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Creating Meaning through Multimodality: Multiliteracies Assessment and Photo Projects for Online Portfolios
Author(s) -
Schmerbeck Nicola,
Lucht Felecia
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
die unterrichtspraxis/teaching german
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1756-1221
pISSN - 0042-062X
DOI - 10.1111/tger.12020
Subject(s) - multimodality , german , meaning (existential) , portfolio , literacy , computer science , variety (cybernetics) , pedagogy , linguistics , sociology , psychology , world wide web , artificial intelligence , business , philosophy , psychotherapist , finance
Actively engaged in online media, learners today are surrounded by texts overtly and covertly transmitted by visual images, sound effects, and voices as well as the written word. Language learning portfolios can engage students in the literacy‐oriented learning processes of interpretation, collaboration, and problem solving as outlined by Kern ([Kern, R., 2000]) to understand how meaning is created through a variety of different modes of communication. Based on the multiliteracies approach, this article demonstrates how photo projects can be incorporated in portfolios to assess learners' development as multimodal language users. To this end, the article first reviews the multiliteracies approach including Kern's ([Kern, R., 2000]) seven principles of literacies. It then proceeds to examine the advantages of using photo projects in foreign language classes, before it discusses assessment based on the multiliteracies framework as suggested by Paesani, Allen, and Dupuy ([Paesani, K., 2016]). A sample portfolio project featuring evaluation criteria and organizational procedures demonstrates how a pedagogy of multiliteracies can be used to assess the literacy and cultural understanding of intermediate learners of German. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of the benefits of portfolio assessment based on the multiliterarcies approach.