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Erika Matruglio Shaped by the Things We Consume: Teaching Multimodal
University of Wollongong, Australia Literacy in Subject English in Australia
erika_matruglio@uow.edu.au
©2026Erika Matruglio
Meaning-Making, Multiliteracies
and Multimodality
Abstracts of the International
Symposium
Koper, 19–20 March 2026
In this presentation I argue for the importance of explicitly and systematically
teaching multimodal literacy. In the state New South Wales (NSW) in Australia,
studentsmuststudymultimodaltextsthroughoutschoolyearsinsubjectEnglish.
Syllabus documents prescribe text varieties for study (e.g. films, poetry, drama,
novels, webpages, images etc) and the outcomes to be achieved at each year (e.g.
‘Analyse how texts can draw on the codes and conventions of a range of modes
and media to shape new meanings, and demonstrate this understanding in own
texts’) (NSW Educational Standards, 2022). However, a specific approach to teach-
ingtextswithmultiplemodesisnotspecified,norisasystematicandtheoretically
sound basis for the analysis of meaning in multimodal texts. This places a burden
on teachers who must design pedagogy for teaching multimodal literacy.
Drawing on research funded by the NSW Department of Education and involving
collaboration between secondary school teachers and literacy researchers (Chen
et al., in press), I outline an approach to teaching multimodal literacy in subject
English which makes connections between meaning and language and other
modes (such as sound, image etc) clear. After an introduction to the Australian
context, I demonstrate how pedagogy informed by Systemic Functional Linguis-
tics (SFL) can be used to build students’ understanding of meaning-making and
their ability to write about it cumulatively (Jones et al., 2021). Using the genre-
based teaching and learning cycle (Rose & Martin, 2012), students are guided
through analysis, guided writing and joint writing in a series of contributing tasks
before writing their own analyses of texts in a final culminating task. Teaching
throughout units is designed to provide opportunities for explicit and system-
atic discussion of how language and other modes make meaning. Results of the
project have demonstrated improved learning outcomes and increased ability to
write for all students.
Chen, H., Jones, P., & Georgiou, H. (in press). Enhancing writing outcomes: Integrat-
ing teaching of writing in the high school subject areas (English, Science and
History). Routledge.
Jones, P., Matruglio, E., & Rose, D. (2021). Investigating pedagogic discourse in
late primary and junior secondary English. In P. T. Jones, E. Matruglio, & C.
Edwards-Groves (Eds.), Transition and continuity in school literacy develop-
ment (pp. 145–168). Bloomsbury.
NSW Educational Standards Authority. (2022). English K–10 Syllabus (2022). https://
curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/english/english-k-10-2022/overview
Rose, D., & Martin, J. R. (2012). Learning to write, reading to learn: Genre, knowledge
and pedagogy in the Sydney school. Equinox.
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