Multi-modal Texts and Geography Teaching

Literacy and numeracy have recently generated significant attention in the educational settings. The teaching of subject geography presents numerous opportunities for teachers to address comprehending and composing processes through the lens of literacy and numeracy across discipline areas. This paper looks at the research in this area and explores such opportunities in the teaching of subject geography.

This paper examines the intersection between subject geography and the overarching literacy processes of comprehending texts and composing texts. Attention is given more to ways in which multimodal texts are incorporated in these literacy processes. In comprehending texts, focus is given to the literacy activities of listening, reading, and viewing of multimodal texts. In composing texts, the focus is on the literacy activities of speaking, writing, and creating multimodal texts. In numeracy, focus is given to the elements of numeracy including considering estimating and calculating in whole numbers, recognising patterns and relationships, as well as the use of spatial reasoning. Consideration is also given to the use of the twenty-first century model of numeracy examining how multimodal affordances can be applied across different discipline areas.