About the Book
This state-of-the-art account of research and theorizing brings together multimodality, learning and communication through detailed analyses of signmakers and their meaning-making in museums, hospitals, schools and the home environment.
By analyzing video recordings, photographs, screenshots and print materials, Jeff Bezemer and Gunther Kress go well beyond the comfortable domains of traditional sites of (social) semiotic and multimodal research. They steer away from spurious invention and naming of ever more new and exciting domains, focusing instead on fundamentals in assembling a set of tools for current tasks: namely, describing and analyzing learning and communication in the contemporary world as one integrated field. The theory outlined in the book is grounded in the findings of the authors’ wide-ranging empirical investigations. Each chapter evaluates the work that is being done and has been done, challenging accepted wisdom and standing much of it on its head.
With extensive illustrations and many examples presented to show the reach and applicability of the theory, this book is essential reading for all those working in multimodality, semiotics, applied linguistics and related areas. Images from the book are also available to view online at www.routledge.com/9780415709620/
Table of Contents:
Contents
Preface
1. Recognition
2. Sign making
3. Transformative engagement
4. Shaping engagement
5. Assessment & judgement
6. Gains and losses
7. Applying the framework
Index
About the Author :
Jeff Bezemer is Reader in Learning and Communication and Co-Director of the Centre for Multimodal Research at the UCL Institute of Education.
Gunther Kress is Professor of Semiotics and Education at the UCL Institute of Education. He is the author of many books including Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication (Routledge, 2010) and Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (co-authored with Theo van Leeuwen, Routledge, 2006).
Review :
‘Bezemer and Kress have produced what may well be the landmark text on multimodal analysis, the maturity of which can be judged from its bold and confident synthesis of data, method and theoretical implications, and from the profoundly innovative approach to learning it offers. This book enables us to imagine entirely new forms of research, and promises innovation in a wide variety of domains.’ Jan Blommaert, Tilburg University, Netherlands
‘This book is poised to make a seminal contribution in learning, communication, and multimodality. It challenges educators to recognise the signs of learning beyond contemporary measures and presents a productive framework around learning, in light of the social and technological changes in our world today.’ Victor Lim Fei, Singapore.
'The authors show high originality and independent thinking as they challenge spurious inventions and naming of ‘emerging new domains’, refuse traditional model of communication, and reject the centrality of language in the present era. The authors’ expertise in social semiotics and decades’ empirical researches in school education and other learning sites provide important insight into the nature of learning and communication. For researchers, teachers, and students interested in learning and communication, this book serves as a great theoretical guide, and it is also a good reference for researchers in semiotics, linguistics, education, and other related fields.' Tao Qu, Multimodal Commun. 2016; 5(2): 147–149
'Overall, this volume is impressive in establishing social semiotic generality for multimodal discourse analysis. Given its advanced theory, detailed elaboration and powerful implications, this volume is a valuable asset for faculty and students who are working in multimodality, social semiotics, discourse analysis, pedagogy and related studies.' Chunxu Shi, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, P.R. China
‘Bezemer and Kress have produced what may well be the landmark text on multimodal analysis, the maturity of which can be judged from its bold and confident synthesis of data, method and theoretical implications, and from the profoundly innovative approach to learning it offers. This book enables us to imagine entirely new forms of research, and promises innovation in a wide variety of domains.’ Jan Blommaert, Tilburg University, Netherlands
‘This book is poised to make a seminal contribution in learning, communication, and multimodality. It challenges educators to recognise the signs of learning beyond contemporary measures and presents a productive framework around learning, in light of the social and technological changes in our world today.’ Victor Lim Fei, Singapore.
'The authors show high originality and independent thinking as they challenge spurious inventions and naming of ‘emerging new domains’, refuse traditional model of communication, and reject the centrality of language in the present era. The authors’ expertise in social semiotics and decades’ empirical researches in school education and other learning sites provide important insight into the nature of learning and communication. For researchers, teachers, and students interested in learning and communication, this book serves as a great theoretical guide, and it is also a good reference for researchers in semiotics, linguistics, education, and other related fields.' Tao Qu, Multimodal Commun. 2016; 5(2): 147–
