Developing a systemic functional approach to teach multimodal literacy

Fei Victor Lim

doi:10.1186/s40554-018-0066-8

Abstract

This article argues for the importance of teaching multimodal literacy in schools so as to adequately equip students to navigate the multimodal communicative landscape. Developing multimodal literacy in students is about developing in them the ability to view multimodal texts critically and for them to represent their ideas through the production of effective multimodal texts. This article describes an instructional approach developed to teach multimodal texts and describes the trial of the approach in a secondary school in Singapore. The approach is informed by Systemic Functional Theory and is aligned to the Learning by Design Framework widely used in multiliteracies. The systemic functional approach provides scaffolds for students to access the meanings made in multimodal texts by introducing the features and typical functions of the text, as well as highlighting the common strategies used in these multimodal texts to make meaning.

Highlights

This article argues for the importance of teaching multimodal literacy in schools so as to adequately equip students to navigate the multimodal communicative landscape
This article describes an instructional approach with content informed by systemic functional theory, and pedagogy aligned to the Learning by Design framework widely used in multiliteracies (Cope and Kalantzis 2015)
This article describes the development of a pedagogical approach, that is informed by systemic functional theory, to develop multimodal literacy in secondary school students in Singapore

Summary

Transformed Practice

Conceptual or critical knowledge involving exact replication or precise reproduction; and taking knowledge and capabilities from one setting and adapting them to a different setting and adopts the “reflexive pedagogy” described by them. The systemic functional approach harnesses the use of educational technology (EdTech) to facilitate the collaborative annotation and joint meaning-making of students, as well as support the making of artefacts, through appropriate digital creation platforms. The pedagogical features of the systemic functional approach proposed are that authentic multimodal texts are used and are introduced according to their genre, such as print advertisements, films, and online news. Based on their genres, there are specific features and typical functions that these features serve.

Pedagogical Features in the Systemic Functional Approach

Trial of the systemic functional approach

Methods

Strongly Disagree

Findings

Conclusion