Overview/Definition of Multimodal Writing

 

         

Overview/Definition of Multimodal Writing 

         Multimodal literacies have brought up many important discussions in the educational world. No longer can we solely depend on traditional reading and writing to prepare our students for the 21st century. They must not only read but also convey information within multiple modes of communication. Writing at its core seems to be a very linguistic, thoughts to words (written or typed), mode of communication; yet, this does not help students reach the ability to communicate in the variety of modes our globalized world needs. 

Before beginning my research, I had an idea of what multimodal writing encompassed and looked like in the classroom, but I was unaware of how many modes of communication could be implemented into writing projects. Dr. Cruz Medina, Rhetoric and Composition Professor at Santa Clara University, discusses and uses the five modes of communication in his multimodal presentation. (Figure 1).  He also discusses how we have been using these types of communication for much longer than we sometimes think when we hear “multimodal composition”. (Medina 2020). We as teachers use these communication modes often, but are we giving our students enough opportunities to utilize them when communicating what they know? 

Five modes of communication (Medina, 2020): 

• Visual: graphics or images used to convey meaning

• Gestural: nonverbal communication through body language (facial expressions, movement, etc)

• Aural: communication using sounds

• Spacial: Organizing or positioning communication through certain uses of space to create a specific meaning. 

• Linguistic: written or spoken language

Figure 1 

           By allowing students to incorporate more than linguistic into their writing communication, we can help them practice communicating with all the modes they will be working with in real-life contexts. Just like the video states, these do not have to be digital projects (Medina, 2020). Teachers do not have to be digital or tech gurus to prepare students for the 21st century. For example, instead of asking my students to write summaries or answer tests questions for assessments over concepts we have learned such as parts of speech, I could have them work in groups to write lyrics explaining their group’s part of speech (linguistic) and then create a catchy song (aural) and dance (gestural) to share with the class. We can start with little to no technology (or as much technology as wanted!) to add multimodal composition in our classroom and still prepare students to communicate in modes they will need for their futures. 

If you are like me, you might be wondering a few things: how am I going to incorporate multimodal writing into my curriculum and still prepare my students to meet every writing standard, and where do I begin? Being a third year teacher, writing instruction in general is stressful enough with time constraints and needing to make sure I prepare students to be as successful as possible for state assessments, much less trying to add something I am still learning myself, such as multimodal composition. However, through this inquiry process I have realized that I can meet just as many curriculum needs, such as research, through multimodal writing projects and even more than traditional writing while giving students a voice and choice in how they present their learning. In fact, Common Core, NCTE, and Oklahoma ELA Academic Standards all list multimodal literacies as core standards. In his video for Oklahoma State Department of Education, Dr. Crag Hill, English Education Coordinator at the University of Oklahoma, discusses ways to teach/incorporate OAS Standard 7 (Multimodal Reading and Writing), such as videos, collages, and more (Figure 2)  (Hill, 2019). 

     Figure 2 

Multimodal composition begins with standards/curriculum goals and planning frameworks, just like traditional writing projects. By beginning with multimodal literacy standards and planning frameworks, such as PEDDL (Hutchinson & Woodward, 2020), you can begin to implement multimodal composition. While multimodal writing standards can be the focus for adding multimodal composition, these projects will also lend to many crucial ELA standards, such as writing process and research. 

Students should have voice in choice from the beginning of the composition process in what modes they will utilize to communicate learning. Bridget Dalton (2012) proposes that during multimodal composition students need to think critically and create in whichever ways they are inspired and not making traditional writing mandatory; she also utilizes a digital designer's workshop where students are able to follow a recursive composition process with different modes being used besides those in a traditional writing workshop to help build a community of designing and creating. In my previous instruction, I have focused on multimodal compositions as a supplement to student written work like Dalton advises against; now, I know that multimodal writing should be treated as its own process where students get to work and choose which modes to use from the beginning.

Multimodal composition does not take away from using traditional writing skills that students must learn, but it does allow them to build mastery of  skills using the other four modes of communication they will need to understand in real-world contexts. It also allows a much wider assessment range for those students who have strengths outside of linguistic communication. Brett Darrington and Tonia Dousay (2015) from University of Wyoming explore how multimodal composition motivates students who struggle with traditional writing; the authors found that multimodal writing allow students to use communication modes they use in authentic situations outside of school, such as social media, and also help prepare them for job skills needed in the 21st century that traditional writing only methods do not give them. These are truths I have found in my own classroom; students light up when we do our 6th grade guided inquiry unit every year and they can choose how to present what they have learned through their research. Students who have expressed a dislike for writing utilize similar skills to create the most amazing products, such as movies, songs with music composition, artwork, and more. They are much more interested in the research process, because they are excited for the final project. I still have many improvements to make to implementation of multimodal composition and finding ways to incorporate it much more than once a year.

Multimodal composition might seem daunting at first; however, it uses modes of communication we utilize weekly if not daily in our schools. It can be planned just like any other assessment by starting with the guidelines given by standards. Don't worry about being an expert in technology or multimodal composition; your students will take ownership of their learning when given voice and choice and create amazing products showcasing their 21st century skills! 

Annotated Bibliography