TY - JOUR
AU - Kaminski,, Annett
AB - Abstract This article provides a microscopic view of learners’ first encounters with multimodal texts in their primary EFL classrooms. It is argued that multimodal texts create opportunities for language development in the primary EFL classroom: they offer different access points for comprehension, invite participation, and motivate repeated practice so that samples of natural language are memorized and can become part of the learners’ own language repertoire. Audio-recordings of three sessions in different primary classes were analysed to gain a better understanding of young learners’ engagement with different types of multimodal texts, such as an action story and video clips of one song and one chant. The eight- to ten-year-old learners responded to the different modes of the input, i.e. movement, sound, image, and speech, by repeatedly joining in with accompanying actions and sound effects, and by imitating language unprompted. With every encounter with the multimodal text, their verbal contributions grew. Introduction Recommendations for the teaching of languages to young learners have stressed holistic, visual, and multi-sensory approaches to language learning that take into account age-related predispositions as well as children’s individual learning styles (e.g. Edelenbos, Johnstone and Kubanek 2006). As part of this concept, materials such as children’s stories, rhymes, and songs are seen as appropriate stimuli for classroom activities. It has been argued that stories, for example, ‘offer a whole imaginary world … that children can enter and enjoy’ (Cameron 2001: 159). Young learners find themselves transported into an alternative reality that is created by a symphony of multimodal features: there are words, of course, some ordinary, some archaic, some exotic that may rhyme and that may be repeated to evoke rhythm, there are very often also onomatopoeic expressions and accompanying illustrations or actions. This transforms the language learning context. The focus shifts from form to meaning, with the learner trying to understand what is going on in this alternative world. During picturebook sessions, for example, the combination of visual and acoustic elements of language is seen to support comprehension (Fleta 2017). It is the meanings that learners construct ‘from words and pictures’ that help them to ‘make sense of the world’ and of their own emotions (Ghosn 2013: 7). Experiencing the foreign language becomes a meaningful activity. At the same time, through listening to stories and poetry, children are sensitized to phonological, lexical, and grammatical patterns, which aids their linguistic development (Bland 2015; Fleta 2017). In recent years, stories, rhymes, and songs have more often also become accessible to learners through modern media outside school, and recent studies indicate that the visual and acoustic stimuli provided by these multimodal texts have a positive impact on language learning, especially on listening and speaking. In the ELLiE project, for example, EFL learners exposed to undubbed films and television programmes were found to reproduce multi-item sequences and to produce extended and elaborate questions and answers (Enever 2011). Out-of-school exposure to DVDs, messages on the internet, and video games seem to foster oral fluency, prompting researchers to advise teachers to use these ‘as input for classroom activities’ (de Wolf, Smit and Lowie 2017: 349). The challenge that teachers subsequently face is how to guide learners’ exposure to multimodal texts, and that requires an understanding of how exactly language learning is set into motion through multimodal features of a text. Multimodal texts in young learner’s EFL classrooms Multimodality refers to the fact that meanings are not only constructed and transmitted through language, but also through other modes, such as image, gesture, movement, music, or sound (Jewitt and Kress 2003). This means that all of these different modes can be tapped into for presenting and understanding new material in the FL. What do we already know about young learners’ encounters with multimodal texts in their EFL classrooms? The aesthetic effect of picturebooks, for example, is created through the interplay of pictures and words. Due to the fact that picturebooks are normally read out, learners experience them as multimodal texts of sound and images. Classroom research on using picturebooks can therefore shed some light on how learners respond to multimodal input. Mourão’s study (2013), conducted in a preschool EFL context, shows how peritextual features that frame the text, such as covers, dedication pages, titles, or illustrations, sparked the learners’ interest and stimulated predictions in the L1 about the evolving narrative and the use of English words that they already knew. Drama, another multimodal text, combines speech, background music, and special sound effects with visual stimuli in the form of actions, facial expressions, and the handling of props. When learners watch people interact in a play or when they act out a story, they join in a multimodal experience that allows them to draw on more than just language to understand what is going on. In drama projects that involved 9- to 12-year-old EFL learners, the analysis of questionnaires suggested not only a positive impact on motivation and self-confidence but also indicated that the great majority of learners, between 79 per cent in 2005 and 97 per cent in 2011, had understood most of the action presented in the FL (Bland 2014: 169–70). In another study with primary-school EFL learners aged between 8 and 11 years, story apps, which utilize illustrations, animations, and sound, were used to encourage independent reading. On the basis of video-recordings and learner interviews, these multimodal features were found to support the comprehension of the stories if they were ‘closely related to the textual information’ (Brunsmeier and Kolb 2017: 14). However, multimodal features that stimulate interaction that does not lead to better text comprehension seemed to distract learners, and were thus identified as problematic. Action songs, too, make use of different modes. Coyle and Gómez Gracia (2014) found that their very young learners of five years of age focused their attention on onomatopoeia and accompanying actions, rather than the lyrics of the song they were being taught. The multimodal features, it was suggested, should therefore not be emphasized by the teacher. However, a positive impact of multimodal input on memorizing FL samples has been indicated by a study on primary-level EFL learners’ reading skills. It seems that students can benefit from phonological training that makes use of video clips, and it has also been suggested that repeated encounters with melodies and memorable lyrics help children remember words and speech sounds (Fonseca Mora, Jara Jiménez and Gómez Dominguez 2015). While all of the above-mentioned studies indicate that learners are attracted to multimodal features, it is this attractiveness that also causes some concern, and thus the question of how these multimodal features can be utilized to impact positively on language learning is still unresolved. Purpose of this study A closer look is needed at how learners use different modes to access speech in the FL. This can best be done by observing what happens during the first moments of exposure to a multimodal text in the FL. This study aims to explore the following questions: 1 How do primary EFL learners respond to multimodal texts, e.g. verbally and non-verbally? 2 How do primary EFL learners construct meaning from these texts? Although the main focus will be on linguistic development for the purpose of this article, it is acknowledged that the use of multimodal texts in an educational context lends itself also to other aspects, such as improving intercultural competence or autonomous learning. The study The data presented here are part of a small-scale project that investigated the use of songs, chants, and stories in a primary school setting in a semi-urban context in Germany over a period of three years. The research project applied a multi-method design, involving questionnaires for teachers, classroom observation, as well as interviews with learners and teachers. In the following, I am going to draw on classroom observation data to report on three lessons that featured multimodal texts in the form of an action story and video clips of one song and one chant. Context and participants Learners were between eight and ten years of age. Two lessons were held in year 3 groups and one in a year 4 group. Classes consisted of 24 or 25 learners, of whom approximately 50 per cent did not speak German as their first language at home. From year 1 onwards, learners had been exposed to EFL sessions amounting to 50 minutes a week. All the lessons reported on here were conducted by a qualified primary school teacher who had received in-service EFL teacher training. The teacher spoke mainly English, and only used German occasionally for organizational and disciplinary remarks. Stories, songs, and chants had featured in the classroom before, but it was the first time that video clips had been used. Teaching material The story April Weather (Diekmann 2008) and the Every Kind of Weather Song (Boogie Beebies 2005) were both part of a unit on weather, and were used at a time when children had already been introduced to lexical items such as ‘What is the weather like?’ and ‘It is sunny, rainy, cold’. The action story is about a girl who decides to go for a walk because it is sunny. However, as she steps outside she notices that it is too cold, so she runs upstairs to get a jumper only to find that the weather keeps changing. Finally, she stays indoors and has a cup of hot chocolate instead. The text consists of a string of instructions with descriptions about the weather thrown in, such as ‘Look out of the window. It’s sunny’ (Diekmann 2008). There are accompanying actions that illustrate the character’s actions and the different weather conditions, and there are also onomatopoeic phrases to express the noise of the wind, for example. Meaning is therefore transported not only through speech but also through movement, image (because the children watch the teacher do the actions), and extra sound effects (e.g. onomatopoeia). The Every Kind of Weather Song is part of the Boogie Beebies series by the BBC. The DVD contains seven episodes that always follow the same structure, i.e. a warm-up and a main video. The song on the weather features in a main video that the teacher decided to show in parts. The learners were introduced to the song lyrics of the chorus by one of the presenters. She speaks and sings the lyrics, uses gestures for each type of weather, and talks about the dance moves. The meaning of the song lyrics is communicated through image, speech, movement, and extra sound effects (Table 1). Table 1 Multimodal features in song lyrics Speech Image Gestures* Sound* (e.g onomatopoeia) This morning there’ll be sun A weather map of the British Isles showing sunny weather Swoop up arms and make a big round sun It will be windy later on A weather map of the British Isles showing gale-force winds Pretend to be blown away uh::: Some heavy rain is on the way Raindrops falling on a rooftop Use hands for imaginary rain drops Pitter patter, here comes the rain The weather will be everything today Pictures of different weather conditions shown quickly Wriggle all your body Speech Image Gestures* Sound* (e.g onomatopoeia) This morning there’ll be sun A weather map of the British Isles showing sunny weather Swoop up arms and make a big round sun It will be windy later on A weather map of the British Isles showing gale-force winds Pretend to be blown away uh::: Some heavy rain is on the way Raindrops falling on a rooftop Use hands for imaginary rain drops Pitter patter, here comes the rain The weather will be everything today Pictures of different weather conditions shown quickly Wriggle all your body *Verbalized gestures and sound in italics View Large Table 1 Multimodal features in song lyrics Speech Image Gestures* Sound* (e.g onomatopoeia) This morning there’ll be sun A weather map of the British Isles showing sunny weather Swoop up arms and make a big round sun It will be windy later on A weather map of the British Isles showing gale-force winds Pretend to be blown away uh::: Some heavy rain is on the way Raindrops falling on a rooftop Use hands for imaginary rain drops Pitter patter, here comes the rain The weather will be everything today Pictures of different weather conditions shown quickly Wriggle all your body Speech Image Gestures* Sound* (e.g onomatopoeia) This morning there’ll be sun A weather map of the British Isles showing sunny weather Swoop up arms and make a big round sun It will be windy later on A weather map of the British Isles showing gale-force winds Pretend to be blown away uh::: Some heavy rain is on the way Raindrops falling on a rooftop Use hands for imaginary rain drops Pitter patter, here comes the rain The weather will be everything today Pictures of different weather conditions shown quickly Wriggle all your body *Verbalized gestures and sound in italics View Large The Football Warm-Up, also a video clip from the Get Ready to Boogie! production (Boogie Beebies 2005), is a set of instructions, such as ‘head and chest’, with occasional remarks of encouragement thrown in, such as ‘that’s it’. However, these instructions and remarks are repeated and spoken rhythmically like a chant, and in time with modern techno music playing in the background, reminiscent of a music video in which the modes of image, movement, and speech are carefully choreographed to create meaning. The video clip was used as part of a unit on football. Learners had already been introduced to some basic vocabulary, such as ‘soccer’, ‘referee’, and ‘goalkeeper’. Data collection and analysis As part of participant observation, data were collected in the form of fieldnotes and audio-recordings. All intelligible speech was transcribed and accompanied by remarks on background noise. This provided a full written account of the teacher’s and learners’ audible behaviour. For the purpose of this paper, I analysed transcripts for learners’ responses to the multimodal presentation of a story, song, and chant. Transcripts were screened for evidence of learners’ discomfort or confusion at being confronted with an unknown multimodal text in the FL, and for responses that indicate which features attracted learners’ attention, sustained their interest, and served as access points for a basic understanding of the text. Findings One of the most striking features that appeared in classroom discourse was learners’ determination to participate in the performance. The following extract from the storytelling of April Weather (Table 2) illustrates characteristic behaviour that could be observed for all the multimodal texts and across different groups of learners. Right from the start, learners joined in with the teacher (Turns 1–2). Their contributions were non-verbal as well as verbal, and included imitating actions, as encouraged by the teacher (Turn 7). However, learners also joined in onomatopoeic expressions (Turns 7 and 9) and familiar words (Turns 2, 4, and 6) unprompted and without being asked to do so. Table 2 Classroom extract: learners’ determination to participate in storytelling Turns Teacher Learners 1 […] look out of the window, please … so, when I say: look out of the window, look out of the window … [okay] … it’s sunny XXX ((children’s voices)) 2 sunny 3 no … it’s sunny 4 sunny 5 don’t repeat. just do the moves, okay … make the moves … … it’s sunny 6 sunny 7 what a nice day … let’s go for a walk … open the door … open the door … good … oh, no, it’s cold … [uh:::] … okay, go to your room … put on a sweater … this is a sweater … put on a sweater … yes, okay … open the door … but, oh no … it’s raining … take an umbrella … open the door … but, oh [no] … it’s stormy … it’s stormy … your umbrella flies away … ((children trampling)) [uh:::] ((one child)) [no] ((many children giggling)) 8 XXX ((children’s voices)) 9 okay … open the door … … now, close the door … sit down in the kitchen … have a cup of hot chocolate … yu[mmy] … [yummy] 10 yummy ((some children)) … YUMMY! ((one child)) 11 okay, I think you understood most of the words … what does ‘stormy’ mean? … ‘stormy’ Turns Teacher Learners 1 […] look out of the window, please … so, when I say: look out of the window, look out of the window … [okay] … it’s sunny XXX ((children’s voices)) 2 sunny 3 no … it’s sunny 4 sunny 5 don’t repeat. just do the moves, okay … make the moves … … it’s sunny 6 sunny 7 what a nice day … let’s go for a walk … open the door … open the door … good … oh, no, it’s cold … [uh:::] … okay, go to your room … put on a sweater … this is a sweater … put on a sweater … yes, okay … open the door … but, oh no … it’s raining … take an umbrella … open the door … but, oh [no] … it’s stormy … it’s stormy … your umbrella flies away … ((children trampling)) [uh:::] ((one child)) [no] ((many children giggling)) 8 XXX ((children’s voices)) 9 okay … open the door … … now, close the door … sit down in the kitchen … have a cup of hot chocolate … yu[mmy] … [yummy] 10 yummy ((some children)) … YUMMY! ((one child)) 11 okay, I think you understood most of the words … what does ‘stormy’ mean? … ‘stormy’ View Large Table 2 Classroom extract: learners’ determination to participate in storytelling Turns Teacher Learners 1 […] look out of the window, please … so, when I say: look out of the window, look out of the window … [okay] … it’s sunny XXX ((children’s voices)) 2 sunny 3 no … it’s sunny 4 sunny 5 don’t repeat. just do the moves, okay … make the moves … … it’s sunny 6 sunny 7 what a nice day … let’s go for a walk … open the door … open the door … good … oh, no, it’s cold … [uh:::] … okay, go to your room … put on a sweater … this is a sweater … put on a sweater … yes, okay … open the door … but, oh no … it’s raining … take an umbrella … open the door … but, oh [no] … it’s stormy … it’s stormy … your umbrella flies away … ((children trampling)) [uh:::] ((one child)) [no] ((many children giggling)) 8 XXX ((children’s voices)) 9 okay … open the door … … now, close the door … sit down in the kitchen … have a cup of hot chocolate … yu[mmy] … [yummy] 10 yummy ((some children)) … YUMMY! ((one child)) 11 okay, I think you understood most of the words … what does ‘stormy’ mean? … ‘stormy’ Turns Teacher Learners 1 […] look out of the window, please … so, when I say: look out of the window, look out of the window … [okay] … it’s sunny XXX ((children’s voices)) 2 sunny 3 no … it’s sunny 4 sunny 5 don’t repeat. just do the moves, okay … make the moves … … it’s sunny 6 sunny 7 what a nice day … let’s go for a walk … open the door … open the door … good … oh, no, it’s cold … [uh:::] … okay, go to your room … put on a sweater … this is a sweater … put on a sweater … yes, okay … open the door … but, oh no … it’s raining … take an umbrella … open the door … but, oh [no] … it’s stormy … it’s stormy … your umbrella flies away … ((children trampling)) [uh:::] ((one child)) [no] ((many children giggling)) 8 XXX ((children’s voices)) 9 okay … open the door … … now, close the door … sit down in the kitchen … have a cup of hot chocolate … yu[mmy] … [yummy] 10 yummy ((some children)) … YUMMY! ((one child)) 11 okay, I think you understood most of the words … what does ‘stormy’ mean? … ‘stormy’ View Large The extract below shows that the teacher’s plan of how to introduce the story is challenged by the learners' determination to join in the storytelling. Whereas the teacher specifically asked them not to repeat what she said, but to focus on the actions only (Turns 1 and 5), her learners continue to join in the whole performance, actions and speech. They do not appear to disrupt the teacher’s routine intentionally, rather their verbal response seems to be a sign of their engagement with the story. They recognize familiar words and imitate onomatopoeic expressions that occur amidst unfamiliar or less known lexical items, and yet they do not seem confused or irritated by that. After all, the accompanying actions create a framework that ensures a basic understanding of the situation. Another extract from the first presentation of the dance moves in the Every Kind of Weather video clip illustrates that the same mechanism is at play there (Table 3). In fact, speaking seems to happen simultaneously, as the learners perform the dance moves for the song. Learners ignore their teacher’s instructions. She explicitly tells them that she does not want to hear them, and her explanations make it clear that her concern for them is to comprehend the linguistic input (Turn 2). Yet they speak at the same time as they move, they imitate the presenter in the video, and they reproduce a multi-item chunk, not only an individual word. They respond to all the different modes of the input, not only movement. This observation was made in both learner groups that watched the video clip. Table 3 Classroom extract: teacher’s focus on comprehending linguistic input Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners 1 ((DVD starts)) […] P: ah:::, the sun is coming … let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun 2 ((Teacher stopping the DVD) T: okay, she said, let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun okay, do that … I don’t want you to translate, I want you to do it, m[ake a big round sun] … [make a big round sun] … I don’t want to hear you, I want to see you. I think you understand, [make a big round sun] […] ((children’s voices, already moving)) [make a big round sun] [make a big round sun]((moving)) [make a big round sun]((moving)) Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners 1 ((DVD starts)) […] P: ah:::, the sun is coming … let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun 2 ((Teacher stopping the DVD) T: okay, she said, let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun okay, do that … I don’t want you to translate, I want you to do it, m[ake a big round sun] … [make a big round sun] … I don’t want to hear you, I want to see you. I think you understand, [make a big round sun] […] ((children’s voices, already moving)) [make a big round sun] [make a big round sun]((moving)) [make a big round sun]((moving)) View Large Table 3 Classroom extract: teacher’s focus on comprehending linguistic input Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners 1 ((DVD starts)) […] P: ah:::, the sun is coming … let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun 2 ((Teacher stopping the DVD) T: okay, she said, let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun okay, do that … I don’t want you to translate, I want you to do it, m[ake a big round sun] … [make a big round sun] … I don’t want to hear you, I want to see you. I think you understand, [make a big round sun] […] ((children’s voices, already moving)) [make a big round sun] [make a big round sun]((moving)) [make a big round sun]((moving)) Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners 1 ((DVD starts)) […] P: ah:::, the sun is coming … let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun 2 ((Teacher stopping the DVD) T: okay, she said, let’s swoop up our arms and make a big round sun okay, do that … I don’t want you to translate, I want you to do it, m[ake a big round sun] … [make a big round sun] … I don’t want to hear you, I want to see you. I think you understand, [make a big round sun] […] ((children’s voices, already moving)) [make a big round sun] [make a big round sun]((moving)) [make a big round sun]((moving)) View Large Another characteristic feature that could be observed repeatedly was that learners seemed to be content with a partial understanding of the situation that was based on their processing of image, movement, and extra sound effects. The extract taken from the lesson on the Football Warm-up video clip (Table 4) reveals that learners refer to what they have seen the presenter do (Turn 3), rather than the exact meaning of a particular word, such as ‘keep the ball up’, when asked if they understood (Turn 2). While for the teacher it is important that her learners do not mistake ‘keep’ for ‘kick’, they do not show any interest in that linguistic detail. They have constructed meaning on the basis of visual clues, without having to rely on the mode of speech, and so the question whether ‘keep’ or ‘kick’ could have been used by the presenter is irrelevant to them. Table 4 Classroom extract: learners referring to visual clues for meaning-making Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners (C1, C?) 1 P: […] keep on dribbling … XXX … okay, let’s keep the ball up … that’s it … ((teacher stops DVD)) 2 T: who did understand? yes? 3 C1: also, wir sollen den, die Knie hoch machen und dann so … well, we are supposed to lift the knee and then like … 4 T: so, let’s keep the ball up … keep the ball up … what does it mean? … keep the ball up … the ball … that’s easy … […] what is the ball? […] 5 C?: der Ball the ball […] 6 T: yes, now, not kick the ball up, but keep … lass den Ball oben, keep the ball up, halte den Ball oben, keep the ball up, mit den Knien, with your knees … keep the ball up, okay? ((DVD starts again)) Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners (C1, C?) 1 P: […] keep on dribbling … XXX … okay, let’s keep the ball up … that’s it … ((teacher stops DVD)) 2 T: who did understand? yes? 3 C1: also, wir sollen den, die Knie hoch machen und dann so … well, we are supposed to lift the knee and then like … 4 T: so, let’s keep the ball up … keep the ball up … what does it mean? … keep the ball up … the ball … that’s easy … […] what is the ball? […] 5 C?: der Ball the ball […] 6 T: yes, now, not kick the ball up, but keep … lass den Ball oben, keep the ball up, halte den Ball oben, keep the ball up, mit den Knien, with your knees … keep the ball up, okay? ((DVD starts again)) View Large Table 4 Classroom extract: learners referring to visual clues for meaning-making Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners (C1, C?) 1 P: […] keep on dribbling … XXX … okay, let’s keep the ball up … that’s it … ((teacher stops DVD)) 2 T: who did understand? yes? 3 C1: also, wir sollen den, die Knie hoch machen und dann so … well, we are supposed to lift the knee and then like … 4 T: so, let’s keep the ball up … keep the ball up … what does it mean? … keep the ball up … the ball … that’s easy … […] what is the ball? […] 5 C?: der Ball the ball […] 6 T: yes, now, not kick the ball up, but keep … lass den Ball oben, keep the ball up, halte den Ball oben, keep the ball up, mit den Knien, with your knees … keep the ball up, okay? ((DVD starts again)) Turns Presenter (P) & teacher (T) Learners (C1, C?) 1 P: […] keep on dribbling … XXX … okay, let’s keep the ball up … that’s it … ((teacher stops DVD)) 2 T: who did understand? yes? 3 C1: also, wir sollen den, die Knie hoch machen und dann so … well, we are supposed to lift the knee and then like … 4 T: so, let’s keep the ball up … keep the ball up … what does it mean? … keep the ball up … the ball … that’s easy … […] what is the ball? […] 5 C?: der Ball the ball […] 6 T: yes, now, not kick the ball up, but keep … lass den Ball oben, keep the ball up, halte den Ball oben, keep the ball up, mit den Knien, with your knees … keep the ball up, okay? ((DVD starts again)) View Large The analysis of classroom discourse also revealed that learners’ verbal contributions grew with every encounter of a text. With the April Weather story, for example, learners were found to join in with onomatopoeic expressions and familiar words first, but progressed to produce more individual words and to extend individual words to multi-item chunks from the story so much so that after the third encounter, they were almost ready to tell the story on their own (Table 5). Increasing verbal contributions were also observed for the Every Kind of Weather Song, which, however, was repeated more often, and for the Football Warm-up video clip, which was watched twice and then practised again. Although learners joined in with one individual word and one phrase during the first encounter, they progressed to producing the whole set of six instructions that made up the chant in a joint performance with the teacher, after going through it for a third time. Table 5 Increasing verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters with a text Text Learners’ verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters first second third April Weather story sunny uh::: no yummy sunny no … cold no … rainy no it’s stormy yummy window sunny oh no sweater open the door oh no … it’s raining (take an) umbrella oh no … it’s stormy sit down in the kitchen hot chocolate yummy Football Warm-up chant football chest and head football chest and head chest it, head it save the goal football dribble with the ball keep the ball up chest and head run after the ball save the goal Text Learners’ verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters first second third April Weather story sunny uh::: no yummy sunny no … cold no … rainy no it’s stormy yummy window sunny oh no sweater open the door oh no … it’s raining (take an) umbrella oh no … it’s stormy sit down in the kitchen hot chocolate yummy Football Warm-up chant football chest and head football chest and head chest it, head it save the goal football dribble with the ball keep the ball up chest and head run after the ball save the goal View Large Table 5 Increasing verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters with a text Text Learners’ verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters first second third April Weather story sunny uh::: no yummy sunny no … cold no … rainy no it’s stormy yummy window sunny oh no sweater open the door oh no … it’s raining (take an) umbrella oh no … it’s stormy sit down in the kitchen hot chocolate yummy Football Warm-up chant football chest and head football chest and head chest it, head it save the goal football dribble with the ball keep the ball up chest and head run after the ball save the goal Text Learners’ verbal contributions during first, second, and third encounters first second third April Weather story sunny uh::: no yummy sunny no … cold no … rainy no it’s stormy yummy window sunny oh no sweater open the door oh no … it’s raining (take an) umbrella oh no … it’s stormy sit down in the kitchen hot chocolate yummy Football Warm-up chant football chest and head football chest and head chest it, head it save the goal football dribble with the ball keep the ball up chest and head run after the ball save the goal View Large Discussion This study of young learners’ first encounters with multimodal presentations of story, song, and chant suggests that learners responded to all the different modes of the input. Far from being confused or overwhelmed, they joined in with movement, sound effects, and speech where they could, and they seemed to construct meaning from what they saw, not necessarily from what they heard. Learners made active use of accompanying actions or dance moves, onomatopoeia, images in video clips, and familiar words for the meaning-making process. These elements served as access points and helped learners to decode parts of a message in the FL. Learners seemed content with a partial understanding of the situation, and imitated speech without knowing its exact meaning. By doing so, they demonstrated their tolerance of ambiguity, which is an important ingredient in successful language learning. However, classroom discourse also showed that the teacher had meant to approach the multimodal text in a slightly different way. Her contributions reveal that she was more concerned that her learners should notice the linguistic aspect of the multimodal input, i.e. speech, and in particular the comprehension of it, by noticing words. The teacher asked learners to join in with actions, demonstrating that she acknowledged this mode of presentation as helpful for the meaning-making process, but she also made it clear that she wanted learners to understand what exactly was being said, which is further highlighted by her questions on the meaning of individual words. Her trying to direct learners’ attention to specific items indicates that she knows about the importance of noticing words for word learning. And yet, the learner behaviour observed in this study suggests that directing young learners’ focus to word meanings might not be beneficial at this initial stage, because learners have their attention locked on the different multimodal features that all communicate meaning and that provide them not only with a basic understanding of a text but, maybe even more importantly, also with motivation for repeated exposure and joint performances, because it is this rehearsal of the multimodal text that creates opportunities for language learning. By saying a word or multi-word item repeatedly, learners practise its phonological form, which is necessary if it is not to be forgotten due to the limited capacity of the short-term memory. Unfamiliar sound patterns need to be rehearsed to become available long term, and beginner-level learners in particular depend on the phonological loop due to the unfamiliarity of foreign words (Masoura and Gathercole 1999). Learners’ behaviour of immediate imitation of language items must therefore be regarded as a valuable learning mechanism that defies the process of forgetting, and should be encouraged. Repeated performances allow for frequent usage, which impacts positively on memory of phonological, lexical, and syntactical representations of language (e.g. Ellis, O’Donnell, and Römer 2015), and subsequently also the ability to access and reproduce stretches of speech fluently. Moreover, revisiting the same text again and again offers more opportunities for processing the multimodal input, and therefore for noticing language highlighted through image, action, and sound. While repetition is regarded as a crucial element in language learning, it is also true that it has been criticized for its mundane and cognitively undemanding nature as part of teaching techniques inspired by behaviourism. However, it is important to note that the context in which repetition took place in the present study was different to a traditional teacher-initiated rote-learning situation where learners are asked to repeat words or phrases that have been taken out of context and might not mean anything to the learners due to a lack of engagement. Here, learners were engaged, repetition was initiated by them, and the rehearsed language items were embedded in a meaningful context of a story, song, or chant communicated through speech, gesture, image, and sound, confirming suggestions that ‘children experience a sensory pleasure in meaningful repetition’ (Bland 2015: 163). This study suggests that repeated encounters with multimodal texts can provide young learners with the opportunity to build up a repertoire of memorized, prefabricated language that can be reproduced fluently and that can, at a later stage, be taken apart and reassembled for genuine statements in new contexts. These memorized chunks are then also available for analysing meaning and grammar with guidance from the teacher so that an analytic approach is not banned from the classroom but only delayed until learners are ready to focus their attention on linguistic analysis. Transcription conventions Capital letters are used for individual words that need to be capitalized according to English or German spelling rules. Capitalization is not used at the beginning of sentences, since the transcription regards speakers’ contributions as utterances rather than grammatical sentences. Italics are used for translated speech. C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech View Large C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech View Large Teaching resources Boogie Beebies. Get Ready to Boogie. 2005. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd. Diekmann, A. 2008. April Weather—an action story. Grundschule Englisch 22: 34–37. Annett Kaminski currently teaches EFL classes, seminars on British culture, children’s literature, and teaching methodology to future primary school teachers in Germany. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and a Master’s degree in German, English and American Studies. She is a qualified secondary school teacher and previously taught FL classes at secondary level in Germany and the UK. Her main research interests are young learners, the primary EFL classroom, and multimodal texts in FL learning. References Bland , J. 2014 . ‘ Interactive theatre with student teachers and young learners: enhancing EFL learning across institutional divisions in Germany ’ in S. Rich (ed.). International Perspectives on Teaching English to Young Learners . Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan . 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Published Research, Good Practice & Main Principle . Available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/languages/policy/language-policy/documents/young_en.pdf (accessed on 30 December 2017 ). Ellis , N. C. , M. B. O’Donnell , and U. Römer . 2015 . ‘ Usage-based language learning ’ in B. MacWhinney and W. O’Grady (eds.). The Handbook of Language Emergence . Chichester : John Wiley & Sons . Enever , J. (ed.). 2011 . ELLiE. Early Language Learning in Europe . British Council . Available at www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teaching/files/B309 (accessed on 1 December 2017 ). Fleta , T. 2017 . ‘ The sounds of picturebooks for English language learning ’. Children’s Literature in English Language Education Journal 5 / 1 : 21 – 43 . Available at http://clelejournal.org. (accessed on 1 December 2017 ). Fonseca Mora , C. , P. Jara Jiménez , and M. Gómez Dominguez . 2015 . ‘ Musical plus phonological input for young foreign language readers’ . 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Google Scholar Crossref Search ADS Appendix Transcription conventions Capital letters are used for individual words that need to be capitalized according to English or German spelling rules. Capitalization is not used at the beginning of sentences, since the transcription regards speakers’ contributions as utterances rather than grammatical sentences. Italics are used for translated speech. C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech View Large C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech C1 number indicates whichever young learner speaks first, second, etc. within a certain part of classroom discourse C? a number cannot be allocated, since it cannot be determined whether it is a person speaking who has spoken before or not P presenter in video clip T teacher … natural occurring pause within utterances … … deliberate or prolonged pause […] parts of the discourse have been taken out ((whispering)) additional information about the style of the utterance or the specific situation ? rising intonation ! strong emphasis and falling intonation falling intonation low rising intonation suggesting imminent continuation no::: lengthening of preceding sound LISTEN increased volume again marked stress XXX unintelligible speech [ onset of simultaneous speech ] end of simultaneous speech View Large © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
TI - Young learners’ engagement with multimodal texts
JF - ELT Journal
DO - 10.1093/elt/ccy060
DA - 2019-05-13
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/young-learners-engagement-with-multimodal-texts-R7TqFjPxnh
SP - 175
VL - 73
IS - 2
DP - DeepDyve
ER -