<p>    </p> <p>Wordless picture book reading is one of the common literacy practices for young children that happen at schools and homes. This dissertation of three studies explores the reader-text transactions between young children and wordless picture books in three ways: a content analysis of wordless books potentially featuring characters of color, a multimodal analysis exploring children’s multimodal meaning making, and a mixed-method content analysis analyzing children’s performing social imagination and narrative imagination and change over time. Through analyzing a set of 39 wordless picturebooks with protagonists that can be potentially identified as people of color, the first article analyzed the books’ book themes, story events, and illustrations to explore how such books can function what Bishop suggested as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors and support young children to learn about themselves and others. The second article explores the potential of preschoolers’ multimodal meaning making during reading wordless picturebooks. Multimodal meaning making can be valued as literacy practices that are closely related to reading comprehension, teaching instructions, and assessments. The third article focuses on kindergarteners’ use of social imagination and narrative imagination during reading wordless picturebooks that reveal young children’s active engagement and meaning making in reading. This series of articles hold implication for teachers and researchers to understand the potential of using wordless picture books for young children’s access to diverse topics of readings, literacy practices, and assessment, specifically children’s imaginative and multimodal ways of responding to reading of wordless picture books. </p>

This is a thematic study examining a popular Swedish public service television show for children. The purpose of the study is to uncover how the show, Bolibompa, has communicated diversity over the last 34 years. Through a thematic analysis with multimodal tools, we investigate three categories of diversity that have undergone change in how they are conveyed: ethnicity &amp; culture, gender and sexuality. A fourth category, disability, is briefly mentioned. Even though Bolibompa has progressed to become more positive towards diversity, there are still aspects left to criticize. While Bolibompa mediates multiculturality, only a few displays of creative diversity are shown. Furthermore, no homo- or bisexuality is seen in Bolibompa, although two trans people are seen and heard in 2020 and 2023 respectively. There are both similarities and differences in how Bolibompa shares its values concerning each of the three categories. Elements such as music, games, colors and clothes are used in different amounts depending on which message of diversity is being conveyed.

This thesis reports a qualitative study of the use of multimodal technologies in museums— specifically, it examines the relationship between visitor engagement and learning, focusing on the use of multimodal technologies during school trips. The study was conducted in the Natural History Museum and the Churchill Museum, both in London, with participants from several secondary schools. These sites were chosen due to their concern for the added value of learning and public engagement, including their education-orientated investments in technology, museum activities, and architecture. In the course of data collection, visits were made to six schools and both museum sites; the participants included 117 students, 18 teachers, three museum educators, and eight museum curators and media designers. The study used a combination of video data analysis, stimulated recall interviews, document analysis, and engaging students in talk and reflection about their visit both at the museum and afterwards. The qualitative approach and multimodal analysis identify how the students’ social interactions help them construct learning through decontextualised bodily movements, which trigger contextualised discussion. The study demonstrates how multimodal analysis can be used in research to capture a wide scope of information, while maintaining a micro-level of analysis and understanding—here, capturing the detail of students’ interactions and perceptions. The findings suggest that the learning experience in museums is produced through multiple layers of interaction and through the exchange of physical and psychological behaviour among people, resources, and space. Here, the multimodal technologies with which the students engaged essentially acted as initial platforms for sensory stimuli and social interaction, supporting their peer communication and motivating them to further explore both the given topic and their own understanding of their learning methods. It was the students’ further conversation, observation, and participation, however, that created a more meaningful and entertaining learning experience in the museums.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera de fyra senaste nordiska vinnarbidragen i Eurovision Song Contest, för att se om det föreligger återkommande mönster, normativa könsstereotyper och hur makt uttrycks i tävlingen. Genom multimodala analyser av dessa bidrag med fokus på kön och makt, kommer följande frågeställningar att besvaras: Hur ser den multimodala gestaltningen ut inom de fyra senaste nordiska vinnarbidragen i Eurovision Song Contest? Samt: Hur representeras kvinnor respektive män i de olika bidragen? Som material för analyserna har Youtube-klipp på samtliga bidrag använts, där det multimediala har analyserats genom multimodala analyser. Efter dessa analyser blir sammanfattningen att det finns återkommande mönster och könsstereotyper inom ESC, där männen ofta tilldelas makt medan kvinnor i stället är den mer försumbara. Dessa mönster och stereotyper ser vi inte givetvis vid första inblicken av ett bidrag, utan genom att göra djupare multimodala analyser. / The primary aim of this study is to examine and analyze how different media (multimedia or mixed media) in the Eurovision Song Contest work togheter when combined. The expectation is to see if there are reocurring themes and patterns in the representation of the Nordic countries in the ESC with a main focus on gender bias and authority. Four different winning entries from the Eurovision Song Contest performed by the Nordic countries have been chosen and analyzed. The thesis in this essay is that there are patterns in the representation of different countries in the ESC, and that there also may occur stereotypical gender bias. Therefore the key questions have been the following: What does the multimodal impersonation of the latest four Nordic winners in the ESC look like? And: What does the representation of men and women look like? Youtube-videos have been used as material to analyse these performances by doing multimodal analyses. This study indicates that there are occuring gender bias and stereotypes in the ESC, and also reoccuring patterns in the representation of the Nordic countries as a geographical area. We can not see this by the first glimpse, but through deeper multiodal analyses.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate how a functional and committed online community was established. We have analyzed a Facebook group named "On Edge - a community for girls who seeks adventures" to explore how On Edge is communicating to create dedication and identification amongst its members in their online community. The study has combined theories such as social identity theory, prosumption, participatory culture and mediatization theory. We have used a multimodal analysis to analyze the administrators and the members posts on Facebook, an online survey for On Edge’s members to answer and an interview with the founder of the community, Ebba Cronqvist. The result of the multimodal analysis showed that On Edge uses text and images to create a united language within the group that leads to dedication and identification to the community. The survey showed that most of the members felt a need of a place where adventurous women could meet other women who are alike. They help each other because of the friendly atmosphere and by the meaningful exchange of thoughts and minds. We also found that there are some fundamental forces that shapes On Edge to such a well working community: the group is driven by a strong “why”, and by using a language appropriate for the target group together with images, it creates a friendly atmosphere amongst the members in the group.

Tout énoncé consiste en un message, explicite ou implicite, qui met en relief les objectifs du locuteur et aiguille l’interlocuteur vers une réponse ou une interprétation attendue par le locuteur. Dans le cadre du discours politique, la parole du personnage politique a pour objectif de mettre l’interlocuteur et le spectateur de son côté. Le langage employé est donc très souvent persuasif. Les études montrent que la communication ne passe pas exclusivement par la communication verbale. Elles mettent en évidence la place occupée par la cognition dans toute communication. L’approche formaliste ne tient pas compte de la dimension psychologique de la communication, tandis qu’une approche psychologique ne tient pas compte de la cognition sans placer la communication dans une structure suffisamment élaborée. Dans le cadre théorique que nous avons choisi, le domaine de la cognition s’inscrit dans une approche conceptuelle. Par conséquent, il conviendra d’analyser non seulement la communication verbale mais aussi la communication non-verbale. Dans quelle mesure le message verbal passe-t-il par d’autres voies ? L’analyse procédera à la mise en relief de la dimension paralinguistique tant dans l’espace que dans le temps : geste, regard, posture.La montée au pouvoir du Parti conservateur au Royaume-Uni en 2010 a donné lieu à la première coalition britannique depuis 1945. C’est la participation de son adversaire, les Liberal Democrats, qui a suscité de nombreux débats sur la faisabilité d’une coalition en raison d’un décalage idéologique important. Il sera donc indispensable d’analyser le contexte politique par rapport à la nature du discours. Pour ce faire, il conviendra d’adopter une approche cognitive de l’analyse du discours. Dans quelle mesure les phénomènes linguistiques et paralinguistiques sont-ils volontaires ou involontaires ? Dans quelle mesure existe-t-il une concordance entre les différents phénomènes observés ? L’approche multimodale permettra de montrer le rapport entre sémantique, phonologie, lexique et grammaire afin de mesurer la pertinence du discours. Les théories cognitivistes élaborées par Leonard TALMY et Ronald LANGACKER seront le point de départ de cette approche conceptuelle. Celle-ci permettra d’aboutir à une analyse de tous les éléments linguistiques et paralinguistiques en fonction de la situation d’énonciation : discours, entretien, débat. / Every utterance is composed of an implicit or an explicit message which highlights the speaker’s aims and steers the interlocutor towards a response or an interpretation intended by the speaker. In the field of political discourse, the objective of the politician’s discourse is to make the interlocutor and the spectator take a partisan view. Consequently, the language used is often persuasive. Studies have shown that communication is not exclusively verbal. They reveal the role of cognition in all forms of communication. A formalist approach does not take into account the psychological dimension of communication, while a psychological approach fails to account for cognition by not addressing communication within a sufficiently detailed linguistic context. In the framework that we have chosen, the cognitive domain is located within a conceptual approach. As a result, it is necessary to analyse both verbal and non-verbal communication. To what extent is the spoken message transmitted through other means? Our analysis will highlight the paralinguistic dimension of language both in space and time – gesture, gaze and posture. The electoral success of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom in 2010 gave rise to the first British coalition government since 1945. The role played by the party’s opponent, the Liberal Democrats, has led to many debates about the feasibility of a coalition due to the ideological divide. It is therefore essential to examine the political context with regard to the type of discourse. In order to achieve this, we have chosen a cognitive approach to discourse analysis. To what extent are the linguistic and paralinguistic phenomena intended or unintended? To what extent is there any coherence between these different observable phenomena? A multimodal approach will help us to identify the link between semantics, lexis and grammar in order to determine the relevance of the discourse. A number of theories of cognitive linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis form the basis of our conceptual approach, with particular emphasis on the cognitive dimension put forward by Leonard Talmy. This will enable us to analyse all the linguistic and paralinguistic features of discourse, depending on different situations which include speeches, interviews and debates.

Il presente lavoro di ricerca ha l'obiettivo di analizzare i primi minuti del colloquio clinico tra ginecologo e paziente, allo scopo di individuare gli elementi verbali e non verbali che caratterizzano questo scenario comunicativo. I colloqui sono stati videoregistrati e il comportamento è stato codificato mediante un software specifico, Theme, che ha permesso di rilevare sequenze comportamentali ripetute nel corso dell'interazione, denominate T-pattern. Il campione è costituito da 32 colloqui ginecologo-paziente, suddivisi in funzione delle variabili di ricerca. La prima variabile è la patologia della paziente (endometriosi o patologia oncologica), la seconda variabile è il numero di medici presenti al colloquio (un medico o più medici), la terza variabile è il ruolo rivestito nel corso del colloquio (medico o paziente). I risultati ottenuti hanno mostrato un effetto significativo della patologia e del ruolo sulla manifestazione di una serie di comportamenti verbali e non verbali. L'analisi dei T-pattern ha evidenziato che i gruppi di colloqui si differenziano in base all'organizzazione temporale e ritmica dell'interazione. / This research's aim is the analysis of the initial minutes of the clinical consultation in gynaecology, in order to identify the verbal and nonverbal aspects that characterize this communicative context. The interactions were video recorded and the behaviour coded using specific software, Theme that made possible the detection of repeated interactive behavioural patterns, called T-patterns. A total of 32 interactions between gynaecologists and patients were considered in this work. The interactions were grouped according to the research variables. The first variable is patient's disease (endometriosis or gynaecological cancer), the second one is the number of physicians taking part in the interaction (one physician or more physicians), the third one is the role during the consultation (physician or patient). The results showed that patient's disease and role have a significant effect on some verbal and nonverbal behaviour. T-pattern analysis illustrated that the consultations differ because of the temporal and rhythmic interactive organization.

The aim for this paper has been to examine three textbooks designed for science education in upper secondary school in order to determine whether they convey any specific attitudes regarding what is considered to be ideal knowledge within the field of biology. The main focus has been to investigate if different types of design strategies have been used to emphasize certain values or attitudes and if this proves to be the case, how is this achieved specifically?                       For this purpose I have conducted several different qualitative linguistic analyses of the textbooks. The theoretical framework for the analyses lies within the main field of critical linguistics and more specifically in the context of systemic functional linguistics. The two main language models I have chosen to use for my investigations are functional grammar and multimodal text analysis.                       My results imply amongst other things that by conducting an overall assessment of the headlines in the textbooks a fair assessment can be made of which overall attitudes the books convey. Another founding that has proven to be of relevance is the multimodal analysis of the introductory chapter within each textbook. This chapter conveys more than anything else the true attitudes the authors have, not only towards the school subject itself but also, to the reader. Furthermore, the overall language use in the introduction significantly reveals the textbooks approach and usability as an educational tool. / Min ambition med denna uppsats har varit att analysera tre olika läroböcker i gymnasiekursen Biologi 1 för att undersöka vad och hur de förmedlar kunskapsideal kring innehåll och mening. Jag har velat undersöka om det finns skillnader i de olika böckernas didaktiska designstrategier och vad dessa eventuella skillnader har för olika betydelsepotentialer. För att försöka få svar på mina frågor har jag genomfört min undersökning i flera steg. Inledningsvis jämförde jag de olika böckernas övergripande struktur och innehåll. Därefter har jag ställt dessa resultat i relation till vad kursplanen i ämnet specificerar som centrala innehåll och slutligen genomförde jag en komparativ multimodal kompositionsanalys av introduktionskapitlet samt avsnittet i vardera boken som beskriver cellens uppbyggnad Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för läroboksanalyserna i denna uppsats ligger inom huvudområdet kritisk lingvistik och mer specifikt inom ramen för systemisk-funktionell lingvistik. De två vägledande språkteorierna och modellerna som jag använde mig av var funktionell- och multimodal textanalys. Resultaten indikerar att det går att göra en initial bedömning av lärobokens ”värdegrund” genom att lägga tid på att uppmärksamma några av de referenspunkter som jag har använt mig av. Rubrikerna har visat sig vara bra värdemätare för olika inställningar och framförallt förekomsten av frågeställningar och enstaka ord i rubrikerna. Introduktionskapitlet avslöjar mer än vad producenterna troligen inser angående bokens inställning till såväl läsaren som ämnet. Dock indikerar det generella språkbruket mer än allt annat vilken relation boken öppnar för gentemot läsaren samt även vilket ansvar den är beredd att ta för att fungera som ett pedagogiskt verktyg.

This study investigates the ways that children engage with a repeatedly viewed film in domestic settings. The research questions focus on the children's language, their multimodal behaviours while viewing and the understandings they form about a film. The study aims to provide insights for educators by demonstrating the range and nature of the educationally significant understandings, about film, that children construct. An initial survey of 9 and 10 year olds produced 17 children who nominated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Columbus, 2002) as a favourite film that they had viewed at least 10 times. A video illustrating the research procedures was used to inform and to stimulate discussion with these children, to ensure that they were able to give educated consent. Observations of pairs of children viewing the film in their homes, followed by a series of activities to elicit discussion, created a set of rich data on the children's engagement practices and understandings of the film. Framed within the interpretivist paradigm, social semiotics and a sociocultural model of learning informed the generation and analysis of the data. A viewing practices engagement framework adapted existing frameworks in literature, literacy and critical literacy to better analyse viewing behaviours, responses and understandings. The engagement practice categories (literal, connotative, aesthetic, structural and critical) enabled multimodal and transcribed verbal data to be meaningfully linked. Several analytic approaches (including multimodal analysis and discourse analysis) were used to provide a full description of viewing engagement. The findings revealed variable levels of overt behaviour during viewing which did not relate to levels of understanding about the film. The range of understandings included aspects of characters, narrative, causation in the film and special effects. Discourse analysis revealed a range of viewing positions taken and social languages used, as well as gender differences in the balance of language used to attribute the film’s emotional effects. The findings provide evidence that children construct a range of educationally relevant understandings through their repeated home viewing of favourites, although structural and critical engagement was not well developed in this group. The findings are relevant to children's learning, audience research and the culture of childhood. The study has implications for parents, for primary school teachers and for education policy.

In my diploma thesis, I am reconstructing the anti-immigration attitude in Czech nationalist music production in the year 2016 in the context of the so-called European migration crisis. The sample consists of five selected music videos for nationalist protest songs reacting to the migration crisis and events connected to it. The thesis is based on the theoretical resources of social semiotics and the method of research is the multimodal semiotic analysis, which allows detailed research of the contents of complex communicates like music videos. In the theoretical part, I focus on acquainting the reader to the basics of semiotics, from where I gradually transfer to the school of social semiotics and their theories of modes and multimodality which represent the theoretical background for the analysis in the practical part. Next, I turn to clarifying the progress of the so-called European migration crisis in the years 2015 and 2016 which were crucial for the creation of these nationalist music videos. Also, I justify the choice of the sample and the analyzed themes. The practical part the contains the analysis of the selected music videos using the multimodal semiotic analysis considering three modes - the mode of speech, moving pictures and music. I decode the signs belonging to the pre-set themes....