The Affordances of Haiku as a Multimodal Text

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings, and Multimodality SIG Poster Session

Abstract

Japanese textbook and everyday haiku, transcripts of interviews with a Japanese teacher, parent and student and one students’ haiku writing were analyzed by adapting design theory and social semiotics to code phrases and design aspects that referred to purpose, producer, user, context, and modalities. This revealed how haiku is presented in Japanese sixth grade language arts textbooks, how haiku is used for cultural purposes in Japan, and the multimodal affordances of haiku. Results indicate haiku is a dynamic form of expression in Japanese society, often represented in multiple modes. Changing modes of communication and new kinds of hybrid texts continue to influence daily life and can be included in school writing curriculum to authentically engage students.

Authors

• Lucy K. Spence, University of South Carolina

• Ayan Mitra, University of Connecticut - Storrs