This book is the first volume to be devoted to the examination of the application of the multiliteracies pedagogical framework to the teaching of Spanish to heritage language learners in higher education institutions in the United States. The Hispanic population is a growing minority, and the presence of heritage speakers can be observed in second language Spanish classes in all levels of education, which presents unique challenges for practitioners. This collection focuses on differing populations of learners in educational settings in a variety of geographical areas, such as Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. The studies included in the volume offer invaluable data and methodological insights into the instructional advantages of multiliteracies pedagogies in heritage language classrooms, and they will appeal to Spanish practitioners and researchers, as well as those interested in the education and practice of heritage languages.

The concept of 'Multiliteracies' has gained increasing influence since it was coined by the New London Group in 1994. This collection edited by two of the original members of the group brings together a representative range of authors, each of whom has been involved in the application of the pedagogy of Multiliteracies.

Putting a multiliteracies framework at the center of the world language curriculum, this volume brings together college-level curricular innovations and classroom projects that address differences in meaning and worldviews expressed in learners’ primary and target languages. Offering a rich understanding of languages, genres, and modalities as socioculturally situated semiotic systems, it advocates an effective pedagogy for developing learners’ abilities to operate between languages. Chapters showcase curricula that draw on a multiliteracies framework and present various classroom projects that develop aspects of multiliteracies for language learners. A discussion of the theoretical background and historical development of the pedagogy of multiliteracies and its relevance to the field of world language education positions this book within the broader literature on foreign language education. As developments in globalization, accountability, and austerity challenge contemporary academia and the current structure of world language programs, this book shows how the implementation of a multiliteracies-based approach brings coherence to language programs, and how the framework can help to accomplish the goals of higher education in general and of language education in particular.

This book proposes to expand multiliteracies frameworks in second language education, by recognizing that learning a new language and culture involves both designs and desires, the affects and emotions that feed our responses to particular ways of making meaning. Over the past two decades, multiliteracies approaches to second language education have brought attention to the diversity of modes, media, language varieties, and discourses involved in what we often shorthand as language learning. A core concept in these discussions is the idea of meaning design, the idea that languages are dynamic, culturally-shaped systems of resources for engaging with and making sense of the world. Building on these discussions and drawing inspiration and practical examples from a variety of modern language classes in higher education in the USA, the book demonstrates how poetic and playful language can be embedded in multiliteracies pedagogy in ways that foster learners' and teachers' awareness of designs, while also making space for desires that are harder to script or plan for. In addition to building a conceptual map around poetics and play for researchers and teachers in language education, the book offers concrete examples of what a multiliteracies approach emphasizing designs and desires can look like in classrooms and curricula.

This volume offers an approach to language and literacy instruction that brings together theoretical concepts of multiliteracies and second language acquisition. This approach is illustrated through examples of innovative teacher-generated action research conducted in Indigenous and English, dual language and immersion classrooms, all situated in the context of language and cultural maintenance and revitalization. These examples of praxis help to bridge the gap between theory and practice in Indigenous language and literacy teaching. The volume draws on critical theories of praxis and the concept of multiliteracies and multimodalities, with specific attention to the design cycle as a way to conceptualize and engage in praxis through research and pedagogy. The authors trace teacher trajectories relating to (language) teaching and their positionalities in language revitalization and maintenance efforts by using a participatory teacher action research approach. The final chapter brings together Indigenous and western onto-epistemological and methodological perspectives in a conversation among two western and an Indigenous scholar, who have been working together with the teacher-researchers whose stories are presented in this volume. This volume is of interest to scholars, graduate students, educational practitioners and educational leaders interested in multiliteracies, multimodalities, teacher action research, and Indigenous pedagogies.

Learning by design guide.

Jim Cummins is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.