Written Communication Oct 2022

One Fourth-Grader’s Orchestration of Modes Through Comic Composition

Stephanie F. Reid University of Montana ; Lindsey Moses Arizona State University

Abstract

Language-oriented literacy standards offer mostly linguistic accounts of text complexity. In response, the present article demonstrates that multimodal and visual narratives offer additional ways to understand and discuss text complexity. This descriptive analysis of one fourth-grader’s comic provides an account of the multimodal patterns and orchestration noted across the pages of the comic. Data sources included the published comic, as well as a multimodal artifact elicitation interview conducted with Sabrina, a fourth-grade student. The authors show how Sabrina constructed a complex multimodal text by drawing not only from her knowledge of image and written language but also from her experiences with spoken language, touch, facial expressions, and gesture. These findings suggest that it would be beneficial for teachers and researchers to continue to create curricular space for multimodal composing opportunities and that stakeholders in language arts and communication education might deepen collaborations to develop instructional frameworks that support students as they compose using modes beyond language across the grade levels.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2022-10-01
DOI
10.1177/07410883221107934
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Hort et al. (2026)
    Meaning Across Modes: Social Purpose and Intermodality in Children’s School Wri…
    Written Communication
  2. Stamm (2025)
    Investigating Method & Madness: The Composing Processes of 5th Grade Students
    Computers and Composition
  3. Cun (2023)
    Writing Storybooks as Storytelling: A Case Study of Two Families with Refugee B…
    Written Communication

References (72) · 5 in this index

  1. Anderson et al. (2017)
    Seeing Academically Marginalized Students’ Multimodal Designs From a Position o…
    Written Communication
  2. Archer A. (2017)
    The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis
  3. 10.4324/9781315147383
     ↗
  4. 10.1515/9783110479898
     ↗
  5. Bezemer J. (2016)
    Multimodality, learning and communication: A social semiotic frame
Show all 72 →
  1. Bishop R. S. (1990)
    Perspectives
  2. Campano G. (2020)
    Handbook of Reading Research
  3. 10.1080/23796529.2012.11674695
     ↗
  4. Cowan K. (2017)
    Remixing multiliteracies: Theory and practice from New London to New Times
  5. 10.1002/trtr.1801
     ↗
  6. 10.1002/rrq.103
     ↗
  7. Ríos (2020)
    Writing Oneself Into the Curriculum: Photovoice Journaling in a Secondary Ethni…
    Written Communication
  8. 10.1177/1468794111400682
     ↗
  9. 10.7208/chicago/9780226206868.001.0001
     ↗
  10. 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.10.003
     ↗
  11. 10.1177/1468794111399838
     ↗
  12. Flewitt R. S. (2017)
    The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis
  13. 10.1016/j.pragma.2003.10.002
     ↗
  14. 10.1515/9783110295290.253
     ↗
  15. Freire P. (1968)
    Pedagogy of the oppressed
  16. 10.4324/9780203830918
     ↗
  17. 10.1002/9781118978238.ieml0226
     ↗
  18. Halliday M. A. K. (1978)
    Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning
  19. 10.1080/14725860220137345
     ↗
  20. 10.1598/RT.63.4.2
     ↗
  21. Hull et al. (2005)
    Locating the Semiotic Power of Multimodality
    Written Communication
  22. Jewitt C. (2017)
    The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis
  23. 10.1177/1086296X16677955
     ↗
  24. 10.1002/trtr.1630
     ↗
  25. Jocson K. M. (2013)
    Cultural transformations: Youth and pedagogies of possibility
  26. Jones K. (2020, June 19). Kimberly Jones – Speaking Out About Black Experiences in America [YouTube video]. T…
  27. 10.1002/rrq.376
     ↗
  28. 10.4324/9780203164754
     ↗
  29. Kress G. (2010)
    Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication
  30. 10.4324/9780203619728
     ↗
  31. Lemke J. (1998)
    Reading science: Critical and functional perspectives on discourses of science
  32. 10.1177/00336882211011783
     ↗
  33. Lim V. F. (2007)
    New directions in the analysis of multimodal discourse
  34. Low D. E. (2019)
    Journal of Language and Literacy Education
  35. Martin P. D. (2018)
    The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics
  36. Merriam S. B. (1998)
    Qualitative research and case study applications in education
  37. 10.1002/jaal.666
     ↗
  38. Mills K. (2016)
    Literacy theories for the digital age
  39. 10.1080/09500782.2019.1635618
     ↗
  40. Mills K. A. (2014)
    10.58680/la201426140
    Language Arts  ↗
  41. 10.20360/langandlit29502
     ↗
  42. Newfield D. (2015)
    The Routledge handbook of literacy studies
  43. Olson K. (2011)
    Essentials of qualitative interviewing
  44. 10.1111/j.1741-4369.2012.00664.x
     ↗
  45. 10.1080/03004279.2010.531037
     ↗
  46. Pantaleo (2019)
    Metalepsis in Elementary Students’ Multimodal Narrative Representations
    Research in the Teaching of English
  47. Patel L. (2021)
    No study without struggle: Confronting settler colonialism in higher education
  48. Reid S. F. (2020). Multimodality matters: Exploring words, images, and design features in a seventh-grade Eng…
  49. Reid S. F. (2021)
    10.58680/vm202131602
    Voices From the Middle  ↗
  50. 10.1002/trtr.1864
     ↗
  51. 10.1108/ETPC-07-2020-0075
     ↗
  52. Reinking D. (2008)
    Formative and design experiments: Approaches to language and literacy research
  53. Rose G. (2016)
    Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials
  54. Saldaña J. (2016)
    The coding manual for qualitative researchers
  55. 10.1080/1554480X.2012.656347
     ↗
  56. Serafini F. (2022)
    Beyond the visual: An introduction to researching multimodal phenomena
  57. 10.1002/trtr.1416
     ↗
  58. 10.1177/1470357219864133
     ↗
  59. 10.58680/la20065611
     ↗
  60. 10.1002/JAAL.00082
     ↗
  61. Toliver S. R. (2021)
    10.58680/cc202131377
    Council Chronicle  ↗
  62. Torres F. L. (2021)
    10.58680/la202131153
    Language Arts  ↗
  63. Torres F. L. (2022)
    Symposium Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Engli…
  64. Unsworth L. (2019)
    10.1007/BF03652032
    Australian Journal of Language and Literacy  ↗
  65. Vasudevan et al. (2010)
    Rethinking Composing in a Digital Age: Authoring Literate Identities Through Mu…
    Written Communication
  66. VERBI Software (2019)
    MAXQDA
  67. 10.1215/03335372-7298522
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Written Communication Jul 2026
    Meaning Across Modes: Social Purpose and Intermodality in Children’s School Writing and Drawing ↗
    Sofia Hort; Oscar Björk
    discourse analysis writing pedagogy teacher development multimodality literacy studies
  2. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Feb 2026
    Voices from Rock Bottom: Queering Addiction Recovery Rhetoric & Community Literacy ↗
    Danielle Bacibianco
    rhetorical criticism archival research multimodality literacy studies gender and writing public rhetoric community literacy
  3. Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2026
    Primary Writers’ Identity Negotiations through Positioning in Their Compositions and the Classroom ↗
    Danielle Rylak; Lindsey Moses; Stephanie F. Reid
    qualitative research multimodality literacy studies community literacy
  4. Written Communication Oct 2025
    Seeing Images, Reading Hieroglyphs: A Reassessment of the Functions of Nonalphabetic Writing and Literacy in Old Kingdom Egypt ↗
    Maria Victoria Almansa-Villatoro
    multimodality grammar and mechanics literacy studies
  5. Written Communication Oct 2025
    Ecologies of Research Writing in Chinese Universities ↗
    Ibrar Bhatt; Xiajing Chen
    assessment multimodality literacy studies