Exploring the Alignment of Visual Languaging with a Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning in English Language Classrooms

Abstract

Impacted by globalisation, shifts in conceptualisations of language and literacy call for alternative pedagogic practices. This study explores how learner-driven, teacher-learner ‘owned’ learning spaces can be constructed to promote learners’ pluriliteracies development involving transcultural language use with multimodal resources for meaning-making. To contribute to current shifts in thinking, this research investigates the role of visualisation in English language classrooms to explore the alignment of a visual strategy within a pluriliteracies model to enhance learning, teaching, and learner agency. Sixteen younger learners from a primary school in China experimented with drawings for English language learning via an online platform to examine the complementary coordination between visualisation and languaging. Implications for furthering the study of visualising and communicating learning in Learning Conversations will be discussed.