Getting Started
As Rhetoric and Professional Communication graduate students in our second year, we are in the middle of our coursework and thinking about how to enter into scholarly discussions that fit our research interests. Just a few weeks ago, we submitted our preliminary portfolios, and as we complete coursework we are deepening our understanding of the existing scholarly landscape. We have found that our interests overlap in the areas of new media and education, and we are both invested in finding ways to engage other educators and our students using modern and emerging communication tools. In addition, we are invested in developing our own skills, which has led us believe that a collaborative, web-based project will be the most beneficial for us.
What we have Noticed
Composition, a field traditionally focused on writing, has undergone a significant shift that parallels the increase in communication technologies. The New London Group’s landmark call for a pedagogy changes in 1996 encourages us to embrace a more broad view of literacy (The New). Since then, composition scholars have worked to encourage the use of multimodal curricula, and our definitions of writing and writing instruction are being redefined (Lunsford; Leverenz). Transitioning into multimodal communication further complicates many of the debates that composition scholars have been having over recent decades.
One of the most significant and contentious debates at the heart of composition studies is the result of the relationship between language, identity, and culture. The New London Group’s argument is a response, in part, to the importance of inclusivity in communication practices. Still dealing with concerns about inclusivity (many of the problems of inclusion like accessible technologies and…are being addressed)–BUT ‘student’s right to their own language’ is still an issue. Multimodality will, in some ways, help teachers contend with the privileging of academic language in the classroom. If we look at how students experience the classroom, we see that their own identities shape that experience. Since language is such an integral part of identity, a student’s ability to function in the classroom can be tied in with the language they use. In privileging only academic language, we set a large portion of our students up for difficulty in the academic setting. Not every student knows academic language right away. Some know, but do not have the tools to code switch and understand contexts in which they would need to. By studying how multimodal composition assignments and/or classrooms can facilitate students’ right to their own language, we are attempting to create spaces in which students have an equal chance at learning academic skills, while not being singled out. This also could be a way to combat microaggressions through allowing for other students to see dialects and vernacular as valid modes of speech, while teaching them about contextual code switching as well.
Collaboration
The nature of new media and new literacies demands higher levels of professional collaboration. New technologies and teaching practices require teachers to collaborate in our field, in our departments, and in our teaching practices. Collectively, writing instructors need to rely on each other to develop teaching practices and activities. Here at Iowa State, the English Online Learning Team made up of graduate students is an example of the collaborative efforts that our project represents. We are all learning the best practices when it comes to multimodality and new literacies.
In addition, exploring how multimodality can help with inclusion requires multiple approaches and perspectives. The nature of inclusive practices demands a research model that brings together diverse experiences and expertise. By bringing multiple viewpoints into the research process, we will be better positioned to address a wider set of communication practices and needs. We will also be able to explore these themes in terms of intersectionality.
Deliverables, timeline, and duties
Our project will be web-based. It will include three elements: a theoretical overview, a classroom activity focused on social media, and an activity using game-based learning. The theoretical overview will examine how multimodality overlaps with questions of privilege and language. This overview will be important for establishing the importance of thinking about inclusive practices when developing multimodal curricula. The two classroom activities based in new media will be examples of inclusive multimodal assignments that can be implemented as units, followed by a discussion about assessment.
We will collaboratively produce the theoretical overview to situate our project into within the discussion of student’s right to their own language. In terms of the assignment deliverables, Bremen will be in charge of the social media assignment, and Lauren will be in charge of the game-based learning assignment. We will both take responsibility for providing each other with feedback and editing advice. Also, since our project is web-based, we will both work on creating web-ready content, that is ready to be implemented in composition classrooms, as a part of the overall project.
Deliverables
Project Timeline
The social media section will include an assignment that encourages students to use and analyze social media relevant to course content. The assignment will include an explanation of learning outcomes, procedures, and assessment as well as a sample demonstrating how the activity works. Along with the assignment, a pedagogical justification will discuss the ways social media enable conversations about language, identity, and social interaction as discussed in the CCCC position statement.
The game-based learning section will include an example of a game or interactive media feature that students could use during class as a review and application of concepts relevant to a composition course. The assignment itself will focus on aspects of audience analysis and visual rhetorical analysis, and will include the creation of a game by the students. Along with the activity, the website will include a pedagogical justification situating the activity within the concern about inclusion and language.
Pay-Off
Collectively, this project offers tools and resources for teachers wanting to incorporate technology, multimodality, and socially responsible practices. It explores the link between language, identity, new media, and teaching communication skills. In terms of our own research, it represents the early stages of exploring multimodality and inclusion in composition classrooms. This project is likely to have implications that will inform WPA work that we can explore in future projects.