Page 39 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts
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 development of literacy in sociocultural contexts, the hybridity of activities provided by new technologies, and the increasing interdependence of semiotic systems (Garcia et al., 2007, p. 215). A major contribution to the development of terminology has been made by the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC), which describes and explains the concept of literacy and considers literacy as the ability to understand, use, and engage with written texts in order to participate in society, as well as to achieve individual goals and develop one's own knowledge and potential (Przybylska, 2014, pp. 30–31). It is also about the ability to use reading to access the world of knowledge, to synthesise information from different sources, to evaluate arguments, and to learn entirely new topics (Murnane et al., 2012, p. 1).
2.2 Plurilingual literacy
To understand what plurilingual literacy is, the concept of hybridity is important. Reviewing Bakhtin's (1981) work on the hybridity of dialogue in languages, Anzaldúa's (1987) work on the hybridity of living in border regions and Bhabha's (1994) work on the hybridity of postcolonialism, followed by Shohat and Sham's (1994) definition of hybridity as "an endless, non-finalisable process that is dynamic and mobile, is more than a written formula", we see that hybrid language use is thus more than just code- switching. It is a more structured, strategic, meaningful process (Garcia et al., 2007, p. 11). Plurilingual literacy is not just a marker of national or ethnic identity, it has become a form of economic and social capital in a globalised world (Bourieu, 1991; Heller, 1999). Certainly, a break with the very concept of literacy means a break with traditional conceptions of teaching societies to read and write.
In Polish it is difficult to convey the difference in meaning between the terms "multiliteracy" and "pluriliteracy". Both theprefixes"multi-" and "pluri-" can be translated into Polish as wiele. Przybylska translates multiliteracy into Polishas multialfabetysacja30 and pluriliteracy as wieloalfabetysacja. In English, however, the difference in meaning between the two terms is significant. Multiliteracy refers to the process of learners acquiring the skill to use multiple forms of texts and discourses in different social and cultural contexts, emphasising the multiplicity of human communication channels and media, as well as cultural and linguistic diversity (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kress, 2003; Goldoni, 2008; Przybylska, 2014). In contrast, pluriliteracy refers to learner competence31 and emphasises the variability of literacy practices in different sociocultural contexts in and out of school (Meyer& Coyle, 2017). It also refers to a range of literacy practices rooted in cultural processes, personal life circumstances, and collective structures (UNRIC, 2018).
The concept of multiliteracy was introduced in 1996 by the New London Group32 in New Hampshire, USA. It considered six interrelated design elements in the meaning-making process: linguistic meaning, visual meaning, auditory meaning, gestural meaning, spatial meaning, and multimodal interaction. In 2000, Cope and Kalantzis introduced the concept of a "pedagogy of multiliteracies", a term translated into Polish by E. Przybylska (2014, p. 37) as pedagogika multialfabetyzacji33. Pedagogy of multiliteracies
30 E. Przybylska, 2014, p. 34.
31 Similarly to plurilingualism. The term plurilingualism is translated into Polish as różnojęzyczność (Kotarba- Kańczugowska, 2015).
32 An international team of experts representing various scientific disciplines.
33 Seesub-section 3.2.1,"Distinguishing between conceptual categories – the Anglo-Saxon tradition" where I discuss translations of the terms "pedagogy", "a pedagogy", and "pedagogies" into Polish, along with the inaccuracies and misunderstandings that may result.
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