Different social conditions could effect the way students learn and for this reason the idealisms found is one particular theory may suit one student better than another. In this regard, some strategies for teaching literacy that originate in different theories have been used in this position. This results with a slight multi slant to the position, however it is of my belief that the ideas taken can be fully incorporated into a genre based approach.
From the multi-literacy theory, I am drawn to the concept of a multimodal literacy, In particular using modes based on widely used technology, such as hypertext (McClay, 2003). I see this as an important and vital genre of text and therefore must be included in a functional literacy approach.
As Faulkner (2003) outlines, skills based approachess tend be extremely non inclusive. There is very little transfer from reading to writing. As well as this, the learning approach is fragmented, and out of context. This goes totally against the inclusive, functialist literacy pedagogy that I aim for in my classroom. However, it must be recognised that there are some good aspects to this theory, such as the basic acquisition of language skills in regard to becoming a text user (Staiger, 2003). .
Teaching practices that stem from the position outlined above will be based around students being immersed with an extensive variety of useful and relevant texts. As Winch, Ross Johnson, Holliday, Ljungdahl and March (2001) outline, this is of great importance as experiencing a variety of models enables the language user to make informed choices in today's society. It is anticipated that a variety of modes will be used including examples that students encounter every day, including popular culture.
As mentioned earlier, the multi-model concept of a multi-literacy approach will be used for at least one set genre study in regard to text selection. A mode such as hypertext would serve as an excellent example of this, used in several different contexts.
