We now talk about Englishes rather than English and multiliteracies rather than literacies
Demonstrate the breadth of your understanding of the diversity of English across time, geography, culture and class and explain why it is essential for teachers in the 21st Century to be aware of ‘multi-literacies’ and language variation.
Intro- 150 words
Teachers of the 21st Century need to be aware of and up-to-date with the literacy demands required to teach and communicate within the everyday classroom. It is essential for teachers to have a thorough understanding of multiliteracies and language variation, due to the ever changing demands of society and the fast paced nature that globilisation plays in education (Giles and Rakić, …show more content…
Due to increased migration and globalisation, Australia has become a multicultural society with people bringing with them their own religions, languages and cultural backgrounds (Boyd & Brock, 2014). The diversity of learners can vary from class to class or school to school, depending on the socio-economic background and status. Having an understanding of the different cultures within the classroom, will give teachers greater knowledge and understanding as to how they might need to structure their lessons. Each student is unique and brings their own challenges. Teachers having the ability to adapt their teaching style in multiple different ways for different cultures, upbringings and the access they have had to different technologies (Jenkins, 2014). Over time the diversity within learners has increased with the increase of cultures and differentiation amongst students. Albers, Holbrook, and Harste state, “the old basic traditional” approach to literacy, which centres on traditional and back-to-basics reading and writing using paper and pencil as tools. More current and important research in literacy and diversity acknowledges the importance of traditional conceptions of literacy, but also focuses on different digital, multimodal, and textual tools as well as unique ways to engage in the use of these tools for meaningful literacy teaching and learning” (Reference Albers, Holbrook, & Harste, 2010; Pahl & Rowsell, …show more content…
With Australia being such a multicultural country, the amount of different cultures we have throughout a classroom is quite vast. Teachers having a knowledge about the differences that students may have in their understanding of language and the ability to cater for all. Pronunciation of words and different meanings may come across from different cultures.(reference) For teachers to be aware of this so they are able to make sense and explain and communicate with the students about the different cultures and meanings each has. We need to understand that each child will have a different understanding from the next due to their culture and upbringing. The language they have been exposed and experienced to throughout their early life is something that comes out in their ability to learn. A students upbringing and access to the different technologies throughout a classroom plays a major factor as to how a student may learn. If they are experienced with technology students will feel comfortable learning with this tool. Other students who haven’t had access may not understand and we as teachers will need to assist and aid this student. We may be able to implement peer modeling or a buddy system with a student who has experience with this