Teaching Multiliteracies to Chinese Students: Challenges and Insights

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative study of the graduate-level course “teaching multiliteracies.” At the time of the study, 24 of the 27 enrolled students were originally from China, and the experiences of 4 of these students are highlighted. Analysis examined how students’ figured worlds of education intersected with course concepts and suggests that, despite claiming to enjoy the class and to appreciate an expanded notion of literacy, students did not see how multiliteracies pedagogy could be compatible with the figured worlds of K–12 education in China. We argue that participants’ understandings of and challenges to course concepts help illuminate the complexities of teaching Western literacy pedagogies to Chinese students for teachers, researchers, and students themselves.