Multiliteracies, Multimodality, and Learning by Design in Second Language Learning and Teacher Education

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Book Review Details

Agustín Reyes-Torres, María Estela Brisk, and Manel Lacorte (editors)

London: Routledge (2025) 206pp., Hardback £145 Paperback £43.99 eBook £32.99

ISBN: 978-1-032-620510

Book Review Authors

Colin Christie, colin.christie@abdn.ac.uk

University of Aberdeen, Scotland

content

The book is helpfully divided into three sections: Theoretical Aspects, Learning and Pedagogical Applications, and Teacher Education.

The context for the book is set out well in the introduction, namely the need for educators to develop critical thinking, multimodal communication and digital literacy skills alongside language learning and how multiliteracies pedagogy can address these challenges in an inclusive way.

The first part explores born-digital literature, with a useful pedagogical sequence, and a fascinating analysis of photo stories. There is discussion of ways of integrating digital writing assignments into the curriculum, again with clear examples.

The second part looks at infographics and how they convey meaning, the use of immersive virtual reality to create virtual street art to enhance cultural understanding, and ways of improving vocabulary acquisition by talking about stories, with clearly worked examples. There is an interesting chapter on how teacher mediation, including scaffolding, is crucial for inclusion in the language learning process. The final chapter in this section considers ways of developing evaluative language, which also has detailed exemplars on which colleagues can draw.

The final part begins with a look at the challenge to teacher educators to use multifaceted approaches to prepare teachers for work with the multidimensionality of literacies and some of these are described and evaluated. Next is a chapter on using the multiliteracies framework for a graduate student professional development model. The remaining two chapters describe the use of multiliteracy pedagogies in L2 English instruction with young learners and, finally, the use of Artificial Intelligence in foreign language teacher education using inclusive learning designs.

A real strength of this volume is the way it presents different, internationally diverse angles around the core themes and how it combines theory and practice effectively. At the same time, there is a strong organising principle for the book, namely that of design and, in particular, ‘Learning by Design’ and its four components of experiencing, conceptualising, analysing, and applying. Chapters provide clear research findings along with insights which are intensely practical. These together make valuable contributions to the understanding of the role of multiliteracies in L2 teacher education. The very international nature of the contributions underlines the inclusivity of the approaches explored.

Chapters include precise examples, which means that the reader feels the writing is rooted in real, mediated practice. A potential limitation of this is, of course, that the context is so key and so embedded that its relevance and wider application could be restricted. Nevertheless, overall, this volume will be of much interest and use to those looking to employ multiliteracies pedagogies in the field of second language teacher education.

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