Bridging the verbal-embodiment divide: Multimodal theory and analysis in Dual Language Bilingual Education Preschool Classrooms

This presentation will feature a discussion around the presenters’ processes of developing a multimodal framework informed in part by foundational work in multimodality (O’Halloran; Kress; Van Leeuwen; Wohlwend; Wertsch; Jewitt; Norris; Jones; Britsch; Martin & Zappavigna) and in part by observations of emergent bilingual preschoolers’ engagement in activities in dual language bilingual education classrooms. Using their research on multimodal practices in sociodramatic play, block play, read aloud, and show-and-tell activities, presenters will discuss the theoretical tenets of multimodality guiding their perspectives, their experiences of interpreting theory for analysis of video data, as well as challenges and potential solutions in seeking to more faithfully and holistically represent emergent bilingual children’s meaning-making across modalities.

Speakers' Bio
Sabrina Sembiante is an Associate Professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Her research focuses on documenting the developing multilingualism, literacies, and academic languaging of emergent-to-advanced bilingual students in school contexts and teachers’ instructional practices in support of these. She has presented her research at over 50 international conferences and has authored more than 23 articles to date, disseminated in top tier journals including Language and Education, Bilingual Research Journal, Curriculum Inquiry, Language Arts, and Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. She was recognized as the Scholar of the Year at the Assistant Professor rank in 2018 and 2020, and Distinguished Teacher of the Year in 2021 for the College of Education at FAU.
Suggested Reading:

Bengochea, A., Sembiante, S. F., & Gort, M. (2018). An emergent bilingual child’s multimodal choices in sociodramatic play. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 18(1), 38-70.
Martin, J., Zappavigna, M. (2019). Embodied meaning: a systemic functional perspective on paralanguage. Functional Linguistics, 6(1), 1-33. 

The ‘Translanguaging & Trans-Semiotizing Research Group’ Channel aims at building a Community of Practice (CoP) of both emergent and experienced scholars for academic exchange on Translanguaging and Trans-semiotising research and pedagogies. It serves as a bridge between theory and practice, an interactive platform for intellectual dialogues across different generations and diverse contexts, a space for imagination, criticality and creativity, and an innovative Public Pedagogy forum for 21st Century students, teachers and researchers.

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