Module 3

New Literacies,
Functional Literacy
and
Multiliteracy
Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across Curicculum
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1.Discuss new literacies and their impact on the
teaching-learning process
2.Describe a multiliterate teacher
3.Define functional literacy
4. Cite how functional literacy and new literacies
can be integrated in the curriculum and practiced
in the classroom
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:
5. Draw relevant life lessons and significant
values from personal application of functional
literacy
6. Analyze a research abstract on new literacies
and their implications on teaching and learning
7. Make a project plan or action plan that
presents functional literacy in action
 NEW LITERACIES
•Between 1950 and 1970, the development of
literacy, both operational and functional, was
established.
•Beyond the 1990s, literacy had started to
diversify in the light of technological
developments, change of living conditions in
cities, and the new necessities.
 NEW LITERACIES

•Primary English Teaching Association Australia

(2015) asserts that 21st Century literacy has
expanded to include social change, increasing
field expertise and digital technologies.
 NEW LITERACIES
•Literacy in the 21st century. Therefore, demands
the ability to perform and act confidently,
efficiently and ethically with a wide range of
written and visual, print, live, digital or
electronic text types according to purpose
 NEW LITERACIES
•21st Century literacy combines cross-curricular
capabilities also called multiliteracies and now
commonly referred to as ‘new literacies’ .
•Leander (2003) noted that new literacies are
often flexible, continuous and open, where online
and offline lives and “literacyscapes” merge
 Exploring the New Literacies
1. Multicultural Literacy is about understanding
ethnic groups that comprise the population and focuses
on complex issues of identity, diversity and citizenship.

2. Social literacy is the development of social skills,

knowledge and positive values in human beings to act
positively and responsibly in sophisticated complex
social settings.
 Exploring the New Literacies

3. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze,

evaluate, and create media.

4. Financial literacy is the ability to make informed

judgments and make effective decisions regarding the
use and management of money.
 Exploring the New Literacies
5. Digital literacy is the ability to effectively use
digital devices for purposes of communication,
expression, collaboration and advocacy in a
knowledge-based society.
 Exploring the New Literacies
6. Ecological literacy is understanding the
principles of ecosystems toward sustainability.

7. Creative literacy is the ability to make original

ideas that have value, and the ability to see the world
in new ways.
The truth on 21st Century Literacies According to Research.

● Since success with technology depends largely on

critical thinking and reflection, teachers with
relatively little technological skills can provide
less useful instruction.
● Global economics, new technologies, and
exponential growth in information are
transforming our society.
 Functional Literacy

• The term literacy was initially defined by

UNESCO through William S. Gray in his
teaching of Reading and Writing (1956) as adult
training to meet independently the reading and
writing demands placed on them.
 Functional Literacy

• Literacy materials present reading, writing and

numeracy concepts using words and ideas needed
in using information for learners to enhance
sufficient literacy skills and continue learning on
their own.
 Functional Literacy

• A number of functional literacy programs have

been carried out that focus on diff. Job skills and
development aspects.
 Functional Literacy
Significant of this approach includes literacy that:
1. Starts in the workplace
2. Uses diagnostic approach
3. Identifies turning points in the economic life
that may act as an incentive to learning
4. Assesses the limits of short-term invention
5. Looks for generic skills
 Improving Functional Literacy in the Philippines
• In 2013, the Philippines had a functional literacy
rate of 90.3%, indicating that nine out of every 10
Filipinos aged 10-64 were functionally literate.

• A study by World Vision in 2003 revealed a

critical rate of functional literacy (44%) among
girls and boys aged 11-13, emphasizing the need
for improvement.
Improving Functional Literacy in the Philippines
• School dropouts contributed to low functional
literacy, with approximately 4 million Filipino
children and youth out of school in 2013.
• The follow-up study by World Vision in 2016
showed an increase in the functional literacy rate
to 76.53%, with community-level rates at
62.64%, suggesting progress but still falling short
of the 80% threshold.
 Improving Functional Literacy in the Philippines
• Low functional literacy may lead to increased
vulnerability to exploitation, unpreparedness for
employment, and dependency on welfare
programs.
• The Alternative Learning System (ALS) is a
government initiative addressing the needs of out-
of-school youth, providing opportunities for
better employment.
 Integration of New Literacies into the Curriculum
• To meet the demands of literacy in the
contemporary world, students need proficiency in
21st-century technological literacies.

• The International Reading Association (IRA)

emphasizes the role of literacy educators in
integrating information and communication
technologies (ICT) into the curriculum.
Integration of New Literacies into the Curriculum

 The objective is to equip students with the skills

necessary for the future, acknowledging the
responsibility of educators in adapting to evolving
technological landscapes.
 The Multi Literate Learner
The Internet and other information and
communication technologies (ICTs) are
transforming how we read, write, and communicate.
New literacy skills are necessary for each evolving
ICT. Integration of these new literacies into the
curriculum is vital to prepare students for active
civic participation in a global environment.
 The Multi Literate Learner
Students would desire for:

1.Teachers who use ICTs skillfully for teaching and

learning
2.Peers who use ICTs responsibly and who share
their knowledge
3.A literacy curriculum that offers opportunities for
collaboration with peers around the world
 The Multi Literate Learner
4. Instruction that embeds critical and culturally
sensitive thinking into practice, standards and
assessments that include new literacies
5. Leaders and policymakers who are committed
advocates of ICTs for teaching and learning
6. Equal access to ICTs for all classrooms and
students
Coiro, et.al (2008) noted four common elements as
broader dimensions of new literacies, to wit:

1.The Internet and other ICTs require new social

practices, skills, strategies, and dispositions for
their effective use

2.New literacies are central to full civic, economic,

and personal participation in a global community
Coiro, et.al (2008) noted four common elements as
broader dimensions of new literacies, to wit:

3. New literacies rapidly change as defining

technologies change
4. New literacies are multiple, multimodal and
multifaceted , thus, they benefit from multiple
lenses seeking to understand how to better support
the students in a digital age.
 Impact of New Literacies on Instruction
• Grisham & Wolsey (2009) – additional changes
are taking place in literary instruction.

• Henry (2008) – engagement in literacy activities is

being transformed today like at no other time in
history.
 Impact of New Literacies on Instruction
• Labbo & Reinking (1999) – there are multiple
ways to view that changes in literacy and
communication emerging from new technologies,
it cannot be ignored that literacy changes
experiences at school and in everyday lives. Your
audience will listen to you or read the content, but
won’t do both.
 Impact of New Literacies on Instruction
• Leu (2004) – changes in literacy are confronted by
innovation that the new literacy of today will be
replaced by even newer ones tomorrow as new
ICTs continuously emerge in a more globalized
community of learners.
Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform
• In a broader essence, the concept of 21st century
skills is motivated by the belief that teaching
students the most relevant, useful, in-demand, and
universally applicable skills should be prioritized
in today's schools.
Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform
• Educational Strategies:
1. Authentic
2. Outcome-Based Learning
3. Project-Based Learning
4. Performance-Based Learning
5. Cross-Disciplinary Learning
Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform
• Students complete a research project, create
multiple technologies, analyze and process
information, think creatively, plan out the process,
and work collaboratively in with other students.
Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform
• Schools may allow students to pursue alternative
learning pathways, in which students earn
academic credit and satisfy graduation
requirements by completing an internship,
apprenticeship or immersion experience.
 Assessment of Multiliteracies

• Assessment moves from usual memorization of

facts and disconnected processes to
demonstration of understanding through
application in a variety of contexts.
 Preparing Teachers for Multiliteracies
• New London Group (1996) underscored
multi-literacies as multimodal ways of
communication that include communications
between and among other languages using
diverse channels within cultures and an ability
to understand technology and multimedia.
 Preparing Teachers for Multiliteracies
 Ajayi (2011) recommended that teacher education
must prepare teachers to teach multiliteracies in
their schools where there is a critical gap between
multiliteracies and classroom pedagogy
(Pennington, 2013).
Newman (2002) in Biswas (2014) suggests that
teachers integrate four (4) components of real-life
problems:

1.Situated practice leads students towards

meaningful learning by integrating primary
knowledge.
2. Overt instruction guides students to the
systematic practice of learning process with tools
and techniques.
3. Critical framing teaches students how to
question diverse perceptions from better
learning experiences.
4. Transformed action teaches students to apply the
lessons they learn to solve real-life problems.
Research shows that effective instruction in 21st
century literacies take an integrated approach,
helping students understand how to access, evaluate,
synthesize, and contribute to information (New
London Group, 1996).
Teachers insist to:

1. Encourage students to reflect regularly on the role

of technology in their learning;

2. Create a website and invite students to use it to

continue class discussions and bring in outside
voices;

3. Gives students strategies for evaluating the

quality of information they find on the Internet;
4. Be open about one’s own strengths and
limitations with technology and invite
students to help;

5. Explore technologies students are using outside

the classroom and find ways to incorporate them
into one’s teaching;

6. Use wiki to develop a multimodal reader’s

guide to a class text;
7. Include a broad variety of media and genres in
class texts;

8. Ask students to create a podcast to share with an

authentic audience;

9. Give students explicit instruction about how

to avoid plagiarism in a digital environment;
and

10. Refer to the partnership for 21st Century Skills

website.
For schools and policymakers:

1. Teachers need both intellectual and material

support for effective 21st century literacy
instruction;

2. Schools need to provide continuing opportunities

for professional development, as well as up-to-date
technologies for use in literacy classrooms;
3. Address the digital divide by lowering the number
of students per computer and by providing high
quality access (broadband speed and multiple
locations) to technology and multiple software
packages;

4. Ensure that students in literary classes have regular

access to technology;
5. Provide regular literacy-specific professional
development in technology for teachers and
administrators at all levels, including higher
education;

6. Require teacher preparation programs to include

training in integrating technology into instruction;
7. Protect online learners and ensure their privacy;

8. Affirm the importance of literacy teachers in

helping students develop technological proficiency;
and

9. Adopt and regularly review standards for

instruction in technology.
THANK YOU