Multiliteracies in an outcome-driven curriculum : where is its fit?

This paper describes how the pedagogy of multiliteracies was piloted in a language arts curriculum for high-ability adolescent students. Specifically, it delineates the pedagogical intervention that was needed for its implementation within the formal language arts curriculum. Drawing on ethnographic research in two classes of 14-year-old students in Singapore, the study highlights that implementing multiliteracies within the formal school curriculum cannot be imported holus-bolus into the classrooms. It also emphasizes that teachers' willingness to innovate is crucial for bringing about sustainable change in the classroom. In addition, the study also suggests that unless the learners' literacy practices are considered, several literacy activities could be meaningless to the students. Finally, contrary to the widely-cited view that multiliteracies are paramount for the 21st century, this paper also highlights adolescents' preference for traditional printbased literacy in language learning and tensions in implementing multiliteracies within the formal curriculum.