Multimodality, Digital Technology, and Chinese Heritage Language Learning in a Community-Based Elementary Classroom

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Place, Memory, and Identity: Exploring Students' Ways of Knowing (Table 10)

Abstract

The proposed conference presentation reports the findings from a qualitative study examining children’s engagement with digital and non-digital multimodal texts for their heritage language learning in a community-based elementary classroom. The present study draws upon the literature review on social semiotics multimodality, Chinese heritage language learning, and digital technology. The ethnographic case study research design supported the inquiry. Data sources included weekly observations in the classroom, video recordings of class conversations, informal conversations with the teacher, and artifacts collected from the focal participants. The qualitative analysis enabled us to identify the themes: mobilizing texts and action modes to embody meaning-making and navigating game-based apps to review language learning. More examples will be provided at the conference.

Authors

• Aijuan Cun, University of New Mexico

• Zhen Yu, University of New Mexico

• Hyun Hee Bae, University of New Mexico