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Multiliteracies

Definition:

Multiliteracies is a framework coined by the New London Group (1996) arguing that the concept of literacy must be expanded beyond written text in a single standard language to encompass the multiplicity of communication channels (visual, audio, spatial, gestural, and linguistic) and the cultural and linguistic diversity of contemporary learners. In language education, the framework supports teaching students to be metacognitive designers of meaning across modes, not merely decoders of print.

In-Depth Explanation

Origins — the New London Group:

In 1994, ten applied linguists and educators (including Gunther Kress, Courtney Cazden, James Gee, and Mary Kalantzis) met in New London, New Hampshire, and produced a manifesto published in Harvard Educational Review (1996). They argued that traditional literacy education was failing two related challenges:

  1. Multimodality: Digital, visual, spatial, and gestural communication had become central to meaning-making; text-alone literacy was insufficient.
  2. Cultural and linguistic diversity: Globalization and migration demanded educators prepare students to communicate across cultural and linguistic difference, not toward a single standard norm.

Six design elements:

The multiliteracies framework proposes that meaning-making involves six interrelated semiotic systems:

  1. Linguistic: Grammar, vocabulary, text structure
  2. Visual: Images, color, layout, typography
  3. Audio: Music, sound effects, prosody
  4. Gestural: Body language, facial expression, movement
  5. Spatial: Environmental design, architecture, physical proximity
  6. Multimodal: The combination of the above in integrated meaning-making

Proficient communicators in the 21st century must navigate all these modes and their interactions. EFL/EFL instruction that focuses only on the linguistic mode is inadequate preparation.

Pedagogy of multiliteracies:

The New London Group proposed a four-component pedagogy:

  1. Situated practice: Immersion in meaningful practices using authentic multimodal texts
  2. Overt instruction: Explicit metalanguage for analyzing multimodal resources
  3. Critical framing: Analyzing how texts (and their modes) reflect social and cultural power relations
  4. Transformed practice: Applying multimodal literacy to create new, personally meaningful texts

L2 applications:

Multiliteracies in L2 teaching includes:

  • Analyzing Japanese manga as visual-linguistic combined texts (panel layout, onomatopoeia typography, visual pacing)
  • Teaching students to “read” film, video games, or social media posts as multimodal texts
  • Integrating audio (pronunciation, prosody), visual (presentation design), and linguistic production tasks
  • Digital writing projects that combine text, image, and audio

Connection to translanguaging:

García & Wei (2014)’s translanguaging overlaps with multiliteracies: both affirm that learners draw on diverse linguistic and semiotic resources simultaneously, and that instruction should scaffold rather than restrict this fluidity.

History

  • 1994: New London Group meeting; founding conceptualization.
  • 1996: “A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures” published in Harvard Educational Review.
  • 2000: Cope & Kalantzis (eds.) Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures—the book-length elaboration.
  • 2009: Kress’s Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication extends the theoretical framework.
  • 2010s–present: Digital literacy extension; integration of multiliteracies into TESOL standards and language curriculum design.

Common Misconceptions

“Multiliteracies just means digital literacy.” Digital literacy is one dimension; multiliteracies also includes visual, spatial, gestural, and audio literacies, and addresses cultural diversity beyond technology.

“Multiliteracies replaces linguistic literacy.” It extends and contextualizes it within a broader semiotic framework; linguistic literacy remains foundational.

Criticisms

  • The framework’s six modes are not always empirically distinct; practical operationalization in classroom assessment is challenging.
  • Some critics find the theoretical language abstract and difficult to translate into systematic pedagogical practice.
  • The culturally plural emphasis can be difficult to implement in homogeneous national curricula.

Social Media Sentiment

Multiliteracies rarely appears by name in learner communities but influences contemporary EFL/ESL material design (multimodal textbooks, video-based instruction, infographic analysis). Language teachers on Twitter and in TESOL circles discuss multimodal literacy increasingly. Japanese learner communities naturally engage with multimodal materials (anime, manga, games) without formal multiliteracies framing.

Last updated: 2026-04

Practical Application

  • Manga and anime literacy: Teach Japanese learners to analyze the linguistic + visual + gestural semiotic systems in manga panels.
  • Multimodal output tasks: Instead of only written essays, assign video presentations, podcasts, or annotated visual stories in Japanese.
  • Digital literacy integration: Teach learners to navigate Japanese social media, evaluate sources, and compose tweets/posts in Japanese as part of genuine communicative practice.

Related Terms

See Also

Research

New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92. [Summary: Foundational manifesto; introduces the multiliteracies framework, six design elements, and pedagogical components.]

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures. Routledge. [Summary: Book-length elaboration of the multiliteracies framework with case studies and theoretical extensions.]

Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. Routledge. [Summary: Comprehensive social semiotic treatment of multimodality; develops the theory of mode, design, and representation beyond the linguistic.]

Lotherington, H., & Jenson, J. (2011). Teaching multimodal and digital literacy in L2 settings: New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 226–246. [Summary: Reviews digital/multimodal literacy research in L2; argues for integration of new literacies alongside traditional linguistic competencies.]

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