A Multimodal Approach to Non-fiction Picturebook Mediation with Children in English as an Additional Language

In the last decade there has been an increase worldwide in the publication of non-fiction picturebooks for children; these publications offer a creative and critical approach to knowledge and information (Grilli, 2020a; Goga, 2021). Non-fiction picturebooks invite readers to co-create meaning paying attention to phenomena, speculating and questioning facts and events (Swartz, 2020). Non-fiction picturebooks are a flexible means to cross the boundaries between different content areas and educational contexts, and they can be used as an involving and motivating medium for communication with children in their first language and in an additional language. In the field of additional language education, the use of fiction picturebooks in read-aloud sessions and their mediation has been analysed and discussed (see, among others, Mourão, 2013; Masoni, 2019; Ellis & Mourão, 2021). More research is needed to understand the potential use of non-fiction picturebooks in additional language contexts and their mediation during read-aloud performances with children. The present study addresses this research gap focusing on non-fiction picturebook mediation during read-aloud performances in English as an additional language investigating issues beyond the present-day state of the art in this area. During read-aloud performances in an additional language the meaning potential of a picturebook is activated through the process of mediation (Ellis & Mourão, 2021). The aim of picturebook mediation is to establish communicative interaction with children while sharing picturebooks during read-aloud performances in an additional language. In order to analyse interactions between storytellers and children during read-aloud performances, the main theoretical framework of reference for the present study is the Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis (Norris 2004). By drawing on a multimodal perspective of communication (Norris, 2004; Bezemer & Kress, 2016; Lim, 2021), interaction is considered as a meaning-making process instantiated by social actors through the orchestration of various semiotic resources. The overarching research question addressed in the study is: “What ensembles of semiotic resources are used by storytellers and children to interact while sharing non-fiction picturebooks during read-aloud performances in English as an additional language in specific contexts?”. The data analysed and discussed in this study were gathered during the Telling And Listening to Eco-sustainable Stories project (TALES initiative). The TALES initiative is a series of read-aloud sessions in English as an additional language for children, organized by the Teacher Education Department of the University of Udine (Italy) in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Friuli in Udine (Italy). Four read-aloud events during the TALES initiative are the case studies which were analysed to understand how storytellers and children interact and make meaning during non-fiction picturebook read-aloud performances. In this thesis I present an empirical and in-depth analysis of interactions between storytellers and children conducted through the systematic multimodal annotation of video recordings of the read-aloud performances and through ethnographic tools i.e. field notes and semi- structured interviews with storytellers. In this study, a new software named ‘Tool for Multimodal Analysis’ (TMA) was developed in order to identify multimodal ensembles and visualize co- occurrences and patterns in video annotations within specific time spans. Three main ensembles of semiotic resources are identified, showing how non-fiction picturebook mediation is instantiated by storytellers offering children the opportunity to interact and co-construct meaning during read-aloud performances. The results and research findings offer potential guidelines for teachers and educators for communicating knowledge and information through non-fiction picturebook read-aloud performances.