“Creating a Space Where It Felt Like Theirs”: Multimodal Design in an After-School Program

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Multimodal Meaning-Making, Design, Composition, and Semiotic Perspectives (Table 27)

Abstract

The study presented in this paper explores important semiotic modes that were embodied within multimodal design in a free daily after-school program. Drawing upon the theories of multimodality, social semiotic, and design, this study was developed to extend the recognized boundaries of teacher discourse by locating some other semiotics beyond spoken or written language in an after-school setting. The study used qualitative methods including participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and the collection of multimodal data sources. For all of the collected data, I conducted a (multimodal) discourse analysis in four different Phases. The findings suggest that multimodal design not only infused the learners’ own culture but also fitted in broader goals of building a socially and culturally situated learning space.

Author

• Hengyi Liu, University of Southern Indiana