Multimodal Literacies in Group Tests and Subject Area Assessments

Contemporary texts require readers to comprehend information from a range of semiotic modes in addition to language. The increasing use of images in print and digital media has had an impact on literacy practices both inside and outside of the classroom. With the shift to multiliteracies in the curricula and day-to-day classroom activities of many education systems, test designers are uniquely placed to develop assessment frameworks and test instruments that reflect the multimodal reading demands of curriculum area and everyday texts. This paper examines research on multimodal assessment formats, using examples from group literacy tests and subject area assessments to illustrate the complex reading and viewing demands of contemporary schooling in relation to issues of assessment. Attention will be drawn to the affordances of different modes for assessing various kinds of knowledge and the relative difficulty of different types of image/language relations, outlining some implications of these findings for test design, the selection of stimulus materials, and item writing.