Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has attracted considerable attention lately due to our increasing reliance on technology in education. This article contributes to educational research on CALL by considering the semiotic practices that surround PowerPoint slideshows. The article examines how a year-five female undergraduate in pharmacy designs her PowerPoint slideshow to represent and communicate knowledge in an English-mediated literacy event, i.e. pharmaceutical seminar presentations. While language plays an essential role in engagement in this event, the article seeks to highlight the role that visuals and writing plays in PowerPoint slideshows to help the presenter represent and communicate different aspects of meaning which reflect what she considers to be important for a successful engagement in a professional presentation. The investigation is carried out through a qualitative case study, using a social account of literacy and a social semiotic multimodal approach to meaning making. Though this investigation is not carried within a traditional language class, it is used to highlight some of the issues that can help inform language education by drawing attention to the potential benefits that lie in exploring situated practices of meaning making in different professional and academic settings.

中文翻译：

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超越语言课程：药学英语为媒介的演示文稿中 PowerPoint 幻灯片中的符号学实践

由于我们越来越依赖教育技术，计算机辅助语言学习 (CALL) 最近引起了相当大的关注。本文通过考虑围绕 PowerPoint 幻灯片放映的符号学实践，对 CALL 的教育研究做出了贡献。这篇文章研究了一名五年级的药学女本科生如何设计她的 PowerPoint 幻灯片，以在英语为媒介的扫盲活动（即药学研讨会演示）中表达和交流知识。虽然语言在此次活动的参与中起着至关重要的作用，但本文试图强调视觉和写作在 PowerPoint 幻灯片中的作用，以帮助演示者表达和传达意义的不同方面，这反映了她认为对成功参与很重要的内容在专业的演讲中。该调查是通过定性案例研究进行的，使用社会读写能力和社会符号学多模态方法来进行意义创造。虽然这项调查不是在传统的语言课程中进行的，但它被用来强调一些有助于为语言教育提供信息的问题，通过提请注意在不同专业和学术环境中探索意义创造的情境实践的潜在好处。