E-LEARNING TASK

Drawing on my past experiences and understanding of the world, I realized that many kinds of meanings can be made by examining such a simple photograph, which depicts a very common sight on campus. It all depends on how you look at it, since Van Leeuwen has mentioned that perception is selective (pg.5).

Drawing Meaning Upon Salience

It is almost indisputable that the flower (lily) is the most salient object in the entire photograph due to five reasons. Firstly, the lily is being fore-grounded. Secondly, there is a sharp colour contrast as its pure white petals stand out against a green patch of grass, which appears to be the background. Thirdly, it is pretty obvious to me that the photographer has purposely zoomed in solely on the flower. As a result, it occupied more than half of the page. Next, the image of flower is sharp and clear as compared to the background. Lastly, it is placed in the centre of the photograph. With the strategic positioning, it tends to capture the attention of the viewers when they first look at it. Therefore, I would conclude that the main subject for decoding is the lily.

Drawing Meaning Upon Connotation

I believe many of us would generally agree that lilies in white tend to represent innocence, purity and grace. To further support this point, I have conduct a search online and the following are some of the connotations associated with it:

LILY (WHITE) - Virginity, Purity, Majesty, It's Heavenly to be with You
(Taken from http://www.800florals.com/care/meaning.asp)

Lilies: Available year round and representing youthful innocence and modesty, lilies are very feminine and are popularly used in hand bouquets.
(Taken from http://www.streetdirectory.com/florist/singapore/flower_guide/flowerguide/flower/
1170/names_of_flowers__their_meanings)

Lily, White: Majesty and Purity, Virginity
(Taken from http://www.iflorist.com/en/gifts/meaning/)


Drawing Meaning Upon Metaphor

Being a teacher, I feel that the presence of educational institutions is to give students an opportunity to bring out the best in each and every one of them. Thus, I could not help but to perceive education as an art of gardening.

Target domain --> education
source domain --> gardening.

In this case, teachers take up the role of gardeners while their students are deemed to be the young seedlings, that will eventually bloom into a beautiful flower like the one depicted in the picture. However, this is only feasible with the help of the teacher who plays a part in ‘nourishing’ the intellect of the students. It is important to note that external factors such as undesirable weather conditions might at times threaten the growth of the flower. Consequently, not all parts of a flower will be able to survive in such environment. Some might wither and die like those brownish ones illustrated in the picture. In reality, there are indeed students who will not achieve success academically as compared to the rest of their peers in class due to factors such as family problems, despite the teacher’s constant effort in nurturing them.

Little Note: I am quite surprised to read that this picture was taken within our school compound. This is because lily has always been my favourite flower since young, especially white ones. But, I failed to notice its presence during my stay in school. How sad!

"Literacy in Three Metaphors" By Sylvia Scribner

I believe the term, ‘Literacy’ is not new to many of us. It has been introduced to us at some point of time during our course of study in National Institute of Education (NIE). However, most of us might have taken it for granted. I do not think that I’m capable to explain it in words, if you ask me to define what exactly literacy is. Although there is no standard definition for the term currently, I still feel that there is a need to decode what is literacy, so as to give us a rough idea of it. According to Winch, Johnston, March, Ljungdahl & Holliday (2006), literacy encompasses an understanding of the correlation between text and context and involves the integration of speaking, listening and critical thinking with reading and writing.

Singapore, being a small nation with scarce natural resources, could only depend on its human capital to stay competitive in the new economy. Given this backdrop, our school system was structured “to produce economically useful knowledge and to sort people efficiently into various positions that need to be filled in the stratified occupational structure” (Tan, Wong, Chua & Kang, 2000, pp.15). Consequently, though Scribner has organized her discussion on literacy around three metaphors, namely, literacy as adaptation, literacy as power and literacy as a state of grace, I find that literacy as adaptation best fits the description of our local education scene. This is because it places emphasis on the pragmatic value of literacy.

Alternatively, literacy can also be regarded as the key to success in the contemporary world from my point of view, since it is rooted in the practices of our daily lives. It pervades almost every aspect of social interaction consisting of employment, education, business, communications and leisure. In addition, it is a major element of the information revolution. For instance, pupils with effective literacy skills excel not only in English but also in other facets of the curriculum. It is crucial to equip them with the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes and understandings to take on the literacy demands of the curriculum and to participate effectively in society.

Given that literacy has always been closely associated with technology, the digital era has inevitably extended our literate practices. We are now using literacy in new manners when we utilize the new technologies to engage in information gathering and communication activities. Language is not longer about semantics, grammar and lexicon but a broader range of semiotic systems, which comprises of iconic systems (signs, symbols, pictures, words and sounds) in computer display. As a result, we have to gain new knowledge and skills in order to grasp how the various modalities are joined in complex ways to create meanings.

"A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies" By The New London Group

Based on my understanding, the New London Group (NLG) places emphasis on the links between ‘multiliteracies’, a new approach to literacy, and the changing social setting facing both teachers and students. According to them, the contemporary world calls for a much wider view of literacy due to the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity and multiplicity of communications channels. Therefore, instead of the traditional language-based approaches, multiliteracies is adopted to highlight how negotiating the multiple linguistic and cultural differences in our society is essential to the pragmatics of the working, public and personal lives of students. Through this approach, students will be able to achieve two key facets of multiplicity: creating access to the changing language of work, power, and community, and promoting the vital engagement needed in designing their social futures and achieving success through fulfilling employment.

In addition, the NLG proposed the concept of ‘Design’ as a metalanguage of multiliteracies in addressing the question of the ‘what’ of literacy pedagogy. In other words, the ‘what’ of literacy pedagogy simply refers to what students are required to learn. The term, ‘Design’ is also used to describe the forms of meaning. Subsequently, they went on to put forward the notion of treating any semiotic activity as a matter of Design, which comprises of three components, namely, Available Designs, Designing, and The Redesigned.

Available Designs are simply resources for meanings that include the ‘grammar of various semiotic systems’ and ‘orders of discourse’. The latter is a structure set of conventions associated with semiotic activity in a given social space. There are certain Design conventions within orders of discourse that take the form of discourses, styles, genres, dialects and voices. For instance, students in class may encounter text as a type of Available Designs.

Designing is a process that involves the transformation of Available Designs into The Redesigned, which is the product of Designing. Drawing upon their past experiences and understanding of the world, students make new meaning to the text they have received in the form of Available Design into a new meaning-making resource or a new Available Design, unique to the meaning-makers themselves. Therefore, Available Designs can never be simply reproduced or repeated. Some examples of Designing are speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Having walked the path of a student before, I’m aware of the fact that project work is gaining its importance as a form of assessment in the local education scene. Students often rely heavily on the internet as their main source of information. Therefore, I feel that it is crucial to teach and equip students with skills that allow them to evaluate websites critically. Hands-on experience in creating a webpage can also be incorporated as group project. For example, students are required to publish their webpage, containing research on real world problems such as global warming on free internet sites for public viewing and feedback. Through these activities, students will not only learn how to apply multiliteracy skills, besides technological skills, but also how to construct knowledge instead of treating it as mere information.

The Birth of A Stressed Out Blogger

She is lazy...... She gets stressed out easily...... Therefore, creating and maintaining a blog is the last thing on earth that she would ever do. However, her doomsday has arrived unexpectedly on 7 Jan 2009. That afternoon, her whole world was crushed into pieces when she learnt that she has to create a blog for academic purposes, instead of using it as a channel to curse, swear and whine her heart out when things do not go smoothly in life. By the way, did she forget to mention that this blog is actually a form of ASSESSMENT in disguise?!!!

So, for those readers who chanced upon this little blog of hers, let’s put our palms together to pray for her survival in AAE439. Your kind gesture is deeply appreciated.