The interrelation between linguistic and visual modes in school science

: a study on a secondary 4 biology class in Hong Kong

Abstract

Due to technological advancement, particularly in computing, our learning environment is now saturated with visual images. Science, the major purpose of which is to make sense of the physical world, can provide a rich source of data for studying the interrelation between linguistic and visual modes in communication. This study investigated the kinds of explanation presented to a class of Secondary 4 science students during their biology lessons and from printed materials. Texts taken from printed materials and classroom presentations were selected to analyze how meanings were constructed. Concepts from systemic functional linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004), systemic functional description of image (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996) and the approach of Kress et al. (2001) to multimodal communication were employed in the analysis of the selected texts. In addition, Ogborn et al.’s (1996) conception of explaining science was used to select the appropriate texts for analysis. Although this study focused mainly on the linguistic and visual modes in explaining science, the actional mode inevitably needs to be dealt with when explanations are presented in a classroom context because abstract concepts are often explained by the use of models. Therefore, the meanings constructed through the manipulation of objects by the teacher in classroom presentations were also investigated. A complete analysis of multimodal explanations should also include the contributions from the users: how the learners actually receive and make use of the explanations presented to them. Students’ use of multimodal materials was examined by analyzing self-reported data on their preferences when viewing various types of image and writing presented to them, and by assessing their recall and comprehension of the information provided through various semiotic modes in the classroom. The implications of the findings are discussed from the point of view of science teaching as well as from a wider perspective of communication in general. This study may contribute to a better understanding, and thus a better use, of different meaning-making resources for producing multimodal explanations in the classroom setting and the printed format.

Date of Award	2 Oct 2008
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Rodney JONES (Supervisor) & Graham LOCK (Supervisor)