A Study On Cultivating College Students’ Ability Of Multiliteracies From The Perspective Of English Reading Teaching

Multiliteracy,a new method of learning and a new ability of literacy,is becoming a must for modern learners.The new ability of literacy includes not only the ability of knowing traditional literacy but also the ability of reading information provided by other modes.Researches on multiliteracies began earlier abroad than in China.Studies in China started in recent years and have gained much improvement,however,there is rare study on multiliteracies from the perspective of considering the curriculum reform and quality education.Therefore,this study aims to do an exploration on cultivating students’ ability of multiliteracies from the perspective of English reading teaching.The qualitative analysis and literature analysis are combined in this study.This thesis takes the point that the abilities of multiliteracies are similar to the demands of quality education and curriculum reform to a great extent.For instance,in the case of English teaching,the College English Curriculum Requirements(2007)has stated the importance of multiliteracies in modern society.On the other hand,quality education also advocates that every student should make all-round development;education should make learners’ knowledge improved and skills trained.However,though the Reform of College English Curriculum has been put forward for more than a decade,kinds of problems still exist in current educational practice.The traditional cramming teaching still dominants classroom teaching activities,which has neither response to the propose of changing literacy nor embodiment of the demand of quality education.Many educators have not started to cultivate learners’ multilliteracies yet.This thesis attempts to find possible strategies in solving the problems existing in current educational practice by way of cultivating college students’ multiliteracy abilities of reading.Three elements form the theoretical framework,they are Halliday’s language as social semiotic theory,the pedagogy of multiliteracy from Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis of the New London Group and Professor Hu Zhuanglin’s interpretation of the multiliteracy abilities that "learners are able to recognize the information provided by all kinds of modes and then construct meanings of their own".The thesis holds the opinion that strategy in cultivating learners’ability multiliteracies can be drawn from both teaching implementation and teaching assessment.In terms of teaching implementation,based on Professor Hu’s interpretation,educators can train learners’ abilities of recognizing multimodal discourses and abilities of constructing multimodal discourses.As far as teaching assessment is concerned,we hold the opinion that formative assessment proposed by the College English Curriculum Requirement is the best because under the pedagogy of multiliteracy,both teachers and learners have many initiatives.The process of teaching is an activity that cooperated by teachers and learners,which is full of flexibility and unpredictability.Therefore,assessing of this process should be of process and development,which has much similarity to the formative assessment.