- “The relative place of time-honoured literature versus popular texts was evaluated in the context of work on multiliteracies since the New London Group. It was argued that texts chosen for analysis in a multiliteracies approach respect the cultural traditions of all students [as opposed to use only those ‘valued’ texts that celebrate only the dominant culture]…It was also argued that the sharp distinction between classic literature and popular, multimedia texts is becoming blurred as the digital media, such as e-literature, increasingly support conventional texts” (111).
- “The way in which the New London Group’s development of a multimodal metalanguage has been taken up by theorists was analysed and clarified” (111). Particularly, some theorists have argues that “the theoretical and practical boundaries of multimodal design are inadequately developed for formulating curricula” (103). “It was contended that the emergence of a burgeoning variety of text forms and the dynamic nature of language in contemporary life point to the need for a multimodal metalanguage for semiosis” (111). Because “[s]ystems of meaning are fluid – created, developed and transformed in response to the communicative needs of society” (107), the NLG article was not meant to be all encompassing; instead, we must continue to test and create new metalanguage throughout our teaching.
- There has been “a call for explication of their [the four components of pedagogy offered by NLG] ideological stance and implications for the multiliteracies pedagogy” (109). First, Mills argues that “irrespective of the relative merits of the multiliteracies pedagogy over conventional approaches, its ability to provide equitable access for all must be understood in relation to the complex network of power relations in the institution of schooling that both constrain and enable its successful implementation” (110). Second, she asserts that “taken in isolation, each [version of] literacy pedagog[y] has not been sufficient
- "for all students to access multiliteracies…The multiliteracies pedagogy is an innovative attempt to combine the strengths of past approaches to overcome their weaknesses while addressing the need for new, multimodal, digitally mediated, culturally diverse and dynamic multiliteracies for our changing times” (110-1).
Key Term
- Multimodality: “the complexity and interrelationship of more than one mode of meaning, combining linguistic, visual, auditory, gestural or spatial modes” (106).