Multimodality and the Multiliteracies Pedagogy

Abstract

Drawing on a study of children’s musical games in urban South Africa, this article employs two theoretical frames: that of multimodality and the multiliteracies pedagogy. These are applied to a contextual analysis of the forms of musicality that musical games embody and to ways of incorporating children’s play into pedagogy. Based on ethnographic research in primary schools in Soweto, I first examine representative examples of musical games in order to demonstrate children’s musicianship in relation to the concept of multimodality. Analysis reveals the games’ sophistication in terms of children’s deployment of multiple modes and the inventiveness their methods imply. Furthermore, a multimodal theoretical frame and analytical approach enables an understanding of musicality as the capacity to “design.” Second, children’s multimodal musicality prompts questions about how such musicality may become a resource in formal learning. I propose that applying the multiliteracies pedagogy to music education offers a methodological solution for “recruiting” musical games so that the capacities children demonstrate in their games may be developed.

Exploring the culture of Greek children’s musical games in the school playground: An ethnographic study

“…The study focused on the context of the Greek playground, aiming to shed light on the under-researched area of children’s musical games as meaningful practices. The data analyses indicate that musical games are part of children’s musical cultures in the researched Greek primary-school playgrounds, as illustrated by research in Europe and Africa, as well as in the United States and Australia (Campbell, 1998; Harrop-Allin, 2010; Harwood, 1998b; K. Marsh, 2008).…”

“…The key findings are grounded in the data collected from observation, interviews, and video recordings, but they are also informed by themes that have been reported elsewhere in the relevant literature (cf. Bishop & Burn, 2013; Gaunt, 2012; Grugeon, 2001; Harrop-Allin, 2010; Harwood & Marsh, 2012; K. Marsh, 2008).…”

“…Marsh, 1995, 2001, 2008, 2011; Willett, 2011). Drawing on multimodality (Kress, 2000; Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2001), recent research has focused on musical games as multimodal interactions (Bishop & Burn, 2013; Harrop-Allin, 2010). These multiple ways of communication—such as body movements, sounds, facial expressions, gestures, touch, and gaze—have provided scholars with new ways of making sense of children’s musical performances as meaningful practices.…”

“…Lyrics may be presented as an unpitched chant or be sung to a defined melody. In recent research (Bishop & Burn, 2013; Harrop-Allin, 2010; K. Marsh, 2008), integral elements of musical games have been studied not in isolation but in relation to performance context and participants.…”

Project Stomp: Using Graphic Notation for Effective Multimodal Collaborative Learning

“…Also, young learners have displayed notable ability to utilize various modes as resources for their music-making (Harrop-Allin, 2017). They do so by recognizing the unique representational affordances of these modes and then appropriating and transforming them to serve their purposes (Gibson, 1977; Stein, 2007).…”