Written Communication Oct 2017

Multimodal Resemiotization and Authorial Agency in an L2 Writing Classroom

Tony Cimasko Miami University ; Dong-shin Shin

Abstract

This study examines the composing process and authorial agency of a college ESL writer as she remediated an argumentative essay into a multimodal digital video. Employing principles of sociosemiotic ethnography, and drawing on the concepts of resemiotization and recontextualization, the study investigated multiple types of data, including an argumentative paper, video transcript, multimedia video, interview transcripts, and observation notes. Data analysis shows that her choice and orchestration of modal resources were shaped by her textual identity construction work, efforts to accommodate perceived audiences, and previous experience with the medium. Remediation with multimedia offered the student more semiotic resources to expand authorship, but the contextual forces of audience and medium bounded her authorial expression. The student’s multimodal writing illustrated discursive processes of negotiating and performing authorial positions for rhetorical goals with awareness of the linguistic, social, and cultural contexts of text production. This investigation ultimately aims to expand aspects of multimodal writing and literacy practice by examining the discursive nature of the design process in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2017-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088317727246
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Fu et al. (2025)
    Translanguaging Space Construction in Five Chinese EFL Learners’ Collaborative …
    Written Communication
  2. Cun (2023)
    Writing Storybooks as Storytelling: A Case Study of Two Families with Refugee B…
    Written Communication
  3. Li et al. (2023)
    The same topic, different products: Pre-/in-service teachers’ linguistic knowle…
    Computers and Composition
  4. Smith (2018)
    Composing for Affect, Audience, and Identity: Toward a Multidimensional Underst…
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (17)

  1. Tusting (2015)
    “I Am a Peacemaker”
    Written Communication
  2. Anderson (2013)
    Contrasting Systemic Functional Linguistic and Situated Literacies Approaches t…
    Written Communication
  3. Oddo (2013)
    Discourse-Based Methods Across Texts and Semiotic Modes
    Written Communication
  4. Yang (2012)
    Multimodal Composing in Digital Storytelling
    Computers and Composition
  5. Fraiberg (2010)
    Composition 2.0: Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework
    College Composition and Communication
Show all 17 →
  1. Wickman (2010)
    Writing Material in Chemical Physics Research: The Laboratory Notebook as Locus…
    Written Communication
  2. Yi et al. (2010)
    Technology and “Self-Sponsored” Writing: A Case Study of a Korean-American Adolescent
    Computers and Composition
  3. Selfe (2009)
    The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Bezemer et al. (2008)
    Writing in Multimodal Texts
    Written Communication
  5. Shin et al. (2008)
    Multimodal Composition in a College ESL Class: New Tools, Traditional Norms
    Computers and Composition
  6. McKee (2006)
    Sound matters: Notes toward the analysis and design of sound in multimodal webtexts
    Computers and Composition
  7. Wolfe (2005)
    Gesture and Collaborative Planning
    Written Communication
  8. Hull et al. (2005)
    Locating the Semiotic Power of Multimodality
    Written Communication
  9. Kress (2005)
    Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning
    Computers and Composition
  10. Prior (2005)
    Moving multimodality beyond the binaries: A response to Gunther Kress’ “Gains a…
    Computers and Composition
  11. Tardy (2005)
    Expressions of disciplinarity and individuality in a multimodal genre
    Computers and Composition
  12. BERKENKOTTER (2001)
    Genre Systems at Work
    Written Communication
Also cites 24 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1515/text-2014-0007
     ↗
  2. 10.1002/tesq.130
     ↗
  3. 10.1075/dapsac.13.06fai
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/1512100
     ↗
  5. 10.1002/tesq.138
     ↗
  6. 10.1002/tesq.238
     ↗
  7. Iedema R. (2001)
    10.1515/semi.2001.106
    Semiotica  ↗
  8. 10.1080/01596300500200011
     ↗
  9. 10.4324/9780203164754
     ↗
  10. 10.1002/tesq.132
     ↗
  11. 10.1080/09500780802152929
     ↗
  12. 10.1017/S0267190511000110
     ↗
  13. 10.1057/9780230511910
     ↗
  14. 10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u
     ↗
  15. 10.1057/9780230250628_1
     ↗
  16. 10.1515/9783110220674.31
     ↗
  17. 10.4324/9781410610317
     ↗
  18. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjqkk
     ↗
  19. 10.1016/j.jslw.2017.04.001
     ↗
  20. 10.1002/tesq.236
     ↗
  21. 10.1075/pbns.111.03lee
     ↗
  22. 10.1002/tesq.242
     ↗
  23. 10.1177/1077800406295625
     ↗
  24. 10.1111/lnc3.12076
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 72 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  2. Composition Forum Oct 2025
    Adding to the Qualitative Research Method Toolkit: Eliciting and Coding Participant Drawings ↗
    writing across the curriculum empirical research qualitative research multimodality multilingual writers
  3. Written Communication Oct 2025
    Popularization Writing Skills Development: A Longitudinal Case Study of the Writing Process and Writing Outcomes in Nine Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Students ↗
    Florentine Marnel Sterk; Merel van Goch; Michael Burke; Iris van der Tuin
    qualitative research quantitative research multimodality multilingual writers
  4. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Remixing the College Essay ↗
    Felisa Baynes-Ross; Caitlin Cawley; Caroline Hagood; Mira Zaman
    first-year composition two-year college qualitative research multimodality race and writing multilingual writers
  5. Written Communication Jan 2025
    Getting to “the Upper End of the Novice Zone”: An Exploration of Doctoral Students’ Writer Identity in Coauthoring With Supervisors for Publication ↗
    Jiayu Wang; Cassi Liardét
    qualitative research multimodality multilingual writers voice and style affect and writing