Course Description

This course examines the 'what' and 'how' of language and literacy teaching in the context of our changing communications environment, which is increasingly characterized by multiple media and modes as well as by cultural and linguistic diversity. Specific issues discussed are: Does knowledge remain the same when it is represented in language, image, gesture or other modes? Can image do what writing does, or writing what image does? How do new forms of message arrangement in texts and genres affect the processes of reading and writing? Does learning happen differently when we engage with knowledge through image or language, and are taught in traditional or computer-mediated classrooms? How can we ensure that students’ different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are not barriers to language learning in school?  What do effective language and literacy programmes look like that take the cultural and linguistic diversity of its students into account?  The course also looks at examples of language classrooms which show how the increasingly complex demands of language and literacy pedagogy in contemporary times can be effectively addressed