Realization of Cultural Values and Trans-Languaging in The Visual Images of an Indonesian Picture Book

This study investigated the realization of cultural values and trans-languaging in a picture book. The current discussion of trans-languaging has been focused on the verbal texts found in school textbooks, children’s comics or conventional novels. On the other hand, the study offers insights into trans-languaging that is realized in a different semiotic mode, namely visual images. The primary data for the study is a picture book written by an Indonesian writer Clara Ng entitled ‘Kancil Yang Baik’.’. The main methodological tools for the study are Wei’s (2018) concept of translanguaging and Kress and Van Leuween’s (2006) concept of the grammar of visual design, focusing on the compositional function. The data analysis is conducted to elaborate on the features of cultural values and trans-languaging in the visual image format of the picture book. Further, interpretation will be made on the implications of how these features may be used in various reading activities. The results of the study indicate that visual images in a picture book are a rich source of cultural content. Therefore, it is advisable to optimize reading activities that also focus on the visual images of picture books. Keywords: translanguaging, picture books, visual images, cultural value

Understanding the roles of images and intermodal relationships for optimized use of visual and verbal resources in Vietnam’s textbooks for lower secondary levels

The study investigates the roles of images and intermodal relationships of both language and images in two English textbooks used in Vietnamese lower secondary schools, namely Tieng Anh and Solutions textbooks to gain insights on the ways to optimise the use of both language and images as resources in teaching and learning activities. Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) framework on the grammar of visual design is used to analyse the images, looking at the types of image representations and the compositional meanings. The language-image relationships in the books, on the other hand, are analysed using the framework of Intermodal Identification (Unsworth & Cleirigh, 2014). Intermodal identification is built on the notion that language complements the meaning of the image and vice versa. Language identifies image by glossing the image participants which are not encoded in the language elements. Image identifies language in three aspects: intensive to visualise quality such as shape, colour, or texture, possessive to visualise additional participants which are not explicitly addressed in the language and circumstantial to visualise the elements of locations in the language.  While image in textbooks has always been considered essential as a source of teaching and learning materials as well as helping students to learn, this study suggests that the role of image is augmented when juxtaposed with the accompanying language. The study implies the need for further investigation, for example in the classroom action research on how language and image resources can be utilised in teaching and learning activities.  Also, the result of the study may be replicated to analyse language-image relationship in different samples of textbooks.Keywords: images, language,English textbooks, language-image relationship/interactionMemahami peran gambar dan hubungan intermodal untuk optimalisasi penggunaan sumber visual dan verbal dalam buku teks bahasa Inggris untuk siswa sekolah menengah di VietnamPenelitian ini menyelidiki peran gambar dan hubungan antar moda dari kedua bahasa dan gambar dalam dua buku teks bahasa Inggris yang digunakan di sekolah menengah pertama Vietnam, yaitu buku teks Tieng Anh dan Solutions untuk mendapatkan wawasan tentang cara mengoptimalkan penggunaan bahasa dan gambar sebagai sumber daya di kegiatan belajar mengajar. Kerangka kerja dari Kress dan Van Leeuwen (1996, 2006) tentang tata bahasa desain visual digunakan untuk menganalisis gambar, melihat jenis representasi gambar dan makna komposisi. Kemudian, hubungan bahasa-gambar dalam buku dianalisis menggunakan kerangka Identifikasi Intermodal (Unsworth & Cleirigh, 2014). Identifikasi intermodal dibangun di atas gagasan bahwa bahasa melengkapi makna gambar dan sebaliknya. Bahasa mengidentifikasi gambar dengan mengilapkan peserta gambar yang tidak dikodekan dalam elemen bahasa. Gambar mengidentifikasi bahasa dalam tiga aspek: intensif untuk memvisualisasikan kualitas seperti bentuk, warna, atau tekstur, posesif untuk memvisualisasikan peserta tambahan yang tidak secara eksplisit dibahas dalam bahasa dan sirkumstansial untuk memvisualisasikan elemen lokasi dalam bahasa. Sementara gambar dalam buku teks selalu dianggap penting sebagai sumber bahan ajar dan pembelajaran serta membantu siswa untuk belajar, penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa peran gambar bertambah ketika disandingkan dengan bahasa yang menyertainya. Penelitian ini menunjukkan pentingnya penelitian lanjutan, misalnya dalam bentuk penelitian tindakan kelas untuk mengetahui bagaimana bahasa dan gambar dapat dimanfaatkan dalam kegiatan belajar mengajar. Juga, hasil penelitian ini dapat direplika untuk menganalisis hubungan bahasa-gambar dalam sampel buku teks yang berbeda.Kata kunci: bahasa, gambar, buku teks, bahasa Inggris, hubungan/interaksi bahasa-gamba

TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON THE VISUAL RESOURCES IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The prominent role of visual resources in language classrooms has long been advocated, as many argued that images could go beyond providing students with a visual background of the context or arousing motivation (Unsworth & Ngo, 2014). This article explores the roles of the visual resources drawn from an English textbook series used in Vietnamese schools, and the teachers’ reflections on their use of those visuals in practice. A qualitative approach was employed, involving in-depth interviews with teachers, along with an analysis of the visual resources using Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) framework of grammar of visual design. The findings show that the theoretical perspective resonates with the teachers’ reflection in using visual resources in teaching and learning activities. The findings confirmed the importance of visuals in teachers’ practices, but also highlighted the limitations of some images as useful resources for classroom learning. It was suggested that more attention be given to the multimodal nature of the text, and their significant contribution to meaningful learning activities. The selection of images in language textbooks should be more strategically and theoretically driven in order to prepare language-learning students with the ability to negotiate meanings across semiotic modes

Analysing engineering students' information retrieval behaviour using online databases as information sources

Students at the tertiary education level need the information to complete their assignments at the university. Information retrieval behavior among university students is interesting to study because it shows the ability of search techniques and the diversity of information needed. The researcher has extensively researched information-seeking behavior at this level of education. However, more needs to be explicitly performed on the information retrieval process conducted by engineering students. The purpose of the present study was to reveal engineering students' information retrieval behavior process when using information sources from online database websites through analysis the types of online database websites the students used as primary information sources, why the students used these websites, and identified the challenges in information seeking using online database websites. For this study, data were collected using an internet-based questionnaire distributed among students at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, ITS. The study results indicated that engineering students used search engines as the primary information source due to their richness and flexibility. In this case, we have found additional results regarding the patterns of presentation and the interactivity necessary to optimize the function of online database websites. Also, the study has found the challenges faced by students in retrieving information and how they overcome the situation by using different keywords

Multimodal literacy: Unfolding reading path in children’s picture book and its potential for EFL classrooms

This paper reports on an investigation into the reading path patterns in a children’s picture book. The primary investigation focused on the semiotic resources involved in the construction of meanings in picture books, i.e. language and image elements. These semiotic resources provide insights into the unfolding of the storylines in the observed picture book. In order to detail the roles of these resources, a picture book entitled Tacky the Penguin (Lester, 1988) was selected and examined by employing two methods: Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) structure of information value and Royce’s (1998) Intersemiotic Complementarity. The results of the analysis suggest that the whole picture book is built from a page-by-page reading path that allows for a linear and non-linear reading path. While each page presents a different layout of information value, the general pattern leads to a linear reading path from the beginning up to the end of the picture book. The mapping of the reading path is reinforced by the interrelated meanings between verbal and visual resources on the page. Drawing on the analysis results, this paper offers the delve into the flow of information from the language and image resources in the picture books that can be used to inform practical use of picture books in EFL classrooms

A Multimodal Semiotic Analysis of University Branding Posters and Films

Multimodal studies motivated by Systemic Functional Linguistics have grown in interest and reach in the millennium, with contributions at the theoretical and methodological level extending across an increasing array of semiotic modes. This thesis drew on developments in tools for multimodal analysis applied across ‘multi’ modes in the broad field of advertising. Specifically, the advertising in the study refers to university brand marketing, more specifically the brand marketing products of posters and short films published by the three public universities in South Australia, The University of Adelaide (UofA) Flinders University (Flinders) and The University of South Australia (UniSA). The primary tools for analysis were Baldry and Thibault’s (2006) Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis, and O’Halloran and colleagues’ (2013) Multimodal Analysis for Critical Thinking software package. These analytic tools were supplemented by developments in the study of other modes of meanings, including the work of Van Leeuwen (2011) on colour and Machin (2010) on music. The study also used the notion of intermodality, to consider how different modes work together in complementary ways to enhance the meaning making potential available to them separately. A detailed description, analysis and interpretation of the contribution of each semiotic mode used in the posters and films was undertaken, namely of the written language, spoken language, static images, moving images, static typography, kinetic typography, sound and colour, including how they were integrated intermodally. The study aimed to understand how the meanings in the posters and films were created from a multimodal perspective. It highlighted the vast range of meaning making resources at the disposal of the producers of these artefacts, and how the potential was actually realised in a small number of motifs which could be linked to each institution and its identity. The films had more resources to work with and with the use of these additional semiotic modes they had greater interpersonal potential to reach a target audience. There was also evidence of intermodal complementarity, or the relations of meaning between modes. The result of the study provides evidence that university brands are created from a combination of modes in their advertising posters and films. The modes feature consistently in the university brand artefacts to communicate the vision and mission relevant to a current strategic plan. The study also reveals that the university logo is a more permanent identity of a university, from which a brand originates.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 202

The selection of learning materials from Youtube resources for a Maritime English Course

The use of YouTube resources as learning materials becomes increased in English language teaching (ELT), especially when implementing the content-based instruction (CBI) approach. In addition to its importance during the recent global restriction caused by the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), one of the benefits of using YouTube is perceived to provide authentic learning, which can improve the student learning experience, hence prepare graduates in the future career. While several studies have shown the benefits of using videos in ELT classrooms, this study argues that consideration for suitability and relevance of the visual materials should include the contained meaning potentials; experiential, interpersonal, and textual aspects. The study analyzed three videos used as teaching and learning materials in a Maritime English course at a vocational university where the research was conducted. Foregrounded by SFL theories, the analysis of the videos utilized Multimodal Video Analysis (MMA) Software to present a selection process of teaching and learning materials in the form of YouTube videos. Findings show the specifics of the meaning potentials in the videos used for the teaching and learning materials of the Maritime English course. The results also highlight the positive qualities and drawbacks identified in the videos. Additionally, the findings of the study provide guidelines for selecting video materials suitable and relevant to the Maritime English course in vocational higher education in Indonesia

Communication Dynamics Between First-Year Doctoral Students and Supervisors

Building and maintaining a relationship with the supervisor is crucial for a doctoral student to guarantee stable progress. One of the important aspects is owing to both written and spoken communication, for example, in email and direct conversations. This study examines sample communication activitie of three Indonesian doctoral students and their supervisors to unfold the construction of shared values between them. An appraisal system analyses the linguistic mechanism of engagement, attitude, and graduation systems through which power and relationship are built between first-year doctoral students and their supervisors

Exploring augmentation of meaning through intersemiotic complementarity in children comic book series

Comic books are taking a new turn as a medium of learning. The combination of modes of visual and verbal in comics is a rich source of meanings. They are arguably one of the contributors to why comic books are considered as a form of reading materials for the purpose of language learning. With this regard, the present study is looking into a comic book series targeted for young readers, entitled ‘Little Dim Sum Warriors’. The overall aim of the study is to comprehend how the readers are likely to learn language with the comic. More specifically, the study addresses the details of the verbal-visual relation in LDSW and the prediction on how readers might be able to perceive the meaning-making process in LDSW. In doing so, the study analyzes the first two installments of the series in terms of the relationships between the verbal texts and visual images in terms of the ideational meanings. Data analysis is facilitated primarily using Royce’s (1998) framework of ideational Intersemiotic Complementarity to map out and categorize any instances of visual-verbal relation in the data in terms of the instances of repetition, synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, meronymy, and collocation. Through the analysis, the study found that the verbal-visual relations mostly fall into the categories of repetition and collocation, which further indicate that the repeated meaning in both verbal and visual aspects are found effective in learning language. Other relations, however, such as those that appeared as anonymy or synonymy, might require the attendance of teachers or parents to create a discussion with the young readers regarding the meaning-making process. The results of the study also implied some hints on how reading activities between parents and children may be conducted.

Using Digital Books and Comics in English Teaching and Learning Activities

This paper focuses on the implementation of linguistics theory, particularly in multimodality, to understand various forms of reading materials such as digital books and comics. This paper aimed to gain insights into how practitioners such as school teachers optimise the use of digital books and comics in English teaching and learning activities using well-informed theories. In addition, this study also described the perspectives of creative industry practitioners to contribute to the practice by giving insights into the production of digital books and comics. This research collected data from three sessions of workshop series where discussion results between the stakeholders, namely academicians, researchers, and teachers, were documented in field notes. The findings of this research imply that the multimodal theories and implementation were useful in understanding the use of digital books and comics. The workshop series was particularly effective, as can be seen through how the participants were enthusiastic about participating in this activity. Furthermore, all the participants can understand how theoretical knowledge is needed to support and develop their knowledge on optimally using reading materials in the form of digital books and comics. Keywords: multimodal texts, digital books, comics, reading materials