Integrating Critical Multimodal Literacy Practices in EFL: Fostering Disability Awareness and Speaking Development

This descriptive case study investigates how five Critical Multimodal Literacy (CML) tasks influence disability awareness and conventional literacy development, particularly oral proficiency, among three adult Korean EFL learners. Grounded in the Four Resources Model (FRM; Luke & Freebody, 1990) and informed by Janks’ (2010) conception of critical literacy as negotiation across Access, Domination, Diversity, and Design, the study examined changes in disability awareness (RQ1) and improvements in speaking performance (RQ2). Over a six-week intervention, participants engaged with original, parody, and animated versions of Beauty and the Beast along with The Little Mermaid, followed by avatar-based counter-narratives in a metaverse environment. Findings related to RQ1 indicated notable development across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. Learners progressed from surface comprehension to critical recognition of stereotypical depictions of disability and reconstructed inclusive alternative narratives, accompanied by increased empathy and intentions for socially responsible action. Findings for RQ2 indicated measurable gains in learners’ overall L2 speaking proficiency, as reflected in higher CEFR-aligned holistic scores across pre- and post-intervention oral recordings. These results demonstrate the pedagogical value of integrating multimodal texts and avatar-mediated storytelling to cultivate critically aware, socially responsible language users, illustrating the potential of CML for transformative learning in EFL contexts.