ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines key perspectives that underpin the model of multilingual digital storytelling (MDST). It discusses the way in which language and language learning have been reconceptualised over the past two decades due to the massive social and cultural changes brought about by globalisation and the growing role of digital media within this. The chapter explains the monolingual ideology which has served to deny the social and cultural capital deriving from plurilingual repertoires. Against a backdrop of new directions in second/foreign language teaching pedagogy, the book looks at the changing role of the digital media and its acceleration through the development of Web technology. The book examines changing views on literacy and it is argued here that literacy is an embodied practice that requires movement and action and can be represented through a range of interconnecting modes.