“Convince me!” Valuing Multimodal Literacies and Composing Public Service Announcements

Abstract

For some teachers, the increasing attention to digital and multimodal composing in English and Language Arts classrooms has brought into sharp relief the profession's investment in print as the primary means of expression. Although new forms of communication that combine words, still and moving images, and animation have begun to dominate digital environments and self-sponsored literacy venues (e.g., blogs, digital video, digital audio, and podcasting), print continues to prevail as “the way” of knowing (Dunn, 2001, p. 15) in many English and Language Arts classrooms. This article discusses why teachers need to adopt an increasingly broad understanding of the roles that different composing modalities play in contemporary communication. The article also outlines an assignment sequence focused on the creation of public service announcements (PSAs).