This paper explores the multimodal engagement of English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) students in a classroom in Johannesburg. Within a social semiotic framework, and using constructions of design and identity to understand the students' multimodal engagement, the paper argues that multimodal representations offer EAL students from under-resourced contexts opportunities for creativity and agency to redesign meaning. It demonstrates how they use the opportunities provided to reconstruct their identities as black South Africans and to communicate a sense of their own social world. The analysis focuses on two texts produced by the students--a digital narrative text and a poetry performance--to illustrate their multimodal engagement with literacy. The paper concludes with an examination of the broader implications for teaching and learning EAL. (Contains 1 figure and 6 notes.)