Examining Play as Action Texts: Multimodal Interactions in Preschool

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Multiple Approaches to Play Research (Table 5)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze young children’s multimodal play. Utilizing multimodal interaction analysis, we examined the ways children used modes as semiotic resources to co-construct narratives. We video-recorded children’s play in preschool classrooms, constructed action-enhanced transcripts, and mapped the modal density of the play. Findings illustrate the ways children pivoted between physical materials and imaginary meanings to negotiate who leads and who follows, cast possible storylines, and try out social practices. Analysis of these children’s multimodal play revealed the ways free play and literacy-rich play discourses shaped their action texts. We propose multimodal play as a more useful framework for envisioning the role of play in contemporary early schooling.

Authors

• Jolyn Blank, University of South Florida

• Fatimah Almuthibi, University of South Florida - Tampa

• Terri L. Hubbard, Polk State College & University of South Florida

• Amanda Mirabella, University of South Florida - Tampa

• Leslie Reed, University of South Florida - Tampa