A Research On The Cultivation Of Multiliteracies Of Junior High Students In The Multimodal Teaching Context

Multiliteracies refers to the ability of learners to understand and read language through the media of language symbols,visual images and so on.It is acquired based on the learners' original language knowledge and using of information technology.At present,how to cultivate multiliteracies in multi-modal discourse analysis has become a hot issue in language education and research both at home and abroad.However,most of the relevant researches are aimed at college students so far.Researches on the cultivation of junior high school students' multiliteracies are still not extensive and in-depth.So this study attempts to explore and study how to cultivate the multiliteracies of junior high school students in the multimodal teaching context.Based on previous research,this study is mainly based on social semiotics and design learning theory.Taking the second year students in junior high school in Jinan as the research subjects,and using surveys,interviews and experiment as the research methods,this study carries out an investigation on the status of multiliteracies of the students and a teaching experiment research of multiliteracies cultivation.The following questions are to be addressed:(1)What is the status of junior high school students' multiliteracies cultivation?(2)How to cultivate junior high school students' multiliteracies in the multimodal teaching context?Firstly,the study conducts a questionnaire survey and an interview on the multiliteracies of junior high school students from the dimensions of the multimodal meaning interpretation and construction ability.The design of the questionnaire is mainly based on the content of multiliteracies and the multiliteracies' evaluation framework.In this survey,100 questionnaires were distributed and 100 valid questionnaires were retrieved.By analyzing the questionnaire data,it is found that most of the students have got a certain awareness of multimodality.However,their ability to interpret and construct multimodal meanings needs to be improved,especially the capacity of constructing multimodal meanings is still lacking.Most students do not have a deep understanding of the meaning conveyed by the teaching modalities and they still need teachers' guidance and help to understand and use multimodal resources in and out of class.Although most students are able to carry out a certain degree of cooperative learning and online learning,but there is still certaindeficiency in their PPT technology operation and application of multimodal resources.Through investigation and analysis,this paper argues that most students have a certain understanding of multi-modal resources,but more guidance and practice are needed to guide them to use the multimodality to construct meanings proficiently.So it is evident that the students' multiliteracies need to be further improved.Secondly,based on the multi-literacy training model proposed by the New London Group,which includes four steps: situated practice,clear instruction,critical framing and transformed practice,the teaching case is designed and applied to the experimental class so as to conduct a teaching experiment.Students were tested on reading comprehension and the test results are analyzed before the experiment.Then the multiliteracies training model was applied to junior high school English reading teaching to further enhance their multiliteracies.After the experiment,the author conducted a reading comprehension test,questionnaire survey again and the students' PPT works were analyzed.Through classroom observation and analysis,this study found that the cultivation of multiliteracies in multimodal environment can effectively improve students' reading comprehension.At the same time,students' ability of understanding multimodal meanings and using multiple symbolic modalities to express their meanings have been improved.In addition,according to the theoretical discussion and teaching practice,the author puts forward three suggestions on how to cultivate junior high school students' multiliteracies in multimodal teaching environment.These suggestions are mainly developed from the perspective of multi-modal meaning comprehension and construction capabilities.First of all,teachers should fully explore various modal resources such as printed forms,pictures,and diagrams and other modal resources in written texts.Secondly,teachers should make proper use of multi-modal resources such as language,body,sense of vision,hearing and environment according to teaching content amd practice the multi-modal complex teaching.Finally,teachers should focus on reforming classroom teaching methods and designing activities in and out of the classroom with multi-modal meanings.The purpose of this study is to provide meaningful teaching implications for junior high school English reading teaching.It is hoped that this study can provide certain references for Junior high school English teachers on how to utilize extra-curricular multimodal discourse resources in reading teaching,and attachimportance to the design of teaching multimodalities and classroom tasks.It is expected that the results of this study can arouse the teacher's attention on the cultivation of students' multiliteracies,and then help students adapt to the development of the society and improve their multimodal discourse reading ability and comprehensive language competence.