Multimodality and literacy practices in English: Exploring the role of multimodal texts in English language teaching in Norway

This article-based doctoral dissertation investigates multimodality in English as a school subject in Norway, more specifically in relation to literacy. Calls for more research on multimodality in English language teaching in Norway motivated this study. Furthermore, the recent curriculum inclusion of multimodal texts in the English subject increases its relevance for both practice and research. The overarching research question addressed is as follows: What role does multimodality play in the literacy practices of the English subject in Norway? Taking its theoretical starting point in a social semiotic multimodal perspective on learning, this dissertation includes three qualitative case studies. The data material consists mainly of texts and observations of literacy events, collected in three different contexts. The main contribution of this dissertation is increased knowledge about multimodality as an inherent, but little researched phenomenon within the field of English subject didactics and English teaching in Norway. Findings indicate that the English subject has a multimodal literacy practice on the input end of teaching. This practice is, however, largely silent and bound to traditions of scaffolding and notions of motivation. The dissertation implies that the production and recognition of multimodal texts as output as well as input is a natural and necessary step forward for English language teaching, especially considering the recent curriculum.Denne artikkelbaserte doktoravhandlinga undersøker multimodalitet i engelsk som skolefag i Noreg, med særleg fokus på literacy/tekstkompetanse. Meir forsking på multimodal tekstkompetanse i engelskundervisninga i Noreg har vore etterlyst, og motiverte denne studien. I tillegg har den nye læreplanen, som inkluderer multimodale tekster i engelskfaget, aktualisert denne studiens relevans for både praksisfeltet og forsking. Det overordna forskingsspørsmålet avhandlinga stiller er som følger: Kva rolle speler multimodalitet i engelskfagets literacy-praksisar i Noreg? Med teoretisk utgangspunkt i eit sosialsemiotisk multimodalt perspektiv på læring, inneheld denne avhandlinga tre kvalitative case-studiar. Datamaterialet består hovudsakeleg av tekstar og observasjonar av teksthendingar, samla inn frå tre ulike kontekstar. Hovudbidraget i denne doktorgradsavhandlinga er auka kunnskap om multimodalitet som eit ibuande, men lite kjent fenomen innanfor fagdidaktikk og engelskundervisning i Noreg. Funna tyder på at engelskfaget har ein multimodal literacy-praksis på input-sida av undervisninga. Denne praksisen er likevel stort sett taus og bunden til tradisjonar for støttande stillas og motivasjon som drivkraft. Avhandlinga antydar at produksjon og anerkjenning av multimodale tekstar, som output så vel som input, er eit naturleg og nødvendig skritt framover for engelskundervisninga, spesielt med tanke på den nye læreplanen

Exploring Multimodal Literacy in Language Teaching and Learning

Source at https://myersedpress.presswarehouse.com/browse/book/9781975502133/Data-Analysis-Interpretation-and-Theory-in-Literacy-Studies-Research.In this chapter, we present the research method we used to investigate multimodal literacy in an English-language classroom in a Norwegian lower secondary school. The analytic approach we present combines multimodal analysis with a design-oriented view on learning as a social meaning-making process. The analysis is applied in a smallscale qualitative study of multimodality and literacy in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in Norway. In what follows, we present how we dealt with observations, interviews, and learning materials from work with the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, 2007) in a Year 10 classroom. In particular, this chapter aims to demonstrate the process from data to multimodal analysis and go behind the scenes of writing it up. Multimodality serves the double role as an object of study and an analytical approach

T cell receptor binding affinity governs the functional profile of cancer-specific CD8+T cells

Antigen-specific T cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer via patient-derived T cells is an attractive approach to cancer therapy, with the potential to circumvent immune regulatory networks. However, high-affinity tumour-specific TCR clonotypes are typically deleted from the available repertoire during thymic selection because the vast majority of targeted epitopes are derived from autologous proteins. This process places intrinsic constraints on the efficacy of T cell-based cancer vaccines and therapeutic strategies that employ naturally generated tumour-specific TCRs. In this study, we used altered peptide ligands and lentivirus-mediated transduction of affinity-enhanced TCRs selected by phage display to study the functional properties of CD8+ T cells specific for three different tumour-associated peptide antigens across a range of binding parameters. The key findings were: (i) TCR affinity controls T cell antigen sensitivity and polyfunctionality; (ii) supraphysiological affinity thresholds exist, above which T cell function cannot be improved; and (iii) T cells transduced with very high-affinity TCRs exhibit cross-reactivity with self-derived peptides presented by the restricting human leucocyte antigen. Optimal system-defined affinity windows above the range established for natural tumour-specific TCRs therefore allow the enhancement of T cell effector function without off-target effects. These findings have major implications for the rational design of novel TCR-based biologics underpinned by rigorous preclinical evaluation

Effects of DHA- Rich n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Gene Expression in Blood Mononuclear Leukocytes: The OmegAD Study

Background: Dietary fish oil, rich in n-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs), e. g. docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), regulate inflammatory reactions by various mechanisms, e. g. gene activation. However, the effects of long-term treatment with DHA and EPA in humans, using genome wide techniques, are poorly described. Hence, our aim was to determine the effects of 6 mo of dietary supplementation with an n-3 FA preparation rich in DHA on global gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Methods and Findings: In the present study, blood samples were obtained from a subgroup of 16 patients originating from the randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled OmegAD study, where 174 Alzheimer disease (AD) patients received daily either 1.7 g of DHA and 0.6 g EPA or placebo for 6 months. In blood samples obtained from 11 patients receiving n-3 FA and five placebo, expressions of approximately 8000 genes were assessed by gene array. Significant changes were confirmed by real-time PCR. At 6 months, the n-3 FAs group displayed significant rises of DHA and EPA plasma concentrations, as well as up-and down-regulation of nine and ten genes, respectively, was noticed. Many of these genes are involved in inflammation regulation and neurodegeneration, e. g. CD63, MAN2A1, CASP4, LOC399491, NAIP, and SORL1 and in ubiqutination processes, e. g. ANAPC5 and UBE2V1. Down-regulations of ANAPC5 and RHOB correlated to increases of plasma DHA and EPA levels. Conclusions: We suggest that 6 months of dietary n-3 FA supplementatio

Search for diboson resonances with boson-tagged jets in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Narrow resonances decaying into WW, WZ or ZZ boson pairs are searched for in 36.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. The diboson system is reconstructed using pairs of large-radius jets with high transverse momentum and tagged as compatible with the hadronic decay of high-momentum W or Z bosons, using jet mass and substructure properties. The search is sensitive to diboson resonances with masses in the range 1.2–5.0 TeV. No significant excess is observed in any signal region. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching ratio to dibosons for a range of theories beyond the Standard Model. Model-dependent lower limits on the mass of new gauge bosons are set, with the highest limit set at 3.5 TeV in the context of mass-degenerate resonances that couple predominantly to bosons

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to τν in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for high-mass resonances decaying to τ ν using proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13     TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. Only τ -lepton decays with hadrons in the final state are considered. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1     fb − 1 . No statistically significant excess above the standard model expectation is observed; model-independent upper limits are set on the visible τ ν production cross section. Heavy W ′ bosons with masses less than 3.7 TeV in the sequential standard model and masses less than 2.2–3.8 TeV depending on the coupling in the nonuniversal G ( 221 ) model are excluded at the 95% credibility level

Multimodality - Literacy Practice - English

How is multimodality involved when educators design literacy events in the English classroom, and to what extent can this be seen in the pupils’ sign making? What makes up the multimodal ensemble in the literacy practice of English (in these selected literacy events)? How do the pupils make use of the modes available to them when they write an assignment? A range of modes is used in the teacher’s design, primarily to accommodate different learning styles. Written and spoken modes are dominant when it comes to assessment. Visual mode is given explicit attention in the learning process. Whether images are appreciated or even recognized as meaningful parts of pupils’ multimodal assignments, i.e. the learning outcome, is more ambiguous

Wiki, tekster og arbeidsmåter i morgendagens engelskfag: et eksempel fra lærerutdanninga

Artikkelen diskuterer hvordan wiki kan brukes i engelskundervisning for å la nye og tradisjonelle teksttyper møtes i digital interaksjon. Med utgangpunkt i begrepene multimodalitet, hypertekstualitet og prosessualitet diskuterer artikkelen et eksempel fra et undervisningopplegg for lærerstudenter. Basert på et bilde skapte studentene et felles nettsted og en kollektiv, fiktiv, men realistisk historie. Historien dannet så i neste omgang en ramme for produksjon av tekster i ulike modaliteter og sjangre. Bildet etablerte en bestemt historisk og kulturell kontekst som studentene aktivt måtte utforske for å skape sine tekster. Wikiens funksjonaliteter åpnet opp for samskriving, utvikling av ferdigheter for å tolke og skape tekster med sammensatte modaliteter, utnyttelse av hypertekstens struktur og samarbeid om tekstskaping som prosess på tvers av tid og rom. Dette er kunnskaper og ferdigheter framtidige lærere vil trenge

A Design-Oriented Analysis of Multimodality in English as a Foreign Language

This empirical article investigates multimodality in English as a foreign language, both as seen in the use of multimodal texts as artefacts and pedagogical texts for learning, and through an analysis of the multimodal learning designs. We present observations from a year 10 classroom in Norway that worked with the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, 2007). We explore a four-week teaching sequence, asking how different modes were involved when the educator designed literacy events around the novel, and how multimodality is present in the students’ meaning making. Our aim is to make explicit and discuss some of the silent literacy practices in English teaching at lower secondary level in Norwegian schools

Exploring Multimodal Literacy in Language Teaching and Learning

In this chapter, we present the research method we used to investigate multimodal literacy in an English-language classroom in a Norwegian lower secondary school. The analytic approach we present combines multimodal analysis with a design-oriented view on learning as a social meaning-making process. The analysis is applied in a smallscale qualitative study of multimodality and literacy in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in Norway. In what follows, we present how we dealt with observations, interviews, and learning materials from work with the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, 2007) in a Year 10 classroom. In particular, this chapter aims to demonstrate the process from data to multimodal analysis and go behind the scenes of writing it up. Multimodality serves the double role as an object of study and an analytical approach