Between Intention and Reception: Textual Meaning-Making in Intersubjective Perspective

Author(s):  
Winfred Wenhui Xuan ◽  
Dongbing Zhang

Abstract The present study examines the ways Chinese high school EFL learners organize information in their writing. A class of 50 students at grade 9 from a local high school in Guangzhou, China, were recruited as participants. The students’ writing at grade 9 was collected as a corpus, comprising ten writing tasks from different text types. In order to gain a holistic understanding of the organization of information in student writing, the analytical framework of Theme at three levels – that is, clause, paragraph, and text – from Derewianka and Jones (2010) was adopted. Findings show that the students have varying degrees of control over information organization at different levels. In particular, the students are not proficient in organizing information at the paragraph level. Findings also show that registerial differences affect the organization of information. The study provides relevant pedagogical implications and recommendations for this group of learners.


Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (239) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Yufei He

Abstract Animation is widely acknowledged for dynamically visualizing information and has been increasingly used in educational context. However, the growing presence of educational animation has not been accompanied by well-informed studies that focus on the semiotic features of animation. An emerging perspective influenced by Social Semiotics and Systemic Functional Linguistics greatly complements the current trend of animation studies in the field of science education. Studies taking that perspective model animation as stratified systems (consisting of an expression plane and a content plane) of meaning-making options. Building on their work, this paper further develops the systems of animation on the two planes. Besides the concept of stratification, this paper also introduces a metafunctional perspective for the modeling of animation, focusing on building the ideational meaning system and textual meaning system for animation on the content plane based on an examination of online science animations. It is found that educational animation is not homogenous: animation can construe different human experience and can be used to fulfill different functions. The paper closes with a discussion of the advantages of adopting a stratified metafunctional model in studying animation and the implications for future studies in the field of multimodal semiotics and science education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaqian Jiang ◽  
Camilla Vásquez

Abstract This study examines various combinations of visual and textual meaning-making resources in a popular Chinese meme. The meme features an exogenous image – the grinning facial expression of a U.S. wrestler, D’Angelo Dinero – that has been recontextualized into numerous other visual texts, to create semiotic ensembles with local meanings, which are then distributed across Chinese social media platforms. We analyzed 60 of these image macros, and our findings show that local meanings are created when Dinero’s facial expression is blended with visual references to Chinese digital culture, Chinese popular culture, Chinese social class issues, Chinese politics, and Chinese institutions. The majority of textual elements in the image macros are Chinese; however, the handful of examples that also include other languages typically involve multilingual wordplay and carnivalesque themes. We argue that although the multivalency of the wrestlers’ facial expression invites interpretations of a wide range of affective meanings, an overarching rebellious or transgressive stance is consistent across individual texts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-415
Author(s):  
Sukrun Nisak ◽  
Dwi Rukmini

This research is about the use of verbal language and visual image to realize the metafunctions in student’s textbook. In order to see the process of meaning making in multimodal text, the researcher analyses the implementation of ideational, interpersonal, and textual meaning. The data was taken from conversation sections in Interchange Student’s Book 1. It consists of verbal language in the form of dialogues and visual image in the form of pictures. There were 16 conversation sections chosen from 16 chapters in the book. This research uses multimodal discourse analysis; using three instruments to classify the data. The checklists are from Eggins (2004) about metafunctions in verbal language, Van Leeuween (2006) about metafunctions in visual image, and Royce (2007) about the relations in verbal language and visual image. In ideational meaning, the result of the study shows that verbal language which dominates the conversation is the material proces; while in visual image, the reactional process is the highest number of process happens. Thus, the verbal-visual relations in ideational meaning found are collocation and repetition. Furthermore, the result in interpersonal meaning finds out that the most common verbal language used is statement; while in visual image, the medium shot is mostly found. Thus, the verbal-visual relation in interpersonal meaning realized through reinforcement of address is interaction between represented participant and represented participant. Moreover, in textual meaning, the result of verbal language shows that the most common used theme is topical theme; while in visual image, the information value is mostly left-right. Thus, the verbal-visual relation in textual meaning shown in reading path is left-right.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
I. V. Alekseeva ◽  

The article discusses some of the notable and promising ideas of M. G. Aranovsky, developed into a theory of intertextual interactions. Having independent scientific and applied significance, this theory has found a continuation in a number of studies by the Ural musicologists of the last decade. These works, aimed at exploring the semantic organization of musical text by composers of different eras and styles, are based on the methodology of the outstanding scientist, whose unique theory as a result receives further life and development. The article attempts to determine the value and prospects of these works and, in this regard, analyzes the main provisions, observations and generalizations presented in some of the most interesting studies, carried out using the tools of intertextual interactions analysis and solving the problem of comprehending the processes of textual meaning making. In assessing the prospects for the concept of intertextual interactions, the application of M. G. Aranovsky's theory provides an opportunity to answer questions about the meaning of composers' appeal to "alien" musical material, about the ways and principles of forming a new text, about the specificity of artistic thinking, in general. At the same time, the study of intertextual interactions opens perspectives for comprehending the processes of intercultural exchange.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed De St. Aubin ◽  
Abbey Valvano ◽  
Terri Deroon-Cassini ◽  
Jim Hastings ◽  
Patricia Horn

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