Multimodal play–literacy: a preschooler’s storytelling, drawing, and performing of dinosaur extinction theories

ABSTRACT

Building on relevant research concerning the play–literacy relationship, the social-semiotic theory of multimodality, and the notion of embodiment, this article seeks to explore the possibilities of children’s play as a meaningful context for literacy practices and, more importantly, of play itself as a form of literacy practice. This article presents a descriptive and interpretive analysis of a video-taped, play–literacy event at home to explore socio-cultural as well as multimodal aspects of a preschooler’s meaning-making processes. Particularly, this article focuses on how one preschooler strategically selects, switches, and combines particular semiotic modes available in the situated play–literacy activity, in order to express his understanding of his social world and intended meanings while also highlighting the roles of family members in this process.

KEYWORDS:

• Multimodality
• family literacy
• play–literacy
• embodiment
• drawings

Acknowledgements

We would like to show our gratitude to our child participants, Hoon and Jun, for sharing their insights and knowledge with us during the course of this research, and we thank ‘anonymous’ reviewers for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Koeun Kim is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University. Her research interests include young children’s discursive-material schooling experience, critical inquiry, embodiment, multimodality, and early childhood education and care policy and reform.

Koomi Kim is an Associate Professor at Salisbury University in the Department of Education Specialities. Her areas of specialization include literacy education, multimodal and multiple literacies, Eye Movement and Miscue Analysis (EMMA), Retrospecive Miscue Analysis (RMA), and critical literacy.