| Despite the persistence of traditional print-based curriculum in many contexts, the growing influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is gradually reshaping literacy practices and literacy education in the direction of a multiliteracies approach. The research study explored the impact of a Sister Class Project that connected two classes of Grade 7 students from Canada and Hong Kong with respect to the extent to which this Internet-mediated intercultural exchange facilitated multiliteracies pedagogy. The project investigated how English language learners (ELL) in two different cities might benefit from an online learning network that enabled them to collaborate with distant partners in carrying out academic projects, learning through multiple literacy practices, and generating knowledge together. It also explored the potentials of ICTs to support ELL students in creating identity texts, which are described as innovative works produced by students who draw on their prior experiences, cultural knowledge and linguistic resources to invest their identities in and take full control of their own learning. Consequently, the project hoped to find the extent to which a new literacy approach could create contexts of empowerment to enable these students to succeed academically.;The study demonstrated that the creation of identity texts could effectively promote ELL students' learning motivation, collaborative learning, critical thinking, literacy and academic development, and identity formation. It opened up new opportunities for pedagogical changes and knowledge generation by students. The following pedagogical conclusions are proposed based on the findings: 1) Literacy instruction should scaffold learners' previous knowledge to support academic learning; 2) Literacy instruction should provide learners with meaningful comprehensible input to support academic production; 3) Literacy instruction should affirm learners' intellectual, cultural and personal identities in academic and social settings; 4) Literacy instruction should enable learners to deepen and extend their understanding of academic content and the target language across the curriculum; 5) Literacy instruction should engage learners in active, multiple literacy practices, in both L1 and L2, to ensure optimal academic progress. |
