ABSTRACT

Television, like other media, can work as a platform for promoting learning. This article illustrates the value of multimodal discourse analysis for evaluating the potential of a children’s television show as a vehicle for fostering knowledge and skills in a specific subject area. Drawing on social semiotic principles and systemic functional genre theory, we examine the use of language and other modes in Teacup Travels – a show designed to introduce young viewers to historical artefacts. The analysis demonstrates that both story structure and particular semiotic resources contribute to how these objects are represented, and thus shape the TV programme’s potential to engage children in learning about the past. Our findings suggest that multimodal storytelling strategies used in Teacup Travels encourage some aspects of children’s historical consciousness and thinking, while backgrounding others.

摘要

电视和其他媒体一样，可以作为促进学习的平台。本文说明了多模态话语分析对于评估儿童电视节目作为培养特定学科领域知识和技能的载体的潜力的价值。借鉴社会符号学原理和系统功能体裁理论，我们研究了茶杯游记中语言和其他模式的使用——一个旨在向年轻观众介绍历史文物的节目。分析表明，故事结构和特定的符号资源都有助于这些对象的呈现方式，从而塑造电视节目吸引儿童了解过去的潜力。我们的研究结果表明，茶杯游记中使用的多模态叙事策略鼓励儿童历史意识和思维的某些方面，同时为其他方面提供背景。