EAL Teachers’ (Un)Preparedness
to Implement Classroom Practice
for Multiliteracies Pedagogy
Leonardo Veliz and Shokouhi Hossein
Abstract As a result of the pervasive presence of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in all facets of life, current Australian education policies and
curricular frameworks have given increasing priority to development of student mul-
tiliteracies, and thus to integration in pedagogies of various modes of teaching and
learning. The present study is an exploration of English as an Additional Language
(EAL) teachers’ views of, and experiences with, the integration of multiliteracies
pedagogies in their teacher preparation courses. Data from semi-structured inter-
views were gathered from five EAL teachers from three different language schools
in Melbourne, Australia, to interrogate teachers’ preparedness and readiness to imple-
ment multimodal and multiliteracies teaching approaches in multilingual contexts.
Analysis of the data revealed both perceived successes and shortcomings of EAL
teacher education in preparation of teachers for inclusive EAL classroom practice
that pursues the objectives of multimodal and multiliteracies pedagogies to meet the
needs of 21st-century learners. Additionally, it shows specific challenges teachers
face in the delivery of culturally-responsive pedagogies to respond to the complex
ways in which EAL learners deal with texts in different modes.
Keywords Multiliteracies · Multimodality · EAL · Teachers’ perceptions ·
Teacher education · Teacher readiness
1 Introduction
The pervasiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in almost
every domain of life, and the increasingly varied demographic conditions of the world
due to migration, has resulted in the ways in which we communicate being shaped
by a complex socio-semiotic landscape which emphasizes various forms of meaning
L. Veliz (B ) · S. Hossein
School Education, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia
e-mail: leonardo.v@deakin.edu.au
S. Hossein
e-mail: h.shokouhi@deakin.edu.au
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Tao and I. Liyanage (eds.), Multilingual Education Yearbook 2020,
Multilingual Education Yearbook,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41211-1_4
63