Multiliteracy and Digital Writing Center Theory

In recent years, multiliteracy has become a central idea in how we approach learning. Multiliteracy refers to fluency in not only spoken language like English, but across multiple languages, dialects, or even modalities, like digital fluency. As we have shifted to a more digitally-focused higher education experience, the need for specific multiliteracy aid within the writing center works to bridge the gap between those who have technological proficiency and those who do not to create a more equitable learning environment, such as students that did not have access to personal computers or laptops in middle and high school.

According to John Trimbur, “it’s fairly indicative of recent trends in writing center theory and practice to see literacy as a multimodal activity in which oral, written, and visual communication intertwine and interact” (Trimbur 88). Therefore, the need for multimodal literacy learning at the writing center can be attributed to the growing digital divide at college, meaning that not all college students come into university-level education with the same aptitude for technology due to varying degrees of access.

As Joy Bancroft describes in a 2016 article, “the digital divide has been used to describe the gap between those who access and use computers and the Internet and those who do not” (Bancroft 47). Although all students enter college with varying levels of multimodal familiarity, digital skills are paramount to succeeding. Many students who are not as equipped with these resources often fall into social minorities and face a systemic digital resource drought (Bancroft 47). However, writing centers can serve as a place to teach and empower students in their ability to effectively utilize digital modalities like Microsoft Office and Google Suite.

One reason for writing centers to shift towards a multiliteracy center is the merit that comes with peer tutoring. Writing centers help students with the writing process, but that may include more design, production, and digital aspects as we continue to move through advancing digital modalities. Students may need help bridging the digital divide, and peer tutors can be vessels for that development. “To my mind, the new digital literacies will increasingly be incorporated into writing centers not just as sources of information or delivery systems for tutoring but as productive arts in their own right” (Trimbur 89). Peer tutors work to imbue confidence in every writer as a way to empower and celebrate everyone who comes through the Writing Center. Multiliteracy work instills another level of confidence for those who are affected by the Digital Divide.

One example of the DePaul Writing Center including multiliteracy access is through our work with the WRD department, aiding in Digication portfolios. The videos provided by the Writing Center walking a student through creating a page on Digication is similar to standard writing center pedagogy, as they provide a supportive hand through which to learn this new platform. A similar pedagogy can be used when approaching all multiliteracy concerns like the e-portfolios as with standard writing center practice. “When multiliteracy center tutors encounter sessions in which students are struggling to use technology, they can follow similar pedagogy that guides tutoring writing concerns” (Bancroft 49). 

Finally, multiliteracy in the writing center can be another focus for linguistic justice and diversity. As we acknowledge the systemic problems connected with digital access, writing center work can allow for a greater population of students to achieve fluency in digital modalities. In their writing center at Rowan University, Celeste Del Russo and Rachael Shapiro reframed the writing center work as a multiliteracy haven. “We also thought of our center as one that should promote inclusion, especially for students of color, neurodiverse students, and first-generation students, among others” (Russo, Shapiro 20). Including more multimodal work in the writing center emboldens the work writing centers are already achieving in relation to social and linguistic justice.

In the DePaul Writing Center, our handbook states that “we seek to motivate writers and instructors to: write and use writing, better understand the role of writing in one’s professional and personal lives, and effectively and successfully complete writing assignments” (UCWbL Handbook). Working to bridge the gap between those who have greater access to digital fluency and those who have been systemically blocked from this access is another way we can motivate and empower writers to achieve what they’re striving for in college.

References

Bancroft, Joy. “Multiliteracy centers spanning the digital divide: Providing a full spectrum of support.” Computers and Composition, vol. 41, Sept. 2016, pp. 46–55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2016.04.002.

Russo, Celeste D., and Rachael Shapiro. “Multimodal Tutor Education for a community in transition.” WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, vol. 44, no. 1, 2019, pp. 19–26, https://doi.org/10.37514/wln-j.2019.44.1.04.

Trimbur, John. “Multiliteracies, Social Futures, and Writing Centers.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 30, no. 1, 2010, pp. 88–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43442333.