The Importance Of Multiliteracies In The English Language

Englishes is a term being used in the place of English in reference to language as the diversity and variety of English is recognised across the globe. The term multiliteracies is a more accurate and encompassing subject then literacy. Time has altered the English language as it has interacted and settled across the different countries and cultures. In Australian classrooms a teacher may encounter many different language customs and speech pattern from not only across the glob but also along a range of social standings in the community. It is essential for teachers to be aware of multiliteracies and a multitude of language variations so every child in the class can have the opportunity to develop multiliteracies and understand others so that

Language too has evolved and continues to evolve, even comparing the changes in the last century to language text, today’s literacy is more multimodal than in the past (Gee 2011). Images are just as informative as the text in conveying meaning (Gee 2011) than they once were. Sometimes crossing across language barriers and at times they can only hold meaning to those of a set culture or group. With the internet the power f print has been given to everyone no longer is it just those in authority or owners of a printing press that determine what we read (Gee 2011). Digital media has given power for individuals to connect across the globe (Gee 2011) allowing likeminded individuals to converse using lexis relevant to their interest.

An individual’s dialect can be revealing of their social standing or social economic statics in society. A person’s linguistic code develops from their early social relationships (B. Bernsten) and what exposures they have witnessed. B. Bernstein believed that a closed community would create a restricted code in how communication between individuals who held a shared identity and assumptions. D. Green (2006) put culture and social standing at the centre of how language develops and how it was relevant in an individual’s understanding of the context based on a shared

Eades 2000). Their “accent, vocabulary and grammatical patterns” are marks to be recognised as being Aboriginal identity. The Aboriginal English vocabulary can pose words with more in-depth meaning than they do in Stranded English, for example ‘mother’ can also mean their mothers sister or grandmother (D. Eades 200) and Aunty is not restricted to family members but a sign of respect to an elder female in their community. The Aboriginal English grammatical pattern also differs as the need not to make others unconfutable or embarrassed means they typically avoid direct questions instead hints at what they want to know (D. Eades 2000). This can be misinterpreted in a classroom as the children appear shy and quiet or uncooperative, making it critical for all Educators to be familiar with all aspects of Aboriginal culture when teaching their children (D. Eades 2000). Aspects of each tribal language can be found integrated in their speech

It is essential that students are educated in multiliteracies in a multimodal way to prepare them for life after school and learning how to recognise and respect language variation as the ‘English language’ continues to evolve to meet the requirements of society and the globally connected minorities. A teacher aware of these variation in language and