Call for Papers

Journal of Global Literacies, Technologies, and Emerging Pedagogies

Special Issue: Multimodal Composition in Multilingual Contexts

Special Issue Editors:

Shyam B. Pandey, Purdue University

Ai-Chu Elisha Ding, Ball State University
Santosh Khadka, California State University Northridge

Since the scholarly community New London Group coined the term multimodality in literacy
studies in the 1990s, subsequent works by scholars of composition studies, applied linguistics,
education, and communication studies have laid the foundation for multimodal composition to
grow as a vibrant interdisciplinary field with its own set of scholarship, journals, and
conferences. According to Bruce Horner et al. (2013), multimodality is associated with multiple
forms of representation and its definition includes other forms of texts, such as images, web
pages, movies, sound, and graphics in addition to print. When writers actively employ the
multiple modalities of expression, it allows them to use extra-linguistic resources in their
meaning-making process (Archer & Breur, 2018).
Multimodality and multilingualism are two closely connected notions that complement each
other. Like any other group, multilingual writers benefit equally from multimodal composition as
it provides alternatives for them to compose in modes other than the alphabetic mode (Tardy,
2005). Thus, it is crucial to unravel the multilingual writers’ confrontation with multimodality in
their composing process (Shin & Cimasko, 2008; Fraiberg, 2010; Dagenais et al., 2017). In this
juncture, it is important to understand the complexities of multimodal composition and how
multilingual writers engage it as a field of study and as a mode of composing. That would be a
very timely undertaking, indeed, as a group of rhetoric and composition scholars recently came
up with an open call, “A Manifesto” in their term, in which they urge us to nurture and cultivate
plural voices in our composing and pedagogical practices and nonlinearity in our historical
development by focusing our teaching and curriculum on multiple ways of making and receiving
meaning (Wysocki et al., 2019).

Furthermore, with the advent of information and communication technologies in the 21st century
globalized world, there should be new possibilities for understanding and composing a wide
array of multimodal texts. Because the traditional way of understanding literacy through reading
and writing in print mediums does not suffice in the current literacy and communication scenario
defined by new digital and communication media and technologies, it is critical that scholars of
literacy and language education make efforts to understand how we could make sense of
multimodal composition while continuing to innovate pedagogies and technology uses in our
classrooms in order to support our students’ multimodal meaning-making practices both in
monolingual and multilingual contexts.
Given this background, this special issue will examine the intricacies of multimodal composing,
specifically at the intersection of technologies and composing in different multilingual contexts.
We are inviting submissions that address the following issues, among others:

 Multimodal composing and multilingual writers: Multilingual writers are ubiquitous

in any writing classroom. What challenges and opportunities are identified while
implementing multimodal pedagogies in multilingual composition classrooms? How do
multilingual writers construct their identities and voices in multimodal compositions?

 Multimodality in first-year college composition: First-year writing programs have

gradually started incorporating multimodal composition in their curricula. How have
writing programs been implementing multimodal composition? What challenges,
struggles, and successes have been identified, particularly among multilingual student
population? How can writing instructors better implement multimodality in their writing
curriculum?

 Multimodal teaching pedagogies in second/foreign language teaching contexts:

Multimodal composition pedagogies are gradually making headway into diverse
language teaching contexts. What challenges and opportunities do language teachers
encounter when implementing multimodality in their teaching contexts? How do students
respond to multimodal teaching pedagogies in second or foreign language teaching
contexts?

 Multimodality in EAP or ESP teaching context: English for Academic Purposes

(EAP) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are also two teaching contexts where
instructors implement multimodality. What successes and challenges have instructors
experienced, and what are the takeaways from EAP and ESP teaching contexts?

 Multimodal composing, digital technologies, emerging media, and multilingual

writers: Social media (Twitter, Tumbler, etc.), collaborative and interactive sites (Google
Drive, Wikipedia, Weebly, etc.), visual and web design programs (Piktochart, Adobe
Photoshop, Medium, Wordpress, etc.), movie making programs (Adobe Premiere, Final
Cut Pro, IMovie, etc.), and audio editing programs (Garageband, Audacity, etc.) have
been used extensively for multimodal teaching lessons in writing classrooms. How have
the uses of these digital technologies and emerging media been instrumental in making
 multimodal composition successful? What were the lessons learned in the process? How
do the different variables of students, such as age, sex, class, access, abilities, literacy
level, and socioeconomic status play into the successes or failures of multimodal
composition pedagogies in writing or literacy classrooms?

 Professional development of faculty in the areas of multimodality, multilingualism,

and technology integration: As mentioned above, multimodal pedagogies,
multilingualism and technology uses have intricate relationships. Yet, faculty knowledge
and competence in adopting them in their curricula is without a doubt the key factor for
successful technology engagement in the classroom. What professional development
opportunities have been provided for the faculty in higher education to develop their
competence in adopting multimodal pedagogies or in supporting multilingual writers’
engagement with multimodal writing technologies? What were the successes and
challenges in any of those professional development initiatives?

In addition to full-length articles, we are also seeking brief empirical reports, issue statements, or
teaching artifacts. Full-length articles should be between 6,000 to 10,000 words, while brief
reports/statements/teaching artifacts should be between 2,500 to 4,000 words, including
references, tables, figures, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a 250-word abstract
along with a brief biography to the special issue editors by December 01, 2019. The abstract
should indicate whether a full-length article or a brief report/statement is being proposed. For
complete guidelines for manuscript preparation, please consult the “Guide for Authors” available
on the JOGLTEP website. Queries, proposals, and papers for consideration for this special issue
should be emailed to Shyam Pandey at pandey24@purdue.edu), Ai-Chu Elisha Ding at
ading@bsu.edu, and Santosh Khadka at santosh.khadka@csun.edu.

Timeline for Articles:

 Abstract Submission (250 words): November 15, 2019
 Notifications for Inviting Full-length Article: December 01, 2019
 Full Manuscript Due: May 15, 2020
 Double-blind review period: May 16-August 16, 2020
 Notification to authors of manuscript acceptance/rejection/revise and resubmit:
November 05, 2020
 Submission of papers with all author revisions complete: December 18, 2020
 Projected Publication of Special Issue: February 15, 2021
Timeline for Teaching Artifacts Submission:

 Submission of Teaching Artifacts: December 01, 2019

 Editorial review period: December 02, 2019-March 02, 2020
 Notification to authors of Teaching Artifacts acceptance/rejection/revision: April 01,
2020
 Submission of Teaching Artifacts with all revisions complete: July 31, 2020
 Publication of special issue: February 15, 2021

Some Relevant Sources on “Multimodality and Multilingual Writers” that the contributors
could find Useful:

Archer, Arlene & Breuer, Esther. Multimodality in writing: The state of the art in theory,
methodology and pedagogy. The Netherlands: Koninklijke BRILL, 2015.
Ball, Cheryl, and Byron Hawk. “Special Issue: Sound in/as Compositional Space: A Next Step in
Multiliteracies.” Computers and Composition 23.3 (2006): 263–65.
Baron, Dennis. A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 2009.
Beach, Richard, Chris M. Anson, Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch, Thomas Reynolds. Understanding
and Creating Digital Texts: An Activity-Based Approach. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
Littlefield, 2014.
Brooke, Collin G. Lingua Fracta: Toward a Rhetoric of New Media (New Dimensions in
Computers and Composition). Chesskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2009.
Dagenais, Diane, Toohey, Kellen, Fox, Alexa Bennett., & Singh, Angelpreet. “Multilingual and
multimodal composition at school: ScribeJab in action.” Language and Education, 31.3(2017):
263-282.
DeVoss, Dànielle Nicole, Ellen Cushman, and Jeffrey T. Grabill. “Infrastructure and Composing:
The When of New-Media Writing.” College Composition and Communication, 57.1(2005): 14-
44.
Fraiberg, Steven. Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework. “College Composition and
Communication.” 62.1(2010): 100-126.
Horner, Bruce & Selfe, Cynthia. Translinguality/transmodality relations: Snapshots from a
Dialogue. University of Louisville: Negotiating Differences in Language and Literacy: Practices
and Pedagogies. 2013.
Khadka, Santosh. Multiliteracies, emerging media, and college writing insturcition.New York,
NY: Routledge, 2019.
Khadka, Santosh & Lee, J.C. Bridging the multimodal gap: From theory to practice. Louisville,
Colorado: Utah State University Press, 2019.
Khadka, Santosh & Lee, J. C. “Special Issue: Multimodality.” Journal of Global Literacies,
Technologies, and Emerging Pedagogies, 3(1), 2015: 234-235.
Khadka, Santosh. “A broad-based multiliteracies theory and praxis for a diverse writing
classroom.” Computers and Composition, 47(2018): 93–110.
Kennedy, Krista. “Textual Machinery: Authorial Agency and Bot-Written Texts in Wikipedia.”
The Responsibilities of Rhetoric: Proceedings of the 2008 Rhetoric Society of America
Conference. Eds. Michelle Smith & Barbara Warnick. Waveland Press, 2009.
Kress, Gunther. (2015). “Applied linguistics and a social semiotic account of multimodality.”
AILA Review, 28 (2015): 49–71.
Kress, Gunther. “Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning.” Computers
and Composition 22 (2005): 5–22.
Maranto, Gina and Matt Barton. “Paradox and Promise: MySpace, Facebook, and the
Sociopolitics of Social Networking in the Writing Classroom.” Computers and Composition, 27
(2010): 36–47.
McKee, Heidi. “Sound Matters: Notes Towards the Analysis and Design of Sound in Multimodal
Web Texts.” Computers and Composition 23.3 (2006): 335-54.
National Writing Project, DeVoss, Danielle Nicole, Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, and Troy Hicks.
Because Digital Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in Online and Multimedia
Environments. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
Palfrey, John, and Urs Gasser. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital
Natives. New York: Basic Books, 2008.
Porter, James E. “Recovering delivery for digital rhetoric.” Computers and Composition 26.4
(2009): 207-224.
Rife, Martine Courant. Invention, Copyright, and Digital Writing. Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press, 2013.
Rosinski, Paula and Megan Squire. “Strange Bedfellows: Human-Computer Interaction,
Interface Design, and Composition Pedagogy.” Computers and Composition, 26 (2009): 149–
163.
Schmidt, Christopher. “The New Media Writer as Cartographer.” Computers and Composition
28.4 (2011): 303–314.
Skains, R. Lyle. “The adaptive process of multimodal composition: How developing tacit
knowledge of digital tools affects creative writing.” Computers and Composition, 43(2017):
106–117.
Selfe, Cynthia L. “The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal
Composing.” CCC 60.4 (2009): 616-663.
Shin, Dong-shin & Cimasko, Tony. “Multimodal composition in a college ESL class: New tools,
traditional norms.” Computers and Composition, 25(2008): 376-395.
Shipka, Jody. “Sound Engineering: Toward a Theory of Multimodal Soundness.” Computers and
Composition 23 (2006) 355–373.
Shirky, Clay. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. New York: The
Penguin Press, 2010.
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations. London:
Allen Lane, 2008.
Sorapure, Madeleine. “Information Visualization, Web 2.0, and the Teaching of Writing.”
Computers and Composition, 27 (2010): 59–70.
Smith, Blaine E. Collaborative multimodal composing: Tracing the unique partnerships of three
pairs of adolescents composing across three digital projects. The United Kingdom Literacy
Association, (2018): 1-8.
Takayoshi, Pamela, and Cynthia L. Selfe. “Thinking about Multimodality.” Multimodal
Composition: Resources for Teachers. Ed. Cynthia L. Selfe. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton P, 2007. 1–
12.
Tapscott, Don, and Anthony D. Williams. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes
Everything. New York: Portfolio, 2008.
Tardy, Christine. M. “Expressions of disciplinarity and individuality in a multimodal genre.”
Computers and Composition, 22 (2005): 319-336.
Turner, Kristen Hawley, and Troy Hicks. “That’s not writing: Exploring the intersection of
digital writing, community literacy, and social justice.” Community Literacy Journal, 06.1
(2011): 55-78.
Vie, Stephanie. “Digital Divide 2.0: “Generation M” and Online Social Networking Sites in the
Composition Classroom.” Computers and Composition, 25 (2008): 9–23.
Wysocki, Anne Frances. "The Multiple Media of Texts: How Onscreen and Paper Texts
incorporate Words, Images, and Other Media." In What Writing Does and How It Does It: An
Introduction to Analysis of Text and Textual Practices. Edited by Charles Bazerman and Paul
Prior. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, 2003: 123-163.
Wysocki, Rick, Udelson, Jon, Ray, E. Caitlin, Newman, S. B. Jessica, Matravers, S. Laura,
Kumari, Ashanka, Gordeon, M. P. Layne, Alvarez, P. Sara, & DeVoss, Dànielle Nicole. “On
multimodality: A manifesto.” In Bridging the Multimodal Gap: From Theory to Practice. Edited
by Santosh Khadka & J. C. Lee. Louisville, Colorado: Utah State University Press. 2019: 17-29.
Yang, Yu-Feng (Diana). “Multimodal composing in digital storytelling.” Computers and
Composition, 29 (2012): 221–238.