Author: WANG QIANQIAN

Issue: 2023-2024

Abstract:

Entering 2020s, the world experiences tremendous transformation in politics, economy, culture, science and technology. The progress of information technology puts forward new challenging requests for university/college graduates. In order to adapt to the pace of development in the new era, graduates ought to master not only major knowledge and skills, but also corresponding comprehensive competences and multimodal operating skills. China now is urging more international talents with sufficient knowledge and multiple competences to help China acknowledged in international community and achieve progress through increasing international communication and cooperation. Hence, the cultivation for English major undergraduates should extend from the traditional language training to multiliteracy involving modern information technology competence, cross-/trans-culture competence and the competence disentangling complex and changing international environments and volatile international relationship, etc. Multiliteracy pedagogy, posed by New London Group (1996), came into being to adapt to the new situation and achieved wide concerns and research interests all over the world. This pedagogy makes the most of multimodal instructional means, fully mobilize students’ creativity and initiatives in classroom participation, and highlights their multiple competences in language study. It is an appropriate pedagogy to cultivate English major undergraduates’ multiliteracy.

The dissertation aims to explore the cultivation model of English major undergraduates’ multiliteracy in Henan, China.

The study of the dissertation takes a mix method it is found that the majority of English major undergraduates and teachers from public university and private university had good understanding of multiliteracy and they agreed more on six types of multiliteracy (foreign language communication competence, knowledge processing competence, culture integration competence, media modality operation competence, criticism and reflection competence, and social interaction competence). English major undergraduates’ multiliteracy could be enhanced by appropriate multimodal teaching. The factors of teaching method, learning method, and learners’ ego-enhancement drive were confirmed as the major factors in multiliteracy of English major undergraduates in Henan, China. Multiliteracy difficulty was always perceived in the first year of university and English major undergraduates in Henan, China mainly experience three stages (difficulty encountering stage, way out seeking stage, and difficulty dissolving stage) to go through the process of multiliteracy acquisition and succeed in multiliteracy development and cultivation. A trinity of “teaching, learning and assessment” multiliteracy cultivation model consisting of multimodal selection system for English major classroom, English major instruction model based on multimodal multiliteracy cultivation; teaching conditions, teaching environments, teaching methods, and teaching procedures, students’ multimodal multiliteracy learning in the classroom and autonomous learning; multimodal multiliteracy assessment contents, assessment subjects, assessment methods, and assessment results was posed. In the future, English major instruction may design and organize more collaborative learning activities and language immersion programs with diverse genres and types of texts. More advanced information technology ought to be effectively utilized with authentic materials and real-life contexts in English language curriculum.

The research is of great significance theoretically and practically. In terms of practical significance, this study concentrates on English major undergraduates’ multiliteracy as well as multiliteracy constituents and cultivation model in the new era of Henan, China, in order to contribute to the applicableness and development of multi-literacy theory. With respect to theoretical significance, this study is beneficial to present a multiliteracy cultivation model and concrete instructional methods for English major teaching so as to enhance English major teaching effects and resolve the graduates’ predicament in employment.

Keywords: English literacy programs, Teaching learning assessment, multi-literacy