Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality into Schools

Item Type thesis

Authors Greco, Daniel C.

Download date 18/12/2023 15:36:12

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/5852

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 1

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality into Schools

by
Daniel Greco

A capstone project submitted to the Department of Education and Human Development

of The College at Brockport, State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Education
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 2

Table of Contents:

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..4
Definition of Multiliteracies……………………………………………………....4
History of Multiliteracies. ………………………………………………………...6
Research Questions………………………………………………………………..8

Methodology. ……………………………………………………………………………..8

Findings………………………………………………………………………………...…9
Case Study 1…………………………………………………………………… 10
Case Study 2……………………………………………………………………..14
Case Study 3……………………………………………………………………..15
Case Study 4……………………………………………………………………..16
Student/Teacher Impacts…………………………………………………………17

Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………21
Implications for Student Learning……………………………………………….21
Implications for My Teaching…………………………………………………...22
Recommendations for Future Research………………………………………….23
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 3

Abstract

Today’s technological advancements provide cause for literacy educators to think about

literacy as many literacies or multiliteracies (Cimbricz & Rath, 2015). This analytical

review explores the construct of multiliteracy in hopes of discovering how to help

students become multiliterate and learn the many literacies important to today’s world.

This review examines four case studies that speak to the actual impact multiliteracies has

on student and teacher learning. My analysis suggests that in some cases, student

engagement improved when the teaching and learning of multiliteracies were used in

schools. Furthermore, the integration of multiple modes of meaning making seemed to

better meet the needs of all students in the classroom. Unfortunately, mot much is known

about multiliteracies, and its actual impact on student and teacher learning remains

relatively unknown.
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 4

Introduction:

As a young learner, I always found myself more engaged when the learning

involved using multiple senses. Whether it was dancing around desks to learn about how

planets revolve around the sun, watching filmstrips to see what trench warfare looked like

in World War, or singing “Row Row Row Your Boat” to memorize the quadratic formula,

the use of multiple modalities (e.g., gestural, visual, audio, linguistic) – when coupled

with technology – helped me learn.

As a teacher, and in my experience working with students who have multiple and

complex disabilities, I was reminded of how important technology and multimodality are

to learning. While teaching a lesson that involved ‘reading a book’ with audio and visual

imagery using a SmartBoard®, it finally dawned on me: Maybe there are students out

there who, like me, learn more effectively when it involves using multimodalities and

technology. I also wondered how I might combine multimodality and technology to help

my students learn the many literacies important to today’s world.

Today’s technological advancements provide cause for literacy educators to think

about literacy as many literacies or multiliteracies. According to Cimbricz and Rath

(2015), the concept of multiliteracies “attends to the diversity of language and culture and

the multiple dimensions of visual, aural, and media in multimodal texts, largely enabled

by technology” (p. 2). As such, “literacy becomes less of a singular ‘thing’ and more of a

set of shifting or adaptive practices for communication among individuals and groups

within social and cultural settings, or multiliteracies” (p. 2). Cimbricz and Rath (2015)

argue that this expanded definition of literacy provides cause to think about text broadly

defined (i.e., visual, spatial, linguistic, gestural, audio) and text as information. To keep
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 5

up with the many literacies enabled by technological advancements, it is important for us,

as teachers, to help students become multiliterate and prepare them for today’s world as

well as the future. 1.

Two ideas are important to understanding the construct of multiliteracies. First, to

be multiliterate, a person must be literate in multiple modes of meaning making Cazden,

Cope, Fairclough, Gee, Kalantzis, Kress, Luke, Luke, Michaels, Nakata, 1996) and

“being cognitively and socially literate with paper, live, and electronic texts” (Antsey &

Bull, 2006, p. 23). Second, a person is multiliterate when s/he recognizes that a particular

context requires certain literacy practices, and that s/he can strategically apply those

practices to the setting (Antsey, M. & Bull, G. 2006). Antsey and Bull (2006) confirm:

“The multi in multiliteracies is about the… need for multiple forms of knowledge and

understandings about literacy and social contexts that enable appropriate and successful

performance in all aspects of life” (p. 21). To help students become multiliterate, it is

important to help them learn how to: 1) be cognitively and socially literate with a variety

of texts or information; and 2) strategically choose and use literacy strategies appropriate

for the situation for which they are needed.

A key aim of multiliteracies is the bridging of literacies that students use at

home/outside of school and those they use in schools. In so doing, students importantly

draw on their funds of knowledge to enrich the literacies learned in school Moll, Amanti,

Neff & Gonzalez, (2001) define funds of knowledge as “the knowledge and skills found

in local households” (p.132).

1.It is important to note that throughout this paper, multiliteracy and multiliteracies will
be used interchangeably.
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 6

So how can teachers help K-12 students become multiliterate? In this analytic

review, I discuss what is important for teachers to know, as well as what teachers can do

to help students gain the multiliteracies valued in today’s world. Students need to have

the opportunity to learn about multiliteracies, or else they will be at an extreme

disadvantage when it comes to learning the literacies that are commonly used in the 21st

century (Cazden, et al., 1996). Before studying how teachers implement this pedagogy

(method and practice of teaching) in schools, it is vital to understand why the term

multiliteracies was created.

History of Multiliteracies

The construct of multiliteracies was first introduced in 1996, when a group of

literacy educators met in New London, New Hampshire for a conference. At this

conference, the group was especially concerned with the state of literacy and how the

growth of technology was changing what counted as ‘literacy.’ As technology was

changing, so too was literacy. Literacy was becoming more multimodal, and text was no

longer limited to being paper-based. For example, with the invention of the Internet,

students could publish their writing digitally through avenues such as blogs. The New

London Group (1996) confirms,

“[new] communications media are reshaping the way we use language. When

technologies of meaning are changing so rapidly, there cannot be one set of

standards or skills that constitute the ends of literacy learning, however taught”

(p. 64).
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 7

The group, which eventually would be called “The New London Group,” agreed that

literacy in schools needed to keep up with the developments of the world (Cazden, et al.,

1996).

The New London Group put forth an approach to teaching and learning that

focused on multimodality, or the many modes in which information is presented and

learned in a digital world. Six different design elements (“modes of meaning”) are

important to this approach: linguistic, visual audio gestural, spatial, and multimodal

(Cazden, et al., 1996. p. 80). These different modes of meaning are mediums, or different

ways to support the development of multiliteracies.

Building on the many literacies valued in the 21st century, and the funds of

knowledge students already possess can help them more successfully learn in school

(Moll, et al., 2001). Moreover, by broadening literacy to include multiple and varied

literacies (e.g., multi-literacies, new literacies, digital literacies, multi-modal literacies,

21st-century literacies and/or fluencies), we as educators, can more richly (and justly)

support adolescents’ ongoing literacy development, learning, and future success in

college, in the workplace, and in life (Cimbricz & Rath, 2015).

In this analytic review, I sought to discover what value, if any, the teaching and

learning of multiliteracies have in K-12 classrooms. I explored how teachers are using

multiliteracies in K-12 classrooms. In addition, I sought to find how teachers are using

multiliteracies in their classrooms in hopes of discovering how teachers can effectively

implement this pedagogy to meet the needs of all students in their classroom.

Accordingly, this analytic review focuses on two questions:

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 8

 What does the teaching and learning of multiliteracies mean and look like in

actual practice?

 What impact, if any, does the teaching and learning of multiliteracies have on

teachers and their students?

The purpose of this analytic review is to identify what is important to know about the

teaching and learning of multiliteracies in K-12 classrooms.

Methodology

Analysis of recent and relevant literature related to my topic is crucial when

studying how teachers can effectively implement multiliteracies into their classrooms.

Clark and Creswell (2010) define a literature review as “a written synthesis of journal

articles, books, and other documents that summarizes and critiques the past and current

state of information about a topic, organizes the literature into subtopics, and documents

the background for a study” (p. 119). This analytical review synthesizes a collection of

articles and documents to summarize the past and current state of multiliteracies. In

addition, I also organize my research into subtopics, based on my research questions, to

help document the background of multiliteracies.

Clark and Creswell (2010) argue that researchers review literature to learn what is

and is not known about a study’s topic and research problem. A good review of literature

provides important background knowledge that shows researchers what has been done,

what still needs to be done, and how best to go about doing it (p. 118). Similarly,

Shagoury and Power (1999) indicate that “one of the main purposes of a literature review

is to understand what a conversation has been about in a specific area of research, gaps
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 9

that have taken place in the conversation, how the conversation has led to important

findings, and places where the conversation needs to change or grow” (p. 181).

Articles reviewed for this paper were found using the ERIC (Educational

Research Information Center.) database. By typing in multiliteracy as a key word, I was

able to cross-reference 269 articles to find sources that would help me with my research.

Next, I limited my search to articles containing full text, which brought me to 150 texts.

Of the 150 remaining articles, I chose texts that contained case studies that focused on a

different mode of meaning making (as defined by the New London Group). I wanted to

make sure that I used case studies that highlighted all six of the modes of meaning

making so each could be fairly represented. This initial search led me to discover several

case studies that showed what teaching multiliteracies actually looked like, and find out

its actual impact at the classroom level. In addition, this search uncovered how teachers

may best be able to implement multiliteracy as an instructional approach or pedagogy.

With the exception of the New London Group’s groundbreaking article on multiliteracies,

I limited my review to case studies published within the last ten years. In the next section,

I reveal the discoveries I made while reviewing the four case studies.

Findings

Since the New London Group’s publication of multiliteracies in 1996,

researchers have pointed out that teachers need to bridge the literacies that students use at

school with those they have access to at home (Fabos, B., & Lewis, C, 2000) and agree

that the literacies that students need to know are changing (Jewitt, K., 2008). There is

little evidence, however, that specifies that actual impact that teaching multiliteracies in

schools has on student learning. Furthermore, Jewitt (2008) confirms,

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 10

“Although some educational systems now officially recognize the importance of

multiliteracies and multimodality (e.g., state curricula in Australia, South

Africa, and Canada), the implications of this work for teacher education and

curriculum policy are still emerging" (p. 261).

Because of the lack of data that shows teaching multiliteracies is research proven,

in this analytic review, I focused on four case studies. These studies show lessons that not

only demonstrate what this pedagogy looks like in actual practice, but also provide

insight on some of the impacts using multiliteracies have on teachers and their students.

As I reviewed the literature, I focused on case studies that addressed the six

modes of meaning that the New London Group identified as important to multiliteracies

specifically, linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial, and multimodal meaning (Cazden,

et al., 1996. p. 80). Gained from this review was the idea that the linguistic and

multimodal modes of meaning making are critical to becoming multiliterate. This means

that teachers need to use the linguistic and multimodality design elements with at least

one other mode of meaning (visual, audio, gestural or spatial) in order to effectively

support the use of multiliteracies. Lessons in the case studies reviewed in this paper were

taught to students in hopes of improving student engagement and learning. A description

of these four case studies will show what teaching multiliteracies looks like in actual

practice, while using the six different representations of meaning making.

The first case study involves five different lessons, three of which I will discuss

because they use different modes of meaning making. Each of these three lessons show

what teaching multiliteracies looks like in actual practice, and come from a community

event from Malaysia. Although this community event was not located in a school, I
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 11

included this case study because it provided lessons that were taught by actual

schoolteachers to students they would typically instruct. The lessons taught in the

community event aligned with my research questions, and provided me with the data

needed to explore my objectives of this analytical review.

Researchers created a Multimodal Community Literacy Project, which was a day

- long literacy event that used multiliteracies (arts and crafts, songs, videos, movies, and

storytelling) to facilitate an understanding of parents’ participation in social literacy

practices at home (Boivin, N., Albakri, R., Zuraiyah, M., Mohammed, H., & Muniandy,

N., 2014). At the Multimodal Community Literacy Project, five lessons were presented

to parents and their children, each incorporating a mode of multiliteracy.

The first lesson from the literacy event was centered on storytelling as a way of

teaching literacy to young children, primarily using gestural meaning during instruction

(Boivin, et al., 2014). During the lesson, a teacher read the story The Enormous Turnip to

a group of young students. Children were “provided the opportunity to act out the

character, repeat the vocabulary in the story in a choral fashion, and use Total Physical

Response (TPR) to connect actions with the meaning of the vocabulary” (Boivin, et al.,

2014, p. 41). In addition, the storytellers used gestures and emphasized their voices to

capture the meaning of targeted vocabulary words from the text. Throughout the lesson,

the children were encouraged to act out the story using a TPR approach, enhancing the

use of gestural meaning.

After the story was acted out, students grouped up into pairs to begin the second

part of the lesson: the scavenger hunt. Students needed to match vocabulary words (from

the story) with pictures that were hidden around the campus of the literacy event. Boivin,
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 12

et al., (2014) stated that this “enabled repeated exposure of the printed word in

conjunction with a visual representation” (p. 41). Once students found all five of the

pictures that were hidden around the event, each was awarded a small prize as a sense of

personal pride.

Although this lesson focused on having students use gestural meaning, it shows

how multiple modes of meaning making important to multiliteracies were incorporated.

The storytelling portion of the lesson used the gestural mode of meaning by allowing

students to act along with the story, while the children were also encouraged to use audio

meaning by repeating and emphasizing what they story tellers were saying. Students also

used visual and linguistic meaning while matching the vocabulary words with the

pictures during the scavenger hunt. This lesson highlights how multimodality was used

with multiliteracies.

The second lesson from the literacy event was a series of action songs that were

performed. Like the storytelling lesson, the action song combined multiliteracies with

multimodality, but used audio meaning as the key mode of meaning making. Several

children’s songs were chosen that allowed for TPR, changes in speed and tempo, and

even purposeful fluctuations in voice. The songs taught vocabulary to students,

intertwined the meaning of the words with the actions of the performers, and encouraged

the children to follow along by singing and acting throughout the performance (Boivin, et

al., 2014). Furthermore, students were able to watch a video that modeled how they could

use their body and facial expressions to convey meaning while the songs were being

played. For example, during the enactment of the Itsy Bitsy Spider, teachers were able to

model how the children could use their fingers to crawl like a spider (Boivin, et al., 2014).
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 13

This lesson allowed students to first and foremost use audio meaning as literacy.

Students needed to rely on the song’s words in order to gain an understanding of the story.

However, students also used linguistic, visual, spatial and gestural meaning while they

were acting out the song. This lesson is a perfect example of how multiliteracies were

united with multimodality: the video from this lesson allowed children to use visual and

gestural meaning, while the action songs gave students the opportunity to use audio,

linguistic, gestural and spatial meaning.

The last lesson from the Multimodal Community Literacy Project focused on

teaching younger students the English vocabulary words for parts of the face (e.g., ears,

mouth, nose, etc.) by using spatial meaning. The teacher started by simply creating the

sock puppet out of ordinary materials that can be found at almost any home. The

researchers observed that student engagement improved right away. Once the sock

puppet was created, the puppeteer began pointing to different parts of the puppet, asking

students to recall what the English word was for the body part that was being presented.

Boivin, et al., (2014) stated, “This was an emergent literacy practice parents could easily

participate with their children. It connected the meaning of the vocabulary within an

applied learning context” (p. 44). After the students had the opportunity to yell out the

answers to all of the questions asked by the puppeteer, students were given the

opportunity to make their own sock puppets, and were encouraged to yell out the English

vocabulary words that they were learning during the lesson. The puppeteer helped foster

spatial meaning for the students by allowing them to use their surroundings while making

their own sock puppets, and promoted linguistic meaning by connecting the body parts

with the vocabulary terms they were learning, yet another example of using
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 14

multiliteracies and multimodality together.

Researchers Xiuwen Wu and Mark Newman (2008) conducted a case study in

which they wanted teacher candidates to learn how they could teach all students –

especially those with disabilities – with types of literacy that were not centered on text-

based learning. As a research project, they conducted a case study in which social studies

teacher candidates taught students a series of lessons, using a visual literacy curriculum.

Wu and Newman (2008) state, “In history and social studies, visual literacy involves the

use of maps, pictures, views, photographs, etc. to promote learning. These visuals,

primary and secondary sources, can be used with verbal texts or independently” (p. 2).

Before the teacher candidates taught their students, each was given instructional

guidelines on how to teach the visual literacy curriculum, approximately ten hours of

instruction for each candidate. Wu and Newman (2008) explain the curriculum that each

teacher candidate taught in this case study:

“The curriculum follows a progressive sequence from observation and labeling

to interpretation using graphic organizers to facilitate learning. Specifically,

there are four strategies combining the use of visual images (both primary and

secondary sources) and graphic organizers: Visual Labeling Strategy, Reading

for Content Strategy-Visuals with or without Actions strategy, Reading for

Analysis to Understand Why Strategy, and Reading for Interpretation to Assess

Significance Strategy. All strategies exist in three formats for teachers to easily

adapt them for instruction: on paper, as PowerPoint templates, and on the

web” (p. 7).

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 15

Students in this case study used visual meaning throughout the curriculum in many ways.

In the first strategy (visual labeling), students had access to an image, in which they were

asked to label the most important features of the picture. The second strategy (reading for

content-visuals) gave students the opportunity to look at an image, activate their

background knowledge, so they could identify what the picture was (Wu, Xiuwen &

Newman, Mark, 2008). This case study showed how teachers can use visual design as a

multiliteracy in their classroom.

Another case study that shows what multiliteracies look like in practice comes

from a summer program that took place in a traditional classroom and computer lab,

located in the southeastern United States. During the summer program, students in 7th and

8th grade were chosen because they spoke languages other than English at home (Angay-

Crowder, Choi, Yi, 2013). During the first week of the summer program, students

discovered what ‘digital storytelling’ was, and learned how it could be created.

Throughout the first week, students used multiple modes of meaning (visual, audio,

linguistic, multi-modal) while completing the digital storytelling (Angay-Crowder, Choi,

Yi, 2013).

The second week of the summer program focused especially on assisting students

to digitally write their own narratives, and using resources (music, pictures) from the

Internet. Furthermore, Angay-Crowder, Choi and Yi (2013) state, “While engaging in

these writing activities, each student or group had a writing conference (which was overt

instruction) with each of us (p. 41). This shows that the teachers zeroed in on using

linguistic meaning during this week of the summer program.

Weeks 3-4 of the case study used all six modes of meaning making (visual, audio,
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 16

linguistic, spatial, gestural, multimodal). Students worked on using the Internet as a

resource to create a multimedia presentation, based on the digital narratives they wrote

during the first two weeks of the program, and then spent time reflecting on the process

by presenting their narratives in front of the entire class. Throughout the four-week study,

students were able to use multiliteracies to draw on their experiences from home and

from school, while using all six modes of meaning making.

Kitson, Fletcher and Kearney (2007) studied a classroom for five months in

Australia that used a major instrument for multiliteracies – Interactive and

Communication Technologies (ICT’S). The ICT that was used for this case study was

and Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), because it allows teachers to use multiliterate

practices while reading multimodal texts (Kitson, L., Fletcher, M., & Kearney, J. 2007).

Kitson, Fletcher and Kearney (2007) state that an IWB “uses a computer, a touch-

sensitive screen and a data pro- jector to provide both audio-visual presentation and links

to a host of electronic and multimedia resources, provides a context for examining in

what ways a teacher imple- mented the multiliteracies and technology approach pro-

moted in Queensland curriculum documents” (p. 29). This shows that the IWB has the

potential of using multiple modes of meaning making. The IWB offers an example of

how multiliteracies can be taught in schools because it combines linguistic meaning-

making with the potential of being multimodal by using the audio and visual modes of

meaning.

Kitson, Fletcher and Kearney (2007) studied a fourth-year teacher as she taught

her primary school aged-students using an IWB over a five month period. Over the five

months, the teacher used an IWB in several different ways, including accessing the
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 17

Internet, as well as to the school Intranet, using Photostory®, PowerPoint®, and the Smart

Notebook® software. Students learned through multiple modes of learning while using

the IWB over the five month period, including audio design, visual design, and linguistic

design as modes of meaning making.

These four case studies not only show what multiliteracies involve, but also

model how teachers can incorporate multiliteracies into their own classrooms with the

support of multimodality. These lessons show that when multiliteracies are supported

with multimodality, when paired with technology, student engagement can improve.

Additionally, it was found that multiliteracies are best implemented in schools when

bridged with the literacies students use at home. Next, I discuss how the students and

teachers involved in these four case studies were impacted by the implementation of

multiliteracies.

Student/Teacher Impact

Now that we have seen what teaching and learning multiliteracies mean and look

like in actual practice, I examine the impact on learning. I will draw upon qualitative, and

in some cases, quantitative data that the researchers for each case study observed, and

attempt to discover any patterns that even slightly suggests that teaching multiliteracies

benefits students.

As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of the Multimodal Community Literacy

Project in Malaysia was to facilitate an understanding of parents’ participation in social

literacy practices at home (Boivin et al., 2014). However, while studying students and

interviewing their parents at the end of the event, a number of observations were noted.

For example, Boivin et al., (2014) noted that in every lesson, student participation was
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 18

excellent. By using multiple modes of meaning in all five of the lessons, students seemed

engaged, and were interested to learn about songs, stories and even parts of the human

body. One mother shared the sentiment that her child seemed engaged and interested in

the lesson, saying that her daughter “really enjoyed the songs she still sings them

(songs)” (p. 41). This quote was taken two months after the literacy event, and suggests

that the effects of teaching multiliteracies may be long lasting.

Boivin et al., (2014) also discovered during this case study is that parents wanted

to help bringing the literacies that students used in schools with those they have access to

at home, but were unaware of how to do so. The main goals of this literacy event were to

find the parents’ understanding of social and multiliteracy practices, and to model how

parents could use different social literacy practices at home. Even something as fun as

storytelling can be considered a medium for learning, and can be taught at home. But as

Boivin et al., (2014) point out, we must first teach parents what multiliteracies are, and

then begin showing how they can help their children learn using different modes of

meaning. Boivin et al., (2014) advise teachers to facilitate communication with parents to

help them understand what different social literacy practices look like. Furthermore,

Boivin et al., (2014) contend, “as educators, we must build professional learning

communities which can be accessed by parents. With the advent of technology, educators

can easily create on-line learning communities. Therefore, schools can connect to home

and communities” (p. 50). This case study showed that students were not only engaged

and interested when working with multiliteracies, but also that increased parent

knowledge can help bridge the literacies that students use at school with those they have

access to at home.
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 19

While observing teaching candidates use a curriculum focused on the

implementation of visual literacies, Wu and Newman (2008) recorded data that showed

the potential effectiveness of multiliteracies. Wu and Newman (2008) surveyed the

teaching candidates, who overwhelmingly not only agreed that their lessons centered on

using visual literacy were effective, but also felt that their students’ responses to the use

of the visual label strategy were positive. The data shows that 25 of the 27 teaching

candidates felt that the implementation of visual literacies were effective, while 25 of the

27 teaching candidates also agreed that their students’ response to the lessons were

positive.

In addition to surveying the teaching candidates in this case study, Wu and

Newman collected data from the students involved. When asked if “the picture activities

used in this lesson helped me understand the content better?” 16 out of 18 students said

“yes” (Wu & Newman, 2008, p. 17). In addition, Wu and Newman (2008) noted that 13

out of 18 students felt that the graphic organizers used in the visual literacy curriculum

helped them to better understand the content in the class. Xiuwen Wu and Mark Newman

provide data that shows that teachers and students both feel that using visual literacy as a

mode of meaning was not only interesting, but was an effective way for the students to

learn the content.

During their four-week case study on 7th - 8th graders in the southeastern United

States, researchers Angay-Crowder, Choi and Yi (2013) found that students were able to

use their knowledge and literacies that they use at home, and apply their skill set while

working with multiliteracies in the classroom. In addition, it was discovered that while

using all six modes of meaning making, students felt that they were more engaged in the
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 20

summer program. However, Angay-Crowder, Choi and Yi did uncover a negative impact

of using multiliteracies in schools: students could not use some of the literacies that they

used during the four-week program at home. Angay-Crowder, Choi and Yi (2013)

confirm, “…students could not continue to engage in multiliteracies practices after the

summer program because of limited technological resources in their homes” (p. 44).

Students could not improve upon the literacies they used in the classroom because they

did not have the required technology at home. Although students were able to stay

engaged while using multiple modes of meaning making in the classroom, the use of

multiliteracies in this classroom was not effective simply because students did not have

access to those types of literacies at their homes.

While looking over their observations from the ICT lessons in Australia,

researchers Kitson, Fletcher and Kearney (2007) found that the teacher did use linguistic

meaning in her instruction, but failed to incorporate other modes of meaning making that

technology has made possible. They concede that the teacher “…embraced the first

dimension of a multiliteracies framework by using a variety of ICTs and multimedia or

multimodal texts. However, her teaching practices essentially focused on a print-based

approach, omitting the modes of communication that multimodal texts offer (p. 40)”.

This finding shows that even though teachers may use technology that has the potential

for being multimodal, multiliteracies are not sufficiently used in the classroom unless all

six modes of meaning making are taken into account.

These six case studies show that it is critical to use at least three modes of

meaning making. The teachers in these studies used multimodality in their lessons to

provide instruction that was geared towards students’ funds of knowledge, which resulted
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 21

in improved student engagement, and created a better learning environment for everyone

in the classroom.

Conclusions

The purpose of this analytical review was to identify what is important to know for

the teaching and learning of multiliteracies in K-12 classrooms. While looking at four

case studies that used multiliteracies in the classroom, I focused on two research

questions:

 What does the teaching and learning of multiliteracies mean and look like in

actual practice?

 What impact, if any, does the teaching and learning of multiliteracies have on

teachers and their students?

My analysis of the four case studies pointed to three themes. First, while using

multiliteracies in schools, teachers need to use the linguistic design with at least one other

mode of meaning (visual, audio, gestural or spatial) in order to effectively have

multimodality support the use of multiliteracies. Second, student engagement in school

improves when teachers bridge the literacies important to school with the literacies

students use at home. This “bridging” is critical to multiliteracies. Third, many times

parents are unaware of how they can bridge the literacies that students use in at home

with those they use in school. Unfortunately, a major reason why parents cannot bring

multiliteracies into their homes is because they do not have the necessary technology.

Implications for Student Learning

What is clear from this review is the sense that multiliteracies benefit students.
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 22

The four case studies showed how using the linguistic design and multimodality can

improve student engagement in the classroom.

Implications for My Teaching

First, this analytical review allowed me to create a formula to help best support the

use of multiliteracies in the classroom: While using multiliteracies in schools, teachers

need to use the linguistic and multimodal design with at least one other mode of meaning

(visual, audio, gestural or spatial) in order to effectively help students become

multiliterate. For example, in an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) lesson about the causes of

the American Revolution, I can use the six modes of meaning. In this type of lesson, I

would make sure that I was using at least the linguistic, audio, and visual modes of

meaning while using the IWB. This allows me to ensure all of my students’ needs are

being met in multiple and varied ways.

Second, while using multiliteracies, I will be able to more fully engage students

and help them potentially learn more. Teachers benefit when students are more engaged

because the classroom environment is vastly improved. Students become more interested

in the lesson, classroom disruptions are reduced, and student participation increases

(Zammit, K., 2011).

Third, research from this analytical review has revealed that I need to be more

strategic in my communication with my students’ parents. In doing so, I can show them

the literacies that I use during instruction. They in turn can begin using multimodality

with their children at home. Students benefit when they are able to bridge the literacies

that they use in schools with those they have access to at home (Guo & Tan, 2013).

Unfortunately, this analytical review has shown that parents often times do not know how
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 23

to do bridge the literacies between school and home. I benefit from knowing this because

I will now provide a clearer focus and connection between school and home. This

connection can help parents better understand the literacies their children are learning in

schools. If teachers connect with parents and share the literacies they use in school with

their children, students can engage in literacy practices at school and at home.

Recommendations for Future Research

First, much of what is important to multiliteracies is important to the Universal

Designs for Learning (UDL). Hartmann (2015) defines the UDL framework as “teaching

and learning as a dynamic system that must be reformed to better meet the needs of

learners in the 21st century” (p.57). A UDL framework uses multiple and varied ways to

help students learn. Furthermore, Hartmann (2015) discussed how there are three

principles important to the implementation of UDL: 1. To provide multiple means of

engagement. 2. To provide multiple means of representation. 3. To provide multiple

means of action and expression.

Similarly, multiliteracies are supported when using the six different modes of

meaning making (as defined by the New London Group). In this analytical review, I

provided four case studies that showed how teachers could use each mode of meaning in

their instruction. While implementing multiliteracies in the classroom, it is important that

teachers meet the needs of all students in the classroom, and one way of doing this is by

using a UDL framework.

When a teacher uses UDL in their classroom, they differentiate their instruction

so they can best meet the needs of all students in their classroom. For example, for

students who are blind and learn best using the audio mode of meaning making, teachers
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 24

should use a UDL approach and incorporate multiliteracies that focus on the audio design

element. Alnahdi (2014) confirms the importance of blending multiliteracies with a UDL

framework, stating, “designing environments and educational settings that are accessible

to everyone, with and without disabilities, will reduce the need for individual

accommodations” (p.19). In other words, when teachers implement multiliteracies that

are multimodal, they are using a UDL framework because they are using multiple modes

of meaning making that can meet the needs of all students in the classroom.

Having a UDL framework while implementing multiliteracies sounds easy on

paper, but more research needs to be done to show the potential effectiveness of blending

these two frameworks together. Additionally, more research that demonstrates how

teachers can blend multiliteracies and UDL together is needed so all student needs in the

classroom can be met.

Second, more empirical research is also needed to determine the actual and

potential effectiveness of integrating multiliteracies in schools. While conducting

research on multiliteracies, few literature reviews showed what is known about the

pedagogy. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of multiliteracies, it is vital to have

literature reviews that first show what this pedagogy entails. The truth is, implications of

multiliteracies and its effectiveness are still emerging. There needs to be more empirical

research that shows what is in fact known about multiliteracy. Furthermore, there needs

to be more qualitative and quantitative data that provides sound reasoning to use

multiliteracies in schools. Before teachers implement multiliteracies in their classrooms,

they want to see more benefits of using this pedagogy.

Third, we need to discover more ways in which students can bridge the literacies
Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 25

they use in schools with home. Students benefit when they are able to bridge the literacies

they use in schools to their homes. Unfortunately, some children do not have access to

the technology that is required to use multiliteracies in their homes. Providing technology

in students’ homes is no easy or simple fix. Perhaps we can research ways in which

students can use community resources that enable them to use multiliteracies outside of

school?

Final Thoughts

Looking back to when I was a young student, I realized that I was more engaged,

and learned better, when using all of my senses. I was drawn to the idea of multimodality,

especially when linked with technology. This interest led me to discover and explore the

construct of multiliteracies. Improvements in technology have given us a reason to

redefine literacy as multiliteracies, but what was this fancy new term (Cimbricz & Rath,

2015)? The New London Group (1996) importantly changed literacy when they

introduced the term multiliteracies and laid out six different modes of meaning making

for educators to consider. That said, little is still known about the actual impact the

teaching and learning of multiliteracies actually holds. This review points out there is

considerable value in continuing to explore this concept.

Multiliteracies: Bringing Multimodality Into Schools 26

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