Approach/Method
Research regarding multimodal teaching strategies and their application were explored through a review of scholarly articles and teaching resources such as curriculum documents.
Findings
VARIETY
Using a variety of activities and exercises not for the mere motivation factor, but so that students will gain more skills. Different activities will lend themselves toward learning different kinds of skills which we aim to teach. In reading alone there are multiple skills sets to aid comprehension (skimming, scanning, deciphering organizational cues, and so on). To foster the development of independent learners, students should encounter a variety of tasks within the classroom. Not just building skills for skill’s sake, but to aid comprehension. The increase in cultural and linguistic diversity supports the use of multiple modes within the classroom. All modes serve a particular function and reinforce meaning differently and so variety is key to a deeper understanding.
MI/ LEARNING STYLES
Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory has encouraged the use of multimodal strategies within the classroom in an effort to reach every student and give them an opportunity to learn in an area which they are strong. MI can sometimes be mislabelled: for example, students crawling across the floor as ‘Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence’, “the flexing of one’s body is not the enactment of an intelligence; a yawn is just a yawn. We use an intelligence when we actively solve a problem or fashion a product valued in society” (Gardner, 1999). So, the key to applying MI is to set out with a rationale in mind and a set purpose for the use of specific activities and exercises.
With a set rationale, we can then move away from uniform teaching in an effort to reach every student. We all think differently, have different personalities, different temperaments and we all learn differently. If a course is taught predominantly in one style, then individuals with strengths in other learning styles are made to feel ‘stupid’ in the classroom while others are set up as ‘smart’. Thus, multimodal strategies level the playing field for the students and also reinforce what is learned in a variety of ways which is beneficial to all learners.
ELL LEARNERS
The great diversity found within the ELL classroom is a convincing reason to incorporate multimodal teaching (backgrounds, experiences and prior knowledge in addition to varying learning styles) (Porter, 2009). Also, there are varying levels of English proficiency (Folger Shakespeare Library). ELL teaching has a tendency to use “trivialized and isolated language learning exercises or ‘watered-down’ content, inappropriate for (the students’) grade levels, academic needs, identity investment, or intellectual potential” (Early & Marshall, 2008). This is unnecessary as it underestimates the abilities of ELL learners. We must see the students as able and engage them. A multimodal approach can utilize the students intellectual, cultural and social capital that go beyond their English proficiency.
Implications
The unique challenge of ELL students to “simultaneously learn both language and subject matter knowledge in a sociocultural context” presents the teacher of English Language Learners with the need to avoid assumptions of knowledge regarding both content and culture (Early & Marshall, 2008). I will endeavor to use as many of the following practical applications and strategies as time will permit during my practicum in an effort to develop deeper comprehension and English language skills and also to evaluate their effectiveness. Since English literature is one of the most challenging classes for ELL students because it involves complex and abstract language, it is important to employ a variety of activities and exercises.
Teaching which targets multiple intelligences focuses on a multimodal approach. Multiple What matters when implementing MI strategies is not that they adhere to a particular teaching style, but that they work (Gardner, 2009). To be effective, we must have a goal, strategize practices to achieve the goal and criteria to measure its success. But we also, must be flexible as results are never automatic and the need to either persevere or adjust planning should be discerned throughout the learning process. MI strategy is a commitment to understanding our students. One way to compile student information is to create student profiles while remembering that students are dynamic and can change over time. With our specific context and students in mind, the teacher’s challenge is to be imaginative in planning curriculum and methods of evaluation.
The case study, Adolescent ESL Students’ Interpretation and Appreciation of Literary Texts: A Case Study of Multimodality, is representative of incorporating MI strategies in the classroom in a way which was effective and well received by the students themselves (Early & Marshall, 2008). The teacher had found traditional graphic organizers insufficient and so implemented a long-term, student developed visual to aid interpretation and appreciation of text. In groups of three, students created mandalas with visual representations of key knowledge structures of character, style and theme.
What Early and Marshall referred to as ‘transmediation’, translating from one mode to another, was key to the learning process. The benefit of this practice was to synthesize and consolidate meaning of ideas of English literature. This ability to analyze literature is critical to mainstream English and so must be established in the ELL classroom. Through doing so in a group setting, meaning is negotiated through reasoning and critical thinking. Rereading of the text is encouraged through this negotiation process, giving students a reason to read more, “intently, thoughtfully, and deeply” (Early & Marshall, 2008). Also, working with peers increases motivation and shares responsibility. Afterward students reported being more confident in their ability to write an essay.
The use of first language was strategized through the organization of student groupings. Within groups at least one student did not have a common first language so to ensure the use of English, but also to allow students to use their first language if needed. One of the students reflected, “I don’t feel stupid when I speak Mandarin. I don’t get as frustrated and people take me more seriously when I speak Mandarin. In English, I just don’t sound smart…so it is more easy for me be smart when I speak Mandarin” (Early & Marshall, 2009). Providing an allowance for the use of first language in the classroom helped the students feel more comfortable in tackling complex and abstract literary ideas.
ELL AND SHAKESPEARE: To modify or not to modify, that is the question!
ELL learners are frequently give dulled-down text without the richness and fullness of whole language in the classroom in an effort to make reading less challenging. With complex literary text, a possible compromise would be to teach a portion of the play or an abridged version (online http://shakespeare.mit.edu/) about 30 pages in length (Porter, 2009). Also, teachers can give the option of reading a short summary of a scene before reading the text in class, which allows students to preview the text and have general understanding of the plot. Another option would be to take a thematic approach and take pieces of several plays which deal with a similar theme or scenes (death scenes, tragic love, etc.) (Haddon, 2009).
When tackling some of the complicated grammar it can be done systematically or sometimes paraphrasing is the best tool. If paraphrasing does not interfere with the gist of the text and the complicated grammar does not warrant the time it would require to grasp as a concept, then editing the text is preferable (Haddon, 2009). An additional option would be to use a modified version of the text alongside the original, possibly using the modified to allow for changes in reading dynamic (modified would be more lively, increase tempo). Below are some strategies mentioned in the research articles which I would like to implement in the classroom.
STRATEGIES
A. PREREADING
- using key lines to introduce play/act/scene and discuss, predict, relate to summary
- pantomime in small groups key part of play (drama, performance, collaboration)
B. VISUALS
- pictures charts, graphs, diagrams, character maps, storyboarding, etc. makes the content more accessible and fosters understanding through varying intelligences.
C. ARCHAIC WORDS
- create vocabulary cards for archaic words (use online concordance) and allow students to find examples in the text, then discuss meaning and decide modern equivalent. Collaborative creation of vocabulary list on poster for class.
- Words with social markers relevant for ELL: “It’s worth noting that while the you/thou distinction is lost to us in our everyday contemporary English, it is still very much alive in other languages which some pupils in multi-cultural classrooms may well be familiar with” (Haddon, 2009)
D. TONE EXERCISES
- important for ELLs because a lot of meaning is conveyed through tone in English
- matching emotions with language in text, performing with that emotion
E. LONG SPEECHES
- chunking into smaller, more manageable portions, then sequencing, matching, highlighting elements which are similar, chunking into ‘beats’ and labelling (dramatic technique)
- using audio or video version (good for comprehension providing tone and pace, dramatic development)
Works Cited
Early, M. & Marshall, S. (2008). Adolescent ESL Students’ Interpretation and Appreciation of Literary Texts: A Case Study of Multimodality. Canadian modern language review. Volume 64, Issue 3. p. 377-395.
Folger Shakespeare Library. (n.d.). Shakespeare for ELL and ESL Students. Retrieved from http://www.folger.edu/Content/Teach-and-Learn/Teaching-Resources/For-English- Language-Learners/.
Gardner, H. (1999). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Intelligence reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. p. 135-155.
Haddon, J. (2009). Teaching Reading Shakespeare. Taylor & Francis Group. NY.
Porter, C. (2009). Words, Words, Words: Reading Shakespeare with English Language Learners. English Journal. Vol. 99, Iss. 1, 44.
Sam, W. Y. (1990). Drama in Teaching English as a Second Language-A Communicative Approach. The English Teacher, 19.
Bibliography
[Annotated bibliography on blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/educ451/2013/01/03/dramatic-text-and-performance-in-the-english-classroom/ ]