Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thinking and Talking About Digital News in the Singapore Secondary English Classroom: a Pilot Study

思考與討論新加坡中學英語課堂數位新聞：先導性研究

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
English Teaching & Learning Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper reports on a study to develop a pedagogic metalanguage as a resource to support teachers’ thinking and talking about digital news texts in two secondary English classrooms in Singapore. The study uses lesson observation, interviews with the teachers and focus group discussions with the students as its data collection methods. The findings from this pilot study have informed the design of a larger research project on multimodal literacy in Singapore. The implications from the study include highlighting the importance of meeting the diverse learning needs of the students and building on the recognition both students and teachers have on the value of multimodal literacy. This can ensure that sufficient curriculum time and space will be committed to the teaching and learning of multimodal literacy. The implications also point to the importance of strengthening assessment and feedback for the students even as teachers design for more opportunities for students’ multimodal meaning-making.

摘要

本研究報告了一項旨在研發一種教學後設語言的研究，來當作支持兩個新加坡中學教師課堂上思考及討論數位新聞文本的資源。本研究使用了課室觀察、教師訪談與學生的焦點小組討論作為其搜集數據的方法。本先導性研究的結果供新加坡一項大型多模態素養研究的設計參考。該研究的啟示包含了強調滿足學生多樣化學習需求的重要性，以及建立了學生和教師對多模態素養價值的認可，確保有足夠的課程時間和空間將投注到多模態素養的教學中。研究啟示也指出了加強對學生的評量及回饋的重要性，即使當教師為學生的多模態意義建構提供更多機會。

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References  

  • Adams, J., & Lim, F. V. (2020). Towards a functional literacy approach to teach the language of science in the Singapore classroom. Pedagogical Linguistics, 1(2), 125–148. https://doi.org/10.1075/pl.19008.ada

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. T., Stewart, O. G., & Kachorsky, D. (2017). Seeing academically marginalised students’ multimodal designs from a position of strength. Written Communication, 34(2), 104–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088317699897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anstey, M., & Bull, G. (2018). Foundations of multiliteracies: Reading, writing and talking in the 21st century. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.

  • Ayres, L. (2008). Narrative texts. Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman, J. A., Delin, J., & Henschel, R. (2007). Mapping the multimodal genres of traditional and electronic newspapers. In T. D. Royce & W. L. Bowcher (Eds.), New directions in the analysis of multimodal discourse (pp. 147–172). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman, J. A., Wildfeuer, J., & Hiippala, T. (2017). Multimodality: Foundations, research and analysis – A problem-oriented introduction. De Gruyter Mouton.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2012). News discourse. Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, B. L., & Lune, H. (2017). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cambria, M. (2011). Opinions on the move: An exploration of ‘article-cum-comments’ genre. In S. Sarangi, V. Polese, & G. Caliendo (Eds.), Genre(s) on the move. Hybridisation and discourse change in specialised communication (pp. 135–150). Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caple, H. (2008). Intermodal relations in image nuclear news stories. In L. Unsworth (Ed.), Multimodal semiotics: Functional analysis in contexts of education (pp. 123–138). Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caple, H. (2010). What you see and what you get: The evolving role of news photographs in an Australian broadsheet. In V. Rupar (Ed.), Journalism & meaning-making: Reading the newspaper (pp. 199–220). Hampton Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caple, H., & Bednarek, M. (2010). Double-take: Unpacking the play in the image-nuclear news story. Visual Communication, 9(2), 211–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357210369863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caple, H., & Knox, J. S. (2017). Genre(less) and purpose(less): Online news galleries. Discourse, Context and Media, 20, 204–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.05.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, C., Chia, A., & Choo, S. (2017). Understanding multiliteracies and assessing multimodal texts in the English curriculum. The English Teacher, 46(2), 73–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F., & Tsou, W. (2022). Empowering local bilingual teachers through extending the pedagogy of multiliteracies in Taiwan’s primary education. OLBI Journal, 11(1), 79–103. https://doi.org/10.18192/olbij.v11i1.6177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chia, A., & Chan, C. (2017). “Re-defining ‘reading’ in the 21st century”: Assessing multimodal texts. Beyond Words: A Journal on Applied Linguistics and Language Education, 5(2), 98–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2015). An introduction to the pedagogy of multiliteracies. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design (pp. 1–36). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curdt-Christiansen, X. L., & Silver, R. (2013). New wine into old skins: The enactment of literacy policy in Singapore. Language and Education, 27(3), 246–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2012.704046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Economou, D. (2008). Pulling readers in News photos in Greek and Australian broadsheets”. In E. Thomson & P. R. R. White (Eds.), Communicating conflict Multilingual case studies of the news media (pp. 253–280). Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Economou, D. (2013). Telling a different story: Stance in verbal-visual displays in the news. In E. Djonov & S. Zhao (Eds.), Critical multimodal studies of popular discourse (pp. 181–201). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the news: Discourse and ideology in the press. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, R., Hodge, B., Kress, G., & Trew, T. (1979). Language and control. Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freebody, P., & Luke, A. (2003). Literacy as engaging with new forms of life: The four roles model. In G. Bull & M. Anstey (Eds.), The Literacy Lexicon (2nd ed., pp. 51–66). Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. I. M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.). Hodder Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heydon, R. (2013). Learning opportunities: The production and practice of kindergarten literacy curricula in an era of change. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4), 481–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2012.704946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiippala, T. (2016). The multimodality of digital longform journalism. Digital Journalism, 5(4), 420–442. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2016.1169197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, J., & Tolley, S. (2010). Engaging students through new literacies: The good, bad and curriculum of visual essays. English in Education, 44(1), 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-8845.2009.01054.x

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Jewitt, C., & Kress, G. (2003). Multimodal literacy. Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewitt, C., Bezemer, J., & O’Halloran, K. L. (2016). Introducing multimodality. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Knox, J. S. (2007). Visual-verbal communication on online newspaper home pages. Visual Communication, 6(1), 19–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357207071464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. S., Hung, D., & Teh, L. W. (2016). An ecological view of conceptualising change in the Singapore education system. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 15(1), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-015-9176-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehman-Wilzig, S. N., & Seletzky, M. (2010). Hard news, soft news, ‘general’ news: The necessity and utility of an intermediate classification. Journalism, 11(1), 37–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884909350642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, W. J., & Lim, F. V. (2021). A pedagogical framework for digital multimodal composing in the English Language classroom. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15(4), 306–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2020.1800709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V. (2018). Developing a systemic functional approach to teach multimodal literacy. Functional Linguistics, 5(13), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40554-018-0066-8

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V., & Tan, K. Y. S. (2017). Multimodal translational research: Teaching visual texts. In O. Seizov & J. Wildfeuer (Eds.), New studies in multimodality: Conceptual and methodological elaborations (pp. 175–200). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350026544.0014

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V., & Tan, J. M. (2021). Curriculum and assessment mismatch: Examining the role of images in literacy assessments. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 44(3), 22–33.

  • Lim, F. V., & Tan-Chia, L. (2023). Designing learning for multimodal literacy: Teaching viewing and representing. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V., Weninger, C., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2021). ‘I expect boredom’ – Students’ experiences and expectations of multiliteracies learning. Literacy, 55(2), 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V., Chia, A., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2022). “From the beginning, I think it was a stretch” – Teachers’ perceptions and practices in teaching multiliteracies. Practice & Critique, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-04-2021-0025

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, F. V., Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2022). A metalanguage for learning: Rebalancing the cognitive with the socio-material. Frontiers in Communication., 7, 830613. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.830613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, A. M. Y. (2012). Multilingual and multimodal resources in genre-based pedagogical approaches to L2 English content classrooms. In C. Leung & B. V. Street (Eds.), English — A changing medium for education (pp. 79–103). Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y. (2022). Pedagogy of multiliteracies in CLIL: Innovating with the social systems, genre and multimodalities framework. OLBI Journal, 11(1), 31–56. https://doi.org/10.18192/olbij.v11i1.6173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999). A map of possible practices: Further notes on the four resources model. Practically Primary, 4(2), 5–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macken-Horarik, M., Love, K., Sandiford, C., & Unsworth, L. (2017). Functional grammatics. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J. R., & White, P. R. R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, K. A., & Stone, B. G. (2020). Multimodal attitude in digital composition: Appraisal in elementary English. Research in the Teaching of English, 55(2), 160–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, K. A., & Unsworth, L. (2016). The literacy curriculum: A critical review. In D. Wyse, L. Hayward, & J. Pandya (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of literacy, pedagogy and assessment (pp. 621–637). SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuman, W. L. (2014). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (5th ed.). Pearson New International Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Halloran, K. L. (2008). Systemic functional-multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA): Constructing ideational meaning using language and visual imagery. Visual Communication, 7(4), 443–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357208096210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Halloran, K. L., & Tan, S. (2015). Teaching visual texts with multimodal analysis software. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(6), 915–935. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-015-9395-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, D., & Martin, J. R. (2012). Learning to write, reading to learn: Genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney School. Equinox.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L., Bopry, J., & Guo, L. (2010). Portraits of new literacies in two Singapore classrooms. RELC Journal, 41(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688210343864

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, S., E, M. K. L., & O’Halloran, K. L. (2012). Multimodal analysis image (Teacher ed. & Student ed.). Multimodal Analysis Company. Singapore

  • Teo, P. (2014). Making the familiar strange and the strange familiar: A project for teaching critical reading and writing. Language and Education, 28(6), 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2014.921191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2007). Teacher professional learning and development: Best evidence synthesis iteration. Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toh, W., & Lim, F. V. (2021). Using video games for learning: Developing a metalanguage for digital play. Games and Culture, 16(5), 583–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412020921339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Towndrow, P. A., Brudvik, O. C., & Natarajan, U. (2009). Creating and interpreting multimodal representations of knowledge: Case studies from two Singapore classrooms. In C. H. Ng & P. Renshaw (Eds.), Reforming Learning. Education in the Asia-Pacific region: Issues, concerns and prospects (pp. 129–158). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Towndrow, P. A., Nelson, M. E., & Yusuf, W. F. B. M. (2013). Squaring literacy assessment with multimodal design: An analytic case for semiotic awareness. Journal of Literacy Research, 45(4), 327–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x13504155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Unsworth, L. (2006). Towards a metalanguage for multiliteracies education: Describing the meaning-making resources of language-image interaction. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 5(1), 55–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unsworth, L. (2014). Towards a metalanguage for multimedia narrative interpretation and authoring pedagogy. In L. Unsworth & A. Thomas (Eds.), English teaching and new literacies pedagogy: Interpreting and authoring digital multimedia narratives (pp. 1–22). Peter Lang Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Unsworth, L., & Macken-Horarik, M. (2015). Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics.’ English in Education, 49(1), 56–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/eie.12047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Unsworth, L., & Mills, K. A. (2020). English language teaching of attitude and emotion in digital multimodal composition. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47, 100712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Unsworth, L., Cope, J., & Nicholls, L. (2019). Multimodal literacy and large-scale literacy tests: Curriculum relevance and responsibility. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 42(2), 128–139.

  • van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News as discourse. Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, T. (2017). Multimodal Literacy. Viden Om Læsning (knowledge about Reading), 21, 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Virtanen, T., & Halmari, H. (2005). Persuasion across genres: Emerging perspectives. In H. Halmari & T. Virtanen (Eds.), Persuasion across genres: A linguistic approach (pp. 3–24). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.130.03vir

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Weninger, C. (2018). Problematising the notion of ‘authentic school learning’: Insights from student perspectives on media literacy education. Research Papers in Education, 33(2), 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2017.1286683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weninger, C. (2019). From language skills to literacy. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt-Smith, C., & Kimber, K. (2005). Valuing and evaluating student-generated online multimodal texts: Rethinking what counts. English in Education, 39(2), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-8845.2005.tb00615.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. (2009). Case study methods. In J. Green, G. Camilli, & P. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods for research in education (pp. 111–122). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the participating school, teachers, and students, in this study. The author also acknowledges the non-financial support from the Singapore Ministry of Education for the conduct of the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Fei Victor Lim

Authors
  1. Fei Victor Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Not applicable.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fei Victor Lim.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

Not applicable. The research was conducted when the author was a staff at the Singapore Ministry of Education and ethical approval was not required for the pilot study.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lim, F.V. Thinking and Talking About Digital News in the Singapore Secondary English Classroom: a Pilot Study. English Teaching & Learning 48, 97–116 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-022-00134-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-022-00134-5

Keywords

關鍵字

Search

Navigation