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Module-3-New Literacies
Secondary Education (Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College)
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Module 3
New Literacies, Functional Literacy and Multiliteracy
Time Allotment: 4.5 hrs.
I.
Introduction
Students are taught to read and write print with fluency, speed and comprehension of
the message of the writer and the interpretation of the content of the material.
In this module, we will be discussing on the different new literacies, functional literacy
and multiliteracy their definitions and how the literacies can be integrated into the curriculum
through effective teaching-learning implementation.
II.
Learning Outcomes
After the completion of this module, you must have:
1. Described the new literacies;
2. Defined functional literacy;
3. Discussed the integration and impact of the new literacies in the curriculum, to
the learners and to the instruction;
4. Described multiliteracies in the educational reform.
III.
Learning Content/Topic
New Literacies
New literacy demands the ability to move confidently, efficiently and ethically between and
among a wide range of written and visual, print, live, digital or electronic text types according to
purpose.
Between 1950 and 1970, the development of literacy, both operational and functional,
was established. During this period , literacy was defined as reading and writing skills
necessitated for activities in the modern society (Gunes, 2000). Beyond the 1990s, literacy had
started to diversify in the light of technological developments, change of living conditions in
cities, and the new necessities. Hereafter, literacy then became multi-faceted.
At first, literacy was used in various types, such as computer literacy, technology
literacy, internet literacy, and the media literacy respectively. (Altun, 2005). Later on, it became
a lifestyle along with a person’s entire life in a society that encompasses information literacy,
cultural literacy and universal literacy.
Truly, literacy has changed and developed through a multitude of phases within a
specific period based on societal needs.
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However, along this line, literacy is not confined only to knowing how to read and write
rather, it is a matter of applying knowledge for specific purposes in particular contexts. It
includes a socially-driven and evolved a pattern of activities, such as writing correspondence,
records keeping and inventories, posting announcements, reporting, etc. As such, Lankshear &
Knobel (2006) averred that literacies intend to generate and communicate meanings through
the medium of encoded texts within contexts in various discourses.
Kress (2003) posited that literacy can only happen when having a kind of potential
content through interaction with the text. Likewise, a particular text may be understood for
being connected or related. Although in a way, such meaning can be more relational than literal
or expressing solidarity or affinity with particular people, like understanding the Internet, online
practices and online content. Hence, anything available online can become a resource for
making diverse meaning.
Literacies can bear a coding system that can capture the meaning, such as “letteracy”
(i.e., within language and recognition of alphabetic symbols).
Moreover, the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (2015) asserts that 21 st
Century literacy has expanded to include social change, increasing field expertise and digital
technologies. To be literate requires comprehension, selection and use of multimodal codes and
conventions to interpret and express ideas, feelings and information. Subject-specific literacies
are recognized to require the application of specialized knowledge and skills, information skills,
and the creative and imaginative language. Literacy in the 21 st 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 (www.petaa.edu.au).
The increasing complexity of modern communication gives rise to a number of distinct
capabilities and possibilities. Hence, 21 st Century literacy combines cross-curricular capabilities
also called “multiliteracies” and now commonly referred to as “new literacies”. These broad skills
include the dynamics of:




Visual literacy
Information literacy
Cultural literacy
Digital literacy
These new literacies are fused with traditional print literacy to create opportunities and
enable students to understand and use new text types, while exploring knowledge and
information with a wide array of technological tools, such as blogging, fanfic writing, manga
producing, meme-ing, photoshopping, anime music video (AMV), podcasting, vodcasting, and
gaming, running a paper-based zine, reading literary novels and wordless picture books,
reading graphic novels and comics, and reading bus timetables. (Primary English Teaching
Association Australia, 2015).
Leander (2003) noted that new literacies are often flexible, continuous and open, where
online and offline lives and “literacyscapes” merge. Thus, when a literacy practice becomes a
mindset with the concept of Web 2.0, it can be regarded as a new literacy. New technologies
enable and enhance these practices in a way that is highly complex and exciting for students.
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Exploring the New Literacies
There are seven (7) new literacies that are stressed in the 21 st century curriculum.
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.
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.
5. Digital Literacy is the ability to effectively use digital devices for purpose of
communication, expression, collaboration and advocacy in a knowledge-based society.
6. Ecological Literacy is understanding the principles of ecosystems towards 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. Therefore,
schools must support the teachers by providing them professional training and up-to-date
technology for utilization in classrooms.
Global economies, new technologies, and exponential growth in information are
transforming our society. Since today’s people engage with a technology-driven, diverse, and
quickly changing world, teachers need to prepare students for this world with problem-solving,
collaboration, and analysis, as well as skills with word processing, hypertext, LCD’s, Webcams,
podcasts, smartboards, and social networking software that are central to individual and
community success.
The National Council of Teachers of English (2013) came up with a research that reveals
the following:
1. As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers to foster
reading and writing in more diverse and participatory contexts.
2. Sites, like literature’s Voice of the Shuttle, on online fanfiction, and the Internet Public
Library, expand both the range of available texts and the social dimension of literacy.
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3. Research on electronic reading workshops shows that they contribute to the emergence
of new literacies.
4. Research also shows that digital technology enhances writing and interaction in several
ways.
5. K-12 students, who write with computers, produce compositions of greater length and
higher quality are more engaged with and motivated toward writing than those who do
not write with computers.
6. College students, who keep e-portfolios, have a higher rate of academic achievement
and overall retention rate than those who do not keep e-portfolios. They also
demonstrate a greater capacity for metacognition, reflection and audience awareness.
7. Both typical and atypical students, who receive an online response to writing, revise
their works better than those participating in traditional method.
Functional Literacy
The term functional 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. It stresses the acquisition of appropriate verbal, cognitive
and computational skills to accomplish practical results in specific cultural settings dubbed as
survival literacy and reductionist literacy.
Over the decades, as societies have evolved into technical innovations, the definition of
functional literacy has been modified to meet the changing demands (Concise Oxford
Companion to the English Language, 1998).
Functional literacy is the level of literacy that includes not only reading and writing but also
numeracy skills that would help people cope with the daily demands of life.
Referring to functional literacy, UNESCO states the following:
1. Literacy programs should be integrated to and correlated with economic and social
development plans.
2. The eradication of literacy should begin with population sectors, which are highly
motivated and need literacy for their own and their country’s benefit.
3. Literacy programs should be linked with economic priorities and carried out in areas
undergoing rapid economic expansion.
4. Literacy programs must impact not only reading and writing but also professional and
technical knowledge leading to greater participation of adults in economic and civic life.
5. Literacy must be an integral part of the over-all educational system and plan of each
country.
6. The financial need for functional literacy should be met with various resources, as well
as be provided for economic investments.
7. The literacy programs should aid in achieving main economic objectives (i.e. increase in
labor productivity, food production, industrialization, social and professional mobility,
creation of new manpower and diversification of the economy).
Thus, literacy materials present reading, writing and numeracy concept using words and
ideas needed in using information for learners to enhance sufficient literacy skills and continue
learning on their own.
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A number of functional literacy programs have been carried out that focus on different
job skills and development aspects. To name a few, in the Philippine context, are agricultural,
health, industry, family planning, home making, arts and cultural and technical-vocational
programs.
A new functional literacy aspect, called specific literacy, is becoming a trend, in which
the job of the student is analyzed to see exactly the literacy skills needed and those that are
only taught. This is to prevent job-skill mismatch. In specific, literacy, the student may learn
very little but will be of immediate value that would result in increased learner motivation.
Therefore, the specific literacy strategy is a planning tool that allows the literacy worker
to focus on skills that are of value to the learners.
Significance of this approach includes literacy that:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
starts in the workplace;
uses a diagnostic approach;
identifies turning points in economic life that may act as an incentive to learning;
assesses the limits of a short-term intervention; and
looks for generic skills.
Gunes (2000) posited that functional literacy constitutes the second level of literacy, in
which literary and mathematical information and skills can be utilized in one’s personal, social,
economic and cultural endeavors. Therefore, the essence in functional literacy is to learn basic
related information and skills and use them in daily life. Functional literacy level comprises both
technical and functional skills while encompassing social, citizenship, and economic roles.
In context, Capar (1998) cites that functionally literate person is someone who is one
step ahead of literacy and maintains literacy actively throughout his/her life inorder to keep
living and effectively accommodate him/herself to his/her surroundings. It is therefore, an
ongoing process.
UNESCO defines functional literacy as the ability of an individual to take part in
significant activities in professional, social, political and cultural aspects in a society, where
he/she lives using his/her literacy skills (De Castel, 1971; Goksen, Gulgoz and Kagitcibasi, 2000;
as cited in Savas, 2006).
Hatch (2010) defines it based on the American Heritage College Dictionary (AHCD).
Accordingly, the word “functional” means “building capacity” and “literacy” as “reading and
writing skills.” Therefore, it is the capability to proficiently read and write that can be used in
daily life routines.
Likewise, Knoblauch and Brannon (1993) as cited in Jabusch (2002) distinguished basic
literacy and functional literacy as having the expression “functional” to indicate performance
with texts, including mathematics.
The Education for All Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO,2006) states that functional
literacy means the ability to make the significant use of activities involving reading and writing
skills that include using information, communicating with others, and following a path of lifelong
learning necessary for the ability to express him/herself in daily life. UNESCO’s definition also
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adds that functional literacy includes those skills essential for both official and unofficial
participation, as well as those which are necessary for national change and development that
can be used to aid an individual in contributing to his/her own development and that of his/her
family and the society.
The National Statistics Authority defines functional literacy as the level of literacy that
includes reading, writing, and numeracy skills that help people cope with the daily demands of
life.
Based on these definitions, functional literacy can be concluded as an activity that
contributes to the development of an individual and the society, including the ability to use
information and skills related to listening, speaking, reading, writing, and arithmetic necessary
for daily life in social, cultural and economic aspects effectively.
Improving Functional Literacy in the Philippines
Over the years, the Philippines has continuously aspired to attain an increased functional
literacy rate.
Manuyo (2019) reported that based on the 2013 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass
Media Survey (FLEMMS), the country registered a 90.3% rate, which means that nine (9) out of
every 10 Filipinos aged 10-64 were functionally literate. In 2003, there were still gaps at the
community level. In the study conducted by World Vision, results showed that the proportion of
girls and boys aged 11-13, who were functionally literate, placed at a critical rate of 44%, or
below 50% of the students were able to read with comprehension by the end of their basic
education.
It was also evident that school dropouts contributed to low functional literacy. Obviously,
one in every 100 or about 4 million Filipino children and youth were out-of-school in 2013. Of
the total number, 22.9% got married, 19.2% lacked a family income to be sent to school and
19.1% lacked interest in attending schools. In order to address illiteracy issues, creating formal
and non-formal learning environments, active participation of local stakeholders, capacity
building of teachers, development of contextualized or indigenized learning materials, and
tracking of improvement of reading, basic math and essential life skills outcomes were desired.
Interventions also included improvement of classrooms and several reading facilities,
establishing a culture of reading program, parental training and learning, and skill integration in
the curriculum.
In a follow-up study by World Vision in 2016, the functional literacy rate went up at
76.53%. In the community level, the rate inclined to 62.64%, or around 50%-70% of the
students were able to read with comprehension by the end of their basic education. The
increase was significant within the 3-year interval but it also indicated more improvement is
expected considering that rate remained 17.36% short of the 80% threshold.
An analysis shows that low functional literacy could mean low resilience to respond to
abnormal conditions and increase a child’s vulnerability to exploitation. This could also result in
unpreparedness for gainful employment and eventually increased dependency on welfare
programs.
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One of the government initiatives to address this is Alternative Learning System (ALS)
that provides an opportunity for learning among out-of-school youth for them to land in better
jobs.
Integration of New Literacies in the Curriculum
To address the call for literacy in today’s world, students must become proficient in the
new literacies of 21st century technologies. The International Reading Association (IRA) believes
that literacy educators have the responsibility to integrate information and communication
technologies into the curriculum to prepare students for the future they deserve.
The Multiliterate Learner
Today, the Internet and other forms of information and communication technologies
(ICTs) are redefining the nature of reading, writing, and communication. New literacy skills and
practices are required by each new ICT as it emerges and evolves. Thus, these new literacies
need to be integrated into the curriculum to prepare students for successful civic participation in
a global environment.
Students would desire for a;
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;
4. instruction that embeds critical and culturally sensitive thinking into practice, standards
and assessments that include new literacies;
5. leaders and policy makers who are committed advocates of ICTs for teaching and
learning; and
6. equal access to ICTs for all classrooms and students.
Coiro, et. Al (2008) noted four (4) 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;
3. new literacies rapidly change as defining technologies change; and
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
Additional changes are taking place in literacy instruction (Grisham and Wolsey, 2009).
Henry (2008) restated that engagement in literacy activities is being transformed today like at
no other time in history. As students turn to the Internet and other information communication
technologies (ICTs) at increasing rates to read, write and interact with texts, they must develop
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new skills and strategies, or new literacies, to be successful in these multimodal, intertextual
and interactive environments. The Internet has become the defining technology for today’s
youth and may be the most important ICT for students to learn how to manipulate successfully.
Although, there are multiple ways to view the changes in literacy and communication
emerging from new technologies (Labbo and Reinking, 1999), it cannot be ignored that literacy
changes experiences at school and in everyday lives. As such, rapid profound changes in
technology impact students’ literacy journey. Hence, Leu, et. Al (004) posited that changes in
literacy are confronted by innovation, that the new literacies of today will be replaced by even
newer ones tomorrow as new ICTs continuously emerge in a more globalized community of
learners. And such changes bear important implications to instruction, assessment, professional
development and research.
Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform
Multiple literacies are multimodal ways of communication, which include communications
among different languages, using language within different cultures, and the ability to
understand technology and multimedia.
In a broader essence, the concept of 21 st century skills are motivated by the belief that
teaching students the most relevant, useful, in-demand, and universally applicable skills should
be prioritized in today’s schools.
As such, students need to be taught different skills that should reflect the specific
demands of a complex, competitive, knowledge-based, information-age, technology-driven
economy and society.
21st century skills may be taught in a wide variety of school settings. Teachers may
advocate teaching cross-disciplinary skills, while schools may require 21 st century skills in both
instruction and assessment processes. Schools and teachers may use educational approaches
that inherently expedite or facilitate the acquisition of cross-disciplinary skills.
Educational strategies, that include authentic, outcome-based learning, project-based
learning and performance-based learning tend to be cross-disciplinary in nature. Students
complete a research project, create multiple technologies, analyze and process information,
think creatively, plan out the process, and work collaboratively in teams with other students.
Likewise, 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. In this case, students can acquire a variety of
practical, job-related skills and work habits, while also completing academic coursework and
meeting the same learning standards required of students.
Assessment of Multiliteracies
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Assessment moves from usual memorization of facts and disconnected processes to
demonstration of understanding through application in a variety of contexts. Real-world
audiences are important part of the assessment process, including self-assessment.
Media literacy skills are honed as students address real-world issues from the
environment. Students use the technological and multimedia tools now available to them to
design and produce websites, television shows, radio shows, public service announcements,
mini-documentaries, electronic portfolios, DVDs, oral histories and even films.
In a way, students can freely express their points of view as they create projects using
multimedia and deliver these products to real-world audiences, realizing that they can make a
difference and change the world. They learn what it is to be a contributing citizen, and carry
these citizenship skills throughout their lives.
As a result, standardized test scores are higher because students have acquired the
skills and content in a meaningful connected way with profound understanding. They actually
master the content on a much higher level and develop their basic skills by constant application
throughout their schooling.
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. As such,
applying multiliteracies to teaching offers a new a classroom pedagogy that extends and helps
manage classrooms.
Biswas (2014) asserted that one challenge for educators is to help students create a
sustainable literacy development throughout schooling, so that students can develop strong
literacy skills (Borsheim, et. Al, 2008). Certainly, multiple and new literacies require students to
integrate a technology-enhanced educational tools into their work. 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).
Given globalization and technological changes, teaching multiliteracies is indispensable to
literacy teaching and learning in the 21st century.
Therefore, Newman (2002) in Biswas (2014) suggests that teachers integrate four (4)
components of multiliteracies in teaching:
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.
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Thus, teaching multiliteracies can inform, engage, and encourage students to embrace
the multiplicity of learning practices (New London Group, 1996). Moreover, teaching
multiliteracies can help teachers blend and apply the following four (4) instructional processes
of multiliteracies in classroom to ensure successful teaching and advancing students’ learning
processes.
Research shows that effective instruction in 21 st 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 21 st 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.
The integration of new literacies and the teaching of multiliteracies open new
pedagogical practices that create opportunities for future literacy teaching and learning.
Multiliteracies can also help teachers provide equal access to learning for all students. In
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effect, students learn to collaborate by sharing their thoughts with others in online
spaces where they can engage in different forms or modes of learning process.
Consequently, students can be expected to become more confident and knowledgeable
in their learning through participatory and collaborative practices as a result of this new
literacy integration in the curriculum for teacher education (New London Group, 1996).
IV.
Learning Assessment
V.
Enrichment Activity
Direction: Make an acronym from the word “Literacy”.
LITERACY-
VI.
Reference
De Leon, Elmer B. DEM. (2020). Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the
Curriculum. Lorimar Publishing Inc., Quezon City, Manila
VII.
Course Syllabus in PED 110- Building and Enhancing Literacies Across the
Curriculum.
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