The influence of multimodal literacies in contrasting tasks to enhance students’ cross-cultural awareness

115 Páginas.El propósito del presente estudio es aproximar a los aprendices de la lengua a los aspectos culturales de los países de habla inglesa mediante el uso de estrategias multimodales con el fin de aumentar su competencia para relacionar entre diversas culturas. Las habilidades interculturales juegan un papel importante en el aprendizaje del idioma, por lo tanto, algunas investigaciones previas han demostrado que incluir este componente en la enseñanza del idioma extranjero contribuye al fortalecimiento de la propia identidad, las competencias ciudadanas y el respeto por la diversidad. Adicionalmente, se ha demostrado que los rasgos culturales que subyacen en el idioma inglés se relacionan con las maneras de construir el significado. Este estudio, pretende demostrar los efectos de los elementos semióticos cuando son utilizados para promover el aprendizaje de contenidos culturales en lengua extranjera. En esta investigación cualitativa se utilizaron cuestionarios, diarios de campo, artefactos producidos por los estudiantes y registros de reflexión como mecanismo de recolección de datos para determinar los efectos de la implementación de las estrategias multimodales en el fortalecimiento de la las habilidades de estudiantes para establecer relaciones entre culturas con nivel de proficiencia A1. En el análisis de datos los resultados indicaron que los participantes comprendieron situaciones comunicativas mientras establecieron puntos de convergencia y divergencia entre la identidad propia y la extranjera. Lo anterior sugiere, que esta estrategia podría ser utilizada por la comunidad educativa ya que sus efectos tuvieron un impacto importante en los participantes. ​

Digital Literacies to Develop Biliteracy: A Case Study of Latino Students Exploring Multimodal Writing in English and Spanish

Schools in the United States are witnessing a rich ethnic and linguistic diversity in their student corpus. Languages spoken by these children vary from state to state; however, Spanish is the second language most spoken after English (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2015). As a nation, there is a tremendous potential for these students to become biliterate or academically proficient in Spanish and English. Furthermore, with the advent of the 21st century, the educational setting is experiencing an increased interest in the integration of technology in education and students are prompted to become digitally literate. The aim of this exploratory qualitative study is to describe how emergent bilingual second-grade students utilize their full linguistic repertoire when using digital literacies in their academic writing, in English and Spanish. Furthermore, this study investigates how multimodal writing facilitates the development of biliteracy. The study revealed four findings. First, Latino students utilize bilingual practices, such as metalinguistic awareness and translanguaging to construct texts. Second, emergent bilinguals use online collaboration and modes of meaning to develop their voice and writing while engaging in multimodal writing. Third, multimodal writing supports the development of vocabulary and spelling. Fourth, multimodal writing empowers bilingual students

Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Since 2003, RTE has published the annual “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English,” and we are proud to share these curated and annotated citations once again. The goal of the annual bibliography is to offer a synthesis of the research published in the area of English language arts within the past year that may be of interest to RTE readers. Abstracted citations and those featured in the “Other Related Research” sections were published, either in print or online, between June 2019 and June 2020. The bibliography is divided into nine subject area sections. A three-person team of scholars with diverse research interests and background experiences in preK–16 educational settings reviewed and selected the manuscripts for each section using library databases and leading empirical journals. Each team abstracted significant contributions to the body of peer-reviewed studies that addressed the current research questions and concerns in their topic area

Arts Immersion: Using the arts as a language across the primary school curriculum

Abstract: Australia’s national arts curriculum has potential to realise the following benefits: cognitive, social, affective and curricular. This curriculum is designed for generalist and special arts teachers, but its delivery may be hindered by the prioritisation of high-stakes-tested disciplines and pedagogies, and reduced government funding to arts education across school and tertiary sectors. This may lead to a lack of opportunities to build teacher capacity in arts education, and diminished support for arts education in terms of time allocation and resourcing. The notion of ‘silos’, where the separation of teaching practices persists between teachers of different disciplines, discourages meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration and can promote less effective models of arts integration. Arts education embodies a range of intelligences and semiotic systems providing for inclusive curricula and educational equity. Arts Immersion is a proposed response to these factors, intended to be implemented through democratic generalist and arts specialist team-teaching in primary schools

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice

Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice introduces instructional strategies linked to the most current research-supported practices in the field of literacy. The book includes chapters related to scientifically-based literacy research, early literacy development, literacy assessment, digital age influences on children’s literature, literacy development in underserved student groups, secondary literacy instructional strategies, literacy and modern language, and critical discourse analysis. Chapters are written by authors with expertise in both college teaching and the delivery of research-supported literacy practices in schools. The book features detailed explanations of a wide variety of literacy strategies that can be implemented by both beginning and expert practitioners. Readers will gain knowledge about topics frequently covered in college literacy courses, along with guided practice for applying this knowledge in their future or current classrooms. The book’s success-oriented framework helps guide educators toward improving their own practices and is designed to foster the literacy development of students of all ages.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/oer-ost/1009/thumbnail.jp

Interpreting English language and literacy in China: EFL practitioner perspectives

English as a foreign language has been studied as a compulsory subject by all senior high school students in China since the early 1980s. However, little research has delved into how English foreign language literacy (L2 literacy) is understood by teachers and students nor how it has been enacted in classrooms. This study aims to add to the research in this area by building an understanding of senior high school English teachers’ perceptions of L2 literacy and presenting a picture of their teaching practices. This study also gave voice to students who shared their experiences and perceptions of how foreign language teaching was enacted in their classrooms. A phenomenological case study design was utilised. Drawn from interviews and classroom observations with six English teachers as well as focus-group interviews with students in two case schools, the data provided a comprehensive perspective of current L2 literacy teaching and learning in both school contexts. The picture was enriched by an analysis of the curriculum documentation and the textbooks. This study aimed to answer the questions regarding Chinese EFL teachers’ perceptions of L2 literacy and their teaching practice. The collected data however indicated that in attempting to answer the questions it actually raised more questions that I have been unable to answer. The teacher participants’ perspectives of L2 literacy differed from the prevailing views or practice on literacy and L2 literacy in western literature (e.g. Luke & Freebody, 2000; Kress, 2003; Gee, 2008; Cope & Kalantzis, 2009), in spite of official curriculum documentation having some parallels with western perspectives. The traditional Chinese beliefs and practices with respect to literacy development continue to shape the teachers’ perceptions and practices of English teaching and learning. Moreover, the findings of this study identified tensions between what were expected of students’ L2 literacy development and what actually occurred in the classroom due to the social, cultural and historical contexts in China. Given my background as a school EFL teacher in China and the experience of conducting academic study in Australia, this study was not only about the investigation of the teachers in case study schools but also a reflection of myself. Based on the findings of the study and my self-reflection, a number of recommendations were provided for EFL teachers, schools, policy makers as well as those who have an intention to study in a country where English is the medium of instruction and socialization

Already Writers : A Case Study in Assessment and Visual Rhetoric Connections in Digital Multimodal Composition

English language arts must respond to shifts in literacy practices that reflect changes in ‘college and career ready’ that are more than technologically mediated, but also emphasize creative and social skills. The case study in this dissertation is a small part of a larger, ongoing formative experiment in digital multimodal composition (DMC). A formative experiment is a methodological approach that favors a collaborative, iterative research process that is centered on an instructional goal in authentic classroom settings (Reinking & Bradley, 2008). The intention of the larger research study was to support students’ learning through DMC. This dissertation explored one of the research questions from the larger study: In what ways do students experience the process of digital multimodal composition? The primary participants in this case study were Mrs. Kelly, an English teacher with 10 years experience in education and Aubrey, a 10th grade student. Elements of visual rhetoric and visual culture were employed as a lens to frame an exploration of Aubrey’s DMC, a digital comic and self-portrait, Offline. When technology and multimodal composing processes are integrated into curriculum centered on rhetoric and composition, social, academic, and visual languages coalesce. There was no artificial separation between in- and out-of-school literacies in the intervention. Aubrey brought multiple resources to digital composing from diverse discourse communities. Aubrey made intentional choices, but was not always conscious of how she was using rhetorical tools and languages, including social media and gaming conventions. Findings suggest that assessment can be part of an iterative composing process in DMC that supports awareness of rhetorical purposes. The study reflects the teacher’s assertion that “our students are already writers” and has implications for developing DMC curriculum that values student agency