Toward the construction of the Multiliteracies Theory. Ideational dimensions (and pedagogical implications) of the textual multimodality of a storyapp for children

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the understanding of the theory of multiliteracies. It presents a case study of a StoryApp designed in the context of a kit of tangible and digital storytelling materials to promote intercultural competence in elementary school children. The theme of the StoryApp under study is the cultural diversity and the ecodiversity of Brazil. The analysis presented, supported by central categories of Systemic-Functional Linguistics, Social Semiotics and the analysis of visual narratives, focuses on the characterization of the narrative genre and on the description of the ideational meanings represented in verbal, visual and aural modes in each episode of the text and of the intermodal meaning relationships established therein. The results allow the characterization of the interactive story as a narrative anedocte, in which the representation of diversity comprises a multimodal ensemble. These results allow the discussion of this StoryApp as instantiating central assumptions of the theory of multiliteracies, namely, the multimodality of texts designed upon the affordances of digital media; the thematization of cultural diversity as learning content and the call for a new pedagogy. The article ends with the identification of dimensions for future work.