A Review of Multiliteracies Pedagogy in Primary Classrooms

Pirjo Kulju,Kirsi-Liisa Koskinen-Sinisalo,Reijo Kupiainen,Anne Jyrkiäinen,Angela M Wiseman,Marita Mäkinen

doi:10.20360/langandlit29333

Abstract

In the digital era, students are walking new literacy paths. For this reason, there is a need to explore evolving literacy practices in school pedagogy. This is often addressed by the expanding use of the concept of multiliteracies. This article reviews studies (N = 67) of multiliteracies pedagogy. The main purpose was to explore how the concept of multiliteracies has been used and understood in primary classroom research. The findings indicate that the studies often took into account both the multimodality of meaning-making and the diversity of learners. Recommendations are made for future multiliteracies studies to strengthen the pedagogical practices.

Highlights

This paper presents a systematic analysis of research articles on multiliteracies pedagogy in primary classrooms
In exploring how the concept of multiliteracies has been applied to pedagogy in primary education, the analysis presented here will contribute both to discussion of multiliteracies pedagogy and to future multiliteracies research in education
An article by Callow (2003, np) provides one example of a clear definition built on the work of the New London Group (NLG): The term multiliteracies acknowledges the multiplicity of meaning-making modes as well as the wider social contexts of these modes, from diverse local settings to global communities

Summary

Introduction

This paper presents a systematic analysis of research articles on multiliteracies pedagogy in primary classrooms. In twenty-first-century classrooms, the concept of multiliteracies posits that “text,” which humans use to make meaning in their everyday lives, vary depending on social context and prevailing modes of meaning-making (image, sound, writing, gesture, speech, drama etc.) (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012; Hassett & Curwood, 2009). Digital communication has further increased the ways in which humans interact and understand meanings. New technologies regularly transform and redefine what it means to be literate (Gee, 2003), requiring teachers to become more knowledgeable about how different texts can be used in the classroom (Anstey & Bull, 2010). In order to understand multiliteracies and its role in teaching and learning in schools, the concept of literacy must be recognized as shifting and reconceptualized in our changing society (Anstey & Bull, 2006).

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