At the moment, there are two literacy theories that seem to dominate the
research on literacies. They are known as the New Literacy Studies (NLS)
(BARTON; HAMILTON; IVANIČ; 2002; STREET, 2003) and Multiliteracies
(COPE; KALANTZIS, 2009). This article is about a different theory, Multiple
Literacies Theory (MLT) that demarcates itself from them ontologically and
epistemologically. It will also highlight aspects of NLS and Multiliteracies in order
to point out the differences with MLT. This article aims to put forward the major
concepts that underlie this theory and present vignettes from a study examining
how perceptions of writing systems in multilingual children contribute to reading,
reading the world and self as texts.
