it as it has too often been sub-
the cooperation between multiple media jected to multiple distractions. Basic lan-
industries, and the migratory behaviour of guage skills such as reading and writing
media audiences who would go almost any- cannot be left to chance, inside or outside
where in search of the kinds of entertain- school. Multiple literacy is a task where
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
ment experiences they wanted” (Jenkins, real and virtual learning environments
2008, p. 14). In convergence culture, the must converge. We will now consider how
frontiers between consumer and producer to cultivate language for adolescents in
are blurred and the individual is constantly the most important educational spaces —
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invited to intervene. the home, the school, and the city — in
the specific case of a world immersed in
In the field of education there is a me- networks.
dia and educational convergence: spaces
and moments of learning converge at the
same time and formal, non-formal, and in- 4. The spaces of language in ado-
formal educational settings merge. Com- lescence: the Home, the School,
municative capacity is still worked on in and the City
educational institutions. However, there 4.1. Cultivating language at Home
are contexts that are not included. Sim- It has been said that “learning to in-
ply having access to a device connected to habit requires a phenomenological com-
the internet now makes communicative prehension of the home and how the
practices continuous and constant. There human being configures itself in this ex-
are millions of texts and pieces of data on ternalisation of interiority; ultimately,
the internet and there is an exponential seeing the home as a space for shaping
152 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
habits” (Amilburu et al. 2018, p. 109). The The adolescent who inhabits the home
home, and also the language spoken and does not just inhabit the room; in the
taught in it, is a way of shaping habits and shared spaces of the home she must be
specifically cultivating the interiority that able to find casual conversation, questions
is expressed, explained, and understood. about life and about the world. It is the site
of the network of comments, questions,
Adolescents have to find a more per- discussions, concerns; the place of reading
sonal, singular, unique way of cultivating and shared films, reflecting out loud with
language in this space. Interiority is ex- someone who speaks and listens, someone
pressed in the home from early childhood, who debates and interpellates, who lifts
and so the home must be the special space her gaze, expands it, and returns her ques-
for stories, narrative, extended conver- tion. For the adolescent, the living room
sation, confidence. Times and spaces in where communal life takes place is not the
which the adolescent can find herself in place of the discourses of others, what she
private and alone with her own interiori- has still not seen, what she has still not
ty are necessary to do this, and, language heard, it cannot be imposed by lecturing
emerges in this interiority as an inner her. The adolescent’s outlook now seeks
teacher, from which the adolescent tries horizons outside the family space, not in-
to comprehend herself. An adolescent’s side it. But these can come from a book-
room is not like a child’s. The child’s door shelf, told or narrated through the stories
is open to the rest of the house or if it is of others, or emerge from a screen to be
closed, it is closed from outside. In preado- shared from there.
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
lescence, the door starts to be closed from
within. The adolescent has to delve into If we could think of another funda-
her interiority and consider it in greater mental place in the house for adolescents,
depth. This interiority must be capable this would be the kitchen. Here, they can
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of solitude accompanied by language, the work out decisions and concerns for which
teacher that helps her understand herself. they seek solutions while their attention
When her language is richer, more inter- appears to be focussed on something else.
connected, deeper, and more meaningful, The tranquillity offered by the option of
the questions with which she shuts herself being in silence when she wants because
in her room will be deeper and will have her attention is focussed on the task, with-
the potential to be answered from the out needing excuses while the next word
self with the values of the heritage and emerges, means she can speak of what is
productiveness language can offer. Ado- important as though it were casual and
lescents without words are adolescents stop speaking about it as if she had never
without questions, alone in solitude, alone spoken.
before the angst of growing and confront-
ing their own autonomy. This is how they Taking care of these times and spaces
can come to take refuge in solutions with- means not being seduced by the imperti-
out answers. nent and suggestive outside of social net-
153 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
works. Therefore, we must limit time and fascination, the curiosity of someone who
space for mobile phones and tablets but is coming into life with new questions.
for an adolescent the fundamental thing is Negotiation is another of the fundamen-
not this limitation, but rather that the al- tal questions of education in the family
ternative is full of productive company or space. Providing the best arguments to
solitude, ultimately, meaningfully shared convince, persuade, offer the most advan-
words. tageous agreement, seek consensus or the
most suitable way of finding a win-win sit-
Although networks can invade the uation… Enquiry and negotiation occur in
space of the home to excess, it is also true the everyday and especially in play. Play,
that they can form a space that extends with its handling of feelings and emotions,
the home. Friends have a WhatsApp group at the same time as the word, agreements,
and so does the home. In it, the adolescent alliances, or coalitions, teaches how to re-
can find possibilities for beneficial commu- late to others, especially in the home space.
nication in the setting of the home. This is
more her space, and in here it can be easi- We could carry on and go into greater
er to share and comment on events, jokes, depth, but the limits of space mean we
and memes that reflect visions and opin- must consider in depth the complemen-
ions. Respecting this space to enrich de- tary space of the school, where the adoles-
bate, to be able to express diverse opinions cent ceases to be unique in the world and
as between peers, will favour discourse, dis- becomes one among many.
cussion, and opening the us of the family
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
to the world. 4.2. Cultivating language at School
Language and the reading of a tradi-
If conversation, narrative, debate, shar- tion, a shared social heritage, a history,
ing literature and films, are magnificent and a project beyond the us of the fam-
revista española de pedagogía
occupations for adolescents in the space of ily, is fundamental in adolescence. This
the home, enquiry and negotiation are no is none other than the contrast of what
less so. Enquiring into a question, start- is received from the humus of the family
ing from life itself, from observing and and what is perceived from the perspec-
seeing the everyday, concerning oneself tive of a broader us.
with a question, as the Little Prince did in
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel, with- The axis of the outlook therefore
out ever forgetting the question, is one of changes. The adolescent is no longer
the fascinating tasks of sharing life with a unique; she is one more person and must
child and with an adolescent. Sharing this learn to live this experience, and also to
passion with children and adolescents is enjoy it. Enriching oneself in this broader
not just a fundamental educational task us, being fascinated and allowing oneself
but it also rejuvenates the adult’s outlook to be attracted by the other, is the essen-
and is the starting point for new discover- tial experience of adolescence. Entering
ies. The everyday cannot overwhelm this into School from the start means receiving
154 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
systematicness, order, and rigour and, es- vating each and every form of language.
pecially in adolescence, making these the Each one contributes a specific type of
criteria for presenting oneself to the out- discussion and way of relating to the
side world. Here the discussion set out for other, to oneself, and to society.
an us and an other who may not have the
same interpretative keys becomes impor- 4.3. Cultivating language in the City
tant, thus necessitating an effort of com- Adolescents do not just act at Home or
munication. University teachers often en- at School; they also create discourses in
counter texts that students have written other media. The will to relate with others
from themselves, with great richness, but means that they encourage each other to
not to be read by others. This would large- participate in different forums, and, un-
ly be a fundamental part of the task of the like in the cases above, they interact with
school: teaching how, with the wealth of people who are not part of their close en-
the shared heritage, to express the novelty vironment.
each individual brings so that it is under-
stood by the other. To do this, it is neces- Adolescents are particularly present
sary to consider monologic and dialogic in certain online settings, for example
language, in essays and narrative, but also YouTube, where they often write messages
in debate. to set out their experiences or to show
their opinions (Pérez-Torres et al., 2018).
School is the privileged site for rig- Popular culture encourages participation
orously distinguishing what one must and the need to form part of a group, and
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
confront, which language to use, and this even has effects on discursive pre-
the appropriate method for each ques- sentation. In adolescent discourse pro-
tion. School also has various spaces for duced in online settings, language use is
this play with language: the solitary desk adapted to a particular genre, and a dis-
revista española de pedagogía
where one listens to lessons, disserta- course variety appears that is different
tions, narrations, and so on, or where one to the one used in the school and family
writes one’s own reflective commentary settings (Palazzo, 2010). Discourse, re-
or tackles a problem with nothing but the sulting from interactions, influences the
clothes on one’s back, with what one has shaping of their identities and the con-
brought from home; the shared table for struction of their ideologies, this notion
doing group work, debating, negotiating, being understood as a social, dynamic,
enquiring with the other; the chair in the and plural phenomenon, which is con-
assembly hall in which one attends pre- structed over time in different social en-
sentations, debates, the spectacle of a lec- vironments and in interaction with other
ture, or a production of a play; outings, people (Gee, 2001).
field trips or visits to museums, the same
places are experienced differently with Networks mean that people’s social
the School than with the family. School participation increases. In 2006, the cov-
cannot neglect distinguishing and culti- er of Time magazine was a mirror to show
155 EVRosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER and Alba TORREGO
that each one of us was the person of the Interacting on social networks is not
year. It paid homage to internet users and simple. It requires learning a series of
their potential to form part of the new things. Nonetheless, the discourse pro-
digital democracy with their voices. We duced in virtual settings is often ignored
have been given a loudspeaker to transmit by Schools and relegated to the sphere of
our messages; there has been a shift from the everyday and play. In the context of the
mere reception of messages to the produc- Home, it can be seen as something unman-
tion of all types. ageable, something people do not known
how to tackle owing to a generational or
Isogoria, as the equal use by all of the digital divide. For this participation in so-
word, appears to be more protected with cial networks to result in responsible pub-
the spread of the use of social networks, lic participation, School and Home cannot
but the same fate seems not to have be- distance themselves from the interactions
fallen parrhesia. The ability to speak cor- that take place in digital settings. Conse-
rectly and the option and commitment quently, the first step is to recognise the
to do so frankly do not always combine importance of dialogue with adolescents so
(Foucault, 2004). Truthful use of the they are aware of their interests and sur-
word does not seem to be recognised as roundings, so they are revealed to us.
an unquestionable and non-negotiable
value in the public sphere, and so the
word loses its strength, its core, and its 5. Conclusion: thinking, reading,
creative capacity is emptied. In fact, in a and conversing in a world of net-
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
more profound sense, it is possible that works
isogoria itself also loses strength, even Austin (1975) highlighted the performa-
in the field of networks. Different voices tive dimension of language, how words
that are not in line with the politically are not just an expression but that by
revista española de pedagogía
correct are silenced. They are attacked being expressed they can produce facts.
and exposed to public view for an unde- Language enables us to receive and trans-
fined period of time and the possibility mit information, but also to influence other
of being listened to and read in context people or be influenced by them. For this
is lost while at the same time the possi- reason, language must be dealt with by
bility arises that they will be taken out the Home and the School, which will make
of context and posted where their inter- adolescents able to use it in the City. How-
pretation might be partial. All of this, in ever, this is not without risks. One risk is
a grim process, silences certain critical reducing knowledge of language to certain
voices or those who do not want to run areas of communication without taking
the risk of being subjected to a possible into account other contexts that have con-
socio-political trial in any place and at siderable influence. The digital context
any time. Social death on networks and must be approached both at Home and
being subjected to public scorn becomes a at School, and not seen as a minor area
dissuasive force for many people. of communication where only playful in-
156 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
teractions occur. Language in digital set- Language, as we have said, is inher-
tings can enable adolescents to build their ited intelligence, but it is also the thread
identity, but it can also encourage them to with which the possible future is woven.
contribute to transformative social action We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted
with their discourse. from caring for it.
To do this, these discursive practices
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en España [PISA 2018. Reading results in Authors’ biographies
Spain]. Secretaría General Técnica, Minis- M. Rosario González Martín. Li-
terio de Educación y Formación Profesional.
centiate degree and doctorate in Edu-
Nussbaum, M. (2015). La fragilidad del bien
[The fragility of good]. Machado Libros. cational Sciences from the Universidad
OECD (2019). PISA 2018 in Spain. https://www. Complutense de Madrid, where she is
oecd.org/pisa/data/PISA2018Spain_final.pdf currently an Associate Professor in the
Ortega y Gasset J. (1983). Ideas y creencias Department of Educational Studies. She
[Ideas and beliefs.]. In Obras completas, V
is head of the Civic Culture and Educa-
(pp. 379-409). Alianza Editorial.
Palazzo, G. (2009). El ciberespacio juvenil: re- tional Policies Group and expert in ethics
presentaciones sociales del desconcierto, la applied to education and in teaching
censura y la aceptación [Youth cyberspace: ethics for engineers. She specialises in
158 EVHome, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world
family therapy and other human systems, ation (EERA) and the World Educational
in psychosomatic medicine, and Lifespan Research Association (WERA).
Integration.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6373-4111
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4013-7381
Alba Torrego. Degrees in Hispanic
Gonzalo Jover. Doctorate in educa- Philology from the Universidad Autónoma
tional sciences from the Universidad Com- de Madrid and Primary Education from the
plutense de Madrid where he is currently Universidad de Valladolid. She is currently
Professor of Theory of Education and Dean Assistant Professor in the Department of
of the Faculty of Education. He was an ad- Educational Studies at the Universidad
visor to the Spanish Ministry of Education Complutense de Madrid. Her research in-
in the General Secretariat of Universities. terests focus on discourse analysis in digital
President of the Spanish Pedagogy Society settings and on media education.
(SEP) and a member of the councils of the
European Educational Research Associ- https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4083-8727
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 145-159
revista española de pedagogía
159 EVCasa, Escuela y Ciudad: el cultivo del lenguaje
en un mundo digital*
Home, School, and City: Cultivating language
in a digital world
Dra. M. Rosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN. Contratado Doctor. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (marrgonz@ucm.es).
Dr. Gonzalo JOVER. Catedrático. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (gjover@ucm.es).
Dra. Alba TORREGO. Ayudante Doctor. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (altorreg@ucm.es).
Resumen: de disfrutar del polvo de los grandes textos
Este trabajo pretende mostrar la im- del pasado encerrados en las bibliotecas, sino
portancia del lenguaje y los retos que se le que se define como un conjunto de estrate-
presentan en la llamada revolución digital, gias que permiten el desarrollo personal y la
prestando atención a las posibilidades de su participación en la sociedad. Esta ampliación
cultivo durante la adolescencia en tres espa- del concepto involucra inexorablemente la
cios educativos fundamentales: Casa, Escuela competencia para moverse creativamente en
año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 145-159
y Ciudad. En primer lugar, se analiza la doble los entornos digitales. A pesar de ello, estos
función del lenguaje como modo de comunica- entornos no reciben la atención necesaria
ción y de representación, como vía por la que en la Escuela y se ven relegados al ámbito
se recibe la herencia y se imagina y proyecta de lo cotidiano, de lo lúdico. En el círculo de
revista española de pedagogía
el futuro. A continuación, de mano de los últi- la Casa, el discurso digital puede ser vivido
mos resultados del Programme for Internatio- como algo inabarcable, afectado por una bre-
nal Student Assessment (PISA) se aborda la cha que lo presenta como un mundo aparte.
falsa dicotomía que contrapone la competen- La colaboración de la Escuela y la Casa resul-
cia digital a la capacidad lectora. Esta ya no ta, sin embargo, ineludible si queremos que la
puede entenderse hoy solo como la capacidad inmersión adolescente en el mundo digital dé
* Este trabajo se ha elaborado en el marco del Proyecto «Elaboración de un modelo predictivo para el desarrollo del
pensamiento crítico en el uso de las redes sociales (CritiRed)», concedido para los años 2019-2022 en la convocatoria
Retos de Investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, con número de referencia: RTI2018-
095740-B-I00 – (2019-2022).
Fecha de recepción de la versión definitiva de este artículo: 30-09-2020.
Cómo citar este artículo: González Martín, M. R., Jover, G. y Torrego, A. (2021). Casa, Escuela y Ciudad: el cultivo del
lenguaje en un mundo digital | Home, School, and City: Cultivating language in a digital world. Revista Española de
Pedagogía, 79 (278), 145-159. https://doi.org/10.22550/REP79-1-2021-03
https://revistadepedagogia.org/ ISSN: 0034-9461 (Impreso), 2174-0909 (Online)
145M. Rosario GONZÁLEZ MARTÍN, Gonzalo JOVER y Alba TORREGO
lugar a una participación ciudadana crítica y Reading can no longer be understood just as
responsable. the ability to enjoy dusty volumes of old classics
languishing on library bookshelves. Rather,
Descriptores: lengua, adolescencia, compe- it can be defined as a set of strategies that
tencia digital, comunicación multimodal, in- enable personal development and participa-
forme PISA, escuela, casa, ciudad. tion in society. This extension of the concept
inexorably involves the competence of acting
creatively in digital environments. Unfortuna-
Abstract: tely, these environments go largely unheeded
This paper aims to show the importance of at School, where they are relegated to the
language and the challenges it faces in the dig- mundane world of play. At Home, however,
ital revolution by considering the possibilities digital discourse can be experienced as unfath-
for cultivating it during adolescence in three omable, where the digital divide makes it a
fundamental spaces: Homes, Schools, and Cit- world apart. Therefore, collaboration between
ies. It starts by analysing the dual function of School and Home becomes vital for ensuring
language as a means of both communication that adolescents’ immersion in the digital
and representation, as how one receives one’s world leads to critical, responsible participa-
heritage and imagines and projects one’s fu- tion in citizenship.
ture. It then considers the false dichotomy be-
tween digital competency and reading skills in Keywords: language, adolescence, digital com-
light of the latest results from the Programme petence, multimodal communication, PISA re-
for International Student Assessment (PISA). port, school, home, city.
año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 145-159
revista española de pedagogía
El mundo era tan reciente, que muchas como una herramienta clave para conocer
cosas carecían de nombre y, para mencio- la realidad. Esto ha dado lugar a posicio-
narlas, había que señalarlas con el dedo. nes filosóficas que han sido muy debatidas,
como el solipsismo lingüístico, pero tam-
Cien años de soledad. bién ha dado paso a teorías donde se exalta
Gabriel García Márquez el lenguaje como actividad colectiva.
Siguiendo los postulados de Humboldt
1. Introducción (Di Cesare, 1999), el conocimiento es un
Una de las afirmaciones más influyen- proceso de configuración que tiene lugar
tes de la filosofía del siglo xx es la formu- no únicamente con el lenguaje sino en el
lada por Ludwig Wittgenstein (1975): «Los lenguaje. El lenguaje se erige en la mani-
límites de mi lenguaje son los límites de mi festación por excelencia del espíritu hu-
mundo». Con esta proposición, se produce mano, en la cual se revela la creatividad
el giro lingüístico que introduce el lenguaje del género humano en su conjunto. Esto
146Casa, Escuela y Ciudad: el cultivo del lenguaje en un mundo digital
supone que lo que no hemos hecho lengua- las posibilidades de su cultivo durante la
je es difícil de percibir, se nos hace invisible adolescencia en los tres espacios educa-
al pensamiento, a la argumentación. Por tivos fundamentales que constituyen la
ello, el cultivo del lenguaje es el cultivo de Casa, la Escuela y la Ciudad.
la cosmovisión, de la relación con el mundo
y con el otro, el cultivo del pensamiento y
de la argumentación, del pensar y del vivir, 2. El lenguaje: representación y
de la creencia y de la idea. conocimiento de la realidad
Trasmitir una lengua es ayudar a com-
El lenguaje alberga el alma materna, prender un modo de ver el mundo, de sen-
la historia, las raíces afectivas, el sentir y tirlo, de pensarlo y de albergar el sentido
el sentido, los misterios en los que se en- desde el que se interpreta cada sociedad en
raíza la vida. Nos ocurre como le sucedía a ese mundo. La lengua nutre las creencias y
Arendt: «la lengua alemana fue su hogar las ideas en el sentido de Ortega y Gasset:
(Heimat)» (Young-Bruehl, 2006, p. 64).
Conviene, pues, que dejemos este tér-
Cada lengua materna es el hogar desde
mino —ideas— para designar todo aquello
donde se piensa el mundo y se entiende uno
que en nuestra vida aparece como resulta-
a sí mismo y al otro. El lenguaje es hogar y do de nuestra ocupación intelectual. Pero
base de la argumentación, del rigor, de lo las creencias se nos presentan con el carác-
razonable, del diálogo y el acuerdo. Como ter opuesto. No llegamos a ellas tras una
nos muestra Arendt, «cierta sordera a los faena de entendimiento, sino que operan
significados lingüísticos ha tenido como ya en nuestro fondo cuando nos ponemos
año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 145-159
consecuencia un tipo de ceguera ante las a pensar sobre algo. Por eso no solemos
realidades a las que corresponden» (Arendt, formularlas, sino que nos contentamos con
1972, pp. 145-146). El estudio del lenguaje aludir a ellas como solemos hacer con todo
se revela como un método para llegar al co- lo que nos es la realidad misma. Las teo-
rías, en cambio, aun las más verídicas, sólo
revista española de pedagogía
nocimiento de la realidad. Para Humboldt,
existen mientras son pensadas: de aquí que
el lenguaje no es una obra acabada, sino
necesiten ser formuladas (Ortega y Gasset,
una actividad; un trabajo reiterado del espí- 1983, p. 384).
ritu para hacer posible que el sonido articu-
lado se transforme en expresión del pensa- Esto nos muestra que todo lo que lle-
miento (Di Cesare, 1999). Por todo ello, una gamos a pensar en realidad ocupa ya un
educación que se precie cuida su lengua y el lugar secundario si lo ponemos en relación
cultivo de la inteligencia que esta contiene con nuestras verdaderas creencias. «En
de manera respetuosa y abierta. estas no pensamos ahora o luego: nuestra
relación con ellas consiste en algo mucho
Este trabajo pretende mostrar la im- más eficiente; consiste en… contar con
portancia del lenguaje, como modo de re- ellas, siempre, sin pausa» (ibíd., p. 386).
presentación y conocimiento de la reali-
dad, y los retos que le plantea la llamada El lenguaje tiene esa capacidad de ser
revolución digital, prestando atención a creencia y de expresar y comunicar ideas:
147You can also read
