Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Bilingual Learners and Social Equity pp 201–223Cite as

Critical Praxis, Design and Reflection Literacy: A Lesson in Multimodality

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Educational Linguistics ((EDUL,volume 33))

Abstract

In this chapter, I explore a critical praxis grounded in social semiotics that is distinct from the traditions of critical literacy in a) its emphasis on the capacity to create and b) its explicit attention to the range of semiotic resources with which we communicate. Drawing on the concept of design put forward by The New London Group and on the concept of reflection literacy as described by Hasan, I put forward the tenets of such a praxis before illustrating the ideas using classroom data from a national SSHRC-funded study of multiliterate pedagogies. The examples powerfully demonstrate students’ capacity to engage with and remake sophisticated meanings not only to achieve sanctioned curricular goals, but also for purposes they have charted independently.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Kress strongly prefers the term multimodal ensemble to text as it more accurately reflects the semiotic construction of contemporary communication. In this chapter, I have continued to use the term text, but not without reservations.

  2. 2.

    At the time, the Province of British Columbia used the designation English as a Second Language (ESL) to identify students for whom schools received additional funding.

  3. 3.

    The lessons employed the concept of mode put forward by the New London Group (1996). In more recent writing, Kress (2010) puts forward more delicate distinctions between semiotic resource, mode and modal ensemble.

  4. 4.

    The concept of mode continues to be refined by language and literacies scholars; however, these lessons were based on the work of the New London Group.

References

  • Barton, D., & Hamilton, M. (2000). Literacy practices. In D. Barton, M. Hamilton, & R. Ivanič (Eds.), Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context (pp. 7–14). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, W. (1999). Zack. Toronto: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, B. (1990). Structuring of pedagogic discourse, volume 4: Class, codes and control. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2016). Multimodality, learning and communication: A social semiotic frame. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruni, F. (2016). Rethinking college admissions. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/opinion/rethinking-college-admissions.html. Accessed 2 Jan 2016.

  • Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). “Multiliteracies”: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies, 4(3), 164–195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Early, M., Kendrick, M., & Potts, D. (2015). Multimodality: Out from the margins of English language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 49(3), 447–460. doi:10.1002/tesq.246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as a social semiotic. London: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, M. A. K. (2007). Some basic concepts of educational linguistics. In J. J. Webster (Ed.), Language and education: The collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, V. 9 (pp. 341–353). New York: Continuum. (Original work published 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvard Graduate School of Education. (2016). Turning the tide: Inspiring concern for others and the common good through college admissions. Making Caring Common Project. http://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/files/gse-mcc/files/20160120_mcc_ttt_report_interactive.pdf?m=1453303517. Accessed 19 Jan 2016.

  • Hasan, R. (1996). Literacy, everyday talk and society. In R. Hasan & G. Williams (Eds.), Literacy in society (pp. 377–424). New York: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, R. (2004). The concept of semiotic mediation: Perspectives from Bernstein’s sociology. In J. Muller, B. Davies, & A. Morais (Eds.), Reading Bernstein, researching Bernstein (pp. 30–43). New York: Routledge Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, R. (2005). Reading picture reading: A study in ideology and inference. In J. J. Webster (Ed.), Language, society and consciousness (pp. 228–255). Oakville: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, R. (2011). Globalization, literacy and ideology. In J. J. Webster (Ed.), Language and education: Learning and teaching in society (pp. 207–231). London: Equinox.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janks, H. (2000). Domination, access, diversity and design: A synthesis for critical literacy education. Educational Review, 52(2), 175–186. doi:10.1080/713664035Ja.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G. (2000). Design and transformation: New theories of meaning. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 153–161). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. New York: Routledge. (Original work published 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B., & Weibel, P. (Eds.). (2005). Making things public. Atmospheres of democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luke, A. (2000). Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of context and standpoint. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 43(5), 448–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luke, A. (2012). Critical literacy: Foundational notes. Theory Into Practice, 51(1), 4–11. doi:10.1080/00405841.2012.636324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J. R. (2009). Genre and language learning: A social semiotic perspective. Linguistics and Education, 20(1), 10–21. doi:10.1016/j.linged.2009.01.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2009). Meaning in the making: Meaning potential emerging from acts of meaning. Language Learning, 59(s1), 206–229. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00541.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran, M. J. (n.d.-a). Term one – Literature circles: Reflections. The Multiliteracy Project. http://www.multiliteracies.ca/index.php/folio/viewDocument/110/12959. Accessed 6 Jan 2016.

  • Moran, M. J. (n.d.-b). Term two – Talking, drawing, writing: The why and how. The Multiliteracy project. http://www.multiliteracies.ca/index.php/folio/viewDocument/110/9915. Accessed 6 Jan 2016.

  • Moran, M. J. (n.d.-c). Term two – Talking, drawing, writing: The process. The Multiliteracy Project. http://www.multiliteracies.ca/index.php/folio/viewDocument/110/11471. Accessed 6 Jan 2016.

  • Moran, M. J. (n.d.-d). Term two – Talking, drawing, writing: Preparation for presentations. The Multiliteracy Project. http://www.multiliteracies.ca/index.php/folio/viewDocument/110/11473. Accessed 6 Jan 2016.

  • Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–91. doi:10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potts, D., & Moran, M. J. (2013). Mediating multilingual children’s language resources. Language and Education, 27(5), 451–468. doi:10.1080/09500782.2012.720688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Schleppegrell, M. J. (2013). The role of metalanguage in supporting academic language development. Language Learning, 63(s1), 153–170. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00742.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing social semiotics. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. (in press). Reflection literacy in the first years of schooling: Questions of theory and practice. In W. Bowcher & J. Liang (Eds.), Society in language, language in society: Essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zipin, L., Fataar, A., & Brennan, M. (2015). Can social realism do social justice? Debating the warrants for curriculum knowledge selection. Education as Change, 19(2), 9–36. doi:10.1080/16823206.2015.1085610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lancaster Literacy Research Center, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Diane Potts

Authors
  1. Diane Potts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diane Potts .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Language and Literacy Department, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    Ruth Harman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Potts, D. (2018). Critical Praxis, Design and Reflection Literacy: A Lesson in Multimodality. In: Harman, R. (eds) Bilingual Learners and Social Equity. Educational Linguistics, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60953-9_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60953-9_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60951-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60953-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation