Critical approaches generally acknowledge that literacies are in the plural. They recognise the many voices learners bring to the classroom, the many sites of popular culture and the new media, and the differing perspectives that exist in real-world texts. They support learners as meaning-makers, as agents, as participants and as active citizens. They use the learning of literacies as a tool to enable students to take more control over the ways that meaning is made in their lives, rather than allow them to be alienated, swamped or excluded by unfamiliar texts – or simply to be confused or grudgingly compliant. More recently, critical literacies have become sites for the interrogation and creation of media and new media texts.