AustLit

'As teachers engage with multimodal texts delivered via paper, live and more sophisticated technologies, they will find that their concepts about literacy, definitions about literacy, and their pedagogies about literacy are challenged.

'The authors have identified that an excellent place to start teaching about multimodal texts is with texts that are familiar and readily available to all ages: postmodern picture books. The picture book demonstrates how narrative is structured and how literary features such as theme, plot and character can be revealed using various devices.

'In this book, Geoff Bull and Michèle Anstey provide an explicit knowledge base about the semiotic systems to enable teachers to talk about and examine multimodal texts with their students. Teachers benefit from understanding and discussing with their students the codes and conventions of the five semiotic systems:

•Linguistic - vocabulary, generic structure and grammar of oral and written language

•Visual - colour, vectors and viewpoint of still and moving images

•Audio - volume, pitch and rhythm of music and sound effects

•Gestural - movement, speed, stillness and other characteristics of facial expression and body language

•Spatial - proximity, direction, position of layout and organisation of objects in space.

'Within each chapter Theory into Practice activities provide a practical opportunity to implement new understandings, and Reflection Strategies throughout provide an applied structure to focus the reader's attention on the issues that underlie the theory under discussion.

'Knowing and being able to use the technology is only one part of the process of being able to read and write multimodal texts. Evolving Pedagogies: Reading and Writing in a Multimodal World equips teachers to identify what students need to know and be able to do in order to be literate in their ever-changing world.

'A dedicated website will provide the reader with digital-electronic material and links to videos, high resolution photographs, sound and artwork that supports the material covered in the book and extends opportunities for understanding the teaching of reading and writing at all levels.'  (Publication summary)