Hallidayan systemic functional descriptions of language, mainly focussed on verbal grammar, with the social semiotic descriptions of the meaning-making resources of images described in a grammar of visual design proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen. However, current research indicates that articulating discrete visual and verbal grammars is not sufficient to account for meanings made at the intersection of language and image. This paper adopts a systemic functional semiotic perspective in outlining a range of different types of such meanings in different kinds of texts, suggesting the significance of such meanings in comprehending and composing contemporary multimodal texts, and the importance of developing an appropriate metalanguage to enable explicit discussion of these meaning-making resources by teachers and students
The article explores the changes in digital technology over the years and considers how these changes have impacted on the meaning making resources of multimodal ensembles.
A comparison of texts through the decades looking at how multimodal tools for textual analysis can explain changes from a social, pedagogic and semiotic perspective.
A detailed description about how ESL teachers can help students improving their writing and reading skill by applying genre-based method provided by Caroline Coffin.
The paper describes how sociocultural discourse analysis was used to analyse talk in the primary classroom, which focuses on language and the social mode of thinking
In this article Halliday, questions the approach of language acquisition (syntax)with construction/semantics. He highlights that language is learnt through meaningful interaction with other people and making sense of the world in which we live is achieved through language. They key goal of interaction/making meaning is functional and communicative.
This paper describes a methodology for the analysis of classroom talk, called sociocultural discourse analysis, which focuses on the use of language as a social mode of thinking ñ a tool for teaching-and-learning, constructing knowledge, creating joint understanding and tackling problems collaboratively. It has been used in a series
of school-based research projects in the UK and elsewhere and its use is illustrated with data from those projects. The methodology is expressly based on sociocultural theory and, in particular, on the Vygotskian conception of language as both a cultural and a psychological tool. Its application involves a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and enables the study of both educational processes and learning outcomes.
In this article Halliday, questions the approach of language acquisition (syntax)with construction/semantics. He highlights that language is learnt through meaningful interaction with other people and making sense of the world in which we live is achieved through language. They key goal of interaction/making meaning is functional and communicative.
The result of over twenty years of research, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) is exactly what its title says it is: a framework of reference. It was designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.
The article concludes that pupils appreciate being stretched, and learn more when challenged and when they feel their opinions are valued. They were supported through scaffolding.
Exploration of teacher and high-school students' co-construction of word meanings through multimodal representations and sociopolitical reality of learners' lives.
Draws on recent developments in sociocultural theories of learning and SFL to analyse and articulare ESL pedagogy, and to present a model of scaffolding resulting from the research.
The characteristics of contemporary societies are increasingly theorized as global, fluid, and networked. These conditions underpin the emerging knowledge economy as it is shaped by the societal and technological forces of late capitalism. These shifts and developments have significantly affected the communicational landscape of the 21st century. A key aspect of this is the reconfiguration of the representational and communicational resources of image, action, sound, and so on in new multimodal ensembles. The terrain of communication is changing in profound ways and extends to schools and ubiquitous elements of everyday life, even if these changes are occurring to different degrees and at uneven rates. It is against this backdrop that this critical review explores school multimodality and literacy and asks what these changes mean for being literate in this new landscape of the 21st century.
Pupil talk and discussion are seen as having important social and cognitive outcomes. In science classes, pupils' collaborative talk supports the construction of meaning and helps examine the status of evidence, theory and knowledge. However, pupil interactive talk in groups is rare in science lessons. The research reported is part of a project to increase the amount of pupil-pupil talk in primary schools through a programme of teaching and professional development.
Creese criticizes the approach to CBLT in western countries. It has been claimed that the UK approach cannot be considered content-based language teaching. Creese’s study supports this, by arguing that:
•the EAL teacher does most of the language work while the subject teachers focus on the curriculum work
•when teachers focus on the referential (as opposed to metalinguistic) function of language they concentrate mainly on introducing new vocabulary.
Interest: private speech
When we communicate socially, we appropriate patterns and meanings of this speech and utilise it inwardly to mediate our mental activity, this is what is meant by private speech. Private speech need not be fully syntactic in its form, utterances are not intended to be interpreted by others; they are addressed by the learner to himself - links to the idea that each psychological function appears twice - once interpersonally and then again intra-personally; this intrapersonal processing is private speech. Private speech is a way of internalising linguistic features available in the speaker's environment, often achieved through imitation. we do this when we learn anything new???
This paper looks at how scaffolding can be applied in bilingual EFL contexts. Three features of scaffolding which are discussed at length are priming, prompting and dialoguing
This article defines the original concept of scaffolding as defined by Bruner, related to the notion of ZPD in Vygotsky. The study gives examples of the role talk can play in scaffolding students' learning. Maybin et al caution the reader that many factors need to be considered when undertaking an analysis of scaffolding.
This article describes how scaffolding can be successful and goes into conclude that there are 6 key ingredients for scaffolding learning: recruitment, reduction in the degree of freedom, direct maintenance, marking for critical features, frustration control, demonstration
In this article Halliday, questions the approach of language acquisition (syntax)with construction/semantics. He highlights that language is learnt through meaningful interaction with other people and making sense of the world in which we live is achieved through language. They key goal of interaction/making meaning is functional and communicative.
A practical strategy for improving students' reading comprehension skills. Appears relevant to my own context because of the difficulties experienced by learners. This is a simple yet effective strategy which could be incorporated easily into all lessons - I can see its relevance in CBLT and other reading education settings.
C. Coffin, and J. Donohue. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11 (1):
1 - 3(2012)<ce:title>English for Academic Purposes: contributions from Systemic Functional Linguistics and Academic Literacies</ce:title>.
J. Donohue. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11 (1):
4 - 16(2012)<ce:title>English for Academic Purposes: contributions from Systemic Functional Linguistics and Academic Literacies</ce:title>.