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Historical Timelines Analyzing Mutlimodal Text Design

Sonya Fox (Center for Learning Innovation Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Beryl Exley (Center for Learning Innovation Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Social Studies Research and Practice

ISSN: 1933-5415

Article publication date: 1 November 2009

Issue publication date: 1 November 2009

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Abstract

The recent focus on literacy in Social Studies has been on linguistic design, particularly that related to the grammar of written and spoken text. When students are expected to produce complex hybridized genres such as timelines, a focus on the teaching and learning of linguistic design is necessary but not sufficient to complete the task. Theorizations of new literacies identify five interrelated meaning making designs for text deconstruction and reproduction: linguistic, spatial, visual, gestural, and audio design. Honing in on the complexity of timelines, this paper casts a lens on the linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural designs of three pairs of primary school aged Social Studies learners. Drawing on a functional metalanguage, we analyze the linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural designs of their work. We also offer suggestions of their effect, and from there consider the importance of explicit instruction in text design choices for this Social Studies task. We conclude the analysis by suggesting the foci of explicit instruction for future lessons.

Citation

Fox, S. and Exley, B. (2009), "Historical Timelines Analyzing Mutlimodal Text Design", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 17-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-03-2009-B0002

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Publishing Limited

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