Reading Shopfront Signs: A Multimodal (Social) Semiotic Approach to Text Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arif Chowdhury ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Text Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
City Of London

Shopfront signs in the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic city of London seem to serve as a vehicle for maintaining unity in an era of linguistic diversity. Various ethno-linguistic diasporas represent themselves through a unique multi lingual display of multimodal shopfronts signs culminating in the English language. This paper focuses on language as a social semiotic (Haliday 1978), as a multimodal semiotic resource (Jewitt 2005) and as a manipulative-representative text within multilingual society. The study assumes an ethnographic approach to the Bengali dominated streets of Whitechapel and Brick Lane in London, on shop signs. The study aims to determine how multilingual and multimodal ‘texts,’ embedded in shop signs, could assist in processing meanings (Kress 2004). The study draws on a corpus of images and texts on shop signs which were randomly selected and categorised in various ways. Taking a multimodal (social) semiotic approach to text analysis of shop signs, this paper attempts to analyze the Bangla and English shop signs and ideologies directed at these signs and their semiotic resources.

scholarly journals Representations of migration, borders and memories in exhibitions: a multimodal text analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Insulander
Keyword(s):  
Educational Research ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Multimodal Text

Many museums and galleries today address migration stories in their exhibitions. In this article, a methodological framework based on a multimodal social semiotic approach is used for the analysis of the meaning potentials of exhibitions. A particular focus is directed towards how the conceptions of migration, borders and memory represent themselves multimodally, in terms of general structure, orchestration of semiotic resources, the use of figurative language and explicit/implicit values. This methodological framework helped uncover hidden messages of interests and ideologies in different exhibitions. The study contributes to research on multimodal texts and exhibitions, as well as educational research.

scholarly journals A Social Semiotic Approach to the Attitudinal Meanings in Multimodal Texts

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1160
Author(s):  
Yong Hu ◽  
Qing Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Picture Books ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Visual Narratives ◽  
Visual Semiotics ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Multimodal Text ◽  
The Creation

As a special type of multimodal text, picture books for children are highly valued in the creation of meaning by the integrative use of verbal and visual semiotic resources. Informed by Painter and Martin’s framework of visual narratives, this paper primarily deals with the interpersonal meanings encoded and expressed by the two semiotics (image and verbiage) within the Chinese picture books. It aims to analyse the visual and verbal choices available for writers to establish engagement between various participants. In the hope of investigating the collaboration and interplay of verbal and visual semiotics to construe interpersonal meanings, it examines the attitudinal meanings inscribed or invoked in picture books, exploring the ways in which visual and verbal resources are co-instantiated to encode attitudinal convergence and also divergence.

Developing conversational competence through language awareness and multimodality: the use of DVDs

ReCALL ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Moreno Jaén ◽  
Carmen Pérez Basanta
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Conversational Interaction ◽  
Conversational Competence ◽  
Oral Interaction

AbstractThe argument for a pedagogy of input oriented learning for the development of speaking competence (Sharwood-Smith, 1986; Bardovi-Harlig and Salsbury, 2004; Eslami-Rasekh, 2005) has been of increasing interest in Applied Linguistics circles. It has also been argued that multimedia applications, in particular DVDs, provide language learners with multimodal representations that may help them ‘to gain broad access to oral communication both visually and auditory’ (Tschirner, 2001: 305). Thus this paper focuses on an exploratory study of teaching oral interaction through input processing by means of multimodal texts.The paper is divided into a number of interconnected sections. First, we outline briefly what teaching conversation implies and examine the important role of oral comprehension in the development of conversational interaction. In fact, it has been suggested that effective speaking depends very much on successful understanding (Oprandy, 1994). In this paper we pay special attention to the crucial role of context in understanding oral interactions. Therefore, we outline the theory of context in English Language Teaching (ELT). The discussion draws on approaches to teaching conversation and it also offers a brief reflection about the need for materials which might convey the sociocultural and semiotic elements of oral communication through which meaning is created.We then discuss the decisions taken to propose a new multimodal approach to teaching conversation from a three-fold perspective: (a) the selection of texts taken from films, and the benefits of using DVDs (digital versatile disc); (b) the development of a multimodal analysis of film clips for the design of activities; and (c) the promotion of a conversation awareness methodology through a bank of DVD clips to achieve an understanding of how native speakers actually go about the process of constructing oral interactions.In sum, the main thrust of this paper is to pinpoint the advantages of using multimodal materials taken from DVDs, as they provide learners with broad access to oral communication, both visual and auditory, making classroom conditions similar to the target cultural environment (Tschirner, 2001).

Summaries

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Automated Analysis ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Automated Text Analysis ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Automated Methods

Damian Trilling & Jelle Boumans Automated analysis of Dutch language-based texts. An overview and research agenda While automated methods of content analysis are increasingly popular in today’s communication research, these methods have hardly been adopted by communication scholars studying texts in Dutch. This essay offers an overview of the possibilities and current limitations of automated text analysis approaches in the context of the Dutch language. Particularly in dictionary-based approaches, research is far less prolific as research on the English language. We divide the most common types of content-analytical research questions into three categories: 1) research problems for which automated methods ought to be used, 2) research problems for which automated methods could be used, and 3) research problems for which automated methods (currently) cannot be used. Finally, we give suggestions for the advancement of automated text analysis approaches for Dutch texts. Keywords: automated content analysis, Dutch, dictionaries, supervised machine learning, unsupervised machine learning

scholarly journals FROM INLAND TO OUTLAND: EXPERIENCES OF NON-NATIVE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS TEACHING IN A FOREIGN CONTEXT

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Remart Padua Dumlao ◽  
Trixia Mengorio
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking

The numbers of English language learners and limited domestic English language teachers have grown exponentially in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as to the ASEAN region over the past decades due to the demand of globalization. Given the huge cultural and linguistic diversity among learners, educating these populations of English language learners can be a challenging but also beneficial for foreign language teachers. This study aimed to analyse the experiences of fifteen Non-native English Speaking Foreign Teachers (NNESFT) teaching in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The results of this study suggested that although teachers’ reasons in teaching English language in a foreign classroom were more extrinsic reasons rather that intrinsic and altruistic. NNESFT recognized benefits of teaching in foreign classroom, namely, financial aspects, personal development, and building cultural awareness. Meanwhile, challenges were reported include as a non-native English speaking teachers in a foreign classroom, on the part of textbooks and curriculum, and cultural differences in the classroom. Implications were discussed in light of the findings and recommendations formulated for future research directions.

scholarly journals Linguistic Landscape Signs in E-Textbooks: Teaching Language as a Compass for Exploring Multimodal Texts, Multilingualism, and Digital Resources

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solvita Burr ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Real Life ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Pedagogical Frameworks

Rapid technological development and the growth of educators’ and students’ digital skills have allowed e-textbooks to take root in different school subjects’ pedagogical practices. This article’s aim is to compare two e-textbooks – A Guide for Exploring City Texts (Berra (Burr), 2020) and Linguistic Landscapes in English Language Teaching: A Pedagogical Guidebook (Solmaz & Przymus, 2021) – in terms of their technological and pedagogical frameworks and to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of using a language e-textbook which heavily utilizes linguistic landscape signs. The comparison shows that the e-textbooks’ main technological advantages are hyperlinking, bookmarking, highlighting, annotating, and searching. Their content uncovers pedagogical concepts they both share: (1) authenticity, (2) resourcefulness, (3) connectivism, (4) a focus on text genres. Language in both textbooks is understood in the context of semiotic resources, so knowledge and skills in one language are inextricably linked to awareness of other languages, semiotic consciousness, and multiliteracies. The learning process in both e-textbooks is designed in a way that students interactively create and contribute knowledge and apply them in various real-life situations. There are a few drawbacks of the e-textbooks. First, their current technological do not allow for changing the order, length, or content of chapters, subchapters, or sections. Second, a lack of space for writing answers in e-textbooks, which can be frustrating for students. Third, none of the e-textbooks provides content for the entire study year/course, language level, or national subject standard.

scholarly journals The Role of Syntactic Expressive Means in the English Language Economic Mass Media

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Olga Dzhagatspanyan ◽  
Svetlana Orlova
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Economic Report ◽  
Rhetorical Question ◽  
Economic Discourse ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Oral Speech ◽  
Media Reports

This article studies expressive syntax as a type of stylistic devices and illustrates its use in publicistic style economic oral and written media reports. The relevance of the research is that syntactic expressive means have not been thoroughly studied and analyzed in economic mass media. The work aims to identify the techniques that apply syntactic expressive means to evoke emotiveness in economic media reports. This article also addresses the recurrence of usage of expressive syntax in written and oral speech involving economic discourse. Using the method of text analysis on the bases of theoretical linguistic statements evaluating functional style, media stylistics, and stylistic devices in the English language, we determined the diverse usage of expressive syntax in both videocasting and written articles. From analyzed syntactic expressive means, we identified the frequency and common usage of such syntactic expressive means as rhetorical question and simple repetition in oral and written reports. The sample analysis indicated that a paragraph in any economic report might restrain more than one occurrence of expressive syntax; these carry a manipulative function through psychological phenomena represented via syntactic expressive means.

scholarly journals Editorial

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Piller
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
English Language ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Editorial Introduction ◽  
Original Research

This editorial introduction orients the reader to current public debates and the state of research with regard to the intersection of linguistic diversity and social inclusion in contemporary Australia. These are characterised by a persistent lack of attention to the consequences of linguistic diversity for our social organisation. The editorial introduction serves to frame the five original research articles that comprise this special issue and identifies the key challenges that linguistic diversity presents for a fair and just social order. These challenges run as red threads through all the articles in this issue and include the persistent monolingual mindset which results in a pervasive language blindness and an inability to even identify language as an obstacle to inclusion. Furthermore, where language is recognised as an obstacle to inclusion this usually takes the form of assuming that an individual suffers from a lack of English language proficiency. Improving English language proficiency is then prescribed as a panacea for inclusion. However, on close examination that belief in itself can constitute a form of exclusion with detrimental effects both on language learning and equal opportunity.

Adolescent English language learners’ digitally mediated multimodal compositions: multimodal enactment across different genres of writing in the EFL context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joohoon Kang
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Creative Processes ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Multimodal Composing ◽  
Multimodal Compositions

Purpose This paper aims to investigate adolescent English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ digitally mediated multimodal compositions across different genres of writing. Design/methodology/approach Three Korean high school students participated in the study and created multiple multimodal texts over the course of one academic semester. These texts and other materials were the basis for this study’s qualitative case studies. Multiple sources of data (e.g. class observations, demographic surveys, interviews, field notes and students’ artifacts) were collected. Drawing upon the inductive approach, a coding-oriented analysis was used for the collected data. In addition, a multimodal text analysis was conducted for the students’ multimodal texts and their storyboards. Findings The study participants’ perceptions of multimodal composing practices seemed to be positively reshaped as a result of them creating multimodal texts. Some participants created multimodal products in phases (e.g. selecting or changing a topic, constructing a storyboard and editing). Especially, although the students’ creative processes had a similarly fixed and linear flow from print-based writing to other modalities, their creative processes proved to be flexible, recursive and/or circular. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of adolescent English language learners’ multimodal composing practices in the EFL context, which has been underexplored in the literature. It also presents the students’ perspectives on these practices. In short, it provides theoretical and methodological grounds for future L2 literacy researchers to conduct empirical studies on multimodal composing practices.

“I Want Them to Feel the Fear…”

Gamification ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 2196-2211
Author(s):  
Clifford H. Lee ◽  
Antero D. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
New Media ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Video Game ◽  
English Language Arts ◽  
English Language ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Video Game Design

By utilizing digital tools that are nearly ubiquitous in the lives of youth, writing teachers can leverage these practices for developing traditional English language arts instruction and skills proposed by state and federal standards. In this chapter, the authors propose how the development of computational literacies through multimodal writing and video game design can help guide critical and academic development in an inner-city Los Angeles public school. In a research project where high school youth designed and created (programmed) a video game about an issue significant in their lives, students demonstrated their critical computational literacies, a concept that blends the critical consciousness of critical literacy and the skills and concepts behind computational thinking. Critical computational literacy offers the ability to integrate two seemingly divergent fields. By using these new media tools, students developed a more expansive and sophisticated way to communicate their ideas. This has significant possibilities for the English Language Arts, where most K-12 state standards still relegate students' literacies to over-indulgence of traditional means of reading and writing of text. In an ever-evolving culture that increasingly places more significance on visual, auditory, and textual stimuli through multimodal media on computers and mobile devices (Hull & Nelson, 2005; Jenkins, 2006; Kress, 2010), schools must educate students to critically “read” messages in the media, and in turn become effective producers of these tools of communication (Alvermann, et al., 1999; Margolis, 2008; Morrell, 2008). This research shows students engaged in deep, reflective processes in the production of their multimodal texts.

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