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Multimodal Literacies

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Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory

Synonyms

Social semiotics; Communicative practices; Modal learning; Diverse meaning making

Introduction

While literacy in its most narrow sense has always meant learning to make sense of language, there is so much more to literacy than simply an acquisition of language skills. With many diverse ways of communicating, literacy researchers have expanded their definitions and interpretative frameworks for literacy work by applying a multimodal literacies perspective to literacy teaching and learning. Multimodality maintains that communication is a combination of modes of representation and expression within text designs (with the term textreferring to communicative acts beyond but including print or writing). Modes can be oral through talk or public speaking; modes can be dramatic through role-playing and improvisations; modes can visualize content in drawings, paintings, and film; and of course modes can exist in print in books, newspapers, and magazines. Modes serve a variety of...

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Correspondence to Dane Marco Di Cesare .

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Di Cesare, D.M., Rowsell, J. (2016). Multimodal Literacies. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_114-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_114-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-532-7

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