Papers by Judith or Judie L Cross
ABSTRACT Traditionally language and communication have been perceived according to a binary logic... more ABSTRACT Traditionally language and communication have been perceived according to a binary logic as either oral or written. This has resulted in the inevitable marginalisation of other forms, such as Sign. It is therefore the purpose of this paper to refocus mainstream attention so that sign languages, which are themselves forms of multimodal communication, can be included and as a result, more usefully perceived as mediators between speech and writing. Since research into sign languages is well developed, it is timely to reconsider the paradigms dominating thinking about language and communication, especially in this multimedia age where new forms of digital communication blur the boundaries between spoken and written language. The value of focussing on Sign as a critical mode of communication will be evidenced by a multimodal analysis and review of selected elements from the first part of Adam Hill’s videoed performance in Characterful: a bird’s eye view on how social semiotic systems can interrelate and impact on meaning. http://thelearner.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.62/prod.41
Literacy is changing significantly alongside the prolific emergence of new technologies. The emer... more Literacy is changing significantly alongside the prolific emergence of new technologies. The emergence of these new technologies has been so rapid that teachers may often not be as competent as their students in the use of new media or in the specific linguistic features of the growing range of text types. In this project, overseas trained teachers (OTTs) were scaffolded in their introduction to a variety of new technologies and typical text types relevant to the educational context in Australia where literacy is taught across the curriculum. As the OTTs prepared for a specific English test, which forms part of the process for gaining approval to teach in New South Wales (NSW), they were empowered by an integrated pedagogy: in the process of discovering ways to keep abreast of technology, they were simultaneously honing their language skills. The new software and text types to which these teachers were introduced made it possible for them to collate their qualifications, achievements, and reflections by creating their own professional, updatable, and portable reflective ePortfolios in English. They have since been able to use this learning to enhance their professional personas and self-esteem as they embark on a teaching career in a new country.
The Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target (RET), while too conservative according to relia... more The Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target (RET), while too conservative according to reliable sources, has established that by 2020, twenty percent of Australia's electricity supply will come from renewable sources, primarily wind and solar energy. In this paper, we consider the implications of the transition to renewables for the Australian labour market in three ways. First, we critically review the literature on how the shift to renewables will impact on jobs in terms of the number and types of new jobs and those that may be phased out. Second, by drawing on illustrative examples of training and education programs currently available, we propose models of good practice and areas requiring attention. Finally, we raise and tentatively explore issues arising from existing and changing models of interaction between government, business and other parties in relation to the VET sector's role in developing the labour market and skills required for a smooth transition to renewable energy.
The global impact of demanding environmental concerns is visible in almost all contexts of contem... more The global impact of demanding environmental concerns is visible in almost all contexts of contemporary communication and across geographical borders. An increasing range of multimodal texts surface continuously in various media in order to facilitate public understanding of irreversible environmental changes, to educate future generations in ecoliteracy, to promote green or disclose greenwashed corporate images and practices, to entertain and facilitate appropriate actions as well as responses. Simultaneously, research in environmental communication tries to keep up with this rapid pace by examining environment focused multimodal texts from the context of journalism (Doyle, 2011; Lester & Cottle, 2009), education (Reid, 2007; Maier, 2010), advertising (Corbett, 2006; Cox, 2010; Hansen & Machin, 2008; Maier 2011 and Moschini, 2007), and popular culture (Brereton, 2004; Meister & Japp, 2002 and Starosielski, 2011), to mention only a few relevant areas. Although environment focused music videos have also proliferated in the last decade, and despite their recognized impact upon younger generations, giving expression as they do to the rhythms and visual associations relevant to youth cultures, music videos that deal with the environmental theme have relatively rarely been the subject of research endeavours. The present chapter intends to draw attention to how the analysis of relevant multimodal texts, such as the music video Earth Song, can contribute to a better understanding of the ways by which communication about environmental issues takes place in the context of popular culture. Our analysis will primarily be focused on how the video takes a critical view upon human interaction with the environment by questioning the wisdom of traditional national boundaries and notions of time as linear and irreversible. Michael Jackson’s Earth Song is a call to save the planet from the destructive impact that has been wrought upon the earth by humanity and technology. It was recorded in 1995, but never released as a single in the United States, due to events related to perceptions of Michael Jackson’s private life. However, Earth Song won a Grammy nomination in 1997 (Jurin, Roush & Danter, 2010, p. 132) as well as recognition in the form of the Genesis Award in 1996. According to Grant (1998), it was Jackson’s intention to create a lyrical and also melodically simple song, so the whole world, including non-English-speaking audiences, could sing along. Earth Song has a specific synchronization of semiotic modes, orchestrated along four narrative strands and filmed in four different geographic locations across the globe, but presumably occurring at the same time. Each of these strands presents images of deforestation, animal cruelty, pollution and war, with their disastrous consequences for humanity and Earth. These visual stories, based on shots taken from documentary archives and documentary-like footage filmed in Warwick, New York, the Amazon Rain Forest, Croatia and Tanzania, are brought together and synchronized with an equally alarming musical accompaniment, insistent lyrics, an iconic presenter and carefully edited shots of similar actions and gestures performed by the participants. The regular solo appearances of Michael Jackson as the voice of the world are staged against a backdrop of burning forests around New York. The overall spectacular effect is largely achieved through the interplay between its regular musical structure and chorus-like chant “What about us?” which is coordinated with footage from the four disparate locations of devastation. Earth Song has earned its recognition as a “Green Anthem” because the broader environmental discourse that underlies it can be found not in the four individual “activity schemas” (Machin, 2010: 94), but at the level of the whole video, which reveals Michael Jackson’s critical approach to environmental issues. This chapter illustrates a few of the ways in which this video’s discourse constructs space and time through the interplay of several semiotic modes. Our focus on space and time is motivated by the fact that we consider these to be fundamental coordinates of many environmental discourses. As will be shown below, in this particular video, the multimodal representation of space and time carries the critical green message in multiple ways.
The global impact of demanding environmental concerns is visible in almost all contexts of contem... more The global impact of demanding environmental concerns is visible in almost all contexts of contemporary communication and across geographical borders. An increasing range of multimodal texts surface continuously in various media in order to facilitate public understanding of irreversible environmental changes, to educate future generations in ecoliteracy, to promote green or disclose greenwashed corporate images and practices, or to entertain and facilitate appropriate actions as well as responses. Simultaneously, research in environmental communication tries to keep up with this rapid pace by examining environmentfocused multimodal texts from the context of journalism (Doyle
The goal of this study was to research perceptions of school principals as regards teachers who h... more The goal of this study was to research perceptions of school principals as regards teachers who have entered the profession through IELTS or other English language proficiency test pathways and how the changing language demands of teaching may have impacted on these perceptions.
Language Testing, 2012
One measure of the impact of a high-stakes test is the attitudes that test takers hold towards it... more One measure of the impact of a high-stakes test is the attitudes that test takers hold towards it. It has been suggested that positive attitudes produce beneficial effects while real or anticipated negative experiences can result in the development of attitudes that erode confidence and potentially impact negatively on performance. This study investigated test taker attitudes by exploring the opinions, beliefs, and feelings of a group of overseas trained teachers preparing for a professional gate-keeping test, and examining correlations between attitudes and demographic and experiential factors. The participants were 105 candidates who were enrolled in a preparation course for the Professional English Assessment for Teachers. They were asked to complete a written survey questionnaire with three parts: to determine the nature of their attitude towards the test, to explore the relationship of attitudes and demographic data, and to investigate their perceptions of the sources of their attitudes. Results indicated that there was a slight predominance of negative attitudes, particularly among candidates who had unsuccessfully attempted the test. The main reported sources which correlated with a negative attitude were personal experiences and feelings as well as the impact of other people: notably teachers and other candidates.
Commercial and creative perspectives are critical when making movies. Deciding how to select and ... more Commercial and creative perspectives are critical when making movies. Deciding how to select and combine elements of stories gleaned from books into multimodal texts results in films whose modes of image, words, sound and movement interact in ways that create new wholes and so, new stories, which are more than the sum of their individual parts. The Imitation Game (2014) claims to be based on a true story recorded in the seminal biography by Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983). The movie, as does its primary source, endeavours to portray the crucial role of Enigma during World War Two, along with the tragic fate of a key individual, Alan Turing. The film, therefore, involves translation of at least two " true " stories, making the film a rich source of data for this paper that addresses aspects of multimodal inter-semiotic translations (MISTs). Carefully selected aspects of tales based on " true stories " are interpreted in films; however, not all interpretations possess the same degree of integrity in relation to their original source text. This paper assumes films, based on stories, are a form of MIST, whose integrity of translation needs to be assessed. The methodology employed uses a case-study approach and a " grid " framework with two key critical thinking (CT) standards: Accuracy and Significance, as well as a scale (from " low " to " high "). This paper offers a stretched and nuanced understanding of inter-semiotic translation by analysing how multimodal strategies are employed by communication interpretants.
Uploads
Papers by Judith or Judie L Cross