Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

Chapter 12
Multimodal Literacy in
Language Classrooms
VINITI VAISH and PHILLIP A. TOWNDROW
Introduction
The exponential rise of computer-mediated communication (CMC) over
the last two or three decades has had a tremendous impact on the literacy
practices of school going children. In the developed world, for instance in
Singapore, children prefer to communicate with their peers through MSN
(messenger service network), ‘texting’ (meaning using short messaging
systems or SMS on mobile phones), blogging, Facebook, fanfi ction or other
such virtual platforms on the computer where like-minded adolescents
meet and create communities of practice. In developing countries such as
India computer penetration is very low. However, even in this part of the
world disadvantaged youth increasingly have access to inexpensive internet
cafés and mobile phones through which they ‘message’ each other.
A comparison of computer penetration in Singapore and India shows a
glaring contrast. According to the World Bank, Singapore has one of the highest
levels of connectivity in the world: in 2006 for every 100 persons there
were 68.2 personal computers and 38.3 internet users (http://siteresources.
worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/T5_11_2008pdf ). On the
other hand, according to data from the United Nations Development
Program, for every 100 persons in India, there are only 1.65 internet users
and 0.33 subscribers and computer ownership is 0.6 for every 100 persons
(http://www.apdip.net/projects/dig-rev/info/in). The implication of
this fact is that in Singapore most school going children have access to
computers with an internet connection whereas in India most children go
through their education without ever having seen a computer.
Equitable access to computers and multimodal literacy is important for
the language classroom because the skills involved therein are directly
linked with the workplace of the 21st century. According to Jenkins (2006),
a key skill in this regard is engaging in ‘participatory culture’, a term we
will explore later in the chapter. Thus, though the national school system
in Singapore has the potential for training its students in 21st century
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