Bridging Multiliteracies in the First-Year Writing Classroom

Wise 1 Bridging Multiliteracies in the First-Year Writing Classroom Literacy pedagogy in the 21st century should address multiple mediums of communication – print and digital – and be supportive of a diverse student population. To accomplish this goal, a metalanguage needs to be developed for the classroom that responds to a multiplicity of semiotic systems and is supportive of diverse learners, including English Language Learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities (LD), students of low socioeconomic status (low SES), and minorities. In 1996 the New London Group (NLG) sought to address both of these literacy demands in their conceptualization of multiliteracies, which encompasses "the multiplicity of communications channels and media, and the increasing saliency of cultural and linguistic diversity" (63). The NLG suggested the development of a metalanguage, a functional grammar based in systemic functional linguistics (SFL), "capable of supporting sophisticated critical analysis of language and other semiotic systems, yet at the same time not make unrealistic demands on teacher and learner knowledge" (77). The field of multiliteracies is still in its infancy. Unsworth's Teaching Multiliteracies Across the Curriculum is, perhaps, the definitive textbook on multiliteracies. Additionally, an edited collection Multiliteracies in Motion: Current Theory and Practice was published in 2010. Although the NLG suggested the development of a metalanguage like SFL for the classroom over twenty years ago, not much progress has been made in this arena. Composition research into multimodality has mainly focused on student production of multimedia, which does not explicitly address the issue of developing methods to help students critically analyze multimedia. While multiliteracies has been explored within the context of K-12 education, little research has addressed the development of multiliteracies pedagogy in higher education, especially first-year writing. The field of rhetoric and composition needs a functional, rhetorical metalanguage to aid students and Wise 2 teachers in the systematic analysis of a variety of media while providing visible writing supports for all students. This paper documents a design-based research project implementing SFL as a metalanguage within the context of a first-year writing classroom to facilitate rhetorical awareness and critical analysis of visual and verbal literacies while also developing tools and genre-based models to support advanced writing in a variety of academic genres. Teachers and students need precise metalanguage, language about language, to analyze and produce advanced texts in the classroom. For example, teachers often describe a variety of genres all as "stories" (Genre Relations 5). The lack of precise metalanguage and knowledge about language (KAL) in the college composition classroom is the motivation for the current research project. This research project seeks to develop methods for using the SFL metalanguage in the college classroom. Research problems include using SFL: (1) to define complex writing tasks such as critical analysis; (2) to meaningfully bridge visual and textual literacies; and (3) to help all students gain control over socially valued genres through explicit staging of target genres and interaction through the teaching/learning cycle. The research questions are: • How can the SFL metalanguage be used to help students critically analyze multimedia (images, video, advertisements, websites, social media) and print texts? • How can the SFL metalanguage be used to bridge students' critical and rhetorical awareness and build meaningful connections between visual and verbal literacies? • How can the SFL metalanguage help support students' critical orientation to and control of academic genres (including the annotated bibliography, literature review, and argumentative essay)? Wise 3 • What are students’ views on the usefulness of the SFL metalanguage, and how do students see themselves using SFL in the future, both in and outside the classroom? This design-based research project documents the development of a Visual/Verbal Toolkit for bridging multiliteracies as well as the development and implementation of a genrebased pedagogy for supporting students' academic writing. The research takes place within the context of a first-year writing classroom at a public, four-year university during a unit on argumentation in which students research a controversial aspect of a brand or celebrity's advertising and produce an annotated bibliography, literature review, and argumentative paper. The research provides examples of students' visually analyses of websites and advertisements related to their brand. Students' feedback and suggestions are included to provide insights into the potential benefits of using SFL as a metalanguage to bridge multiliteracies and support academic writing. Literature Review Systemic functional linguistics (SFL), developed by Michael Halliday, is a metalanguage for analyzing texts' meaning within social context. Unlike formal grammar, SFL is a rhetorical metalanguage that analyzes how language construes meaning. In "Ideas About Language," Halliday juxtaposes formal grammar's prescriptive view of language as a set of rules to functional grammar's view of language as a resource. The origins of functional grammar can be traced all the way back to the sophists' rhetorical understanding of language (Halliday 25). The rhetorical nature of the SFL metalanguage is often overlooked and the affordances of SFL should be given serious consideration within the field of rhetoric and composition. Modern education has a poor track record meeting the literacy demands of ELLs and minorities: "Carhill, Suarez-Orozco, and Paez (2008) studied the language proficiencies of 274 Wise 4 high school ELLs who had, on average, attended U.S. schools for about seven years. Only 7.4 percent of the sample scored at or above the mean for English speakers of the same age" (Moore 4). Hattie's research on modern education's tendency to group students by ability levels "found that tracking has minimal effects on learning outcomes and profound negative equity effects ... the effects on self-concept were close to zero" (qtd. in Learning to Write 13). Instead of helping, Hattie found that "tracking 'limits students' schooling opportunities, achievements and life chances' and in the US 'minority students were seven times more likely to be identified as lowability than as high-ability students'" (Learning to Write 14). Though good intentioned, formal approaches to grammar and traditional literacy pedagogy may be doing more harm than good. Unsworth argues, "Historical and contemporary expressions of this view have sometimes aligned lack of attention to 'correct' grammar with a general decline in standards of behavior and social discipline" (Teaching Multiliteracies 24). Students who do not use "correct" grammar, especially ELLs and minorities, are often seen as language "deficient." For this reason, functional linguists have sought to create a visible curriculum to democratize educational outcomes as a matter of social justice. In studies of functional grammar in the U.S., such as the Language and Meaning Project, research has shown that learning a metalanguage, a language about language, like SFL increases beneficial literacy outcomes among students as well as increases attention-focusing and students' powers of noticing (de Oliveira and Schleppegrell 16). SFL-based genre pedagogy has proven to narrow the achievement gap between low and high performing students: "top students tend to grow at around 1.5 times expected learning rates, while the weakest students accelerate at up to 4 times their expected rates (Learning to Write 15). SFL has been particularly useful in providing Wise 5 ELLs with explicit and meaningful language instruction often overlooked by traditional language approaches (Moore 3). Researchers such as O'Toole, Kress, and van Leeuwen have more recently adapted the SFL metalanguage as a "descriptive framework that can be used as a tool for visual analysis" of alternative semiotic systems like images, video, websites, and sculpture (Reading Images 14). O'Toole's The Language of Displayed Art, published in 1994, was the first book to apply Halliday's metafunctions to an analysis of paintings, architecture, and sculpture, while Kress and van Leeuwen's Reading Images, published in 1996, applied SFL to an analysis of screen-based texts. In 1996 The New London Group's "A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies" popularized Halliday's multimodal approach within English Studies. The NLG suggested the creation of a functional metalanguage for teachers and students that addresses multiliteracies while also advocating for a curriculum based in design, operating within a sociosemiotic framework. However, much of the work in multimodality that followed became decontextualized from Halliday's original notions of language as social semiotic. Multimodal scholarship focuses primarily on the production of multimedia instead of its analysis with SFL. More recently, work into multiliteracies such as Unsworth's Teaching Multiliteracies Across the Curriculum has attempted to merge genre-based pedagogy with visual analysis, using SFL to bridge visual and verbal literacies within a sociosemiotic framework. Much of this work, however, has not been researched within classroom contexts. This project may be the first of its kind to research the bridging of visual and verbal literacies in the context of first-year writing while providing visible and meaningful literacy pedagogy for all learners. Wise 6 Methods Context and Purpose This design-based research is part of a larger project investigating the ways in which the SFL metalanguage can be used within first-year writing to help students critically analyze multimedia and textual sources while reinforcing beneficial literacy practices. In previous semesters, I have gathered theoretical knowledge on the SFL metalanguage and developed tools to support students' critical analysis of multimedia. This current phase of research seeks to develop theoretical models, methods, and instructional materials for using the SFL metalanguage to bridge the rhetorical and critical analysis of visual and verbal literacies while creating scaffolding and generic models in support of academic writing from a genre-based perspective. Research was conducted in the two sections of my first-year writing course at a mediumsized, four-year public university. About a quarter of the forty-eight students could be considered "non-traditional." After receiving IRB approval, the research project began approximately six weeks into the semester, during the introduction of Unit Two: Arguing from Sources. In Unit Two, students research popular and scholarly sources related to a controversial aspect of a brand or celebrity's advertising and produce an annotated bibliography, literature review, and argumentative paper. The unit requires students to analyze multimedia and textual sources while writing in a variety of academic genres. Teaching the SFL metalanguage is intended to facilitate the analysis of multiple media while supporting advanced academic writing. The SFL metalanguage for visual analysis was introduced to students in two thirtyminute sessions during the introduction of the annotated bibliography genre. The two thirtyminute sessions included a lecture with PowerPoint and handout explaining the terminology in detail. After the lecture, model visual analyses of several commercials, print ads, and websites Wise 7 were performed as a class. For homework, students completed a one to two page visual analysis of their brand/celebrity's website and an advertisement (either a commercial or print ad). Several days later, students completed a one to two page reflection on the potential affordances of using the SFL metalanguage for analyzing visual texts for homework. The SFL metalanguage for textual analysis was introduced in a thirty-minute session in week eight during the introduction of the literature review. After providing a lecture with Powerpoint and a handout detailing SFL textual analysis, students applied SFL and genre-based methods to rhetorically analyze a model literature review. In week ten, during the introduction of the argumentative paper, the concept of bridging multiliteracies was introduced – using the SFL metalanguage to analyze meaningful connections between visual and verbal literacies. In groups students used SFL and genre-based pedagogy to rhetorically analyze a model argumentative paper. Students also used SFL to analyze tabloid magazines, paying particular attention to how images and text combine to create new meanings. For homework, student completed a second reflection, asking students whether they found learning the SFL metalanguage and being provided with generic models helpful to their writing process, what connections they saw between visual and verbal literacies, and whether they believed learning the SFL metalanguage would be beneficial to them in the future. Throughout the study, it was emphasized to students that they were co-researchers in the research process, investigating a new metalanguage for analyzing visual and verbal literacies, researching innovative ways to apply the metalanguage, and providing valuable insights into the affordances of the metalanguage and its implementation in the classroom. Wise 8 Design-Based Research As this research is intended as a pilot study to develop theoretical models and methods to support the use of SFL within the local context of the university's first-year writing program, which could be further developed for wider use among instructors at the university and within the field of rhetoric and composition, design-based research was chosen as the research methodology. Designed-based research is an emerging research methodology that "involves multiple iterations of creating, piloting, refining, and then implementing and studying new innovations in authentic contexts of educational practice" (Schleppegrell 158). Unlike qualitative research, which seeks to answer the question "What is?," and quantitative research, which seeks to answer the question "What is best most of the time?," DBR seeks to answer the question "What could be?" (Moore 127). DBR often spans several years and is an iterative process that translates high-level theoretical frameworks into design principles and, finally, domain specific instructional theories (Moore 133). This research project could be considered to be in the second phase of the DBR process – translating theoretical frameworks into design principles and domain-specific instructional theories. As such, the research focuses specifically on the development of theoretical models and designs, not instructional activities, and their implementation within the classroom. The design principles for this research project are: • The SFL metalanguage contributes to meaningful analysis in the classroom and should not turn into a decontextualized skill of labeling or identifying parts of speech, like formal grammar. • The SFL metalanguage supplements classroom instruction and does not interfere with curricular goals. • The SFL metalanguage scaffolds and supports the success of all students. Wise 9 • The SFL metalanguage supports an explicit, visible, and meaningful literacy pedagogy by providing generic models for all target genres. Data Collection and Analysis Data collection in design-based research is a cyclical, iterative process of collecting and triangulating data, which "evolve and re-inform subsequent iterations in the design process" (Schleppegrell 157). Multiple data were collected, including students' visual analyses, narrativebased reflections, and extensive notes and designs. As the teacher-researcher, I paid special attention not to "introduce a power balance between the researcher and the individuals being studied" (Creswell 151). Making sure the research fell into the normal parameters of class instruction was essential. During the informed consent process, it was made clear to students that participation in the research project would in no way affect their grades or standing in the course and, although I would be collecting and analyzing all students' work, the inclusion of the work within the research project was voluntary and confidential. Students' visual analyses and narrative-based reflections were low-stakes assignments worth a few points, and students received full credit for completing the assignments. Data collection and analysis were ongoing throughout the research process. During the course of the study, I took extensive notes, designing and redesigning models and scaffolding to support advanced writing in academic genres. Classroom observations and student feedback and performance informed the design and redesigning process. However, coding and analysis of student data did not occur until the end of the research process. Data analysis was influenced by Creswell's model of qualitative analysis: "preparing and organizing the data ... for analysis, then reducing the data into themes through the process of coding and condensing the codes, and finally representing the data in figures, tables, or a discussion" (180). After organizing students' Wise 10 visual analyses, I began coding the data by hand, noting innovative applications of the SFL Toolkit. This included extensive memoing that eventually emerged into themes. SFL theory was used to organize and categorize the data. I drew from grounded theory the notion that "Theoretical categories must be developed from analysis of the collected data and must fit them ... Any existing concept must earn its way into the analysis" (Charmaz 511). This became particularly relevant to students' visual analyses because the category of Rhetorical Awareness spontaneously emerged out of the data, while I had been expecting to find examples of Critical Language Awareness. The emergence of Rhetorical Awareness as a category altered my research questions and refocused the research project, as I began to seriously consider the affordances of SFL as a rhetorical metalanguage, not just a metalanguage for raising critical awareness. The two major themes, or phases, that emerged from the visual analyses were Detailed Description and Rhetorical Awareness. These two phases were mapped onto the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions, which I recontextualized as Field, Interactivity, Design, and Language to more accurately reflect the affordances of multimedia. The two narrative-based reflections were analyzed more holistically in terms of identifying specific suggestions and feedback on three key areas: (1) the usefulness of genre-based pedagogy, models, and scaffolding in the support of advanced academic writing; (2) the connections students discovered between visual and verbal literacies; and (3) students' views on whether they would continue to use the SFL metalanguage in or outside of school, and any suggestions for teaching the SFL metalanguage to students in the future. The data was then triangulated to provide an understanding of the research questions: "data triangulation involves sampling data from multiple sources, which helps the researcher examine multiple aspects of the rhetorical situation" (DePew 53). Analyzing students' writing, along with the two narrative-based reflections, which Wise 11 were implemented at the beginning and end of the study and extensive research notes and designs helped to provide a detailed picture. Results Overview The following section first explains the development of several genre-based models for providing visible and explicit literacy pedagogy to support students. The models include the Teaching/Learning Cycle, the Onion of Critical Analysis, and the Toulmin Paragraph Model. I next discuss the development of the Visual/Verbal Toolkit for bridging multiliteracies. Finally, I provide examples of students' visual analyses, paying particular attention to the themes of Detailed Description and Rhetorical Awareness. Genre-Based Pedagogy Genre-based pedagogy is a literacy pedagogy based in SFL developed by the Sydney School, which adopts "the notion of 'guidance through interaction in the context of shared experience', a principle which turned out to resonate strongly with ... neo-Vygotskyan notions of 'scaffolding'" ("Designing Literacy Pedagogy" 1). Martin and Rose define genre as a "staged goal-oriented social process" (Learning to Write 1). A major aspect of genre-based pedagogy is the teaching/learning cycle (see fig. 1). Similar to the concept of "I do, We do, You do," the teaching/learning cycle first offers explicit modeling and scaffolding of a new genre, with strong classification and framing, while gradually handing over independence and control to students. The teaching/learning cycle consists of three stages – Deconstruction, Joint Construction, and Independent Construction: The Deconstruction phase foregrounds modeling, establishing one genre or another as the goal for the cycle as a whole; the Joint Construction phase involves scribing another Wise 12 example of the genre based on suggestions from students; and the Individual Construction stage hands over responsibility to students for writing a further text in the genre on their own. ("Designing Literacy Pedagogy" 1) Fig. 1 The Teaching/Learning Cycle The teaching/learning cycle was essential to the design of the course. Introducing a new academic genre requires an initial deconstruction phase in which context and field are established and explicit genre models are provided as the teacher leads the class in a detailed analysis of the genre, identifying the genre's various stages as well as the phases within each stage. Next, in the joint construction phase, students identify the various stages, phases, and rhetorical features of a target genre in groups. After completing the deconstruction and joint construction phases, students then begin constructing the target genre independently. After completing the rough draft, students do a peer-review. Additionally, the teacher provides comments on students' rough draft, which the students then revise, eventually submitting a finalized paper for grading. Care was taken to ensure that implementation of the teaching/learning cycle was in accordance with the design principles of the research project, specifically that genre-based Wise 13 pedagogy should provide visible scaffolding and supplement instruction, not interfere with curricular goals. To this end, Rothery's "Initial Curriculum Genre for Teaching Writing" was useful. Rothery conceptualizes genre-based pedagogy within a process pedagogy framework, which consists of seven stages: (1) Introducing a Genre; (2) Focusing on a Genre; (3) Jointly Negotiating a Genre; (4) Researching; (5) Drafting; (6) Conferencing; (7) Publishing (qtd. in Learning to Write 62). The last three stages – Drafting, Conferencing (including peer-review and teacher-student conversations), and Publishing – were borrowed directly from process pedagogy, allowing genre-based pedagogy to serve as a beneficial supplement to process pedagogy, which is an invisible pedagogy in that it features implicit hierarchy, sequencing of rules, and criteria (Learning to Write 16). Genre-based pedagogy uses Vygotsky's notion of the zone of proximal development to narrow the achievement gap between advanced and struggling students (Learning to Write 14). While advanced students may only need minimal supports to achieve the writing task, weaker students are given repeated interactions with the teacher and continual scaffolding until eventually nearly every student in the class is evaluated as successful (Learning to Write 14). The Onion of Critical Analysis Fig. 2 Annotated Onion Model (Humphrey and Economou) Wise 14 The Onion of Critical Analysis is a model borrowed from Humphrey and Economou, which was utilized to help provide a systematic understanding of the oftentimes vague term, "critical analysis" (see fig. 2). The Onion Model divides analytical writing into four levels, description, analysis, persuasion, and critique, and "encourage[s] literacy educators and subject teachers to develop a spiral rather than hierarchical pathway to support students in generating successful academic genres" (Humphrey and Economou 38). With this approach, students were taught how each analytical skill builds upon the other. Successfully learning "mere description" and analysis is essential to gain control over more complex skills such as persuasion and critique. Critique, the most complex analytical skill, requires control over all four analytical techniques. A discussion of the Onion of Critical Analysis prefaced the introduction of each academic genre, as the required analytical skills of that genre were identified. For instance, the annotated bibliography requires primarily description, the summary of sources, as well as analysis when evaluating sources. The literature review requires description, analysis, and persuasion. Students must describe sources, but also analyze sources by synthesizing them into an original analytical framework. Students also use persuasion by convincing readers their literature review contains credible, authoritative sources. During the literature review, it was emphasized to only describe, analyze, and persuade, saving critical argumentation for the argumentative paper to clearly distinguish between it and the literature review, as students often complain they do not see much difference between the literature review and argumentative paper. The argumentative paper utilizes all four types of analysis, each skill contingent on the next. In the argumentative paper, students were encouraged not only to "bolster" their argument with credible sources, but also to "burnish" them, critiquing and questioning authoritative sources and their brand. Wise 15 The Toulmin Paragraph Model Stage label Claim (topic sentence) Purpose/Function Language Features The overall answer to the prompt & overview of your reason(s) gives information about what’s going on in the story so the evidence will make sense to the reader Often uses a being process Might use “because” to introduce your reasons Circumstances of time and place Doing processes help to tell what was going on in the story. Evidence Use words from the text to prove your claim. Quote integration, signal phrase. Evidence has quotes around it. Interpretation TELLS what the author SHOWS in the story If your evidence uses doing or saying to show, you will choose a being or sensing process to help you tell your reader what it means. Evaluation judges the evidence based on prompt. This is your chance to explain the position you chose in the claim! Connects evidence to claim. Orientation to evidence Often uses a because word to help explain WHY it proves your claim. Table 1 Toulmin Paragraph Model (Adapted from Moore) The Toulmin Paragraph Model was adapted from Moore's work using Toulmin's theory of argumentation to scaffold students' writing of the character analysis genre. Moore discusses the original purpose of the model: "In an attempt to simplify the task, as well as provide detailed support, we opted to focus on teaching students to write one paragraph that did not include a proper introduction, but instead made a claim, presented evidence, and discussed the logical relation of the evidence to the claim" (74). Moore's model was recontextualized as a guide for students to write well-developed, argumentative paragraphs while not being overly constraining or prescriptive (see table 1). The model consists of five phases: topic sentence, orientation to evidence, evidence, interpretation, and evaluation. The model encourages students to begin a paragraph with a clear topic sentence, followed by several sentences establishing the topic, Wise 16 contextualizing, and orienting the reader to the evidence. Then evidence is provided, the evidence is interpreted (telling what the author shows), and finally the evidence is evaluated in terms of the paragraph's claim and the student's thesis. The Toulmin Paragraph Model was later adapted to support students' writing of the annotated bibliography and literature review to provide scaffolding for each major writing assignment (see appendix 1). The Visual/Verbal Analysis Toolkit The Visual/Verbal Analysis Toolkit was created to bridge visual and verbal literacies while reinforcing knowledge about language (see table 2). The toolkit draws on Kress and van Leeuwen's work in Reading Images as well as SFL textual analysis used in genre-based pedagogy. The visual/verbal metalanguages are bridged through SFL concepts such as the metafunctions and register as well as the shared terminologies of visual/verbal SFL analysis. The visual toolkit is organized around the metafunctions, which enact three overlapping types of meaning simultaneously: ideational (content), interpersonal (attitude), and textual (organization) (O'Halloran et. al 3). Textual analysis is organized around the concept of register, three variables corresponding to the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions, respectively: field (presenting ideas), tenor (taking a stance), and mode (structuring a text) (The Language of Schooling 47). Additionally, language is seen as operating on multiple levels: word (lexis), sentence (lexicogrammar), and text (discourse) (Moore 5). Field analyzes experiential meaning at the sentence level. Sentences consist of participants (nouns/noun phrases), processes (verbs), and circumstances (adverbs/adverbial phrases). Visual texts, on the other hand, consist of participants (humans, animals, objects), vectors (visible and invisible oblique lines showing action processes), and circumstances (context establishing where, when, why, and how). On the interpersonal level, participants of an Wise 17 image can either look directly at the viewer in a demand gaze, or look away in an offer. Demand and offer refer to the two types of linguistic exchange, one can either demand information/services or offer it. Modality refers to raising or lowering conditionality and intensity. In grammar, modality is achieved by using modals such as may, might, and must. In visual images, modality refers to the authenticity and truthfulness of an image. Typically, black and white images convey high modality because they appear unaltered, while bright, sensory images are considered low modality. Additionally, coding orientations refer to the types of imagery particular audiences value. High sensory coding orientations, seen in fast food advertisements and fashion magazines, use bright, sensory images to appeal to the consumer, while technological coding orientations such as maps and diagrams are valued in engineering and computer science. Natural coding orientations are the natural, real world view all audiences share. The textual metafunction in visual imagery analyzes a text's design, information value, and layout. The screen can be broken into four quadrants. The left side is called the given and usually features already known information, while the right side of an image is called the new, featuring a "twist" on the already known information. The top-half of a screen is called the ideal and usually features an imaginative, idealistic image such as a beach, while the bottom-half of the screen is known as the real and features more realistic imagery such as a picture of a product and details. The given/new and ideal/real can be mapped paradigmatically upon the screen creating informational value relative to the placement of text and imagery. In textual analysis, the given/new is called the theme and rheme. The theme refers to the first functional slot in a sentence and the rheme is the rest of the sentence. Theme/rheme can be used to analyze how the Wise 18 new of a sentence is repackaged as the given in the following sentence and can help promote cohesive writing (For a detailed explanation of the Visual//Verbal Toolkit see appendix two). Metafunction Ideational What the image represents. The narrative, themes, logical relations. The view of the world the image conveys. Interpersonal The interaction between the participant(s) in an image and the viewer. The mood an image conveys. The interactivity between software/hardware and user. Textual The arrangement or composition of an image. Register Field: context of activity Transitivity: Participants (noun/noun phrase) Processes- material (doing), mental (experiencing or sensing), relational (being or becoming), verbal (saying), behavioral (laugh, talk, cry), existential (exist, there is) Circumstances- when, where, why, how of process Mood: Statement/Question Modality Appraisal Framework: Affect- positive/negative emotion Evaluation- (appreciation) Judgment- (of character) Gradeability- low/high Engagement: Monoglossic/Dialogic Theme/Rheme Clause-complex Coordination/Subordination Genre: Stages Phases Rank: Word, Word group, clause Rank-shift Nominalization Table 1. Visual/Verbal Analysis Toolkit SFL Tools Narrative Representations Participant(s) Vector Actor/Goal Reactor/Phenomena Conceptual Structures Carrier/Possessive Attributes Taxonomies Demand/Offer Modality Modality Scale (Cline of Instantiation) Color, light, depth, brightness, representation, contextualization Coding orientations (technological, sensory, abstract, naturalistic) Given/New Ideal/Real Star Tree Table Network Information value Salience Syntagmatic/paradigmatic Wise 19 Visually Analyzing Websites and Advertisements This section provides examples of students' visual analyses of brand/celebrity websites and advertisements. Students used the visual toolkit and Aristotelian appeals to analyze multimedia. Visual analyses showed signs of detailed description (in-depth description of participants, color, design, text, layout, etc.) and rhetorical awareness (an explanation of how design elements convey ideologies and target specific audiences). While students' visual analyses in previous semesters exhibited detailed description, it was not until this semester that visual analyses consistently featured rhetorical awareness. The guiding design principle that the SFL metalanguage should always be contextualized and not merely be used to label features may have contributed to rhetorical awareness. This section provides two excerpts of students' visual analyses. Detailed descriptions are underlined and rhetorical awareness is italicized: Text 1 (Dove): The picture is basic in color, but it is appealing and draws the viewer's attention to the models, who are wearing all white, the color of innocence. Also, based on the color and quality of this advertisement, the image conveys a high modality because the models all appear natural and unedited. This advertisement demands their viewer's attention because all six of the models are looking directly at the viewer. The models are also all smiling, laughing, and having a fun time, showing the audience if they use Dove they will be more confident in their true skin and around other people as well. Text 2 (Duck Commander): Duck Commander's website has their duck logo in the top left corner with seven links beside that are in the order of Hunting, Food, Apparel, Home, Store, Faith, and Family. Next to that is a search bar. The Wise 20 first thing you see when you pull up the website is the slideshow of pictures that take up the top half of the screen. As you scroll down under the slide show you see in big bold black letters "SEE WHAT FOLKS ARE SAYING ABOUT #DUCKCOMMANDER... The website is very interactive allowing the use of hyperlinks, social media, and email subscriptions. The participants on the first half of the web page are the family members and each of them have a section of their own. Mrs. K. does most of the cooking and the men do most of the hunting equipment... In all of the pictures they have a demanding look drawing you in and many of the pictures are high modality. A few have bright colors like the cooking pictures to use sensory coding and draw you in and appeal to your senses. Many of the words used are more southern like "fixins," "y'all," and "Redneck." This makes many people think of southern living and southern comfort food. Most of the website is in a naturalistic coding orientation showing more of a down-to-earth family that loves the outdoors and isn't afraid to show and share their beliefs or change them for anyone. Discussion Students' visual analysis showed heightened attention detail. Students provided detailed description of layout and information value, for instance, identifying whether something appears in the top-left corner or the bottom half of the screen. Students also paid particular attention to the textual and navigational features of websites, intricately describing navigational buttons, search engines, hyperlinks, and table of contents. Yet, students not only described multimedia in Wise 21 detail, they also explored how elements construed ideologies and targeted specific audiences, showing rhetorical awareness. At times, the visual toolkit even helped facilitate critical analysis. The writer of Text 2 reported that the toolkit allowed her to deeply analyze her brand's advertisements: "Before learning about visual analysis I would have never been able to analyze the website and picture and would have just seen an advertisement." Applying the toolkit led the student to a critical argument on the ways in which Duck Commander's advertising normalizes outdated and potentially harmful notions of gender. As a metalanguage, SFL is incredibly flexible and facilitates rhetorical analysis on several levels, from the discourse level of the text itself, to extremely minute details. The metalanguage is especially useful for exploring the interpersonal and interactive nature of multimedia, analyzing how color and design construe mood and a sense of authenticity while targeting audiences. Supplementing the Aristotelian Appeals with the metalangauge provides a very thorough analysis of how multimedia designs convey experiential and interpersonal meaning. Overwhelmingly, students reported that being provided with visible genre models and scaffolding was beneficial to their writing process, and many students said they would like even more generic models and sample papers. While several students reported that they do not see themselves using the metalanguage again, many students said they could see themselves using the metalanguage in future courses as well as the professional world. Several students are studying to be teachers, and they said they could see themselves using these techniques to discuss multimedia and literature with students in their classroom. Also, students reported that learning a metalanguage raised their critical awareness and promoted media literacy, as they are now able to "read between the lines" of advertising and uncover their manipulative strategies. Wise 22 The study was not without it's limitations, the main issue being time. Students reported it would have been useful to have more practice with the metalanguage through drills, warm-ups, group work, and quizzes. Several students suggested time should be spent in the computer lab annotating advertisements with software. Another issue was the complexity of the terminology. Students found the terminology difficult to learn and did not always clearly see how the terminology applied to their advertisements. Several students reported the metalanguage was too in-depth, as they began overanalyzing and overthinking their brands' advertisements to the point that "their brain hurt." Some specific student feedback I will factor into the implementation of the metalanguage in the future is introducing textual analysis first by contextualizing textual analysis during discussions of readings. I also plan to provide more meaningful practice of the metalanguage during joint construction phases. Conclusion As one phase of a larger design-based research project, the study was successful in developing theoretical models to bridge multiliteracies and support academic writing. I am very thankful for my students, who served as co-researchers in what was a challenging and demanding process. With little preparation, they were able to use the visual/verbal metalanguage in innovative and critical ways. Their feedback and suggestions have been invaluable. In future research, I hope to develop a user-friendly multilitearcies pedagogy, so first-year writing teachers and educators within rhetoric and composition, as well as higher education in general, have a flexible language about language that can be used to analyze texts across the curriculum and support the literacy of all students. Wise 23 Works Cited Charmaz, Kathy. Grounded Theory: Objectivist and Constructivist Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000. Print. Creswell, John. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2013. Print. De Oliveira Luciana, and Mary Schleppegrell. Focus on Grammar and Meaning. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. De Pew, Kevin. "Through the Eyes of Researchers, Rhetors, and Audiences: Triangulating Data from the Digital Writing Situation." Digital Writing Research. Cresskill: Hampton, 2007. 49-70. Print. Fang, Zhihui, Mary Schleppegrell, and Annabelle Lukin. Reading in Secondary Content Areas: A Language-based Pedagogy. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 2008. Print. Halliday, M.A.K. “Ideas About Language.” On Language and Linguistics. Ed. Jonathan J. Webster. London: Continuum, 2003. Print. Moore, Jason. Explicit and Meaningful: An Exploration of Linguistic Tools Supporting ELLs' Reading and Writing in the English Language Art. Diss. U of Michigan, 2014. N.p.: n.p. n.d. Print. Humphrey, Sally L., and Dorothy Economou. "Peeling the Onion – A Textual Model of Critica Analysis." Journal of English for Academic Purposes 17 (2015): 37-50. Web. Kress, Gunther R., and Theo Van Leeuwen. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge, 1996. Print. Wise 24 Martin, J.R., and David Rose. Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. London: Equinox, 2008.Print. New London Group. "A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures." Harvard Educational Review 66.1 (1996): 60-93. Web. O’Hallaron, Catherine L., Annemarie S. Palincsar, and Mary J. Schleppegrell. "Reading Science: Using Systemic Functional Linguistics to Support Critical Language Awareness." Linguistics and Education 32 (2015): 55-67. Web. Rose, David. "Designing Literacy Pedagogy: Scaffolding Democracy in the Classroom." Continuing Discourse on Language. By J.R. Martin. London: Continuun, n.d. 1-26. Print. Rose, David, and J. R. Martin. Learning to Write, Reading to Learn: Genre, Knowledge and Pedagogy in the Sydney School. Bristol, CT: Equinox Pub., 2012. Print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. Print. Schleppegrell, Mary. The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. Print. ---. "The Role of Metalanguage in Supporting Academic Language Development." Language Learning 63 (2013): 153-70. Web. Unsworth, Len. Teaching Multiliteracies across the Curriculum: Changing Contexts of Text and Image in Classroom Practice. Buckingham: Open U, 2001. Print. Wise 25 Appendix I Annotated Bibliography: Print Sources Stage Citation Claim (topic sentence) Summary (description) Purpose/Function Provides bibliographic information of source Provides the major argument of the source in a clear, concise topic sentence. Describe the key claims, thesis, main points, findings, etc. Situate source within a larger conversation on advertising, branding, culture, academia, etc. Evaluation Proposed Use of Source Evaluate the credibility of the author and source. Identify type of source (primary, secondary, popular, scholarly). Identify the audience (academics? popular culture?). Objective view of the source. Analyze in terms of ethos, pathos, and logos. How will you use the source in your argument? Language Features MLA format, hanging indent, arranged in alphabetical order The author argues... The article describes... This article explores... In the article... The commercial begins... Explaining a theoretical framework, describing research methods, discuss findings. The research shows... The study suggests... The authors finds... Provides author's credentials Identify the journal. The author is... The article is... Evaluate the quality of the author and work. Use the pronoun I... I will use this source to show how... to compare to assess in order to show Wise 26 Annotation for Visual Sources Stage Citation Topic sentence Description (summary) Purpose/Function Provides bibliographic information of source Introduces source. Describe the setting, participants, action, circumstances Describe the action of the commercial or advertisement in detail so the reader does not have to refer to the source to understand the overall message, plot, deeper significance, or meaning. Target audience Identify the target audience of the source. Why? Analysis (marketing strategy) Explain the marketing strategy of the source. What advertising and persuasive appeals does the advertisement use? Analyzing source in terms of the Aristotelian appeals (Ethos, Pathos, Logos) is required. Analyze visual sources with visual analysis toolkit. Ideational (Actor/Goal, vectors), Interpersonal (demand/offer, modality, coding orientation), Textual (Given/New, Ideal/Real). Use tools to critically analyze source Connection to Societal Values Evaluation of Source Proposed Use of Source Connection to societal values, ideals, trends, events associated with your brand/product. Evaluation of the source's credibility and potential bias. How will you use this source to support your argument? Language Features MLA format, hanging indent, arranged in alphabetical order The commercial begins... The advertisement shows... Describe the action of the narrative in detail. Narratives often have an Orientation ^ complication ^ resolution structure. Pay attention to slogans, logos, dialog, design, color, spatial positioning Pay attention to participants, issues of class, gender, and social relations. The target audience is... Brand X markets to this audience... by... Wrangler uses Favre, who at the time was a well-respected American figure in the media, to advertise their jeans due to his popularity. This commercial uses appeals to logos by using logic and reason to describe why their jeans are the best. Identify type of source and evaluate its credibility in terms of author, publisher. Point out potential biases of source Use the pronoun I... I will show I will use this source to argue... This source will show. Wise 27 Literature Review Model Wise 28 Appendix II Visual Analysis Ideational/Representational- What does the image represent? What is happening or being depicted? What is the narrative and themes? What view of the world does the image convey? Interpersonal/Interactive- The interaction between the producer of an image and the viewer. The mood an image conveys. The interaction between the software, website, video game, etc. and the user. Textual/Compositional- How an image is arranged or composed. The layout. Typographywords. I. Ideational/Representational- What the image represents. Narrative Representations: Like traditional texts, images tell stories or narratives. Participants- The people, animals, and objects depicted in narratives. Vectors- Real or imaginary lines formed by participants' gaze, bodies, limbs, tools, objects. Vectors create action. The Actor- The participant from which the vector departs, the doer of the action. The Goal- The participant at which the vector is directed, the recipient of the action. Reactor/Phenomena- The reactor is the participant reacting to some sort of phenomena. Conceptual Structures: Show how participants fit together in logical part to whole relationships. Conceptual structures are analytical; they do not tell stories like narratives; they classify things. Carrier- The structure as a whole. Possessive Attributes- The parts or labels of a carrier. II. Interpersonal- Interaction between producer of image and viewer. Relationships of participants in images. The mood. Demand- When a participant looks directly at the viewer, demanding the viewer's attention. Offer- When a participant is looking away, subject to the viewer's gaze. Modality- The degree of truthfulness or authenticity an image conveys. Wise 29 Modality Scale- Modality operates on a sliding scale from the lack of a feature to its full use. High modality means a high degree of truthfulness. Low Modality means little truthfulness. Color Saturation- Runs on a scale from lack of color, black and white, to full expression of color. Black and white usually conveys authenticity and truthfulness, while full color is used in advertising and fashion, appealing to the senses to get people to buy stuff. Other Modality Markers- Light, Depth, Brightness, Representation, Contextualization (Background) Coding Orientations- Different social groups and audiences value different things. Technological Coding Orientations- Scientific blueprints, models, and diagrams aimed at highly educated scientists and engineers. Sensory Coding Orientations- Advertising, fashion magazines, food, interior design, featuring bright sensory colors, appealing to the senses, aimed at consumers. Abstract Coding Orientations- Abstract, conceptual art aimed at "serious" artists and sociocultural elites. Naturalistic Coding Orientations- The everyday, down-to-earth view of reality everyone shares. III. Textual/Compositional- The composition, layout, or arrangement of images. Given/New- When a screen is split vertically into left and right sections. The Given is already known information. The New presents new information. Ideal/Real- When a screen is split horizontally into top and bottom. The Ideal, the top half, displays "the promise" and is imaginative. The Real, the bottom half, is realistic, often showing the actual produce. The Given/New and Ideal/Real can be mapped onto the four sections of the screen, producing the Given/Ideal, New/Ideal, Given/Real, and New/Real, respectively. Information Value- You can judge the significance of a participant's placement by its relative spatial positioning. The Star- Has a central element called the nucleus with other elements surrounding it. The Tree- Shows how participants fit together in part to whole relationships, like a family tree. Table- Compares information in rows and columns. Network- Shows the links or connections between different nodes. Wise 30 Reading Websites- Describe as thoroughly as possible from ideational, interpersonal, and textual perspective. Pay attention to color, hyperlinks, navigational tools, interactivity, describe images, index, table of contents. Verbal Analysis Field/Ideational- Field refers to the subject matter, or activity of which the language is a part. Examples of fields include a research paper, advertising, tennis, rock music, politics, etc. Field uses the transitivity system of participants, processes, and circumstances. Tenor/Interpersonal- Tenor refers to the nature of the relationships among the people involved in using the language. These relationships include their roles as information givers or demanders and their roles in using language to provide or demand goods and services. It also includes their status as subordinate/superior, novice/expert, the relative power participants have in the context of situation, extent of contact, and the nature of the emotional relationships. Mode/Textual- Mode is concerned with the physical channel used for communication (oral/visual/text) and the medium of communication. I. Field- Sentences consist of participants, processes, and circumstances. Participants- Participants are nouns or noun phrases. The dog Participant bit process the postman participant yesterday. circumstance Processes- Processes are verbs. The process determines the types of participants – actor, senser, sayer, carrier, behaver. Types of Processes: -Material ("doing"): kick, run, paint, repair, send, burn -Mental ("experiencing" or "sensing"): see, hear, know, feel, like, love, detest -Verbal ("saying"): writes, says, argues, suggests, asks -Relational ("being" or "becoming"): be, have, am, is, was, are, becomes, seems Sometimes also recognized: -Behavioral (laugh, talk, cry, breathe) -Existential ("exist," "there is...") Circumstances- Adverbial and prepositional phrases. Tells the when, what, where, why, and how. Ex; in the morning, according to sources, at noon, consequently, because of the danger, silently, etc. Wise 31 Material Processes: John drove his car home. Actor Material Process gave Material Process Goal Circ: destination the book. Goal John Senser John saw Mental Process thought Senser John Senser Mental Process dislikes Mental Process Mary Phenomenon that Mary was coming. Phenomenon physics. Phenomenon John Carrier is Relational Process owns Relational Process is Relational Process said tall. Attribute Verbal Process a mysterious, faceless, bat-like man Existent Verbiage surrounded by bats at sunset. smelled the hot soup. Behavioral Process laughed Behavioral Process Phenomenon John Actor Mental Processes: Sensing Cognition Emotion Mary Recipient Relational Processes: John Possessor John Token Verbal Processes: Existential Processes: Behavioral Processes: John Sayer There is Existential Process George Behaver She Behaver Table 2. Transitivity Process Types a Mercedes Possession the president. Token that he was tired. Circ. manner loudly. Behavior on Friday Circ: when Wise 32 II. Tenor/Interpersonal- Tenor is the mood and social relations in a text. Mood- There are two major roles in linguistic exchanges: giving and demanding. There are two commodities that can be exchanged: information, and goods and services. There are four primary types of exchanges: offer, command, statement, question. The three types of English mood are the declarative (making a statement), interrogative (asking a question), and imperative (making a command). Role giving demanding Goods and Services offer (declarative mood) Here's some juice. command (imperative mood) Give me that pen! Information statement (declarative mood) Spiders have eight legs. question (interrogative mood) Are you ready to go? Appraisal Analysis- Appraisal analysis is a method for analyzing interpersonal meanings and emotions in texts. Affect- Expressing positive and negative emotions. I am so happy/ecstastic I passed the test! I feel sad, lonely, and terribly depressed. Judgment- (Ethics) Evaluating behavior. The politicians have undermined justice and are on the wrong side of the law. My dad is a brilliant inventor. Appreciation- (Aesthetics) Evaluating things, concepts, texts. I found the book fascinating, a page-turner. What a comfy chair! Graduation- Graduation, like modality, is a way of raising and lowering emotions. Graduation is often expressed through adverbs and adjectives. Raise- I am very upset. He was extremely mad. I am so tired. Lower- I am a little upset. He was slightly annoyed. This may indicate Modality- Can be thought of as the distance between yes and no. It represents degrees of inclination, obligation, probability, or usuality. Low can, may could, might Medium will would, should High must, ought to has to, had to Wise 33 Mood Adjuncts- Express probability, usuality, obligation, inclination, time. Comment adjuncts are an additional element like unfortunately, frankly, honestly, luckily, understandably, etc. Probability/obligation Usuality Presumption Inclination Time Degree Intensity certainly, surely, probably, perhaps, maybe, possibly, definitely, positively always, often, usually, regularly, typically, occasionally, seldom, rarely, ever, never, once evidently, apparently, presumbably, clearly, no doubt, obvious, of course gladly, willingly, readily yet, still, already, once, soon, just quite, almost, nearly, totally, entirely, utterly, completely, literally, absolutely, scarcely, hardly just, only, really, actually III. Mode/Textual- The mode of communication (oral, visual, print), medium, and the way information is organized. The Clause- The clause is the building block of sentences, containing a process, participant, and circumstances (optional). Clause Complexes- Clause complexes consist of two or more clauses. Clauses can be combined in two ways: coordination and subordination. Sentences can contain a combination of coordinate and subordinate clauses. Coordination- When clauses are joined by coordination, both clauses are said to be independent. The coordinating conjunctions, which combine two independent sentences, are FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Ex: I went to school, and then I went to work. I went to the store, but I forgot to buy cat food. Subordination- In subordinate clauses, one clause is dependent on the other clause for meaning. Subordinate clauses are not independent. Clauses that begin with conjunctions like when, because, although, after, are dependent on the other clause for meaning. Dependent clauses are moveable and can be placed at the beginning or end of a sentence. Ex: When a predator attacks, a spider runs down its burrow. Because the eucalypt forests are being destroyed, /the Australian koala is endangered. Although I overslept, I still managed to get to work on time Theme/Rheme- Sentences are structured to provide given, already known information, first and then new information. The theme is the first slot of a sentence and a sentence's "point of departure." The rheme is the rest of the sentence that provides new information. Wise 34 Ex: For one thousand years, whales have been of commercial interest for meat, oil, and whale bone. About 1000 AD, whaling started with the Basques using sailing vessels and row boats. Over the next few centuries, whaling shifted to Humpbacks, Grays, and Bowheads. Nominalization- Nominalization is a process whereby verbs become noun phrases that can then be the arguments of other verbs or the objects of prepositions. Nominalization is a pervasive feature of academic writing, as more information is densely packed into noun phrases. Ex: The telephone was invented. The invention of the telephone led to... She demonstrated the experiment. The demonstration of the experiment was performed by... We analyzed the result. The analysis of results revealed... Staging and Phases Texts can be broken into various stages, and within each stages, phases. For instance, a research article consists of the following stages: introduction, literature review, methods, discussion, and conclusion. Within each stage, such as the introduction, can be further divided into various phases. Putting It All Together... This metalanguage provides a way of analyzing how texts make meaning. You can apply this metalanguage to an analysis of texts in a variety of ways. Identify the clause or clauses in a sentence and determine whether the clause complexes are joined through coordination and subordination. How does using coordinate or subordinate clauses influence the meaning of the text? Pick a paragraph and identify all the participants. This should give you a good idea of the key concepts of a text and help you to summarize. Likewise, identify all the processes in a passage. Examining the processes will help you understand the action of a text as well as relations. Identify the themes in a paragraph. This will give you a good idea of what the paragraph is highlighting and help you see how new information is repackaged from old information sentence to sentence. Identify uses of nominalization and begin using nominalizations in your own writing to make it more condense, concise, and information-packed. Wise 35 Wise 36