Session Information
31 ONLINE 25 B, Literacy as 21st-Century Skill: Empirical Elaboration on the Construct, Acquisition Contexts & Learning Tools in a Global Perspective
Symposium
MeetingID: 832 9014 6517 Code: Wc7p1h
Contribution
Literacy – in the sense of skills in reading and writing as a general prerequisite for learning (Gogolin, 2021) – represents a key to students’ educational success and one of the major 21st-century skills (Murnane et al., 2012). In linguistically diverse contexts, individual language repertoires may embrace various levels of literacy skills in multiple languages and modes of representation (New London Group, 1996). The session aims to explore the role and function of literacy as a 21st-century skill in linguistically diverse contexts. Presentations reveal empirical findings from leading research on multilingualism in the global context. Objectives: (1) to enhance the knowledge on the construct of literacy, (2) to clarify the conditions and learning contexts determining the successful acquisition of literacy in a migration situation, (3) to critically discuss the modalities of multilingual digital learning tools within the pandemic context. The session strives to raise consciousness about the global nature of challenges and opportunities connected to the successful acquisition of literacy in linguistically diverse contexts and thus inspire and empower educators and policymakers to implement culturally sustaining curricula and pedagogy in linguistically diverse contexts around the world.
The first paper presents the novel empirical construct of multilingual reading and writing skills representing a unified competence, based on data from bilingual learners in Germany. The second paper uncovers the role of contextual factors in sequential and integrative language programs aiming at successful language learning of newly arrived migrants in Germany and Turkey. The third paper highlights the value of multilingual digital tools as providing academic content by presenting new digital multilingual resources implemented in 8 schools across Canada. The concluding discussion addresses the potential of the presented concepts for research and language education from a global perspective.
The guiding questions of our symposium are:
- What is the structure of literacy as a skill required to thrive in the 21st century?
- What kinds of formal and informal conditions enable the development of this skill?
- What kinds of teaching and learning processes, new tools and modalities foster equity and deepen the development of literacy in diversity settings?
The symposium embraces the global perspective on literacy as going beyond a single national context. The projects represent different national contexts (Canada, Germany & Turkey) which allows for a reflection of single empirical findings on literacy from a global perspective. Understanding the structure of literacy skills in linguistically diverse contexts, uncovering the characteristics of their acquisition and learning under conditions of migration, exploring the new modalities and tools for deep learning in the pandemic context will enable us to work jointly and elaborate steps necessary for establishing equitable educational opportunities and achieving equitable outcomes.
References
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures. London: Routledge. Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). “Multiliteracies”: New Literacies, New Learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), 164-195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044. Gogolin, I. (2021). Multilingualism: A threat to public education or a resource in public education? – European histories and realities. European Educational Research Journal, 20(3), 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904120981507 Murnane, R., Sawhill, I., & Snow, C. (2012). Literacy challenges for the twenty-first century: Introducing the issue. The Future of Children 22(2). 3–15. New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 60–92.
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