Page 40 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
describes the changing social and technological contexts of communication and learning and seeks creative and emancipatory ways of working with students that are more relevant to today's times, through which they could become active creators of meanings, learning processes, and self-creation (Cope & Kalantizis, 2009, pp. 175 and 184). It is believed that the above objectives can be achieved through the use of different forms of engaging students in the learning process and the modalities used for meaning-making.
In 1996, Sridhar predicted that in multilingual societies in the 21st century, languages will not exist side by side, but rather will overlap, intersect, and merge with one another. The fusion of languages, dialects, registers, and semiotic systems captures the way people communicate in the present day. In other words, multiliteracy reflects the sociolinguistic reality of the current era. Multiliteracy emphasises the integral, hybrid nature of multilingual literacy and the continuous interaction of multiple languages, discourses, dialects, and registers of languages. It can therefore be assumed that the concept of multiliteracy can also be referred to as integrated multilingual literacy (Garcia et al., 2007, p. 13).
2.3 The pluriliteracies approach
Research work on pluriliteracy is most extensive in Europe (Garcia et al., 2007, p. 13). It is most evident in Wales, where curricula are designed so that learners, for example, listen and read in class in one language, and work on what they have heard or read in another language. In Europe, plurilingualism is also evident in the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach to bilingual education developed by David Marsh in 1994, or in the European Language Portfolio documents. However, plurilingual literacy is very rarely included in actual school practice. This is partly due to a lack of teaching materials for teachers, but that's not the only reason. Resistance also lies in the unwillingness to change the status quo in situations where the dominant language and culture have power and privilege.
Pluriliteracy can be seen as a state, a context, an awareness, a mindset that can work to deepen social, local, and global self-awareness (Lie, 2006, p. 82). According to Garcia et al. (2007, p. 217) pluriliteracy should:
• emphasise its integrated, hybrid nature;
• emphasise the combination of multiple languages, discourses, dialects, and interactions;
• pay attention to the ways in which it is woven into different communication channels and
semiotic systems;
• be aware of the impact of literacy on cultural contexts and social relations;
• develop literacy practices outside school.
The role of schools should not therefore be simply to teach foreign languages up to a certain level. Instead, it should recognise the role of developing plurilingualism in the context of pluriliteracies, which means acquiring proficiency, to varying degrees, in several languages and experiencing several different cultures (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, p. 168). If students are to engage in deeper understanding of content, they will need appropriate language, appropriate
Cope and Kalantzis used the singular countable noun, "a pedagogy", which is used when referring to the work of a teacher, the art of teaching, or what a teacher does to influence the learning of others (Dictionary.com).
25