Memes are the “lingua franca” of the internet (Milner, 2016), and there is a small but growing body of research using memes with EFL learners (Harshavardhan et al, 2019). In this talk, I share some of my own practical experiences using memes in Japanese university classes. Students find and share memes, as well as creating and sharing their own. The values and potential pitfalls of this are discussed practically, and some preliminary data about students’ reflections and experiences of using memes are presented to begin a discussion on the potential place that memes might have in the EFL classroom. Initial response show that students found making their own memes to be a rewarding experience that gave them a connection to participatory culture (Jenkins et al, 2009). Harshavardhan, V., Wilson, D., & Kumar, M. V. (2019). Humour discourse in internet memes: An aid in ESL classrooms. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 29(1), 41-53. Milner, R. M. (2016). The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Presentation given at JALT CALL 2023 at Kumamoto, June 4th.

1. RICHARD S. PINNER
EFL students’ memes and their role in participatory culture
ME AND MY MEMES

2. What is a Meme?

3. Dawkins first coinage of the word
The word meme was first coined by
Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish
Gene. He refers to them as ‘self-
replicating’ ideas’ (1976, p. 255) and
‘self-replicating patterns of information’
(1976, p. 431).
British evolutionary biologist and author. He is
an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford
Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene (40th
Anniversary ed.). Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

5. Anything that spreads
through imitation […] is a
meme (Dawkins, 2013, “Just
for Hits” talk given at New
Directors Showcase
“Viruses of the mind”
(1976)

6. Memes
The concept of memes was developed in
‘esoteric forums and message boards,
where participants first linked Dawkins’s
theories of cultural replication to shared
in-jokes, catchphrases, and signature
texts’ (Milner 2016, 1)
Milner, R. M. (2016). The World Made
Meme: Public Conversations and
Participatory Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.

7. Memes as a Lingua Franca
Memetic logics and grammar facilitating a rich and
complex social vernacular. To the collectives conversing
through it, this vernacular functions as a lingua franca
that facilitates expression and conversation spanning vast
geographic and social contexts (Milner, 2016, pp 79)

8. This is not technically a meme
This is an Image Macro.

9. This is the Meme aspect of it

10. Participation – Produsers
Bird, S. E. (2011). Are We
All Produsers Now?
Cultural Studies,
25(4-5), 502-516.
https://doi.org/10.1
080/09502386.2011.
600532

11. Participatory Culture
• ‘a culture with relatively low barriers to
artistic expression and civic
engagement, strong support for creating
and sharing one’s creations, and some
type of informal mentorship whereby
what is known by the most experienced
is passed to novices’ (p. 3). It is also ‘one
in which members believe their
contributions matter, and feel some
degree of social connection with one
another (at least they care about what
other people think about what they
have created).’ (p. 3).
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Clinton, K., Weigel, M.,
& Robinson, A. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of
Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st
Century. Cambridge,.

14. Drake Hotline Bling

16. Cat Drake
On December 15th, 2016, Instagram [22] user
@yisucrist published a photoshopped version of the
Drake "Don't Like/Like" exploitable, featuring a black
cat's head edited onto Drake's body.
About 14 months later, on February 22nd,
Twitter[19] user @DustyFotter posted a version of
this meme with a new cat superimposed over
Drake's face . Next to the images of the cat are a cat
bed and a cardboard box, indicating that cats prefer
the box to the bed. The post (shown below, left)
received more than 12,000 retweets and 28,000
likes in four days.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/drakeposting

17. Deumert, A. (2014). The performance of a ludic self on social network (ing) sites. In P.
Seargeant & C. Tagg (Eds.), The language of social media: identity and community on the
Internet (pp. 23-45). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
The internet has and
digital culture is said
to have a specific
brand of humour
• Dark, warped,
satirical… ludic

21. Why don’t I understand
If you are not familiar with the
images or original reference, you
may not fully appreciate the meme.
But that doesn’t matter, as things
are constantly repurposed anyway.
Humour is also an aspect, and as
such it belongs to “in groups” only
who will share and appreciate the
joke.
If you don’t get it, you’re not in the
group.

23. Argot and Cant Languages
• An argot (English: /ˈɑːrɡoʊ/; from
French argot [aʁˈɡo] 'slang') is a
secret language used by various
groups—e.g., schoolmates, outlaws,
colleagues, among many others—to
prevent outsiders from
understanding their conversations.
• A cant is the jargon or argot of a
group, often employed to exclude
or mislead people outside the
group.

24. Also has its own celebrities

26. Embracing Celebrity Status

28. Slang
a constantly
changing linguistic
phenomenon
present in every
subculture
worldwide

29. LOL
Laugh Out Loud
“Sorry to hear about your
Grandma, lol”

31. Memes
Memes (and Image Macros) & Language

35. tbh bae idgaf
Frankly my
dear, I don’t
give a damn
•To Be Honest
•Bae = baby
•I don’t give a
F***

37. Written or Textual
Prosody
Tagg, C. (2015).
Exploring digital
communication:
Language in action.
Routledge.

40. Lolspeak /
chanspeak

41. Internet Slang
Intentional mis-spellings and ungrammatical expressions
Evolves constantly and at accelerated speed
Written/Spoken language conventions merged
Use of fonts, punctuation etc. to add nuance to expressions

42. Collective Identity
• Gal, N., Shifman, L., & Kampf, Z.
(2016). “It Gets Better”: Internet
memes and the construction of
collective identity. New Media &
Society, 18(8), 1698–
1714. https://doi.org/10.1177/14
61444814568784

43. • different groups, their attitudes, ideologies
and interests are represented more clearly
and more directly than ever before through
the appropriation of popular contents and
images
• Pavlović, L. M. (2016). Internet memes as a field of discursive
construction of identity and space of resistance. AM Časopis
za studije umetnosti i medija, (10), 97-106.

44. Nationality, age, sexuality and other aspects of one’s identity can be
apparent in Memes. (Phillips, 2015 [talking about online trolls])
Even simply sharing a meme is an act of identity creation because in
sharing you are endorsing the meme and displaying your belonging to
that particular in-group because you ‘get it’.

45. Currency / Trending

46. Student made memes

48. WW class memes

63. • Students enjoyed making the
memes, but especially sharing
them on the class forum with
other students
• Simple language
• Expression of self
• Group identity
• Motivating (?)

64. Memes and EFL
• Harshavardhan, V., Wilson, D., & Kumar, M. V. (2019). Humour discourse in
internet memes: An aid in ESL classrooms. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 29(1),
41-53.
• Purnama, A. D. (2017). Incorporating memes and instagram to enhance
students participation. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language
Teaching, 20(1), 1-14.
• Romero, E. D., & Bobkina, J. (2017). Teaching visual literacy through memes
in the language classroom. The image in English language teaching, 59-70.
• Romero, E. D., & Bobkina, J. (2021). Exploring critical and visual literacy
needs in digital learning environments: The use of memes in the EFL/ESL
university classroom. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 40, 100783.

65. Pinner (202???) !!!!

66. Questions?

67. Thank you
Full slides and all
citations available on
my website
www.uniliterate.com