Multimodal Argumentative Writing and Bilingual Learners' Development of Critical Language Awareness

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Multilingual Learners in Writing and the Content Areas

Abstract

This case study investigates the design process used by a sixth grade bilingual student in creating an argumentative multimodal writing project for an English language arts class. Drawing on social semiotics, it looks at how the student appropriated the semiotic affordances available in multimodal writing with a digital authoring tool, Glogster, and how multimodal writing practices shaped the bilingual learner’s development of critical language awareness in developing academic literacy. The findings show that the student (a) produced a multimodal ensemble that employed linguistic, visual, and aural modes; and (b) made semiotic choices that were appropriate to the writer’s purpose and audience, with a growing awareness of various semiotic modes and intermodal relations.

Author

• Dong-shin Shin, University of Cincinnati