Assessment item 2: Critical construction by Michelle Greenwood

  Norton's Model of Investment Norton (Norton et al., 2014, in Darvin & Norton, 2015) investigated student and teacher investments in digital literacy and English language in Uganda. They found that students and teachers are extremely invested in new literacy practices due to the skills gained by using digital technology, which also increased cultural capital and special power (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Chang (2011, in Darvey & Norton, 2015), examined the graduate student population focusing on nonnative English-speaking international students in an English speaking graduate school in the United States. Through investment the students exerted their own agency and were able to invest in areas that would benefit them. The world is constantly changing and so literacy teaching and learning is also needing to change. Due to more affordable travel, the internet and social media, learners are able to communicate in many different spaces, both face-to-face and in virtual worlds...

  Identity Texts The term identity texts came from research involving students using multilingual and/or multimodal skills to create literature and art. (Cummins et al., 2015).  The Dual Language Showcase created by a teacher called Patricia Chow involved students from Thornwood Public School in Toronto creating dual language texts in multiple languages, including languages the teachers themselves did not speak. The result was that the students were proud of their writing and drawings as the activities affirmed their identities and were interesting for the students. These texts were posted on the school’s website. The activities were successful as they “represent expressions of identity, projection of identity into new social spheres, and re-creation of identity as a result of feedback from and dialogue with multiple audiences” (Cummins et al., 2015, p. 557). “Students invest their identities in the creation of these texts….the identity text then holds a mirror up to student...

  Identity in language learning Since the 1990s identity has come in to focus to “describe processes of language learning and to account for language learning and academic outcomes” (Cummins, Markus & Montero, 2015, p. 555). Eagleton (2000, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 817), commented on culture in relation to identity that “within this single term, questions of freedom and determinism, agency and endurance, change and identity, the given and the created, come dimly into focus." He describes identity that is opposed to change which as Morgan and Clarke (in Hinkel, 2011, p. 817) propose that Eagleton “suggests that identity is about psychic, social and semiotic work necessary to sustain a sense of unity and sameness across time and space." As Morgan and Clarke (2011, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 829) state, identity “has become a major conceptual lens for understanding theory and pedagogy in SLE."   The theories of identity The sociocultural theories of learning are based on Vygo...

  Implications of the multiliteracy mode of teaching to the scenario With regards to the language learning scenario the multiliteracy method would be advantageous particularly in the current digitalised world. Using the technology available is essential for language teaching, including multimodal methods such as visual, audio and spatial. Students can view videos on you tube, access information on Social Media sites such as Facebook and Webpages. Cope and Kalantzis (2009) described the importance of using a student's interests and knowledge in a collaborative environment. In this scenario this would involve the students talking with each other and with the teacher about their interests and background experiences, including cultural differences and beliefs. The environment of the learner is designed so that they can derive meaning from the text, by making the learning relevant and individualised for each learner. As Cope and Kalantzis (2009) explained, the students need experiencing...

  Pedagogy of Multiliteracies I will begin by viewing the pedagogy of multiliteries and how this can be used in the scenario. In 1994 in New London, New Hampshire, in the United States, ten authors met for a week to discuss literacy pedagogy. They discussed the immersion versus the explicit models of teaching, the issues of cultural and linguistic diversity and the changing technologies available for teaching and learning in education ( Cazdon., et al, 1996). The authors came from different English speaking countries, including Australia and could see that the learning needs of students were changing due to the change in their working, public and private lives. They realised (Cazden, et. al, 1996), that as the world was changing due to the introduction of new technologies, a traditional monolingual and monocultural approach to teaching literacy, was no longer sufficient. The authors stated that if education’s main purpose is “to ensure that all students benefit from learning in w...

                                                           Introduction This assessment task encourages you to explore the links between language learning experiences and second language learning theories. You will investigate a current second language learning issue. You can choose or construct a second language learning scenario and then provide a nuanced analysis of the scenario in relation to one or more current second language learning perspectives outlined in Module III of the Study Guide.  You will need to consider the following in your analysis. 1. Conduct a literature review of a current second language learning issue you find pivotal to the scenario, such as the interplay between identities and second language learning. 2. Construct an ELT scenario drawing upon your own practices, the literature, or the samples provided in t...