Exploring the way genre based approaches have changed the pedagogy used to teach language. Focus on how important the concept of genre is and then using genre as a way of building knowledge in specific disciplines. Following on from this conclusion is the assertation that more action research programmes are needed to look at ways teachers can move literacy teaching to more interactive styles.
There has tended to be an overemphasis on the teaching and analysis of the mode of writing in ‘academic literacies’ studies, even though changes in the communica- tion landscape have engendered an increasing recognition of the different semiotic dimensions of representation. This paper tackles the logocentrism of academic lit- eracies and argues for an approach which recognises the interconnection between different modes, in other words, a ‘multimodal’ approach to pedagogy and to theoris- ing communication. It explores multimodal ways of addressing unequal discourse resources within the university with its economically and culturally diverse student body. Utilising a range of modes is a way of harnessing the resources that the students bring with them. However, this paper does not posit multimodality as an alternative way of inducting students into academic writing practices. Rather, it explores what happens when different kinds of ‘cultural capital’ (Bourdieu, 1991) encounter a range of generic forms, modes and ways of presenting information. It examines how certain functions are distributed across modes in students’ texts in a first year engineering course in a South African university (specifically scientific discourse and student affect) and begins to problematise the visual/verbal distinction.
Literacy cannot be seen as only a linguistic accomplishment anymore and there is no longer the close association between print and learning Multimodality can be seen as an eclectic approach modal affordances: what is possible to express easily. The metalanguage of multimodalities must be taught and understood, as choice of mode can affect pedagogic design and interpretation: the teacher's choice of mode shapes the knowledge or even interpretation. New possibilities.
Bezemer,J. and Kress.G.(2008) consider the changing roles of image and writing in the representation of knowledge in secondary school English, Science and Mathematics texts published between 1930 and 2005.