Multimodal mediation in EAL teacher education: Scaffolding meaning-making and interaction through picturebooks


Abstract


This article explores the multimodal mediation strategies employed by student teachers during picturebook read-aloud performances in English as an Additional Language (EAL). The data for the present study was gathered during a postgraduate course at the University of Udine (Italy). Using Multimodal Interaction Analysis as an analytical framework, the study focuses on two self-video recordings of student teachers' read-aloud performances and employs an innovative approach to data visualization and analysis through TMA software to generate graphs for the visual representations of modal configurations. The article discusses the co-deployment of various semiotic resources, including spoken language, gestures, facial expressions, gaze direction, orchestrated by student teachers to scaffold meaning-making and engage an imagined audience of children. The findings reveal the central role of spoken language and prosodic features in student teachers’ mediation strategies, these are complemented by the strategic use of visual modes in specific sequences. The results emphasize the need for developing student teachers' multimodal awareness and reflective practices for picturebook mediation. The study highlights also the value of Multimodal Interaction Analysis as a tool for understanding and assessing multimodal practices and offering teacher educators insights into designing activities that promote effective multimodal mediation strategies.

Keywords: Mediation, Picturebook read-alouds, EAL teacher education, Multimodal Interaction Analysis, Modal Configuration

References


Barabási A.L. and Pósfai M. 2016, Network Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Bateman J.A. 2022, Growing Theory for Practice: Empirical Multimodality beyond the Case Study, in “Multimodal Communication” 11 [1], pp. 63-74.

Bateman J.A., Wildfeuer J. and Hiippala T. 2017, Multimodality. Foundations, Research And Analysis: A Problem-Oriented Introduction, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin.

Bertoldi E. 2024, Telling Tales about Nature in English L2: Selecting and Performing Picture Books for Children, in Gatti C.M. and Hoffmann J. (eds.), Storytelling as a Cultural Practice. Pedagogical and Linguistic Perspectives, Peter Lang Publishing House, Berlin, pp. 147-166.

Bertoldi E. 2025, Storytelling Events in English L2: Multimodal Orchestration in Picturebook Read-Alouds, in Mourão S. and Bennett K. (eds.), Mediation in Multimodal Literature, Education, and Translation: Picturebooks and Graphic Narratives, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 187-206.

Bland J. 2015, Oral Storytelling in the Primary English Classroom, in Bland J. (ed.), Teaching English to Young Learners. Critical Issues in Language Teaching with 3–12-Year-Olds, Bloomsbury Academic, London and New York, pp. 183-198.

Bland J. 2019, Teaching English to Young Learners: More Teacher Education and More Children's Literature!, in “Children's Literature in English Language Education” 7 [2], pp. 79-103.

Bortoluzzi M., Bertoldi E. and Marenzi I. 2022, Storytelling with Children in Informal Contexts. Learning to Narrate Across the Offline/Online Boundaries, in Sindoni M.G. and Moschini I. (eds.), Multimodal Literacies across Digital Learning Contexts, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 72-89.

Campagnaro M. and Goga N. 2022, Material Green Entanglements: Research on Student Teachers' Aesthetic and Ecocritical Engagement with Picturebooks of their Own Choice, in “Children’s Literature” 15, pp. 308-322.

Chafe W. 1987, Cognitive Constraints on Information Flow, in Russell S. and Tomlin S. (eds.), Coherence and Grounding in Discourse, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp. 21-51.

Daly N. and Blakeney-Williams M.M. 2015, Picturebooks in Teacher Education: Eight Teacher Educators Share their Practice, in “Australian Journal of Teacher Education” 40 [3], pp. 89-101.

Daly N. and Short K.G. 2022, Preservice Teachers' Encounters with Dual Language Picturebooks, in “Australian Journal of Teacher Education” 47 [7], pp. 76-89.

Daniel A.K. 2012, Storytelling across the Primary Curriculum, Routledge, London and New York.

Ellis G. 2018, The Picturebook in Elementary ELT. Multiple Literacies with Bob Staake’s BLUEBIRD, in Bland J. (ed.), Using Literature in English Language Education: Challenging Reading For 8-18 Years Old, Bloomsbury, London and New York, pp. 83-104.

Ellis G. and Brewster J. 2014, Tell It Again. The Storytelling Handbook for Primary English Language Teachers, British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/pub_D467_ Storytelling_handbook_FINAL_web.pdf. (21.01.2025).

Ellis G. and Mourão S. 2021, Demystifying the Read-Aloud, in “English Teaching Professional” 36, pp. 22-25.

Ellis G. and Mourão S. 2022, Identifying Quality in Asynchronous, Pre-Recorded Picturebook Read-Alouds for Children Learning English as Another Language, in Paran A. and Stadler-Heer S. (eds.), Taking Literature Online: New Perspectives on Literature in Language Learning and Teaching, Bloomsbury, London and New York, pp. 47-70.

Fleta T. 2019, Picturebooks: An Effective Tool to Encourage Children's English L2 Oral Production, in “TEANGA” Special Issue 10, pp. 243-261.

Hartmann E. and Helot C. 2021, The Three Robbers in Three Languages: Exploring a Multilingual Picturebook with Bilingual Student Teachers, in “Journal of Literary Education” 4, pp. 174-195.

Heathfield D. 2014, Storytelling with Our Students: Techniques for Telling Tales from Around the World, DELTA Teacher Development Series, London.

Hoffmann J. 2021, Student Teachers and Kindergarten Children Talking about Picturebooks. Focusing School in Didactic Research Labs at University, in “Journal of Literary Education” 4, pp. 69-95.

Kachel G., Hardecker D. and Bohn M. 2021, Young Children’s Developing Ability to Integrate Gestural and Emotional Cues, in “Journal of Experimental Child Psychology”, 201.

Kostecki-Shaw J.S. 2011, Same, Same but Different, Henry Holt and Co., New York.

Lim F. 2023, Mapping the Lesson: Network Graphs and Microgenres, in “Journal of Education for Teaching” 50, pp. 1-17.

Lwin S. 2020, A Multimodal Perspective on Applied Storytelling Performances. Narrativity in Context, Routledge, London and New York.

Masoni L. 2019, Tale, Performance, and Culture in EFL Storytelling with Young Learners. Stories Meant to Be Told, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne.

McIntyre N.A., Mainhard T. and Klassen R. 2017, Are You Looking to Teach? Cultural, Temporal and Dynamic Insights into Expert Teacher Gaze, in “Learning and Instruction” 49, pp. 41-53.

Monks L. 2013, Aaaarrgghh, SPIDER!, Pearson Education Limited, London.

Nikolajeva M. and Scott C. 2006, How Picturebooks Work, Routledge, London and New York.

Nodelman P. 1988, Words about Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books, University of Georgia Press, Athens.

Norris S. 2004, Analyzing Multimodal Interaction. A Methodological Framework, Routledge, London and New York.

Norris S. 2016, Interaction. Language and Modal Configurations in Multimodal Actions in the Art Classroom, in Klug N. and Stoeckl H. (eds.), Language in Multimodal Contexts, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin.

Norris S. 2017, Modal Density and Modal Configurations: Multimodal Actions, in Jewitt C. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis, 2nd ed., Routledge, London and New York, pp. 86-99.

Norris S. 2019, Systematically Working with Multimodal Data. Research Methods in Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Wiley, Hoboken.

Norris S. 2020, Multimodal Theory and Methodology for the Analysis of (Inter)Action and Identity, Routledge, London and New York.

O’Halloran K.L., Tan S., Pham D., Bateman J. and Vande-Moere A. 2018, A Digital Mixed Methods Research Design: Integrating Multimodal Analysis with Data Mining and Information Visualization for Big Data Analytics, in “Journal of Mixed Methods Research” 12 [1], pp. 11-30.

Stoeckl H. and Messner M. 2021, Tam Pam Pam Pam And Mi – Fa – Sol: Constituting Musical Instructions through Multimodal Interaction in Orchestra Rehearsals, in “Multimodal Communication” 10 [3], pp. 193-209.

Wright A. 2013, Stories as Symphonies, in Bland J. and Lüdege C. (eds.), Children’s Literature in Second Language Education, Bloomsbury, London and New York, pp. 205-215.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4 ویزای استارتاپ

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.