TWorking with multimodal texts is an important aspect of becoming literate” (Derewianka & Jones, 2012, p. 190). Being literate is not just about acquiring the skills of spoken and written forms of language but understanding the social and cultural effects of literacy (Marsh & Hallet). Within society, the social and cultural aspects are changing dramatically from written print-based texts to a technological advanced world of digital screen based texts “becoming literate means learning about how literacy is used in the varied social and cultural worlds that form part of young children’s lives. Becoming literate is also a multimodal journey.” (Marsh & Hallet, 2008, p. 138) Today almost everyone living in a first world country has access to the …show more content…
It is referred to as “ the meaning-making that occurs through the reading, viewing, understanding, responding to and producing and inter-acting with multimedia and digital texts” (Walsh, 2010p. 213). Multimodal literacy is related to the advancing technological world of communication however, being multimodal includes more than just digital communication. Multimodal literacy occurs when two or more semiotic systems are used. There are five semiotic systems including, linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial (Anstey & Bull, 2016). Linguistic includes; vocabulary and grammar of oral and written language. Visual includes; colour, viewpoint, layout and design. Audio includes; sound, volume, pitch and rhythm. Gestural includes; movement, speed, body language and facial expression. Spatial includes; organisation of objects in a space, proximity, direction and layout (Anstey & Bull, 2016). To be multimodal means applying two different semiotic systems to …show more content…
Outside the walls of the classroom and teacher education, the world is advancing to be more multimodal. With the increase in technology, children have access to multimodal texts everyday through digital devices. Children are able to access sites, communicating instantly through text, social media, photographs and videos. As teachers it is important to educate children how to use multimodal literacy effectively. All children learn and communicate in different ways involving four main learning styles including visual, auditory, read-write and kinesthetic (Leite, Svinicki, 2010). Not every child learns the same way, meaning multimodal literacy is an important aspect for student education. Multimodal literacy helps students who struggle with communication through written language to explain their ideas through a different mode. “Multimodal pedagogy has been found to expand students communication options helping them to make connections, build on their funds of knowledge, engage in peer learning, and understand and transform their meaning-making potential”(Loerts & Heydon, 2016, p. 2). This is evident for English as an additional language (EALD) learners who struggle to communicate in a traditional sense. Multimodal literacy offers EALD students different pathways for learning, and gives these students an alternative way to participate in the classroom. This allows teachers to identify EALD students strengths,
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
Literacy is the act of conveying, analysing and understanding messages to make meaning of interactions. Therefore, literacy can be defined as a multifaceted, continually evolving multimodal process using numerous semiotic systems for communication purposes. A literate individual is required to make sense of information received in order to articulate or express an appropriate response; although, literacy strengths will vary depending on the context or social situation. In an increasingly multicultural and technologically "savvy" classroom, the teaching and learning of multiliteracies is of particular importance as it ensures students gain the skills needed to successfully communicate in a modern world. Therefore, it is necessary for literacy to be described as multimodal, which includes the use of aural, gestural, linguistic, spatial, and visual modes with a purpose to send and receive information. The term multimodal also incorporates the use of art, digita...
In recent years the meaning of literacy has become much more than that. Now literacy includes things such as, numbers, images, and technology. Literacy can be something that developed through things like Books, the internet, television, family, and many other resources. In this literacy narrative I will discuss the origins of my current attitudes about writing, and reading.
The “Land of Literacy” is a literacy program designed for Kindergarten students to promote the love of literature as well as build a strong literacy foundation. The purpose of this literacy program is to integrate unique and fun ways to learn literature while taking into consideration developmental and cultural differences. The idea of the “Land of Literacy” program is to show parents and students that through literature we can all connect as one diverse community while sharing and learning literacy. For this literacy program, I have chosen to work with Kindergarten students (JK/SK). I decided to work with this grade level because at this age we are able to build a strong literacy foundation from the start of a child’s education experience.
As the world continues to evolve and technology becomes a new avenue for learning have we lost the need for the common day teacher? In my opinion we have not lost the need for this person. In the book written by Patrick Finn, Literacy with an Attitude, he describes the middle class teacher as an “allies of their working-class students [that] can help their students see that literacy and school knowledge could be a potent weapon” (pg xi). Teachers are the doors for many students into many facets of literacy. Teachers are not only teaching students common day grammar rules, but they are teaching concepts that technology cannot grasp. They are teaching to effectively assist every individual in the classroom as well as how to integrate their own
The way we define who we are is a direct result of what we know. "Literacy reflects contradictions and complexities in how we understand ourselves and construct roles for ourselves through language in that world. X." Since the arrival of the Feed in ____, emphasis on the individual has become less central in our lives. This lack of focus has led to relationships that are left vulnerable and weakened. In this section we will be considering the impact of the decline in literacy on the "Social Self." In basic terms, the Social Self is defined as how an individual interacts with the social world presented to him/her and how he/she approaches the formation of relationships.
“What counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online? (Jenkins, 2009)"
“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man,
Looking back over the course of the semester, I feel that I learned many new and interesting uses for technology within the classroom – both for classrooms that have a lot of technology and for classrooms that are limited with technology. For the majority of the class, we utilized William Kists’ book The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age (2010), which provided multiple modes of instruction that both utilized and/or created technology. One of the first things that I remember, and consequently that stuck with me through the course’s entirety, is that individuals must treat everything as a text. Even a garden is a text. The statement made me change the way that I traditionally viewed Language Arts both as a student and as a teacher, as I very narrowly saw literature and works of the like as texts only; however, by considering nearly anything as a text, one can analyze, study, and even expand his/her knowledge. Kist (2010) states that society is “experiencing a vast transformation of the way we “read” and “write,” and a broadening of the way we conceptualize “literacy” (p. 2). In order to begin to experience and learn with the modern classroom and technologically advanced students, individuals must begin to see new things as literature and analyze those things in a similar manner.
As a teacher, you need to encourage all attempts at reading, writing, speaking, and allowing children to experience the different functions and use of literacy activity (The Access Center, n.d.). Moreover, it is crucial for educators to understand phonological awareness and phonics; know what constitutes good children’s literature and how to use it; know children who need additional assistance with beginning reading and writing (Cunningham et al, 2004 as cited in McLachlan et al, 2013, p. 112). Educators also need to plan effective activities to assist children experience reading aloud, listening to other children read aloud, listening to tape recordings, and videotapes so children have opportunities to integrate and extend their literacy knowledge (The Access Center, n.d.). Morrow (1990 as cited in The Access Center, n.d.) notes that classroom with greater teacher facilitation promote literacy behaviours, so it is educators’ role to provide literacy rich
...ating technology provides students with opportunities to succeed in reading and writing. As an educator, and possibly a future literacy educator it is vital to teach students that learning is not something that only happens in school. Learning will happen every day for as long as one lives. Learning happens at school, at home, at a sporting event, at the mall, or on the computer. Learning happens everywhere. It is also important to teach students reading is everywhere and it will follow them the rest of their life. As educators, we need to help students enjoy reading and develop a love for it that will last forever. It is our role to therefore provide the best instruction possible and use assessment that allows children to succeed. Most importantly, as life long learners ourselves, we need to strive to make sure that our students become and stay life long learners.
Drouin, Michelle, and Claire Davis. “R u txting? Is the Use of Text Speak Hurting Your Literacy?.” Journal of Literacy Research 41.1 (2009): 46-67. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
Visual Literacy can be defined as a way of using sight to evaluate, apply or create. Education, art history, art criticism, philosophy, graphic designers and more use the term “visual literacy” to mean different things. The term is widely contested. Wikipedia defines it as “the ability to interpret negotiate, and make meaning, from information presented in the form of an image.” There are many definitions used to define the term and all are lacking. No one definition will suffice to encompass the whole definition.
There are some theoreticians who view literacy in a form of social practice. In their view, social issues are also important components, as well as linguistic competence and understanding cognitive processes in language studies. Freire (1974) views literacy not only as a process of knowledge transformation, but also as a relationship of learners to the world. Vygotsky (1978) suggests two stages of development at social and individual level. In his view, literacy is a phenomenon that is created, shared, and changed by the members of a society. Gee (1996) similarly argues that becoming literate means apprenticeship with texts and apprenticeships in particular ways of being. In summary, literacy practices are not just about language, but about their interrelation with social practices.
Liu, Pei-Hsun Emma, & Tsai Ming-Kuan. “Using augmented-reality-based mobile learning material in EFL English composition: An exploratory case study.” British Journal of Educational Technology. Jan, 2013. Vol. 44 Issue 1, pE1-E4. EBSCO. Web.