PGCE PROCESS WORK MODULE 1 UNIT 3 TASK 8- hand in A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF MY MULTIMODAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

PGCE PROCESS WORK MODULE 1 UNIT 3 TASK 8- A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF MY MULTIMODAL SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

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Prior to commencing the PGCEI Process Work I was unfamiliar with the term “multimodal semiotic analysis” (l’ll use my own acronym: ‘MSA’). I obtained various definitions, including watching a Youtube video that illustrated ‘MSA’, in order to gain a thorough understanding of it in the classroom as:

“a means of seeing meaning in visual displays, in classroom layout, in the voice-quality of the teacher, in diagrams and wall displays, in students’ posture, just as much as in what is said, written and read” (Kress et al., 2005, p.21).

I now interpret ‘MSA’ as a way of making sense of the various meanings that can be placed upon signs which are created through, and impact upon, different societies and cultures.(Kress et al, 2005).

I realised that, although the terminology was new to me, the process of ‘MSA’ was familiar. As a dance teacher and examiner I conduct many classroom observations. Some of these are open-ended and others use ‘MSA’ to select criteria or ‘modes’ to carry out a specific investigation. I liken this process to viewing things through different lenses.

 The ‘lens’, or ‘mode’, I used for David’s classroom (University of Nottingham, 2011) ‘MSA’ was ‘movement’. I employed Kress et al.’s criteria to study the following: 

‘’ the teacher’s movement itself, the meaning of the space in which the teacher moves (at the front, in between the desks), and whether, how and where the students may move. ‘‘(Ibid. p.26)

I used a mapping technique to track David’s spatial pathways on a plan of his classroom layout and a written narrative to make a qualitative analysis of how he moved in relation to the pupils. 

The mapping technique was useful in depicting how frequently David positioned himself at the same side of the classroom and stood behind several pupils whilst giving instructions. The written text, whilst very time consuming, was more helpful in determining the effect his movements had upon the pupils and for describing the pupils’ movements.

I discovered that, although David had attempted to create a classroom layout that enabled discussion groups to take place, his own lack of spatial awareness, and the inappropriate positioning of himself and the students within the layout, greatly hindered the task. This resulted in the students being confused and disengaged.

This method of analysis was limited in the following ways:

the video angles did not portray the entire classroom so restricted my view of all the pupils.

it was only a sample of the entire class so may not have given a fair assessment of David because I couldn't see what ensued.

‘MSA’ presents one person’s opinion so this is an impressionistic method because “semiotic resources are contextual, fluid and flexible” (Jewitt, 2009. p26). As a result it has attracted criticism:

“…. 'semiotic analysis' is ….based merely on subjective interpretation and grand assertions.” (Chandler (2014, online).

Despite it’s limitations, I find ‘MSA’ is insightful and useful in certain contexts, such as analysing the Arts, which are difficult to quantify.

Bibliography

Bezemer, J. & C. Jewitt (2010). Multimodal Analysis: Key issues. In: L. Litosseliti (ed), Research Methods in Linguistics. London: Continuum. pp. 180-197.

Chandler, D. (2014), Semiotics for Beginners: Criticisms of Semiotic Analysis, (online). Available at:http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/sem11.html (accessed 30th October 2016)

Dictionary.com Unabridged. (2016) Semiotics, Random House, Inc. Inc.http://www.dictionary.com/browse/semiotics

(accessed 30th October 2016)

Jewitt, C. (2009) The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis. London: Routledge.

Kress, G. R., Jewitt, C., Bourne, J., Franks, A., Hardcastle, J., Jones, K. and Reid, E. (2005) English in Urban Classrooms: A Multimodal Perspective on Teaching and Learning. Abingdon: Routledge Falmer.

Oxford Living Dictionaries (2016), Definition of mode,(online). Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mode (accessed 30th October 2016).

University of Nottingham (2011) Semiotic analysis - David's lesson (video online).

Youtube (2012), The Lion and the Statue: What is Semiotic Analysis?, (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkfJ4qGqX4w (accessed 30th October 2016).