The goals of this assignment are to provide you with an opportunity to:
apply the tools of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) to a multimodal text
explore the relations between language and other semiotic resources as they
are used together to make meaning in a text.
TASK
Write a commentary on the text on p. 5 of this document (see discussion on p. 4).
Your commentary should be a systemic-functional multimodal analysis of the text,
and should be based on (and structured according to) the pedagogical grammar of
multimodality we have built in APPL901 (Weeks 7-13), and which is given on pp. 2-
3 of this handout.
Grading criteria:
You should demonstrate your ability to:
identify the genre pattern or patterns relevant to a particular multimodal text
use the analytical tools explored in APPL901 to analyse a multimodal text
identify the ways in which different semiotic resources (e.g. language, image,
layout) make meaning
identify the relations between different semiotic resources
evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal text on the basis of your analysis
and:
address the assignment task directly and completely
write clearly and concisely in academic style
observe the word limits
refer to relevant sources in the literature where appropriate (note that due to
the nature of this assignment, you might draw very little on the published
literature)
provide a reference list citing all and only those references cited in the body of
your essay
use APA referencing style accurately and consistently.
2
APPL901: Pedagogical Grammar of Multimodality
Medium and Design (note – see p. 4)
What is the medium, and what options does the medium make:
o possible / impossible? (e.g. animation; colour, sound; permanence;
typeface vs handwriting)
o easy / difficult? (e.g. legibility, inclusion of image, quantity of text,
layout choices)
What elements are designed into the text? (e.g. templates in printing,
powerpoint, and web design)
Who chooses the design? How is the author constrained? How does this affect the
text? (e.g. text book vs teacher-developed materials; personal webpage vs
facebook page vs institutional page vs online newspaper page)
Production and Consumption
What aspects of production are relevant to consider, and what impact might they
have on the choices made? (e.g. production methods, materials and costs;
distribution)
What typical patterns of consumption are there, and what impact might they have
on the choices made? (e.g. time and place of viewing/reading, typical length of
time)
Purpose / Genre
What is the purpose of the text?
Is it similar to other texts is there clearly a genre it belongs to? Is it a mixed
text which draws on more than one genre?
Are any or all elements of the verbal generic structure encoded visually? Is there
any tension between the overall verbal structure and the overall visual structure of
the text?
Ideational meanings
What key Participants, Processes, Circumstances can you identify in language
and image (and other meaning systems if there are any)?
o Are they:
concrete or abstract?
everyday or technical?
How do semiotic resources other than language contribute to constructing:
o the topic of the text?
scientific?
political?
educational?
social?
o what is going on in the text?
action? (vectors)
classification / analysis? (relations)
How are image and language related?
o intersemiotic complementarity (repetition, part-whole, class-sub-class,
contrast, etc.)
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the experiential meanings in the language of the text?
3
Interpersonal meanings
How does the text construe interpersonal relationships between the writer, the
reader, and the content?
Is the language:
o objective / subjective
o factual / speculative
o neutral / evaluative?
Do the images construe relations as:
o distant or intimate (e.g. long shot vs close-up)
o equal or unequal (vertical angle)
o subjective or objective (perspective)
o real or not (modality)
o high contact or low contact (gaze)
o evaluative or neutral (attitude)?
To what extent, and how, do the visual semiotic resources work together with,
or against the interpersonal meanings in the language of the text?
Textual meanings
Does the text unfold or is it simultaneous?
o i.e. linear or non-linear, or in-between?
How does a reader/listener progress through the text? (e.g. left-right, topbottom, numbered sequence, through time)
o How can you tell?
e.g. positioning (left-right; top-bottom; centre-periphery),
vectors, salience, framing, linguistic indicators …
What aspects (if any) are highlighted / made salient? What devices are used?
o e.g. size, contrast, colour, shading
What elements are connected and/or separated using cohesive devices? How
are cohesive relations achieved?
o e.g. lines, arrows, proximity, colour, repetition, framing (includes
background colours, overlapping)
Is there reference from one semiotic resource to another in the text?
o e.g. pronominal reference from language to image
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the textual meanings in the language of the text?
4
Text for analysis
The text for analysis is on p. 5 of this document.
The text for analysis is a powerpoint slide.
The goals of this assignment are to provide you with an opportunity to:
apply the tools of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) to a multimodal text
explore the relations between language and other semiotic resources as they
are used together to make meaning in a text.
TASK
Write a commentary on the text on p. 5 of this document (see discussion on p. 4).
Your commentary should be a systemic-functional multimodal analysis of the text,
and should be based on (and structured according to) the pedagogical grammar of
multimodality we have built in APPL901 (Weeks 7-13), and which is given on pp. 2-
3 of this handout.
Grading criteria:
You should demonstrate your ability to:
identify the genre pattern or patterns relevant to a particular multimodal text
use the analytical tools explored in APPL901 to analyse a multimodal text
identify the ways in which different semiotic resources (e.g. language, image,
layout) make meaning
identify the relations between different semiotic resources
evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal text on the basis of your analysis
and:
address the assignment task directly and completely
write clearly and concisely in academic style
observe the word limits
refer to relevant sources in the literature where appropriate (note that due to
the nature of this assignment, you might draw very little on the published
literature)
provide a reference list citing all and only those references cited in the body of
your essay
use APA referencing style accurately and consistently.
2
APPL901: Pedagogical Grammar of Multimodality
Medium and Design (note – see p. 4)
What is the medium, and what options does the medium make:
o possible / impossible? (e.g. animation; colour, sound; permanence;
typeface vs handwriting)
o easy / difficult? (e.g. legibility, inclusion of image, quantity of text,
layout choices)
What elements are designed into the text? (e.g. templates in printing,
powerpoint, and web design)
Who chooses the design? How is the author constrained? How does this affect the
text? (e.g. text book vs teacher-developed materials; personal webpage vs
facebook page vs institutional page vs online newspaper page)
Production and Consumption
What aspects of production are relevant to consider, and what impact might they
have on the choices made? (e.g. production methods, materials and costs;
distribution)
What typical patterns of consumption are there, and what impact might they have
on the choices made? (e.g. time and place of viewing/reading, typical length of
time)
Purpose / Genre
What is the purpose of the text?
Is it similar to other texts is there clearly a genre it belongs to? Is it a mixed
text which draws on more than one genre?
Are any or all elements of the verbal generic structure encoded visually? Is there
any tension between the overall verbal structure and the overall visual structure of
the text?
Ideational meanings
What key Participants, Processes, Circumstances can you identify in language
and image (and other meaning systems if there are any)?
o Are they:
concrete or abstract?
everyday or technical?
How do semiotic resources other than language contribute to constructing:
o the topic of the text?
scientific?
political?
educational?
social?
o what is going on in the text?
action? (vectors)
classification / analysis? (relations)
How are image and language related?
o intersemiotic complementarity (repetition, part-whole, class-sub-class,
contrast, etc.)
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the experiential meanings in the language of the text?
3
Interpersonal meanings
How does the text construe interpersonal relationships between the writer, the
reader, and the content?
Is the language:
o objective / subjective
o factual / speculative
o neutral / evaluative?
Do the images construe relations as:
o distant or intimate (e.g. long shot vs close-up)
o equal or unequal (vertical angle)
o subjective or objective (perspective)
o real or not (modality)
o high contact or low contact (gaze)
o evaluative or neutral (attitude)?
To what extent, and how, do the visual semiotic resources work together with,
or against the interpersonal meanings in the language of the text?
Textual meanings
Does the text unfold or is it simultaneous?
o i.e. linear or non-linear, or in-between?
How does a reader/listener progress through the text? (e.g. left-right, topbottom, numbered sequence, through time)
o How can you tell?
e.g. positioning (left-right; top-bottom; centre-periphery),
vectors, salience, framing, linguistic indicators …
What aspects (if any) are highlighted / made salient? What devices are used?
o e.g. size, contrast, colour, shading
What elements are connected and/or separated using cohesive devices? How
are cohesive relations achieved?
o e.g. lines, arrows, proximity, colour, repetition, framing (includes
background colours, overlapping)
Is there reference from one semiotic resource to another in the text?
o e.g. pronominal reference from language to image
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the textual meanings in the language of the text?
4
Text for analysis
The text for analysis is on p. 5 of this document.
The text for analysis is a powerpoint slide.
The goals of this assignment are to provide you with an opportunity to:
apply the tools of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) to a multimodal text
explore the relations between language and other semiotic resources as they
are used together to make meaning in a text.
TASK
Write a commentary on the text on p. 5 of this document (see discussion on p. 4).
Your commentary should be a systemic-functional multimodal analysis of the text,
and should be based on (and structured according to) the pedagogical grammar of
multimodality we have built in APPL901 (Weeks 7-13), and which is given on pp. 2-
3 of this handout.
Grading criteria:
You should demonstrate your ability to:
identify the genre pattern or patterns relevant to a particular multimodal text
use the analytical tools explored in APPL901 to analyse a multimodal text
identify the ways in which different semiotic resources (e.g. language, image,
layout) make meaning
identify the relations between different semiotic resources
evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal text on the basis of your analysis
and:
address the assignment task directly and completely
write clearly and concisely in academic style
observe the word limits
refer to relevant sources in the literature where appropriate (note that due to
the nature of this assignment, you might draw very little on the published
literature)
provide a reference list citing all and only those references cited in the body of
your essay
use APA referencing style accurately and consistently.
2
APPL901: Pedagogical Grammar of Multimodality
Medium and Design (note – see p. 4)
What is the medium, and what options does the medium make:
o possible / impossible? (e.g. animation; colour, sound; permanence;
typeface vs handwriting)
o easy / difficult? (e.g. legibility, inclusion of image, quantity of text,
layout choices)
What elements are designed into the text? (e.g. templates in printing,
powerpoint, and web design)
Who chooses the design? How is the author constrained? How does this affect the
text? (e.g. text book vs teacher-developed materials; personal webpage vs
facebook page vs institutional page vs online newspaper page)
Production and Consumption
What aspects of production are relevant to consider, and what impact might they
have on the choices made? (e.g. production methods, materials and costs;
distribution)
What typical patterns of consumption are there, and what impact might they have
on the choices made? (e.g. time and place of viewing/reading, typical length of
time)
Purpose / Genre
What is the purpose of the text?
Is it similar to other texts is there clearly a genre it belongs to? Is it a mixed
text which draws on more than one genre?
Are any or all elements of the verbal generic structure encoded visually? Is there
any tension between the overall verbal structure and the overall visual structure of
the text?
Ideational meanings
What key Participants, Processes, Circumstances can you identify in language
and image (and other meaning systems if there are any)?
o Are they:
concrete or abstract?
everyday or technical?
How do semiotic resources other than language contribute to constructing:
o the topic of the text?
scientific?
political?
educational?
social?
o what is going on in the text?
action? (vectors)
classification / analysis? (relations)
How are image and language related?
o intersemiotic complementarity (repetition, part-whole, class-sub-class,
contrast, etc.)
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the experiential meanings in the language of the text?
3
Interpersonal meanings
How does the text construe interpersonal relationships between the writer, the
reader, and the content?
Is the language:
o objective / subjective
o factual / speculative
o neutral / evaluative?
Do the images construe relations as:
o distant or intimate (e.g. long shot vs close-up)
o equal or unequal (vertical angle)
o subjective or objective (perspective)
o real or not (modality)
o high contact or low contact (gaze)
o evaluative or neutral (attitude)?
To what extent, and how, do the visual semiotic resources work together with,
or against the interpersonal meanings in the language of the text?
Textual meanings
Does the text unfold or is it simultaneous?
o i.e. linear or non-linear, or in-between?
How does a reader/listener progress through the text? (e.g. left-right, topbottom, numbered sequence, through time)
o How can you tell?
e.g. positioning (left-right; top-bottom; centre-periphery),
vectors, salience, framing, linguistic indicators …
What aspects (if any) are highlighted / made salient? What devices are used?
o e.g. size, contrast, colour, shading
What elements are connected and/or separated using cohesive devices? How
are cohesive relations achieved?
o e.g. lines, arrows, proximity, colour, repetition, framing (includes
background colours, overlapping)
Is there reference from one semiotic resource to another in the text?
o e.g. pronominal reference from language to image
To what extent, and how, do the other semiotic resources work together with,
or against the textual meanings in the language of the text?
4
Text for analysis
The text for analysis is on p. 5 of this document.
The text for analysis is a powerpoint slide.
