William Cope
Adam P Rusch
Jason Berg
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Rita van Haren
Eric Patnoudes
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Heather A Ochmane-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates
Peer-graded Assignment: Essential Peer Reviewed Update #3: Multiliteracies – affordances in the language-learning classroom
New technology has involved something of a revolution in the language learning classroom. In the EFL classroom of the early 2000s, when mobile/smartphone technology was only really starting to become ubiquitous, smartphones were widely regarded as a distraction from learning – and were (and are!) frequently banned from the classroom.
I recall a recent teacher development session, where an older, more traditional English language teacher was defending his position of banning smartphone use in class in order to aid concentration. A younger colleague countered with the observation that these days students don’t just have a conversation describing their family – they immediately pull out a smartphone to show pictures to complement the description.
This, I felt, was a powerful observation, and reflects the current predominance of multi-modal meaning, or multiliteracies:
“the rise of new, multimodal genres where text, image, sound and data are inseparable: the social media feed, the website, the app, the infographic, the data visualization” (Cope, B., and Kalantzis, M. 2017).
It is easy to sympathise with teachers who are faced with a world that perhaps they do not fully understand – or at least one whose affordances do not always seem accessible. Most language teachers are currently being forced to re-evaluate their approach to incorporate or embrace the concept of multiliteracies. This is likely to involve a rethink of most EFL ‘givens’ – even a discussion on what literacy itself now entails. Reading comprehension, for example, traditionally viewed as a ‘receptive skill’ within the EFL sphere might need to be viewed as a more dynamic and multi-modal process:
“Meaning is not viewed as something that resides in texts; rather, deriving meaning is considered an active and dynamic process in which learners combine and creatively apply both linguistic and other semiotic resources…” (New London Group (NLG) 1996, cited in Warner, Chantelle & Dupuy, Beatrice 2018)
“Nowadays literacy has been understood as a social practice, as a complex set of reading, writing and technological skills which joins verbal, visual, and other meaning-making resources.” (Heberle, Viviane. 2010)
It is important to embrace the affordances of multiliteracies for a more meaningful language learning experience. More pertinently, to adapt language learning to the reality of the world. Here are two simple ideas that illustrate immediately achievable tasks that represent a multiliteracy approach to language learning:
- Use reports from real life business or personal activity to describe trends (the picture shows a Paypal report for personal vinyl record sales for 2020).
- Find a video online to make a recipe. Using this as a model, create your own video of you making a favourite recipe and post for peers to view and comment on.
In conclusion, multiliteracies are a reflection of how the world works – and surely education should prepare us for how the world works. On this basis, adapting learning to reflect multiliteracies is a necessity, as well as an intriguing affordance.
References:
(Cope, B., and Kalantzis, M. 2017). Conceptualizing e-learning. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (Eds), e-Learning Ecologies. New York:
New London Group (NLG). (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 60–92.
Warner, Chantelle & Dupuy, Beatrice. (2018). Moving toward multiliteracies in foreign language teaching: Past and present perspectives … and beyond. Foreign Language Annals. 10.1111/flan.12316.
Heberle, Viviane. (2010). Multimodal literacy for teenage EFL students. Cadernos de Letras UFRJ. 27. 101-116.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293183989_Multimodal_literacy_for_teenage_EFL_students
