Taking on positions – the role of multimodality in supporting the acquisition of academic language proficiency in Kindergarten classrooms

Abstract

In the project «processes of language promotion in Kindergarten classrooms», interactions between Kindergarten teachers and children are videotaped and scrutinized using sequential analysis procedures in order to examine everyday talk as a context of language acquisition. In this paper we focus on the phenomenon of multimodality: The interactions are analysed with respect to their verbal, para- and nonverbal modalities. Our analysis reveals how teachers can use multimodality as a means in order to support children with diverging linguistic and cognitive resources and to enable every child to participate in the common teaching and learning activity. Furthermore, teachers can «read» the multimodal actions of their students, identify their levels of participation «online» and tailor their support to their particular needs in order to encourage more challenging forms of participation.