Multimodal Composition: Creating a Space for Writers of All Backgrounds

 

As teachers we have the privilege of working with students who each bring their unique lived experiences and stories to our classroom. Every student who has come through my class has taught me something and helped me see life through a different lens. Just like our classrooms, our globalized world is full of situations that call for innovative and unique thinking and solutions. We have the opportunity to help our students use their own experiences and perspectives and allow them to strengthen their voices so they can be ready to share their unique ideas to the world around them. If we limit opportunities to traditional composition, we are limiting our own ability to truly assess all of our students’ learning and potential. 

My first year of teaching I noticed how much I had missed out by using only traditional modes of writing for assessments, especially for my English Language Learner (ELL) students.  Jiang (2017) discusses a study using multimodal composition in an English as Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, and students revealed how they felt the multimodality of assignments helped them dive deeper into learning content through English and not just simply learn English at the surface level; they were actually able to make meaningful connections with the language. I noticed this in my own classroom when I implemented my first Guided Inquiry Design unit my first year and saw transformations from many students but especially my ELL students. They were able to find their own research for the question they found and create some of the most amazing projects, such as videos and interactive posters, that showed how deeply they had interacted with research and their questions. It made me immediately realize how much potential I had missed by only having students write short answers or essays as a way to show connections to learning. ELL students are just as capable as other students, but I had been limiting opportunities for them to show learning by depending solely on linguistic communication in a language they are still learning instead of opening up other modes that transcend language proficiencies. 

Even students who have grown up speaking English as their first language might struggle or dislike traditional writing. Although the linguistic mode is what ELA seems to focus on, many students might not learn best through reading and writing written texts. Andy Berger (2016) explains how using the multimodal approach of podcasts in his composition instruction transformed his college classroom; students who had never turned in an essay assignment were hooked in the multimodal approach and completely participated in the communication project of telling stories about their local college campus. I have also noticed students who do not put effort into traditional writing assignments or even claim to “hate writing” thrive when given opportunities to choose their modes of communication. These students deserve to see themselves as writers just as much as those who thrive through linguistic and more traditional writing. 

My math subteam teacher starts each year with a growth mindset activity to help students build identities as mathematicians. After reading Andy’s blog post I began thinking about how I could introduce podcasting into my own classroom at the beginning of the year to implement multimodal communication as an integral part of my classroom instead of one unit at a time. We could build a classroom community by sharing our own stories through podcasting. This would also help students see themselves as storytellers and composers. Guise and Friend (2017) discuss something similar and how multimodal poetry helped students make connections with their own lived experiences and build identities as poets. Instead of only offering a traditional outlook on poetry, students were able to make it authentic to their own lives and use the modes they chose. My goal is to create a space where every student can see themselves as authentic composers within the different genres we compose. Multimodal composition helps students insert their own identities in the writing process. 

Our students are not the only ones that can benefit from multimodal composition opportunities. Martinez-Alvarez, Cuevas, Torres-Guzman (2017) shows the power of multimodal reflection in a bilingual teacher candidate program; candidates were able to reflect on their identities and make connections to how their identity with language would play a role in their teaching and produced a multimodal piece to communicate their thinking. We have the privilege to teach students with diverse language, religious, cultural, and many more backgrounds. Our identities will of course affect the way we approach teaching, and it is important to be mindful of the diverse students we serve who have much different learning styles and perspectives than we might have when it comes to content. Multimodal composition gives students the opportunity to interact with content in ways they choose to best suit their learning styles and lived experiences. We can model our own unique teaching and thinking styles for multimodal composition projects and then give students the reins to make meaningful connections with the content we present. 

Multimodal composition allows every student and teacher to interact in meaningful communication that is needed in the 21st century. Not only does it allow students to build their identities as writers but also helps them build the skills needed to make meaningful connections with the world around them. Linguistic communication is not the only mode they will encounter; multimodalities open the door for all students to make meaning through language.

Annotated Bibliography