Module 3:

NEW LITERACIES, FUNCTIONAL LITERACY AND MULTILITERACY

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Discuss new literacies and their impact on the teaching-learning process

2. Describe a multiliterate teacher
3. Define functional literacy
4. Cite how functional literacy and new literacies can be integrated in the
curriculum and practiced in the classroom
5. Draw relevant life lessons and significant values from personal application of
functional literacy
6. Analyze a research abstract on new literacies and their implications on
teaching and learning
7. Make a project plan or action plan that presents functional literacy in action

INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION

Tableau Technique: This is an activity that depicts the students understanding of the
concept of new literacies including their expressions through tableau formation.
(Tableau is a depiction of a scene through monumental statue formation.) It enhances
creativity, resourcefulness, and critical thinking

Procedure:

1. Group the students into 4 or 5 depending on the class size

2. Give ample time for each group to think of ideas that are related to the assigned
new literacy (i.e. social literacy, media literacy, multicultural literacy, digital
literacy, creativity literacy and ecoliteracy)
3. Ask each group to form a tableau that portrays a scenario or scene of the
assigned topic.
4. Explain the tableau. Let the group presenter do this.
5. Give the class time for a brief reflection of the activity.

CONCEPT EXPLORATION

Students are taught to read and write print with fluency, speed and
comprehension of the message of the writer and the interpretation of the content of the
material. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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(UNESCO) asserts that a person. who is literate, can comprehend and write simple and
short sentences related to his/her daily life.

New Literacies

Between 1950 and 1970, the development of literacy, both operational and
functional, was established. During this period, literacy was defined reading and writing
skills necessitated for activities in modem society (Güneş, 2000). Beyond the 1990s,
literacy had started to diversify in the light of technological developments, change of
living conditions in cities, and the new necessities. Hereafter, literacy then became
multi-faceted.

At first, literacy was used in various types, such as computer literacy, technology
literacy. Internet literacy, and media literacy respectively (Altun, 2005). Later on, it
became a lifestyle along with a person's entire life in a society that encompasses
information literacy cultural literacy and universal literacy

Truly, literacy has changed and developed through a multitude of phases within
a specific period based on societal needs.

However, along this line. literacy is not confined only to knowing how to read and
write rather, it is a matter of applying knowledge for specific purposes in particular
contexts. It includes a socially-driven and evolved a pattern of activities, such as writing
correspondence, records keeping and inventories, posting announcements, reporting etc.
As such, Lankshear & Knobel (2006) averred that literacies intend to generate and
communicate meanings through the medium of encoded texts within contexts in various
discourses.

Kress (2003) posited that literacy can only happen when having a kind of
potential content through interaction with the text. Likewise, a particular text may be
understood for being connected or related Although in a way, such meaning can be more
relational than literal or expressing solidarity or affinity with particular people, like
understanding the Internet, online practices and online content. Hence, anything
available online can become a resource for making diverse. meaning.

Literacies can bear a coding system that can capture the meaning, such as
"letteracy" (i.e., within language and recognition of alphabetic symbols).

Moreover, the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (2015) asserts that
21st Century literacy has expanded to include social change, increasing field expertise
and digital technologies. To be literate requires comprehension, selection and use of
multimodal codes and conventions to interpret and express ideas, feelings and
information. Subject-specific literacies are recognized to require the application of
specialized knowledge and skills, information skills, and the creative and imaginative
language. Literacy in the 21st century. therefore, demands the ability to perform and

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act confidently, efficiently and ethically with a wide range of written and visual, print,
live, digital or electronic text types according to purpose (www.petaa.edu.au).

The increasing complexity of modern communication gives rise to a number of

distinct capabilities and possibilities. Hence, 21st Century literacy combines cross-
curricular capabilities also called "multiliteracies and now commonly referred to as 'new
literacies. These broad skills include visual literacy, information literacy, cultural
literacy and digital literacy dynamics. These new literacies are fused with traditional
print literacy to create opportunities and enable students to understand and use new
text types, while exploring knowledge and information with a wide array of technological
tools, such as blogging, fanfic writing, manga producing, meme-ing. photoshopping,
animé music video (AMV), podcasting, vodcasting. and gaming, running a paper-based
zine, reading literary novels and wordless picture books, reading graphic novels and
comics. and reading bus timetables. (Primary English Teaching Association Australia,
2015).

Leander (2003) noted that new literacies are often flexible, continuous and open,
where online and offline lives and "literacyscapes" merge. Thus, when a literacy practice
becomes a mindset with the concept of Web 2.0, it can be regarded as a new literacy.
New technologies enable and enhance these practices in a way that is highly complex
and exciting for students.

Exploring the New Literacies

There are seven new literacies that are stressed in the 21st century curriculum.

1. Multicultural Literacy is about understanding ethnic groups that comprise the

population and focuses on complex issues of identity, diversity and citizenship.

2. Social literacy is the development of social skills, knowledge and positive values
in human beings to act positively and responsibly in sophisticated complex social
settings.

3. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media.

4. Financial literacy is the ability to make informed judgments and make effective
decisions regarding the use and management of money.

5. Digital literacy is the ability to effectively use digital devices for purposes of
communication, expression, collaboration and advocacy in a knowledge-based
society.

6. Ecological literacy is understanding the principles of ecosystems toward

sustainability.

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 7. Creative literacy is the ability to make original ideas that have value, and the
ability to see the world in new ways.

The Truth on 21st Century Literacies According to Research

Since success with technology depends largely on critical thinking and reflection,
teachers with relatively little technological skills can provide less useful instruction.
Therefore, schools must support the teachers by providing them professional training
and up-to-date technology for utilization in classrooms.

Global economies, new technologies, and exponential growth in information are

transforming our society. Since today's people engage with a technology-driven, diverse,
and quickly changing world, teachers need to prepare students for this world with
problem. solving, collaboration, and analysis, as well as skills with word processing,
hypertext. LCDs, Webcams, podcasts, smartboards, and social networking software that
are central to individual and community success.

The National Council of Teachers of English (2013) came up with a research that
reveals the following:

1. As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers to

foster reading and writing in more diverse and participatory contexts.

2. Sites, like literature's Voice of the Shuttle, online fanfiction, and the Internet
Public Library, expand both the range of available texts and the social dimension
of literacy.

3. Research on electronic reading workshops shows that they contribute to the

emergence of new literacies.

4. Research also shows that digital technology enhances writing and interaction in
several ways.

5. K-12 students, who write with computers, produce compositions of greater length
and higher quality are more engaged with and motivated toward writing than
those who do not write with computers.

6. College students, who keep e-portfolios, have a higher rate of academic

achievement and overall retention rate than those who do not keep e-portfolios.
They also demonstrate a greater capacity for metacognition, reflection and
audience awareness.

7. Both typical and atypical students, who receive an online response to writing,
revise their works better than those participating in traditional method.

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Functional Literacy

The term functional literacy was initially defined by UNESCO through William S. Gray
in his Teaching of Reading and Writing (1956) as adult training to meet independently
the reading and writing demands placed on them. It stresses the acquisition of
appropriate verbal, cognitive and computational skills to accomplish practical results in
specific cultural settings dubbed as survival literacy and reductionist literacy

Over the decades, as societies have evolved into technical innovations, the
definition of functional literacy has been modified to meet the changing demands
(Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1998).

Referring to functional literacy, UNESCO states the following:

1. Literacy programs should be integrated to and correlated with economic and

social development plans.

2. The eradication of illiteracy should begin with population sectors, which are
highly motivated and need literacy for their own and their country's benefit.

3. Literacy programs should be linked with economic priorities and carried out in
areas undergoing rapid economic expansion.

4. Literacy programs must impart not only reading and writing but also professional
and technical knowledge leading to greater participation of adults in economic
and civic life.

5. Literacy must be an integral part of the over-all educational system and plan of
each country

6. The financial need for functional literacy should be met with various resources,
as well as be provided for economic investments.

7. The literacy programs should aid in achieving main economic objectives (e.
increase in labor productivity, food production, industrialization, social and
professional mobility, creation of new manpower and diversification of the
economy).

Thus, literacy materials present reading, writing and numeracy concepts using
words and ideas needed in using information for learners to enhance sufficient literacy
skills and continue learning on their own.

A number of functional literacy programs have been carried out that focus on
different job skills and development aspects. To name a few, in the Philippine context,
are agricultural, health, industry, family planning, home making, arts and culture and
technical-vocational programs.

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 A new functional literacy aspect, called specific literacy, is becoming a trend, in
which the job of the student is analyzed to see exactly the literacy skills needed and
those that are only taught. This is to prevent job-skill mismatch. In specific literacy, the
student may learn very little but will be of immediate value that would result in
increased learner motivation.

Therefore, the specific literacy strategy is a planning tool that allows the literacy
worker to focus on skills that are of value to the learners.

Significance of this approach includes literacy that: (1) starts in the workplace; (2)
us a diagnostic approach; (3) identifies turning points in economic life that may act as
an incentive to learning; (4) assesses the limits of a short-term intervention; and (5)
looks for generic skills.

(https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and
maps/functional-literacy)

Gunes (2000) posited that functional literacy constitutes the second level of
literacy next to basic literacy, in which literary and mathematical information and skills
can be utilized in one's personal, social, economic and cultural endeavors. Therefore,
the essence in functional literacy is to learn basic related information and skills and use
them in daily life. Functional literacy level comprises both technical and functional skills
while encompassing social, citizenship, and economic roles.

In context, Çapar (1998) cites that a functionally literate person is someone who
is one step ahead of literacy and maintains literacy activity throughout his/her life in
order to keep living and effectively accommodate him/herself to his/her surroundings.
It is, therefore, an ongoing process.

UNESCO defines functional literacy as the ability of an individual to take part in

significant activities in professional, social, political and cultural aspects in a society,
where he/she lives using his/her literacy skills (De Castel, 1971; Goksen, Gulgoz and
Kagitcibasi, 2000; as cited in Savas, 2006).

Hatch (2010) defines it based on the American Heritage College Dictionary

(AHCD). Accordingly, the word "functional" means "building capacity and literacy" as
"reading and writing skills." Therefore, it is the capability to proficiently read and write
that can be used in daily life routines.

Likewise, Knoblauch and Brannon (1993), as cited in Jabusch (2002)

distinguished basic literacy and functional literacy as having the expression "functional"
to indicate performance with texts, including mathematics.

The Education for All Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO, 2006) states that
functional literacy means the ability to make significant use of activities involving
reading and writing skills that include using information, communicating with

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others, and following a path of lifelong learning necessary for the ability to express
him/ herself in daily life. UNESCO's definition also adds that functional literacy
includes those skills essential for both official and unofficial participation, as well
as those which are necessary for national change and development that can be
used to aid an individual in contributing to his/her own development and that of
his/her family and the society. The National Statistics Authority defines functional
literacy as the level of literacy that includes reading, writing and numeracy skills
that help people cope with the daily demands of life

Based on these definitions, functional literacy can be concluded as an activity

that contributes to the development of an individual and the society, including the
ability to use information and skills related to listening, speaking, reading, writing,
and arithmetic necessary for daily life in social, cultural and economic aspects
effectively (https://pdfs. semanticscholar.org),

Improving Functional Literacy in the Philippines

Over the years, the Philippines has continuously aspired to attain an increased
functional literacy rate.

Manuyo (2019) reported that based on the 2013 Functional Literacy. Education
and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), the country registered a 90.3% rate, which means
that nine out of every 10 Filipinos aged 10-64 were functionally literate. In 2003, there
were still gaps at the community level. In the study conducted by World Vision, results
showed that the proportion of girls and boys aged 11-13, who were functionally literate,
placed at a critical rate of 44%, or below 50% of the students were able to read with
comprehension by the end of their basic educatio n.

It was also evident that school dropouts contributed to low functional literacy
Obviously, one in every 100 or about 4 million Filipino children and youth were out-of -
school in 2013. Of the total number, 22.9% got married, 19.2% lacked a family income
to be sent to school and 19.1% lacked interest in attending schools. In order to address
illiteracy issues, creating formal and non-formal learning environments, active
participation of local stakeholders, capacity building of teachers, development of
contextualized or indigenized learning materials, and tracking of improvement of
reading, basic math and essential life skills outcomes were desired. Interventions also
included improvement of classrooms and several reading facilities, establishing a
culture of reading program, parental training and learning, and skill integration in the
curriculum.

(https://www.worldvision.org.ph/stories/improving-functional-literacy-in the-
philippines/

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 In a follow-up study by World Vision in 2016, the functional literacy rate went up
at 76.53%. In the community level, the rate inclined to 62.64%, or around 50%-70% of
the students were able to read with comprehension by the end of their basic education.
The increase was significant within the 3-year interval but it also indicated more
improvement is expected considering that rate remained 17.36%. short of the 80%
threshold (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org).

An analysis shows that low functional literacy could mean low resilience to
respond to abnormal conditions and increase a child's vulnerability to exploitation. This
could also result in unpreparedness for gainful employment and eventually increased
dependency on welfare programs.

One of the government initiatives to address this is the Alternative Learning

System (ALS) that provides an opportunity for learning among out-of-school youth for
them to land in better jobs.

(https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3941/28e7d8e26f67db4951eb52713964a98546ec.p
df)

Integration of New Literacies in the Curriculum

To address the call for literacy in today's world, students must become proficient
in the new literacies of 21st century technologies. The International Reading Association
(IRA) believes that literacy educators have the responsibility to integrate information and
communication technologies into the curriculum to prepare students for the future they
deserve.

The multiliterate learner. Today, the Internet and other forms of information
and communication technologies (ICTS) are redefining the nature of reading, writing,
and communication. New literacy skills and practices are required by each new ICT as
it emerges and evolves Thus, these new literacies need to be integrated into the
curriculum to prepare students for successful civic participation in a global environment

Students would desire for (1) teachers who use ICTS skillfully for teaching and
learning; (2) peers who use ICTS responsibly and who share their knowledge: (3) a
literacy curriculum that offers opportunities for collaboration with peers around the
world; (4) instruction that embeds critical and culturally sensitive thinking into practice,
standards and assessments that include new literacies; (5) leaders and policymakers
who are committed advocates of ICTS for teaching and learning: and (8) equal access to
ICTS for all classrooms and students.

Coiro, et al (2008) noted four common elements as broader dimensions of new

literacies, to wit (1) the Internet and other ICTs require new social practices, skills,
strategies, and dispositions for their effective use; (2) new literacies are central to full
civic, economic, and personal participation in a global community: (3) new literacies

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rapidly change as defining technologies change; and (4) new literacies are multiple,
multimodal and multifaceted, thus, they benefit from multiple lenses seeking to
understand how to better support the students in a digital age.

Impact of new literacies on instruction. Additional changes are taking place

in literacy instruction (Grisham and Wolsey, 2009), Henry (2008) restated that
engagement in literacy activities is being transformed today like at no other time in
history. As students turn to the Internet and other information communication
technologies (ICTS) at increasing rates to read, write and interact with texts, they must
develop new skills and strategies, or new literacies, to be successful in these multimodal,
intertextual and interactive environments. The Internet has become the defining
technology today's youth and may be the most important ICT for students to learn how
to manipulate successfully.

Although, there are multiple ways to view the changes in literacy and
communication emerging from new technologies (Labbo and Reinking. 1999), it cannot
be ignored that literacy changes experiences at school and in everyday lives. As such,
rapid profound changes in technology impact students' literacy journey. Hence. Leu, et.
al (2004) posited that changes in literacy are confronted by innovation, that the new
literacies of today will be replaced by even newer ones tomorrow as new ICTS
continuously emerge in a more globalized community of learners. And such changes
bear important implications to instruction, assessment, professional development and
research.

Multiliteracies in the Educational Reform

In a broader essence, the concept of 21st century skills is motivated by the belief
that teaching students the most relevant, useful, in-demand, and universally applicable
skills should be prioritized in today's schools.

As such, students need to be taught different skills that should reflect the specific
demands of a complex, competitive, knowledge based, information-age, technology-
driven economy and society.

21st Century skills may be taught in a wide variety of school settings. Teachers
may advocate teaching cross-disciplinary skills, while schools may require 21" century
skills in both instruction and assessment processes. Schools and teachers may use
educational approaches that inherently expedite or facilitate the acquisition of cross-
disciplinary skills.

Educational strategies, that include authentic, outcome-based learning project-

based learning and performance-based learning tend to be cross-disciplinary in nature.
Students complete a research project, create multiple technologies, analyze and process
information, think creatively, plan out the process, and work collaboratively in teams
with other students.

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 Likewise. schools may allow students to pursue alternative learning pathways, in
which students earn academic credit and satisfy graduation requirements by completing
an internship, apprenticeship or immersion experience. In this case, students can
acquire a variety of practical, job-related skills and work habits, while also completing
academic coursework and meeting the same learning standards required of students.

Assessment of multiliteracies. Assessment moves from usual memorization of

facts and disconnected processes to demonstration of understanding through
application in a variety of contexts. Real-world audiences are important part of the
assessment process, including self-assessment.

Media literacy skills are honed as students address real world issues from the
environment. Students use the technological and multimedia tools now available to
them to design and produce websites, television shows, radio shows, public service
announcements, mini-documentaries, electronic portfolios, DVDs, oral histories and
even films.

In a way, students can freely express their points of view as they create projects
using multimedia and deliver these products to real world audiences, realizing that they
can make a difference and change the world. They learn what it is to be a contributing
citizen, and carry these citizenship skills throughout their lives.

As a result, standardized test scores are higher because students have acquired
the skills and content in a meaningful connected way with profound understanding.
They actually master the content on a much higher level and develop their basic skills
by constant application throughout their schooling

Preparing teachers for multiliteracies. New London Group (1996) underscored

multi-literacies as multimodal ways of communication that include communications
between and among other languages using diverse channels within cultures and an
ability to understand technology and multimedia. As such, applying multiliteracies to
teaching offers a new classroom pedagogy that extends and helps manage classrooms.

Biswas (2014) asserted that one challenge for educators is to help students create
a sustainable literacy development throughout schooling. so that students can develop
strong literacy skills (Borsheim, et. al, 2008). Certainly, multiple and new literacies
require students to integrate technology-enhanced educational tools into their work.
Ajayi (2011) recommended that teacher education must prepare teachers to teach
multiliteracies in their schools where there is a critical gap between multiliteracies and
classroom pedagogy (Pennington, 2013). Given globalization and technological changes,
teaching multiliteracies is indispensable to literacy teaching and learning in the 21st
century.

Therefore, Newman (2002) in Biswas (2014) suggests that teachers integrate four
components of multiliteracies in teaching:

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 1. Situated practice leads students towards meaningful learning by integrating
primary knowledge.

2. Overt instruction guides students to the systematic practice of learning process

with tools and techniques.

3. Critical framing teaches students how to question diverse perceptions for better
learning experiences.

4. Transformed action teaches students to apply the lessons they learn to solve real-
life problems.

Thus, teaching multiliteracies can inform, engage, and encourage students to

embrace the multiplicity of learning practices (New London Group, 1996) Moreover,
teaching multiliteracies can help teachers blend and apply the following four
instructional processes of multiliteracies in classroom to ensure successful teaching
and advancing students' learning processes.

Research shows that effective instruction in 21st Century literacies takes an

integrated approach, helping students understand how to access, evaluate, synthesize,
and contribute to information (New London Group, 1996).

Teachers insist to: (1) encourage students to reflect regularly on the role of
technology in their learning; (2) create a website and invite students to use it to continue
class discussions and bring in outside voices; (3) give students strategies for evaluating
the quality of information they find on the Internet; (4) be open about one's own
strengths and limitations with technology and invite students to help; (5) explore
technologies students are using outside the classroom and find ways to incorporate
them into one's teaching: (6) use wiki to develop a multimodal reader's guide to a class
text. (7) include a broad variety of media and genres in class texts; (8) ask students to
create a podcast to share with an authentic audience; (9) give students explicit
instruction about how to avoid plagiarism in a digital environment, and (10) refer to the
Partnership for 21st Century Skills website.

For schools and policymakers: (1) Teachers need both intellectual and material
support for effective 21st century literacy instruction; (2) Schools need to provide
continuing opportunities for professional development, as well as up-to-date
technologies for use in literacy classrooms; (3) Address the digital divide by lowering the
number of students per computer and by providing high quality access (broadband
speed and multiple locations) to technology and multiple software packages; (4) Ensure
that students in literacy classes have regular access to technology: (5) Provide regular
literacy specific professional development in technology for teachers and administrators
at all levels, including higher education; (6) Require teacher preparation programs to
include training in integrating technology into instruction: (7) Protect online learners
and ensure their privacy: (8) Affirm the importance of literacy teachers in helping

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students develop technological proficiency; and (9) Adopt and regularly review standards
for instruction in technology.

The integration of new literacies and the teaching of multiliteracies open new
pedagogical practices that create opportunities for future. literacy teaching and learning.
Multiliteracies can also help teachers provide equal access to learning for all students.
In effect, students learn to collaborate by sharing their thoughts with others in online
spaces where they can engage in different forms or modes of learning process.
Consequently, students can be expected to become more confident and knowledgeable
in their learning through participatory and collaborative practices as a result of this new
literacy integration in the curriculum for teacher education (New London Group, 1996).

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What is meant by new literacies? What is their impact on the teaching-learning

process?
2. Describe a multiliterate teacher.
3. Distinguish between basic and functional literacy.
4. How can we integrate new literacies and functional literacy in the curriculum
and in classroom practice?

Life and Values Integration

Share a personal experience where you have exhibited functional literacy What life
lessons and values have you realized and learned?

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATION

Direction: Analyze the following research abstract and cite its implication on
teaching-learning

New literacies integration by student teacher/cooperating teacher dyads in

elementary schools: A collective case study Friedrich (2014)

Abstract

Situated in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and

collaborative inquiry, this collective case study examines new literacies
integration by student teacher/cooperating teacher (ST/CT) dyads supported by

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 a coach in elementary schools The study took place at a large Midwestern public
school district where many STS from a large Midwestern public university
complete their student teaching experience. Through detailed vignettes of five
ST/CT dyads, this study provides an explicit view of varieties of dyad
collaboration when a new literacy emphasis is included in the student teaching
semester. Research questions prompt the examination of dyad new literacies
integration through (a) enacting professional development in the classroom, (b)
planning lessons to involve children with new literacies, and (c) impacting dyad
collaboration. ST and CT detailed descriptions provide a valuable insight into
processes and effects of this integration focus. Lessons learned include
collaborative approaches to integration that work, teacher growth comes with
empowerment and dyad partners become learners together when adding a new
literacy focus. An innovative student teaching design arises to prepare teachers
for 21st century classrooms.

(Source: Friedrich. L (2014). New literacies integration by student teacher cooperating

teacher dyads in elementary schools: A collective case study. Public Access Theses and
Dissertations, College of Education and Human Sciences 214
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsdiss/214)

Analysis: How are new literacies integrated by student teachers and cooperating
teachers in their schools?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Implication: How did the results of the study on new literacies in a Midweste rn public
university impact the student teaching design?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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 SYNTHESIS AND LEARNING REFLECTION

NEW LITERACIES, FUNCTIONAL LITERACY AND MULTILITERACY

➢ New literacy demands the ability to move confidently, efficiently and

ethically between and among a wide range of written and visual, print,
S live, digital or electronic text types according to purpose.
Y ➢ Functional literacy is the level of literacy that includes not only
N reading and writing but also numeracy skills that would help people
cope with the daily demands of life.
T
➢ There are various plans and programs of the government in improving
H functional literacy in the Philippines.
E ➢ New literacies can be integrated into the curriculum through effective
S teaching-learning implementation.
I ➢ Multiple literacies are multimodal ways of communication, which
S include communications among different languages, using language
within different cultures, and the ability to understand technology and
multimedia.

Direction: Write your learning insights on Functional Literacy on the fan and make
an acronym from the word "Literacy".

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