Responding to and Composing Multimodal Texts

By Claire Thickett

TPL Outcomes

• What is a digital multimodal text? • Where can I find the departmental resources? • Semiotic Systems • Link to Four Roles of the Reader • E Resources

Departmental Resources

Further Reading

Click on Resources Click on English

http://www.tale.edu.au/tale/live/teachers/shared/BC/Using-digital-and-multimodal-texts.pdf

Why have multimodal and digital texts become such a focus in the

new syllabus?

Activity 1 Think of a couple of literacy activities you have

participated in over the last 48 hours. Use Table 1 to record some details of the

activities. Discuss your personal audit with a partner or in

a small group.

What are Multimodal Texts?

• Multimodal texts convey meaning through a combination of elements that draw upon several semiotic systems.

• They draw upon and across the boundaries of the arts, performance and design disciplines, their knowledge, understandings and processes.

• The role of language in multimodal texts varies, is not always dominant and is only one part of the whole.

• In a multimodal text meaning is distributed across all elements (parts) and each element has a role in contributing to the overall meaning of the text.

Semiotic Systems Semiotic System Some examples of signs and symbols that

create meaning within them

Linguistic: oral and written language Vocabulary, generic structure, punctuation, grammar, paragraphing

Visual: still and moving images Colour, vectors, line, foreground, viewpoint

Gestural: facial expression and body language

Movement, speed, stillness, body position

Audio: music and sound effects Volume, pitch, rhythm, silence, pause Spatial: layout and organisation of objects and space

Proximity, direction, position in space

Activity 2

Look at the activities you have already recorded. Try to choose one that uses a traditional means of communication and one that chooses a new

means of communication. Use the table to record the semiotic systems

involved in: a) your literate behaviour b) the text itself

Discussion What changes need to be made to the way we

teach English to address this? What range of text types do you actively investigate with your students? Does the

balance reflect the range of text types and semiotic systems that your students come

across in their everyday lives?

The Four Roles of the Reader

Code Breaker

Meaning Maker

Text User

Text Analyst

Code Breaker Practices

• How do I crack this text? • How does the text work? • What do I know about texts like this that will

help me crack the code? • Is there more than one mode here? How do

they relate? • What are the conventions of the text? • How is the text organised?

Meaning Maker Practices

• How will the purpose and context of my reading influence my meaning making?

• What social, cultural, literacy and technology knowledge and experiences do I have to help me make meaning from this text?

• How are the ideas sequenced and connected? How does this affect the way I make meaning?

• Are there other possible meanings and readings of this text?

Text User Practices

• What is the purpose of this text and what is my purpose in using it?

• How have the uses of this text shaped its composition?

• What should I do with the text in this context? • What will others do with this text? • What are my options or alternatives after

reading?

Text Analyst Practices • What kind of person/people produced this text? • What are its origins? • What is the producer of this text trying to make

me believe or do? • What belief and positions are dominant or

silenced in the text? • What do I think about the way this text presents

these ideas and what alternatives are there? • Having examined this text what action am I going

to take?

Road Safety 2

Exploring Composing

Syllabus Definitions Composing

The activity that occurs when students produce written, spoken or visual texts. Composing typically involves: • the shaping and arrangement of textual elements to

explore and express ideas, emotions and values • the processes of imagining, organising, analysing,

drafting, appraising, synthesising, reflecting and refining

• knowledge, understanding and use of the language forms, features and structures of texts

• awareness of audience and purpose.

Texts Communications of meaning produced in any media that incorporate language, including sound, print, film, electronic and multimedia representations. Texts include written, spoken, non-verbal, visual or multimodal communications of meaning. They may be extended unified works, a series of related pieces or a single, simple piece of communication.

Types of Texts

Classifications according to the particular purposes texts are designed to achieve. These purposes influence the characteristic features

the texts employ. In general, texts can be classified as belonging to one of three types

(imaginative, informative or persuasive), although it is acknowledged that these

distinctions are neither static nor watertight and particular texts can belong to more than one

category.

Imaginative Imaginative texts – texts that represent ideas, feelings

and mental images in words or visual images. An imaginative text might use metaphor to translate ideas

and feelings into a form that can be communicated effectively to an audience. Imaginative texts also make new connections between established ideas or widely recognised experiences in order to create new ideas and images. Imaginative texts are characterised by

originality, freshness and insight. These texts include novels, traditional tales, poetry, stories, plays, fiction

for young adults and children, including picture books and multimodal texts such as film.

Informative These are texts that have the primary purpose of

providing information through explanation, description, argument, analysis, ordering and

presentation of evidence and procedures. These texts include reports, explanations and descriptions

of natural phenomena, recounts of events, instructions and directions, rules and laws, news bulletins and articles, websites and text analyses.

They include texts which are valued for their informative content, as a store of knowledge and

for their value as part of everyday life.

Persuasive These are texts that have the primary purpose of putting forward a point of view and persuading a reader, viewer

or listener. They form a significant part of modern communication in both print and digital environments. Persuasive texts seek to convince the responder of the

strength of an argument or point of view through information, judicious use of evidence, construction of

argument, critical analysis and the use of rhetorical, figurative and emotive language. They include student

essays, debates, arguments, discussions, polemics, advertising, propaganda, influential essays and articles.

Persuasive texts may be written, spoken, visual or multimodal.