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Assess The Importance Of Multimodal Literacy In The Classroom

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According to Derewianka and Jones (2015, p. 190) “Working with multimodal texts is an important aspect of becoming literate”. Multimodal literacy is defined as “meaning-making that occurs through the reading, viewing, understanding, responding to and producing and interacting with multimedia and digital texts. It may include oral and gestural modes of talking, listening and dramatising as well as writing, designing and producing such texts” (Walsh, 2010, p. 213). In modern society, multimodal literacy is becoming more and more significant in the journey of becoming literate. It is vital that all teachers understand the importance of multimodal texts and have effective strategies for their use within the classroom.

It can be argued that multimodal literacy is an essential part of mastering literacy in this digital age. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2015) makes reference to multimodal literacy as an aim of the English curriculum for foundation to year ten. That it is explicitly included in the curriculum, attests to its importance in the pursuit of literacy. For children to be successful, they need to be able to critically engage with a variety of texts; they need to evaluate the veracity, decipher the meaning and make relevant …show more content…

Gardner (2016) theorised that there are eight intelligences. These multiple intelligences mean that children learn and interact with the world in varying ways. Keeping these multiple intelligences in mind, it is important that teachers employ a range of strategies to meet the needs of the individual, and this is where multimodal literacy becomes a solution. For a student that predominately possesses “spatial intelligence”, visual texts can be an effective tool in the classroom; whereas a student who has more “interpersonal intelligence” may find group work or presentations far more

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