This research study exploring multiple first grade literacy practices draws from the notion of multiliteracies. Literacy is dynamic and complex. New technologies are reconfiguring how we conceptualize literacy in work, home and school communities. A variety of factors including access to technology, governmental interventions in literacy instruction, public discourse, and teacher beliefs facilitate what constitutes literacy in schools today. Literacy teachers are caught between policies which advocate for a standardized test score as an appropriate literacy measure and enacting instruction that allows students to successfully acquire literacy that is captured by national and local testing. This study explores these tensions in the broader context of shifting definitions of literacy. Modes and media of communication expressed, valued, and counted as legitimate literacy are explored. The teacher's literacy instruction is examined, noting her knowledge and beliefs that reflected the constraints of mandated literacy instruction or embraced a multiliteracies perspective. How children were positioned in the classroom according to this perspective sheds light on social status and power relationships in association to highly valued literacy practices of reading and writing. Key findings from this study affirm that proficiency with print is critical in today's classrooms because of standardized test measures and subsequent mandates from governmental bodies. Schools that are identified as in need of assistance according to NCLB find themselves positioned as recipients of highly prescribed literacy instruction. Teachers who are required to follow mandated literacy instruction begin to doubt their own knowledge and beliefs when instruction is scrutinized under these mandates. Results from this research suggest that privilege associated with proficiency in print cuts across other modes and media as does struggle with the alphabetic code. Those children who have proficiency also have opportunities others do not.

This dissertation explores the implications of new photographic and computer technologies that offer the transduction of modalities. The fundamental argument, here, is that such technologies ‘change’ the process of sense-making resulting in a new asymmetry that informs the visual language of the creative work. I argue that the processes of language analysis can assist us in the interpretation of multimodal texts and that a digital illustration can be analysed via the theoretical framework ‘built’ from the first linguistic concepts such as those to be found in the texts of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Locke. A semiotic method applied in the context of digital artwork, and developed from the linguistic-semiotic stand-point, is well suited for an examination of the intermodal relations (the relations between layers in a multi-layered image file). By examining the layered structures of my images I demonstrate the evident similarity between the disconnection of the components of the linguistic sign on the one hand and the visual sign on the other hand. The analysis of a digital image, especially created for this purpose, is expanded by an investigation that offers a partial reading from an insider’s point of view that involves an image being analysed on the conceptual level. This involves the examination of the primary internal relations between the layers of the image, and on the level of expression, the examination of the primary external relations between the layers and the narrative of the image. In its deployment the semiotic method I use investigates the existence and the conditions of a space in which the individual readings from the perspective of outsider and insider might be conceptualized and presents a partial reading derived from an outsider’s interpretation of the same image. After comparing both readings I arrive at the conclusion that the different texts’ modalities have an impact on the degree of the sign components’ disconnection. My conclusion, then, is that an outsider who cannot view the image in its multimodal form assigns sign components in a higher degree of disconnection than an insider who has access to the intermodal relations of the image file.

Although many studies have been performed on collaboration in multimodal interfaces not many of these have looked specifically on how the supported modalities influence the task solving strategies chosen and the communication between users solving a joint task in collaborative virtual environments. Therefore, the thesis studies performed aimed at shedding light on these aspects of multimodality. The specific research question studied is: How do changes in modality combinations influence employed work strategies, communication during task solving and the task efficiency in collaborative multimodal virtual environments? The studies performed build on theories from HCI, CSCW, human perception and mediated communication and are thus inter-disciplinary in nature. A variety of cases have been studied; collaboration between sighted and visually impaired, task solving in visually demanding environments and to some extent support for achieving medical diagnoses. The research presented in this thesis began with a field study in elementary schools, focusing on collaboration between visually impaired and sighted pupils. The shared environment was in this case a virtual room in which objects could be moved around by means of haptic devices. The results showed a great potential for haptic feedback when it came to supporting collaboration and most of all communication between the participants. A lack of awareness information about mostly the sighted pupils’ actions laid the ground for a follow-up study in which sighted and blindfolded students solved tasks in the same interface. A formal experiment was carried out in this case, comparing a visual/haptic environment with a visual/haptic/audio environment. Results showed that the addition of audio feedback to the visual/haptic environment was beneficial in many respects. Up until now, the focus had been entirely on collaboration between sighted persons and those who cannot see. This is why the next experimental study, based on an abstract gaming environment, aimed at collaboration between sighted persons. Since the earlier studies showed that the combination of modalities clearly matter, this new experiment compared three modality combinations – visual/haptic, visual/audio and visual/haptic/audio. Once again, the results clearly showed that the combination of modalities has an effect on task performance and that it influences collaboration and communication in particular. All studies performed have been subject to both quantitative analysis of performance measures and qualitative analysis of dialogues between collaborators. Even though quantitative data on task performance has played an important role, the main focus has been on qualitative data in all studies performed. The results show that different combinations of modalities influence the collaboration and in particular the communication between two participants solving tasks in different ways in a number of multimodal interfaces. In all cases in which a visual/haptic/audio condition has been compared to a visual/haptic or a visual/audio condition the performance was significantly better in the visual/haptic/audio condition. One of the most important conclusions drawn from the qualitative analysis of dialogues is that both haptic and audio feedback can have communicative properties which influence the dialogue and as a consequence the collaboration. / <p>QC 20131108</p>

Abstract   The purpose of this study is to investigate how educators and teachers working with younger ages work with the picture book in preschool and school, based on the aesthetic subjects and how this work affects children's learning. This is relevant and important for the preschool teacher and teacher's profession as children of today live in a world where symbols, characters, text and image are part of their culture, and language, gestures and images are included in a broader perspective on what reading and writing mean. In preschool, children should be encouraged to use and explore various communicative tools to support and challenge their learning. In the study, the qualitative research method the focus group interview is used. The focus groups consisted of educators in preschool and teachers working with younger ages. In the focus group interviews, educators and teachers present a concrete example of how they process the picture book, based on the aesthetic subjects. This presentation is used as an icebreaker for the continued discussion on the subject. The focus group interviews were analysed based on the model of the phenomenography of data analysis and the socio-cultural theory of learning. In the results, focus group interviews 1, 2 and 3, their work on the picture book are presented  based on the aesthetic subjects and how the aesthetic subjects affected children in preschool and school. In conclusion, I find stress as an influence of the aesthetic subjects in teaching

[pt] O objetivo principal deste trabalho de pesquisa é entender o uso de textos visuais na sala de aula e seu impacto na aprendizagem. A pesquisa enfoca o uso de textos visuais para facilitar a aplicação de uma perspectiva pedagógica que objetive a sócio-construção do conhecimento, o sócio-interacionismo, seguindo a concepção de Bakhtin (2000), Freire (1979), Mercer (1994) e Vygotsky (1994). Com essa base teórica, a pesquisa aplica a gramática do desenho visual (Kress e van Leeuwen, 1996) em um ambiente de sala de aula, ao examinar as interpretações feitas pelos próprios aprendizes em relação às imagens utilizadas pela professora, para que se observa de que forma as observações dos aprendizes evocam as categorias na gramática do desenho visual e, portanto, trazer luz sobre o conhecimento desses aprendizes de como ler imagens. Discute-se as implicações de uma abordagem pedagógica que objetiva construir o letramento visual no ambiente de ensino da língua inglesa. / [en] The main purpose of this study is to understand the use of visual texts in the classroom and their impact on learning. The research focuses on how the use of visual texts can facilitate the application of a construction of meanings and the socio- interactional perspective on teaching/learning, according to Bakhtin (2000), Freire (1979), Mercer (1994) and Vygotsky (1994). With this theoretical framework, the study applies the grammar of visual design (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996) to a classroom setting by examining the learners’ interpretations of the images used by the teacher, to observe to what extent their observations evoke the categories in the grammar of visual design and thus indicate knowledge of how to read images. The study discusses the implications of an approach to teaching and learning that aims at building visual literacy in the setting of English language teaching.

Submitted by Jadson Francisco de Jesus SILVA (jadson@uefs.br) on 2018-01-22T22:31:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PROFLETRAS UEFAS JUCELMA SACRAMENTO ALVES .pdf: 15349749 bytes, checksum: f1351347dbf4cbb51a6d0a759155b473 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-22T22:31:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PROFLETRAS UEFAS JUCELMA SACRAMENTO ALVES .pdf: 15349749 bytes, checksum: f1351347dbf4cbb51a6d0a759155b473 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / This work does not have the aim of revolutionize the teaching of Portuguese language in the classes of Elementary School II, although it intends to offer a tool so that the subjects of the intervention can rethink the way of learning and socializing the linguistic-discursive constructions. For this, we work with the discursive genre charge because it is a multimodal genre that combines verbal language (the word) with nonverbal language (the image). Besides the multimodality that makes up the chargic text, our option for the textual genre charge is justified by discourses full of meanings and interspersed by humor. For a systematized work with the genre, a didactic sequence was developed and applied, whose objective was to verify the knowledge that the student already possessed, assisting in the development of fundamental skills to increase the reading competence of the multimodal text. Our work is divided in nine stages, dealing with conceptions of language and language, discursive genres, reading of images, methodological approach, workshop description and data analysis respectively. / Este Trabalho n?o tem o objetivo de revolucionar o ensino de l?ngua portuguesa nas turmas do Ensino Fundamental II, embora pretenda oferecer uma ferramenta para que os sujeitos da interven??o possam repensar a forma de aprender e socializar as constru??es lingu?stico-discursivas. Para isso trabalhamos com o g?nero discursivo charge por se tratar de um g?nero multimodal que alia a linguagem verbal (a palavra) com a linguagem n?o verbal (a imagem). Al?m da multimodalidade que comp?e o texto ch?rgico nossa op??o pelo g?nero textual charge justifica-se pelos discursos plenos de significados e entremeados pelo humor. Para um trabalho sistematizado com o g?nero foi desenvolvida e aplicada uma sequ?ncia did?tica cujo objetivo foi verificar o conhecimento que o aluno j? possu?a, auxiliando no desenvolvimento de habilidades fundamentais para amplia??o da compet?ncia leitora do texto multimodal. Nosso trabalho divide-se em nove etapas abordando concep??es de l?ngua e linguagem, g?neros discursivos, leitura de imagens, abordagem metodol?gica, descri??o das oficinas e an?lise de dados respectivamente.

Esta é uma investigação em que essencialmente se propõe o uso da combinação de mediadores em complexidade crescente permitindo a prática de diferentes formas de linguagens, as quais explicitam padrões de aprendizagem de saberes sobre química. Dentre os mediadores estão os signos que, se organizando em palavras e expressões, adquirem significados, os quais permitem que fenômenos da Ciência da Natureza sejam circunscritos, compreendidos e trazidos para o mundo dos humanos na forma de tecnologias na perspectiva da melhoria da qualidade de vida. Estas tecnologias que se manifestam na forma de bens e serviços exigem respostas sociais vigorosas quanto ao seu grau de uso e manutenção que demandam mais do que apenas concordância ou discordância, requerem o uso da argumentação fundamentada, a qual encontra na escola seu mais fértil campo de desenvolvimento que não pode se olvidar de recorrer também às tecnologias para construir propostas que auxiliem jovens estudantes nesse percurso. Desse desafio surge a proposta da aprendizagem sobre Química mediada pela multimodalidade, termo a princípio genérico, mas que entendemos como a combinação entre modalidades de explicitação da aprendizagem por gêneros do discurso que circulem em meio impresso e não-impresso (audiovisual), utilizando a linguagem narrativa e expositiva contendo aspectos conceituais e matemáticos, derivados de atividades tais como experimentos, jogos, projetos, construção e operação de aparatos escolar-científicos, dentre outros, e com apoio das tecnologias da informação e comunicação. Nesta investigação o uso da aprendizagem multimodal se materializa ao longo dos dois últimos anos do Ensino Médio regular em ciclos de complexidade crescente em turmas diversas em uma escola pública. A produção dos estudantes ao final de cada estágio foi analisada e classificada na busca da obtenção de padrões da forma de pensamento e do nível de processamento da informação gráfica, bem como de possíveis restrições na resolução de problemas químicos.Os resultados sugerem que a aprendizagem mediada pela multimodalidade na perspectiva apresentada contribui para a evolução das formas de pensamento, bem como do nível de processamento da informação gráfica, entretanto quando da introdução de um novo gênero do discurso escrito, surgem inflexões na curva crescente de aprendizagem revelando dispersão de padrões, a qual indica a necessidade da intervenção do professor com ações de retomada de conceitos e revisão monitorada. As condições de produção e a cultura escolar se mostram como elementos externos com forte poder de restrição ao processo de aprendizagem. / This is an investigation in which essentially it is proposed the use of the combination of mediators in increasing complexity allowing the practice of different forms of languages, which state standards of knowledge learning about chemistry. Among the mediators are the signs that, organizing themselves in words and expressions, acquire meanings, which allow phenomena of the Science of Nature to be circumscribed, understood and brought into the human world in the form of technologies in the perspective of the improvement of the quality of life. These technologies that are manifest in the form of goods and services require vigorous social responses regarding their level of use and maintenance that require more than just agreement or disagreement, they require the use of grounded argumentation, which finds in school its most fertile field of development and one can not forget to also appeal to the technologies to build proposals to assist young students in this course. From this challenge arises the proposal of learning about Chemistry mediated by multimodality, term at first generic, but that we understand as the combination between modalities by explicitation of the learning by speech genres that circulate in printed and unprinted (audiovisual) media, using the narrative and expositive language containing conceptual and mathematical aspects, derived from activities such as experiments, games, projects, construction and operation of educational and scientific apparatus, among others, and with the support of information and communication technologies. In this research the use of multimodal learning materializes along the last two years of regular high school in cycles of increasing complexity in diverse classes in a public school. The production of the students at the end of each stage was analyzed and classified in the search of the obtainment of patterns of thought form and of level of processing graphic information, as well as possible restrictions to solve chemical problems. The results suggest that learning mediated by multimodality in the presented perspective contributes to the evolution of the forms of thought, as well as of the level of processing of graphical information, but when introducing a new genre of written discourse, inflections emerge in the increasing learning curve revealing dispersion of patterns, which indicates the need for teacher intervention with actions of retaking of concepts and monitored review. The production conditions and the school culture show themselves as external elements with strong power of restriction to the learning process.

This study is a response to shifts in literacy education produced by the new affordances of multimodal texts and changing social dynamics as a consequence of an increasingly digitised, networked communications environment. Acknowledging the powerful influence of the teacher on student outcomes, the study involved intervention in teacher professional learning as a means for influencing print based literacy pedagogy to incorporate multimodality literacy practices. This study is a case study of the professional learning of four teachers of primary school students over the course of eight months in a workplace based research project instigated by the researcher in her role reviewing early years literacy policy, programs and resources within the Department of Education, Victoria. Professional learning interventions deployed within a participatory action research methodology were found to be efficacious in involving case study teachers as researchers of their own practice and in enhancing teachers' professionalism in the operationalisation of multiliteracies. They also had the effect of impacting on professional knowledge, practice and identity. The study indicates that schemas emanating from the New London Group's multiliteracies theory acted as stimuli for expanding teacher repertoires of multimodality pedagogies, thereby addressing disjunctures between digitised multimodal literacy and the existing print based literacy pedagogical knowledge. The deployment of a 'multimodal schema' influenced teachers to expand the modes of meaning taught as literacy meaning-making resources. Deployment of a 'pedagogical knowledge processes schema' influenced teachers' reflective practices resulting in more knowing and purposeful pedagogical practices. Used as an analytical tool, a 'dimensions of meaning schema' also illustrated patterns in teachers' choices, revealing an arbitrary character in the development of a metalanguage for different modes of meaning making. Recommendations arising from the study addressed the areas of educational consultancy; educational filming; literacy policy development; multimodality; pedagogical knowledge processes; and participatory action research methodology. Future research agendas indicated by the findings were presented.

Abstract The purpose of this article was to examine how students learn French by integrating a multimode way of learning through literature, music, poetry, painting, reading, writing and IT in the classroom, in order to create understanding and motivation regarding the subject, but also a sense of cooperation and sensibility toward each one of the students Individual work. In the study of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables as a tool for learning and deepen understanding about human values, the focus was laid on essentials questions such as the question of good and evil which is the major theme presented in the novel. The results showed that the students developed a vast interest in literature and human condition and made progress in French in both oral and written work but also acquired more knowledge about the French history.

This study compares how newspaper yearbooks and current upper secondary school history textbooks represent the Cold War between the years 1985-1991. As earlier research, this multimodal study focuses discourses and images. In addition I examine the usefulness of mediatization as illuminating tool in this context. For these aims, I have constructed a three-step model, in which concepts from mediatization theory are operationalized, and combined with Theo Van Leeuwen’s social semiotic theory. This thesis compares 356 representations from two yearbooks to 16 ones from three textbooks. At present, historical images are neither addressed nor regulated in the national curriculum, yet both educators and researchers within the field of education address them. The contribution of this paper is hence to shed light on the complexity of images, which shows how their meanings, including degree of mediatization, depend on context. Thereby I add a new aspect to multimodal literacy research.