Author: rahelanayebzadah

In “Multiliteracies, E-Literature and English Teaching,” Len Unsworth explains a framework that may assist teachers when using digital resources to increase literacy and learning. The three frameworks discussed are: organizational, interpretative, and pedagogic.
Organizational: is describing the articulation of convention and computer-based literary narratives for children and adolescents.
Interpretative: addressing the increasingly integrative role of language and images in the construction of literary meanings in electronic and book formats
Pedagogic: describing various types of online contexts for developing understanding about different dimensions of literary experience.
Unsworth also argues that teachers are not comfortable using digital multimedia in their classrooms and because of that, they may reject incorporating it into their curricular and pedagogic approaches. This is extremely important. Teachers must familiarize themselves with digital multimedia rather than rejecting it. The same argument, I believe, applies to graphic novels—oftentimes, teachers feel uncomfortable teaching graphic novels because they are very uneducated on the literature. Instead, teachers see graphic novels as engaging and fun texts that cannot be taught on its own but rather as a supplemental text.
Overall, I found Unsworth’s article too simplistic. Moreover, though he makes important claims on the positive effects of e-literature and online literary resources to literacy in English Language Arts classroom, a part of me cannot help but think that teachers are already doing these things in their classroom. Perhaps I think this way because this article is outdated. Also, in regards to e-literature, I do not see why teachers would oppose e-literature. The only reasons why I think they would reject it is because it’s not the same as holding a psychical print copy of a text. The smell of books that one is drawn to does not exist in e-literature. Besides, students spend most of their day in front of a computer screen anyway so wouldn’t it be better use of their time if they were reading an e-book?
Furthermore, I would like to draw your attention to the following questions and points I make:
-What are people’s thoughts on the Gutenberg Project (particularly on debates around intellectual property and ownership of literary texts)? For those that are unaware of the digital library, the Gutenberg Project offers over 45,000 free ebooks.
-I am also fascinated by Unsworth’s claim that video games are not a threat to the existence of books. I would like to hear more on Unsworth’s views on video games. Does Unsworth make this claim because he believes that video games do not contribute to literacy? I guess the discussion around video games and literacy fascinates me because the same arguments were (and continue to be) once made against graphic novels. Both graphic novels and video games contribute to literacy.
-I’m also wondering if e-literature and online literary resources will also have a positive effect on other subjects besides English? If so, which subjects and how will it benefit the class?

Unsworth, Len. “Multiliteracies, e-literature and English teaching.” Language and Education. 22.1 (2008): 62-75

Technology is advancing and the use of multiliteracies in classrooms are increasing. Adolescents (and adults, for that matter) spend more time in front of a computer screen than in front of a printed book, especially since Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 have surfaced. Throughout history, there’s been anxiety around issues surrounding literacy, particularly when focusing on adolescents. When television came into existence, society assumed that adolescent’s literacy levels would decrease. The same anxiety appeared with the invention of computers, laptops, cellphones, etc…. I argue that such anxiety is present because society generally thinks of literacy as reading and writing only. All forms of literacy—whether visual, digital, etc…—are important, and to have students literate in multiple forms of literacies should be paid attention to within a classroom setting.

In terms of literacy as reading, why does it matter what one is reading? Whether one is reading young adult literature, e-books, signs, text messages, or labels, one’s literacy is developing, is it not?  I would argue that reading anything is better than reading nothing at all. The same argument can be applied to writing. However, this does not mean that I am suggesting that students write and read at a lower level; instead, I am saying that placing the blame on the internet is unnecessary. For example, many argue that plagiarism has increased because of the internet. Rather than blaming the internet, wouldn’t it be more effective to instruct students on plagiarism? And, rather than dismissing Wikipedia, wouldn’t it be more effective if we taught students to use it as a starting point? Wikipedia is a great resource/tool but should not be privileged over academic articles, and this should be further reinforced by the teacher. 

Moreover, I strongly believe that adolescents are more aware/educated now than they were a few centuries ago. The world of knowledge is at their fingertips. Nowadays, there’s a “how to” video on almost every subject/topic on YouTube, which I find phenomenal. Furthermore, to say that adolescents are not intelligent to use register is discriminatory towards a group of people. Being able to switch back and forth between standard English and informal speech is a skill. The same logic applies to texting; “Textspeak” must also be valued because it too is a particular skill. Again, the role of the teacher is important here. Teachers should teach their students to be able to write both formally and informally rather than value one over the other.