How Wide is Wide Enough? Using Multiple Modes of Communication in Today’s Classrooms. Terry Loerts Aug , 2011 ABEL Summer Institute

Multimodality is concerned with communicating using multiple modes, not just with language (Jewitt & Kress, 2003). Modes refer to the “regularised organised set of resources for meaning-making, including, image, gaze, gesture, movement, music, speech and sound-effect” (p. 1).

Continued… Multimodal Theory sees each mode as “equally significant for meaning and communication” (Jewitt & Kress 2003, p. 2) However, “different modes have different potentials”(Jewitt & Kress, 2003, p. 3) Multimodality draws upon Halliday’s (1978) social semiotic theory of communication. -meaning is a SOCIAL practice -individuals are ACTIVE sign-makers

The Connection to Multiliteracies Students are literate in different ways -As active designers of meaning, context/cultural influences are important -the world of communication is constantly changing -students need to acquire skills, strategies, and practices needed for life -new communication technologies use multiple modes of communication-often used simultaneously Book: Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies by Anstey & Bull, 2006

Traditional compared to New Literacies (taken from Tierney, Bond, & Bresler, 2006) Traditional Print-Based Literacy -Text Based Predictable Transmission model of knowledge Single authored Linear connections Author/teacher constructed Can be Individualistic Multiple Literacies- Multimedia Based/Mixing of Modes Inquiry driven Generates knowledge Collaborative or team based Multilayered Social practice Socially empowering and collaborative

“Reconfigured” Range of Communicational Options to Include Both “Old” and “New” Literacies Written language: writing and reading that which has been written, handwriting, printed page, the screen Oral language: speech, listening Visual representation: still or moving images, sculpture, perspective, Audio: music, sounds, noises, hearing, listening Tactile: touch, smell, taste; manipulate objects/artefacts Gestural: movements of hands, arms; facial expression, eye movement, gaze, action sequences, timing Spatial representation: spacing, layout, proximity, Kalantzis, Cope, & Cloonan (2010)

Examples of Multimodality in Classrooms: Walsh, C. (2007). Creativity as capital in the literacy classroom: Youth as multimodal designers Multiliteracies with his middle school students for Dust Bowl Unit Labbo & Ryan (2010). Traversing the “literacies” landscape: A semiotic perspective on early literacy acquisition and digital literacies instruction Research project: “Photographs of Local Knowledge” - photographic essay West, K. (2008) Weblogs and literary response High school English Class use of Weblogs for response

The Salty Chip: The Salty Chip is a space for teachers and students to share and build upon their work as they develop their use of multiliteracies. It seeks to capture cultural and linguistic diversity and to make use of new and emerging communication technologies that consider pedagogy in a participatory culture. this site’s goal is to support “ongoing improvement and refinement of our knowledge and use of multiliteracies and their possibilities.” (taken directly from the website)

Thank you! Terry Loerts

References: Albers, P. (2006). Imagining the possibilities in multimodal curriculum design. English Education, 38, Anstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Teaching and learning multiliteracies: Changing times, changing literacies. International Reading Association. Baker, E., PearsAnstey, M. & Bull, G. (2006). Teaching and learning multiliteracies: Changing times, changing literacies. International Reading Association. Gee, J. P. (2007). Good video games and good learning: Collected essays on video games, learning, and literacy. New York: P. Lang. Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold. Jewitt, C., & Kress, G. R. (2003). Multimodal literacy. New York: P. Lang.

References: Kalantzis, M., Cope, B., & Cloonan, A. (2010) A multiliteracies perspective on the new literacies. In E. Baker (Ed.), the new literacies: Multiple perspectives on research and practice (pp ). London: The Guilford Press. Labbo, L, & Ryan, T. (2010). Traversing the “literacies” landscape: A semiotic perspective on early literacy acquisition and digital literacies instruction. In E. Baker (Ed.), The new literacies: Multiple perspectives on research and practice (pp ). London: The Guilford Press. Millard, E. (2006). Transformative pedagogy: Teachers creating a literacy of fusion. In K. Pahl, & J. Rowsell (Eds.), Travel notes from the new literacy studies: Instances of practice (pp ). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Mulholland, V. (2010). A reader makes sense of the digital world. English Quarterly, 41 Spring,

References: Ontario Ministry of Education. (2004). Literacy for learning: The report of the expert panel on literacy in grades 4 to 6 in Ontario. Toronto: Ontario, Ministry of Education. Retrieved from eng/document/reports/literacy/panel/ Tierney, R., Bond, E., & Bresler, J. (2006). Examining literate lives as students engage with multiple literacies. Theory Into Practice 45(4), Walsh, C. (2007). Creativity as capital in the literacy classroom: Youth as multimodal designers. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 41, West, K. (2008). Weblogs and literary response: Socially situated identities and hybrid social languages in English class blogs. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 51(7), Williams, B. T. (2005). Leading double lives: Literacy and technology in and out of school. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(8),