rethinking)language)for)learning)

or,)
)
the)meanings)of)things)
Bill)Cope)and)Mary)Kalantzis)
University)of)Illinois)
)
)
)
)
Universidade*de*São*Paulo*
March*2013*
)
 ‘literacy’)
)
to)
)
‘literacies’)
(mulAliteracies))
 the)two)‘mulAs’)
)
(1))mulAmodality)
)
(2))variaAon,)change,)agency)
)
the)theory)side) the)pracAce)side)
) )
) )
) )
) )
#1)paGerns)in)meaning) #i)Scholar,)a)mulAmodal)web)
) wriAng)space)
) )
#2)differences,)agency) )
and)change)in) #ii)Learning*by*Design,*a)web)
meaning)) lesson)planning)space)
paGerns)in)meaning)(#1))
 #1a)
mulAmodality:)parallel)paGerning)
 Oral Meanings
A
ud
io
M
ea
ni
ng i ngs
s M ean
ten
rit
W

Gestural Meanings
Vi s
ua
lM
s ean
ing
ings

Spat
an
Me

ial M
e
c til

eanin
Ta

gs
the)mountains)loomed)large)…)
 disentangling)the)parallels))
)
five)quesAons)about)meaning)
•)Reference:*What)do)the)meanings)refer)to?)
)
•)InteracCon:*How)do)the)meanings)connect)
the)people)who)are)communicaAng?)
)
•)ComposiCon:*How)does)the)overall)meaning)
hold)together?)
)
•)Context:*Where)are)the)meanings)situated?)
)
•)Purpose:*Whose)interests)do)these)meanings)
serve?)
Over)the)course)of)a)number)of)lessons,)Robyn)had)the)students)
address)each)of)the)design)elements:)
)
Reference:*Who)and)what)are)in)the)story?)(Rosie)the)hen)and)the)
fox))How)are)they)represented)in)words,)images,)sound,)space)and)
gesture?)What)acAon)is)portrayed?)(Rosie’s)journey))
)
InteracCon:*How)is)the)producer)of)the)meaning)connected)with)
the)recipient?)(The)author)as)storyteller,)the)book)illustrator,)the)
video)maker)–)we)are)not)part)of)the)story)the)way)we)are)in)
games,)for)instance))
)
ComposiCon:*How)does)the)story)hold)together?)(The)way)the)
sentences)are)presented)on)the)pages)of)the)book,)each)part)of)the)
story)on)a)new)page))How)are)the)pictures)in)the)book)connected)
with)the)text?)What)does)each)example)of)wriAng)and)picture)tell)
you)that)the)other)does)not?)How)is)the)video)ordered)like)a)
storyboard?)
)
Context:*What)is)the)situaAon)of)the)text?)Where)would)we)read)
the)book,)or)watch)the)video?)Why?)
)
Purpose:*What)are)the)interests)and)moAvaAons)of)the)characters?)
(Rosie)vs)the)Fox))How)are)we)posiAoned?)(What)do)we)know)that)
Rosie)does)not)know,)and)the)fox)does)not)know?)What)is)the)moral)
of)the)story?))
Reference
(the meanings refer to ... who and what?)

Interaction
(the meanings connect who and what ... how?)

Compostion
(the meanings hold together ... how?)

Context
(meanings are situated ... where? when?)

Purpose
(the meanings are ... for whom? why?)
mapping)the)parallels)
)
 WRITTEN
REFERENCE Something specific: a person (who? = Mary), place (where? =
Champaign), time (when? = Tuesday), a thing or event (what?),
an action (walks)
Anything general: ‘people’, ‘walking’.
A characteristic: ‘red’, ‘2’, ‘many’
A relation: between, possession
INTERACTION Connections of actors: questioning/instructing/informing,
subject/object
Effects of action: active/passive, direct/indirect objects
Stance: in/formality, mood
COMPOSITION Arrangement of morphemes: word choice and positioning
Within-text pointers: ‘this’, ‘he’, ‘now’
Connectives: narrative, argument
Sectioning and Chaining: paras, heads
Medium: e.g. typography
CONTEXT Location: where the text is made, found
Outside-text pointers: shared assumptions
Comparison: analogy, metaphor
Other-text references: allusions, quotations, citations
Inclusions/Exclusions: mentioned and unmentioned things
Genre: textual resemblances
PURPOSE Engagement: e.g. objective/emotive, explicit/implicit
Interests of the creator: ideologies, identities, rhetorical
intentions
Roles for the reader: navigation paths, open and closed texts
!
VISUAL
Something specific: picture elements as defined by volumes,
shapes,
Anything general: icons, symbols
A characteristic: repetitions, colours, relative sizes
A relation: proximities, distinctions, possession, part/whole!
Connections of actors: placement of picture elements,
centre/margins, figure/ground
Effects of action: eyelines, signs of motion
Stance: planes of engagement with the viewer
Arrangement of morphemes: positioning of picture elements,
juxtapositions
Within-text pointers: vectors, vanishing points
Sectioning: left <-> right, top <-> bottom
Chaining: e.g. multiple images
Medium: e.g. cartoon, photograph
Location: where the image is made, found
Outside-text pointers: shared perceptual assumptions
Comparison: visual analogy, metaphor
Other-text references: visual allusions, collage
Inclusions/Exclusions: framing
Genre: kind of image
Engagement: e.g. realistic/abstract
Interests of the creator: ideologies, identities, rhetorical intentions
Roles for the reader: navigation paths
(next,)just)to)give)you)the)general)idea,)and)excuse)the)unreadable)slides)
…)it’s)all)at)literacies.com))
 WRITTEN
REFERENCE What do the meanings refer to?
• Something particular? e.g. words like ‘David’, ‘is walking’—proper nouns, nouns referring to specific things and verbs that refer to
specific actions. Includes:
o A person, who? e.g. words like ‘her’, ‘David’, ‘the doctor’.
o A place, where? e.g. words like ‘New York’, ‘the city’.
o A time, when? e.g. words like ‘Monday’, ‘this evening’—connected with the tenses of verbs.
o An object of interest, what? e.g. words like ‘David’s exercise class’, ‘fitness’.
• Something general? e.g. words like ‘people’, ‘to walk’—common nouns, verbs that refer to kinds of action.
• A characteristic? e.g. words like ‘tall’, ‘fast’, ‘many’; singular or plural; ‘the’ or ‘a’, comparatives—adjectives to describe nouns and
adverbs to describe verbs.
• A relation? e.g. words that connect meanings to each other like ‘is a kind of’, ‘is a part of’, ‘between’, ‘because’—prepositions in
phrases or clauses; markers of possession.
INTERACTION How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are communicating?
• How are the actors connected through the action described in the text? e.g. words expressing active/passive voice;
asking/suggesting/instructing; kinds of possibility such as indicating definite/maybe/maybe if.
• What are the effects of the action? e.g. who is the subject or object, direct or indirect objects.
• What is the writer’s stance? e.g. the formality or informality of the tone of a text; author commitment or affinity to the proposition;
voice/mood.
• What is the position of the reader? e.g. direct ‘you’ instructions, ‘it’ or ‘she’ in third party recount, more or less space for multiple
interpretations; direct representation/ metaphor/allusion; framing of writer/reader interactivity.
COMPOSITION How does the overall meaning hold together?
• Word choice and positioning? e.g. how a word fits with the surrounding text, repetition/non-repetition; emphasis/consistency of
reference/variety for style or deepening meaning.
• Within-text pointers?and their clarity/explicitness? e.g. thing-pointer words such as ‘this’, ‘that’ or ‘it’, time-pointer words such as
‘now’ or ‘then’, place-pointer words such has ‘here’ or ‘there’, and person-pointer words such as ‘he’ or ‘she’.
• Clause and sentence flow? e.g. narrative flow, logical connectives and argumentative clarity using subordinate clauses,
conjunctions, subject/predicate, given/new.
• Sectioning? e.g. commas, colons, semi-colons, long dashes and brackets for sections within sentences, punctuation for
sentences, paragraphing, sections and section heads, lists, tables, the text title.
• Chaining? e.g. the flow of sections.
• Media? e.g. handwriting, typography.
CONTEXT How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• Outside-text pointers? e.g. shared assumptions/explicitness about the social and physical setting.
• Comparison? e.g. analogy, metaphor, simile.
• References to other texts? e.g. allusion/explicit mention, quoting, informal/formal citation.
• Inclusions/exclusions? e.g. things deliberately or unconsciously not mentioned.
• Genre or resemblance to other texts? e.g. close adherence to genre/hybrid recombination of genres/departure from genre.
PURPOSE Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• What is the stance of the author? e.g. directly/subtly, emotive/objective, explicit/ implicit agendas.
• How does the author engage or attempt to get the attention of the reader? e.g. narrative interest, rhetorical effect.
• What are the interests of the writer that the text communicates? e.g. expressions of worldview/ ideology/ identity, visible/ hidden
biases.
• What roles does the reader have? e.g. directive/open navigation paths, such as a novel compared to a wiki.
• What reader interests does the text assume? e.g. interpretations it anticipates/fails to anticipate.
VISUAL
What do the meanings refer to?
• How have particular things, such as people, places, actions, processes and objects been depicted by using:
o line? (outline, defining features, length, angle, intersection, direction).
o form? (shape, size, volume).
o colour? (hue, density or brightness/dullness, tone or lightness/darkness).
o What persons are referred to—who? (e.g. a cartoon of a particular person)
o What places are referred to—where? (e.g. on a map, in a photograph)
o What times are referred to—when? (e.g. the hands of a clock, day/night, seasons, auras of the future/contemporary/historical,
timelines and charts)
o Which objects of interest are referred to—what? (e.g. an advertisement for a gym, a diagram of leg muscles)
• How have general concepts or kinds of thing been depicted? (e.g. an icon such as a plane on a ‘to the airport’ sign, a diagram showing how
something-in-general works, such as a human heart).
• How have the characteristics of these things been depicted, including:
o qualities? (e.g. perspective and proportion tells of ‘large’, blurring tells of ‘fast’).
o quantities? (e.g. numbers, one/some/many, less/more/most).
• How have the relations between things been depicted, including:
o part/whole?.
o possession? (an attribute or something owned).
o proximity? (e.g. near/far, juxtaposition/separation).
o similarity/dissimilarity? (e.g. sameness/contrast, continuity/discontinuity).
How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are communicating?
• How are people or things connected as actors in the image:
o by the placement of picture elements? (e.g. centre/margins, foreground/background, actor/goal, eyelines in images of people, focal
planes of detachment/engagement).
o by the depiction of movement and change? (e.g. trajectories, vectors, direction, interaction between picture elements, cause/effect).
• How is the viewer is connected to the image by:
o the kind of message? (e.g. information sign versus a command sign).
o the positioning of the viewer? (e.g. perspective, angles, vanishing points, framing, degree of detachment/involvement such as eyelines of
pictured people in relation to the viewer).
How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How are the picture elements arranged? (e.g. composition, foregrounding/backgrounding, framing or defining edges).
• How is the image sectioned? (e.g. left <-> right; top <-> bottom, centre <-> margin, dispersed/centred focus).
• How do the picture elements form an integrated whole? (e.g. similarities/contrasts, regularity/irregularity, symmetry/asymmetry, perspective and
translating three dimensions into two).
• What does the image point out? (e.g. prominence, figure/ground).
• How realistically are ideas or information are depicted in the image? (e.g. naturalistic or realistic depictions of concrete things versus caricature;
sketch or diagram versus iconic or abstract representation of ideas or feelings).
• How are images chained? (e.g. in an exhibition, a comic, the pictures in a children’s storybook, a slideshow, a video).
• How do media shape the image? (e.g. production and reproduction materials and technologies: brushstrokes in a painting, lines in a drawing,
the viewfinder of a camera).
How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• What is the location of the image, how does it point to its surroundings, and how do its surroundings point to it? (e.g. the painting in the gallery,
the map in the travel guidebook book).
• What visual references does the image use:
o to things in the world? (e.g. visual analogies, metaphors, imagery)
o to other images? (e.g. style conventions, motifs from other images, remixing, collage).
• What is the genre of the image, or similarities with a type or style or method of image making? (e.g. abstract expressionist painting, documentary
film making).
Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• What is the position of the image maker?
o What is the stance of the image-maker? (e.g. foregrounding-backgrounding, how the image is designed to make its point).
o What has the image maker included and excluded? (e.g. framing and perspective that includes some things and leaves other things out,
selective presentation of visual information).
o Whose interests does the image support? (e.g. an advertiser selling something or a scientist trying to persuade using a diagram depicting
scientific facts).
• What is the position of the viewer?
o How does the image maker attempt to engage or get the attention of the viewer? (e.g. where the viewers might be when they see the
image, what they might be expected to notice first, the mental images they may be expected to bring to the image).
o Where is the viewer placed (e.g. power perspectives such as looking up/looking down, appearances of objectivity and truth claims in the
form of direct frontal or perpendicular views such as plans and plans).
o What interpretation does the image suggest for the viewer? (e.g. the positioning of the viewer, things constructed as more/less salient, the
purpose or argument of the image).
 SPATIAL
REFERENCE What do the meanings refer to?
• How have particular spaces been presented, in plan or in reality? (e.g. edges, boundaries, volumes,
topographical features of a building or a landscape).
o How is the movement or positioning of people influenced by the space? (e.g. flows, places of
momentary stillness).
o How is location referred to? (e.g. placement, proximity/distance).
o How is time referred to? (e.g. time/space transpositions such as a five minute walk, a one day drive).
o How are things positioned in space? (e.g. a picture on a wall, an icon on a screen).
• How have abstract elements or general concepts been defined? (e.g. symbols used on plans or to help
navigate around a space).
• How are the characteristics of space defined? (e.g. quantities and qualities of size or scale,
continuity/repetition, more/less).
• How are spatial relations defined? (e.g. part/whole, possession, joining/not joining, sameness/contrast).
INTERACTION How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are communicating?
• How are spatial elements related? (conventions of front/back, points of entry/points of destination, outside
views/inside views).
• How are the connections between persons, spaces and objects configured? (e.g. ground level, floor levels,
viewing heights).
• How is movement anticipated and directed? (e.g. navigation paths in walkways, roads, train lines, flight paths).
• How is the user positioned? (e.g. the point of view constructed for the viewer, perspective, degree of
detachment/involvement).
COMPOSITION How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How are the spatial elements arranged? (e.g. in a whole architectonic space or landscape, where one space
ends and other starts, how the spaces are engineered to hold together or how they cohere)
• How is the space sectioned? (e.g. left <-> right; top <-> bottom, centre <-> margin).
• What does the space point out? (e.g. prominent/hidden aspects or functions).
• How does the space form an integrated whole?
• How are multiple spaces chained? (e.g. rooms in a building, buildings in a streetscape, cities in a landscape).
• How is the space defined by its media? (e.g. construction materials).
CONTEXT How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• What is the location of the space? How does it point to its surroundings and its surroundings point to it? (e.g.
settings assumed or referred to which are beyond the space, for instance a tree in a cityscape compared to a
tree in a forest).
• How does the space integrate or differentiate its insides and its outsides? (warm/cool, bright/dark,
open/secure, public-ness/privacy, enclosure/vista, divided/open).
• What does the space assume about the field of movement of its users? (e.g. the functional or aesthetic
expectations they may bring to the space, or spatial restrictions by social role such as in prisons and banks).
• What references does the space make? (e.g. spatial metaphors such as ‘this luxury store is like a rich
person’s house’, or battlements around prisons).
• What resemblances and differences in overall composition does the space have with other spaces and space-
making traditions (e.g. design motifs, building types, landscape forms).
PURPOSE Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• How is space structured around certain priorities? (e.g. housing versus travel).
• How is the space selectively configured to support a position or affirm a role or stance? (e.g. the visible/the
hidden, the public/the private, the lockable/the unlockable, its presences/absences, foregrounding-
backgrounding, suggestive navigation paths, how the space is designed for certain social practices).
• Whose interests does the space support? (e.g. the shopping mall compared to the park).
• What range of alternatives for action does the space suggest for the user? (e.g. from the positioning of
different types of user, such as cooks, waiters and clients in a restaurant).
TACTILE
What do the meanings refer to?
• What is the material form of the object? (e.g. how it feels, how is it distinguishable from other objects, by being
moveable/immovable, touchable/untouchable).
o Does it indicate a particular person? (e.g. a child’s favourite toy)
o Does it indicate a particular location? (e.g. a saucepan on a kitchen bench, a pen on desk).
o How is time referred to? (e.g. something that feels new or old)
o What particularities distinguish the object? (e.g. its function, a bowl compared to a saucepan)
• What general concept does an object represent? (e.g. a knife/cutting, a soft toy/friendship).
• What are the tangible characteristics of the object? (e.g. touch, taste, smell).
• What tangible relations are there in the object? (e.g. part/whole, possession, joining/not joining, sameness/contrast).
How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are communicating?
• How does the object connect with people in a meaningful way? (e.g. how objects are configured by their use or aesthetic
appeal).
• How is use anticipated and directed? How is the user positioned?
How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How is the object structured? What is its internal order? (e.g. the relation of components, inside/outside, visible/hidden)
• How does the object work? (e.g. the interactions of components and the effects of these interactions).
• How is the object sectioned, and multiple sections chained? (e.g. the parts of the object and how they are interconnected).
• How is the object defined by the materials from which it is made? (e.g. affordances/constraints).
How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• How/where is the object located? How does it point to its surroundings (e.g. different kinds of tables in different kinds of rooms;
a keyboard in relation to a computer in relation to a desk).
• How does the setting of the object anticipate patterns of use? (e.g. times of use, places of use, mobility of the object, different
kinds of use in different contexts).
• How does the object fit into the whole universe of meaningful things, from the highly local to the global? (e.g. how it works as a
type object).
• What kind of object is it? What are its resemblances and differences compared to other objects?
Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• How is the object structured around certain priorities?
• How is the object selectively designed or used to support a position or affirm a role or stance? (e.g. a gift/loan, something for
free/a commodity for purchase).
• Whose interests does the object support (e.g. private profit/an object in the public ‘commons’).
• What are its ancillary effects? (e.g. environmental, social, cultural, economic).
• What range of alternatives for action does the object offer, such as the different kinds of people whose roles and identities it
may support? (e.g. flexible/inflexible, restrictive/expansive, open/closed).
 GESTURAL
REFERENCE What do the meanings refer to?
• What is the particular meaning of a gesture? What is its distinguishable form?
(e.g. hand movement, body positioning and movement, posture, facial
expression, gait, direction of gaze, fashion, makeup, hairstyle etc.).
o How is personality referred to? (e.g. dress, demeanour).
o How is space and dimension referred to? (e.g. near/far).
o How is time referred to? (e.g. fast/slow movement, beat).
o How is an object represented gesturally? (e.g. mime).
• What general concept does a gesture represent? (e.g. ‘stop’).
• How are characteristics represented? (e.g. size, repetition).
• How are relations represented? (e.g. connection/disconnection).
INTERACTION How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are
communicating?
• How does the gesture position the gesture-maker?
• How might another person be expected to interpret the gesture? How does
gesture affect the interpersonal relations between participants? (proxemics e.g.:
doctor/patient, teacher/student, priest/congregation, touching).
COMPOSITION How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How is the gesture structured? e.g. the phases of a gesticulation: preparation,
stroke, retraction; or a sentence in deaf sign language.
• What are its internal components and how do they combine to make meaning?
(such as strongly/weakly integrated, action sequences, patterns of gesture
across a social interaction e.g. purchasing a cup of coffee, sending someone up,
role play, dance, theatre).
• How is a pattern of gesture and sequence of gestures integrated? (such as
demeanour, deportment, behaviour: formal/informal, anger/warmth, a
stranger/friendship/ intimacy)
• What are its perceptible ways of referring (e.g. literal or iconic tracing of a
movement, pointing to something, abstract-iconic representation,
naturalism/performance, spontaneous/premeditated, conscious/unconscious).
• How is the gesture defined by its bodily features and materials? (e.g. facial
expressions or clothing).
CONTEXT How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• How is the gesture framed by its context of situation? (e.g. uniforms, pointing).
• How does the gesture connect into a universe of gestural resemblances (such as
styles, fashion, forms of decorum (e.g. effeminate/masculine,
politeness/rudeness)?
PURPOSE Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• How does the gesture indicate certain priorities on the part of the person making
the gesture?
• How is does the gesture selectively support a position or affirm a role or stance?
(e.g. happiness/sadness, power/equality, sincerity/insincerity).
• Whose interests does the gesture support, and to what extent is this at the
expense of other interests? (e.g. concealment/transparency, bodily aura, magic
tricks).
• How do constellations of gestural meaning express feeling and identity? (e.g.
pretentiousness/authenticity, hierarchy/equality).
AUDIO
What do the meanings refer to?
• What is the particular meaning of the rhythm, pitch, volume, tempo, texture,
directionality of a sound? e.g. a bell ringing, a voice heard over background noise).
o How is a person noticeable in the sounds they make? (e.g. the sound of
walking, breathing)
o How is time referred to? (e.g. tempo, rhythm).
o How is place referred to? (such as sound distance and directionality e.g. the
sound in relationship to the conditions of its transmission and hearing).
o How is an object represented by its distinctive sound? (e.g. a shower compared
to an keyboard)
• What general concept does a sound represent? (a doorbell, a car horn).
• How is are the characteristics of the meaning represented in sound? (e.g. volume,
pitch, texture).
• How are relations represented in sound? (e.g. foreground/background sounds).
How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are
communicating?
• How do sounds position the sound maker? (e.g. a door opening, a steak frying).
• How might another person interpret the sound? (e.g. information, a warning).
How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How is the audio meaning structured? What constitutes
completeness/incompleteness? (such as a piece of music or entering-starting and
leaving ending a soundscape e.g. a song, a movement, a symphony; the sounds of
the street/the sounds of the store).
• What are its internal components and how do they combine to make meaning? (such
as sound sequence e.g. notes to bars to whole pieces of music).
• How is does an integrated set of sounds cohere? (e.g. musical scales, keys).
• What are the perceptible ways of referring (such as literal sound likeness/abstract-
symbolic reference e.g. a door bell compared to car horn).
• What media are used to make the sound? (e.g. voice, musical instrument, sounds
incidental to the use of an object).
How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• How is sound framed by its context of situation? (e.g. incidental sound/focused
sounds, prominent sounds/ambient sounds, such as sound effects in a movie, elevator
music, iPod music, live music performed in an auditorium).
• How does an audio meaning connect into a universe of sounds? (such as
soundscapes, musical keys, musical genres e.g. major/minor musical keys,
baroque/reggae genres).
Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• How do sounds or constellations of sounds establish certain priorities? (e.g.
warnings, mood in musical keys).
• Whose interests does the audio meaning serve? (e.g. ambient store music).
• What affinities does it express or suggest? (e.g. serious/easy listening music).
ORAL
What do the meanings refer to?
• What are the distinctive audible features of the speech? (such as rhythm, stress, tempo,
pausing and pitch: rising, falling, dipping, peaking).
o How is a person connected in speech? e.g. I am speaking, I am listening, I am
saying or hearing something about a person.
o How is time referred to? (e.g. live speech in the present, recorded speech to be
heard in the future.
o How is place referred to? (e.g. live speech here, recorded or transmitted speech
played somewhere else).
o How are things referred to? (e.g. the spoken words for things).
• What general concept does speaking refer to?
• How are characteristics referred to? Emphases, intonation e.g. happiness/sadness,
anger/even temper, fear, surprise, sarcasm.
• How are relations represented? (e.g. phrasing).
How do the meanings connect the people in the action and the people who are
communicating?
• How does the speech configure the persons involved? (e.g. a lecture, a conversation)
• What kinds of connections do the audible sounds of speech establish between
participants? (e.g. a statement, a question, a command).
• What patterns of emphasis are established within spoken meaning units? (e.g. stress
of the focal meaning-point or new information).
How does the overall meaning hold together?
• How are the units of speech marked by audio variation? (such as by pause and pitch
e.g. beginning/ends of oral information units).
• How do sound units cohere? (syllables, utterances - note phonemes have no meaning
in-themselves).
• How are meaningful sound variations chained? (such as prosody, poetics e.g. metre,
rhyme).
• What are the audible ways of referring in speech (such as literal/symbolic e.g. the
sound resemblance of onomatopoeia).
• How is the oral meaning expressed? (e.g. spoken or whispered close up/shouted from a
distance, speech with/without mechanical amplification, live/recorded speech).
How are the meanings shaped by where they are situated?
• How is speech framed by the context of its situation? (e.g. a one-on-one conversation, a
group discussion, a monologue, talking to oneself).
• How does the oral quality of an utterance fit into a wider framework of alternative modes
of speaking?
• What larger patterns of oral meaning does the utterance fit into by its overall modes of
resemblance/difference (e.g. accents, dialects).
Whose interests do these meanings serve?
• How does speech reflect or establish role differentials? (e.g. tones of expertise,
condescension, power).
• Whose interests does this way of speaking serve? (e.g. tones of pleading, haranguing,
ordering).
• What affinities does it express or suggest by its tone? (e.g. serious, playful).
 #1b)
mulAmodality:)paGerned)complementarity)
transliteraAons)are)pracAcal)
…)and)transliteraAons)can)help)us)learn)
 s ia
t he
es

Oral Meanings
na
Sy
A
ud
io
M
ea
ni
ng i ngs
s ean
te nM
rit
W

Gestural Meanings
Vi s
ua
lM
ean
s
ing
ings

Spat
an
Me

ial M
e
c til

Sy
eanin
Ta

ae n
gs

th s
es
ia
pracAce)excursion)(#i):)Scholar)
(and)now,)back)to)the)theory))
 #2c)
the)underlying)logics)of)meaning,)
or)how)the)mind)meets)the)world)through)representaAon,)
no)maGer)what)the)mode))
)
)
 communicaAon)

representaAon)
(some)theories)to)explain)how)we)mean))
 signs)
(a[er)Sassure))
cogniAve)layers)
(a[er)Pierce))
 meta- concrete
representation representation
(symbol system) (indicator)
concept experiential
representation meaning
(symbol)

Noun Dog Fido

that)was)words,)but)how)do)we)think)with)images?)
Meaning'1:'Icon'-'A)likeness)of)a)parAcular)thing.)
)
A)picture)is)not)the)thing;)it)is)a)representaAon)of)a)thing)through)a)
likeness.)
)
The)word)‘woof’)is)not)my)dog)barking;)it)is)a)representaAon)of)how)my)
dog)barks)through)a)likeness)of)the)way)my)dog)barks.)In)language,)iconic)
meaning)is)called)‘onomatopoeia’.)
)
A)plan)of)a)parAcular)building)or)a)map)of)a)space)is)not)the)building)or)the)
space)itself;)it)is)a)likeness)of)that)building)or)space.)
)
A)gesture)that)imitates)a)person’s)demeanour)is)not)the)demeanour)itself,)
but))represents)the)meaning)of)that)demeanour)through)likeness.)
)
An*icon*is*a*sign*that*stands*for*the*parCcular*thing*to*which*it*refers*by*
way*of*mimicry,*copying*or*imitaCon.*
Meaning'2:'Indicator'-'where)there)is)a)direct)‘poinAng)to’)
connecAon)between)a)sign)and)the)world)to)which)it)refers.)
)
A)thermometer,)an)object,)points)to)the)temperature,)a)clock)to)the)
Ame,)and)a)signpost)to)a)place.)
)
The)words)‘Julius)Caesar’)point)to)a)person.)
)
The)gesture)poinAng)‘over)there’)refers)to)something)you)can)see.)
)
The)sounds)laughing)and)grunAng)are)indicaAve)meanings.)And)when)
an)animal)makes)an)alarm)call)to)warn)its)fellows)that)it)has)seen)a)
predator,)it)is)engaged)in)this)indicaAve)kind)of)communicaAon.)
)
Indicators*are*signs*that*point*to*something*specific.*
Meaning'3:'Symbol'-'a)kind)of)thinking)that)only)humans)have)created,)and)that)
only)humans)can)pass)on)from)generaAon)to)generaAon)
)
Word)symbols)offer)no)immediate)or)direct)clues)as)to)their)parAcular)
meanings.)We)say)‘give’,)‘bird’,)‘marriage’;)each)word)is)a)symbol)of)an)idea)or)thing,)
and)the)word)itself)does)not)point)to)anything)other)than)what)we)as)humans)have)
learned)it)means.)Nor)does)a)wordaconcept)point)to)anything)specific)in)the)world.)There)are)millions)of)
instances)of)giving,)birds)and)marriages)in)the)world.)These)may)appear)to)be)quite)different)at)first)glance,)
yet)all)of)them)share)some)quite)complex)essenAal)meaning)characterisAcs.)
)
Visual)icons,)such)as)internaAonal)signs;)keys)in)diagrams;)or)works)of)art)that)
represent)not)just)a)parAcular)thing,)but)a)generalisable)idea;)or)colours)that)stand)
for)things)
)
Objects)that)stand)for)things,)such)as)sacred)objects)that)stand)for)religious)
concepts;)funcAonal)objects)that)stand)for)different)kinds)of)acAon)
)
Gestures)that)convey)general)messages,)such)as)shaking)or)nodding)your)head)to)
say)yes/no,)or)using)your)hands)to)say)stop/go)
)
Sounds)that)represent)signals,)such)as)a)doorbell)or)a)car)horn;)or)that)evoke)
atmospheres,)such)as)music.)
)
Symbols*form*systems*in*which*one*meaning*comes*to*be*defined,*not*just*in*
terms*of*the*concept*it*represents*in*the*world,*but*generaliCes*that*are*also*set*in*
relaCon*to*other*meanings*in*the*meaning*system*(chairs*+*tables*=*diningProom*
set).*
towards)concepts)
(a[er)Vygotsky))
symbolic)thinking)and)academic)literacy)
concepts)–)how)necessary?)
and)metaconcepts)–)how)useful?)
)
(cf)whole)language))
change,)agency)and)
)transformaAon)(#2))
 #2a)
notwithstanding)the)parallels,)the)modes)are)never)enArely)commensurable)
)
(and)the)incommensurability)of)the)medium)is)a)big)part)of)its)message))
 wriAng)
)
§)sequenAal)meaning)elements)
)
§)a)peculiar)reading)path)that)
)
§)prioriAses)Ame)

image)
)
§)simultaneous)meaning)elements)
)
§)a)peculiar)viewing)path)that)
)
§)prioriAses)space)
 speaking)and)wriAng)
)
(just)a)transliteraAon)of)the)sounds)of)speech?))
 #2b)
signifierasignified)disrupAons:)
)
ambiguity)
 metaphor)
(a[er)Lakoff,)Halliday))
the)infinite)variability)of)meaningadefining)contexts)
 #2c)
to)mean)is)to)transform)
)
(voice)a)the)nuance)is)the)message))
 (Available) Designs
Resources for meaning—found artefacts
of communication, tools for representation
and expressive materials that can be
reworked as a new message-prompt

Designing
Meaning-making work—reconstructing
available resources for meaning for the purposes
of representation and communication

(The Re-)Designed
New available designs—traces of meaning
which leave the designer and the world transformed
 (Available) Designs

Transformation
Designing
Learning

(The Re-)Designed
 #2d)
the)role)of)the)reader)
)
(a[er)Barthes)a)idenAty,)experience)and)context))
 Interpretation
Representation
Communication
Thinks Thinks about what
the other person is saying
Speaks
 Representation
Sense-making, making meaning for ourselves

An intention to communicate
Interpretation, a meaning to others,
representing to oneself framing a message-prompt
another person’s message

Communication
A message from one person that prompts
an interpretation by another, making meanings in our
interactions with others
then,)with)all)this)change,)agency)and)transformaAon,)
what)of)pedagogy?)
The knowledge processes end!
situated practice transformed practice

experiencing applying
the new creatively
experiencing applying
the known appropriately

conceptualising analysing
by naming functionally

conceptualising analysing
with theory critically

overt instruction critical framing

home
pracAce)excursion)(#ii))
CreaAng)a)‘Learning)Element’)
 literacies.com)
)
billcope@illinois.edu)
marykalantzis@illinois.edu)
)