Multiliteracies and 'Basic Skills' Accountability

The term 'multiliteracies' has become part of the lexicon of change in school English in Australia. It is an acknowledgement of the diverse modes of communication now swirling in the broader social world and the need to teach for and with these modes in classrooms. Working as they do at the interface with the broader communicative environment, many English teachers have incorporated new modes of communication into their classrooms. Many whose classrooms I visit will begin a Shakespeare unit with Baz Luhrman's film 'Romeo and Juliet' rather than the print version of the play script, will analyze the appeal of a website as well as the art of characterization in a novel and most will be more familiar with the Homer of 'The Simpsons' than with the Homer of the 'Odyssey'.