ABSTRACT
This chapter positions the proposed method of tracking semiosis as a convergence of theoretical principles from three distinct fields: multimodality, social semiotics and socio-cultural theories of learning. The origins of multimodality are explored and its development in relation to social semiotics and the concept of meaning-making. Notions of semiosis are then tracked from their origins (Saussure, Barthes) to the recognition of signs as motivated and the subsequent framing of social semiotics (Kress and Hodge).
Theories of learning which foreground learner agency, communication and design are then shown to resonate with social semiotics. Perceptions of design as learning are noted to have existed since the nineteenth century and Vygotskian theory, with its emphasis on situated communication, is discussed in relation to the proposed analytical model. Several theories that foreground the changing identity of learners are also explored (Lave and Wenger).
