Developing Multimodal Literacy Through Teaching the Critical Viewing of Films in Singapore

TLDR

The evolving nature of communication has highlighted the need for students to develop multimodal literacy, yet traditional question‑based methods fall short without additional linguistic, pedagogical, and technological support. The study aims to describe an instructional approach and its implementation to enhance adolescents’ multimodal literacy through critical film viewing. Researchers collaborated with secondary school teachers to trial a film‑based critical viewing curriculum grounded in systemic functional theory, multimodality, and media studies.

Abstract

Abstract The changing nature of communication has accentuated the need to develop multimodal literacy in students. Although the conventional way of asking a series of questions to elicit students’ comprehension has helped build reading and comprehension skills, teachers could provide more support in the form of the language, pedagogical scaffolds, and technological tools to develop students’ critical viewing of multimodal texts. Working with teachers from a secondary school in Singapore, researchers from the Ministry of Education in Singapore trialed an instructional approach to teach the critical viewing of films. The approach is informed by systemic functional theory, multimodality, and media studies. The authors describe the instructional approach and the study conducted to develop multimodal literacy in adolescent students.