Integrating Out of School Literacy and School Literacy Practices

Lee, M. K. J. (2011). Exploring a social semiotic approach to multimodal composition in the classroom (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/

Background

The author was interested to find out if the theoretical claims about the pedagogical potential and significance of new literacy practices involving the use of digital technologies, popular cultural and multimodal texts could be channelled into the classroom and what influence they might have on students’ literacy practices in the classroom.

Aims

The study examined (a) what characterised the students’ literacy practices when popular cultural and multimodal texts were introduced into the classroom, (b) the impact of an explicit teaching of a meta-language for multimodal meaning making on the students’ capacity to engage in multimodal practices; and (c) the impact of re-articulating meaning in the students’ multimodal text production.

Sample

Four students from a Secondary 1 Normal (Academic) class participated in the study.

Method

In the intervention, the students analysed a popular Anime Music Video (AMV). They discussed their analysis, were taught the meta-language of multimodal texts, and were eventually tasked to produce their own multimodal AMV. Data sources other than the students’ videos included semi-structured interviews with students in the focal group, lesson observation notes, video and audio recordings of whole-class teaching and focus groups during lesson observations, retrospective interviews based on stimulated recall using artefacts such as the video recording, and samples of the students’ work.

Findings

When popular culture and multimodal texts were introduced into the lesson, the students initially stuck with the social identities of students in an English classroom, focusing on the technical aspects of the task. However, they eventually repositioned themselves and started drawing on each other’s interests and experiences in collaborative group work.

The students were able to use metalanguage quite effectively in drawing out interpretations and to increase their capacity to stretch their semiotic resources in order to realise and convey their meanings to others.

Implications

The author believes that the findings strengthened the claim that multimodal meaning making helps students to develop and represent their ideas in new and powerful ways. The author feels that the use of multimedia in classrooms should not be an add-on or another enrichment activity but should be given a central place in the teaching and learning of literacy in the classroom.

Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository.