Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making
This paper examines the affordances of physical objects (e.g. apparatus, models, manipulatives) as they were used by teachers and students to make meaning in coordination with their speech and gestures. Despite the pervasive use of physical objects as material and tactile resources in hands-on inves...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95822 |
| _version_ | 1848766050055749632 |
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| author | Tang, Kok-Sing Jeppsson, F. Danielsson, K. Bergh Nestlog, E. |
| author_facet | Tang, Kok-Sing Jeppsson, F. Danielsson, K. Bergh Nestlog, E. |
| author_sort | Tang, Kok-Sing |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper examines the affordances of physical objects (e.g. apparatus, models, manipulatives) as they were used by teachers and students to make meaning in coordination with their speech and gestures. Despite the pervasive use of physical objects as material and tactile resources in hands-on investigations or demonstrations, there have been few attempts to analyze their role and function in meaning-making, in the same way, that researchers have previously done for other modes of representation such as speech, written text, diagram and gesture. Using social semiotics as a theoretical framework, we conceptualise physical objects as a semiotic mode with a particular affordance for making meaning that involves embodied actions and manipulation of tools. Based on a multimodal discourse analysis of numerous classroom situations, we illustrate how physical objects as a mode have four unique affordances for meaning-making in science classrooms. These affordances are: (a) enacting material interaction, (b) providing evidential meaning, (c) orientating three-dimensional spatial meaning and (d) sensitising experiential meaning. The implication of why we should use physical objects to support or value-add science meaning-making is then discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:44:58Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-95822 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:44:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-958222024-10-15T04:28:45Z Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making Tang, Kok-Sing Jeppsson, F. Danielsson, K. Bergh Nestlog, E. Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Classroom discourse multimodality new materialism representation semiotics tactile manipulation MULTIMODAL REPRESENTATIONS TEACHERS USE SCIENCE CLASSROOM DISCOURSE GESTURES This paper examines the affordances of physical objects (e.g. apparatus, models, manipulatives) as they were used by teachers and students to make meaning in coordination with their speech and gestures. Despite the pervasive use of physical objects as material and tactile resources in hands-on investigations or demonstrations, there have been few attempts to analyze their role and function in meaning-making, in the same way, that researchers have previously done for other modes of representation such as speech, written text, diagram and gesture. Using social semiotics as a theoretical framework, we conceptualise physical objects as a semiotic mode with a particular affordance for making meaning that involves embodied actions and manipulation of tools. Based on a multimodal discourse analysis of numerous classroom situations, we illustrate how physical objects as a mode have four unique affordances for meaning-making in science classrooms. These affordances are: (a) enacting material interaction, (b) providing evidential meaning, (c) orientating three-dimensional spatial meaning and (d) sensitising experiential meaning. The implication of why we should use physical objects to support or value-add science meaning-making is then discussed. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95822 10.1080/09500693.2021.2021313 English ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Classroom discourse multimodality new materialism representation semiotics tactile manipulation MULTIMODAL REPRESENTATIONS TEACHERS USE SCIENCE CLASSROOM DISCOURSE GESTURES Tang, Kok-Sing Jeppsson, F. Danielsson, K. Bergh Nestlog, E. Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title | Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title_full | Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title_fullStr | Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title_short | Affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: A social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| title_sort | affordances of physical objects as a material mode of representation: a social semiotics perspective of hands-on meaning-making |
| topic | Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Classroom discourse multimodality new materialism representation semiotics tactile manipulation MULTIMODAL REPRESENTATIONS TEACHERS USE SCIENCE CLASSROOM DISCOURSE GESTURES |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95822 |