‍Rethinking Disciplinary Literacy: Connecting Knowledge, Language, and the Real World

When asked to think about “literacy”, many of us may think first we often picture the technical skills of reading and writing which involve decoding texts, producing essays, or learning grammar rules. But literacy is so much more – especially when we step into the world of disciplinary literacies, which involves, for example, producing and interpreting knowledge, engaging with written, oral and multimedia texts, and navigating both traditional and digital forms of communication. Every discipline – from physics to history – has its own ways of thinking, meaning-making and communicating. Learning these conventions isn’t optional; it’s central to mastering the subject itself.

The concept of bi/multilingual disciplinary literacies (BMDL), developed by Working Group 1 of the COST Action CLILNetLE, recognizes that DLs in multilingual educational settings, such as CLIL and EMI, involves additional complexities in constructing and communicating knowledge. Knowledge is not just expressed in one language or one form, but through a dynamic interplay of multilingual and multimodal resources. Instead of separating “content” from “language”, BMDL it highlights the deep inseparable relationship between the two. After all, in addition to knowing something, one also needs to understand how to communicate it in the language and modes of the discipline.?

Shifting Focus: From Content Alone to Integrated Learning

Of course, content knowledge remains vital. But we also learn how knowledge is constructed, communicated, and value within each field.

This approach also supports student agency – encouraging learners to take ownership of their learning. In today’s fast-changing world, this isn’t just an academic skill, but a life skill, crucial for workplaces, communities and civic participation.

Five Dimensions of Bilingual and Multilingual Disciplinary Literacy

There is still a lack of comprehensive concepts of bilingual/multilingual disciplinary literacy BMDL. As a step towards this, Working Group 1 has identified several interconnected and overlapping dimensions of BMDL:

1. Bi-/Multi-/Translingual Dimension
   Students draw on resources across (named and disciplinary) languages, blending conventions from different disciplines. This flexibility empowers them to think and communicate across linguistic boundaries.
2. Multi-/Trans-Semiotic Dimension
   Knowledge isn’t built by words alone. Think diagrams, formulas, gestures, artifacts, and even spatial arrangements—all crucial for meaning-making.
3. Functional Dimension
   It’s important to pay attention to the communicative purpose of the message: the context, mode of interaction, interlocutors and cultures – these impact register and style.
4. Critical Dimension
    Literacy isn’t just about absorbing information—it’s about questioning it. Students learn to analyse texts from multiple perspectives, identifying biases and assumptions (including their own).
5. Technological Dimension
    Digital literacy is now inseparable from disciplinary literacy. It’s about evaluating online sources, collaborating through digital platforms, and even shaping one’s own digital scientific identity.

In Conclusion:

Disciplinary literacy is a dynamic process. It’s about learning to think like a scientist, historian, artist, or mathematician by mastering not only the content but also the ways of communicating and constructing knowledge within that field.

And as our societies become more multilingual, multicultural and digital, these literacies are no longer confined to the classroom. They’re vital for navigating complexity, engaging critically, and participating fully in the world around us.

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In summary:
Disciplinary literacy helps us see that learning a subject is inseparable from learning how that subject speaks communicates. It’s not just what we know—it’s how we communicate express, question, and connect it to the world.