Multilingual Learners as Designers of Science Communication

Transmodalising Multiliteracies Pedagogy Using Infographics

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21392771
AutoresSujin Kim (0000-0002-4251-6318, College of Education and Human Development George Mason University Fairfax Virginia USA, autor correspondente), Xiaowen Chen (0000-0003-1790-691X, College of Education and Human Development George Mason University Fairfax Virginia USA), Eden Langston (College of Education and Human Development George Mason University Fairfax Virginia USA), Kathleen Ramos (0000-0002-0010-1800, George Mason University), Kathleen A Ramos (College of Education and Human Development George Mason University Fairfax Virginia USA), Cynthia Graville (College of Arts and Sciences Saint Louis University St. Louis Missouri USA)
Ano2026
Volume110
Fascículo2
Páginas441-458
Data de publicação2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoScience Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0036-8326 • E-ISSN: 1098-237X
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/sce.70013
OpenAlexW4413947511
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas54

This study examines how transmodalising multiliteracies pedagogy (TMP) using infographics can support multilingual learners' (MLs') engagement in disciplinary learning and literacy development in science. Collaborating with 5th grade science and ESOL teachers, this study asked: (1) How did students engage in science inquiry through creating infographics? (2) How did students' engagement and design choices evolve over time? (3) What affordances and semiotic implications were made available and manifested during the process? Drawing on qualitative data, including student‐designed infographics, teacher interviews, observational field notes, and student reflections, we examined how students' disciplinary participation evolved across multiple stages of infographic design. Findings demonstrate that TMP facilitated multimodal and multilingual meaning‐making, enabling MLs to draw from their full semiotic repertoires, including home languages, to communicate complex scientific ideas. Guided to design for authentic audiences, students enacted epistemic agency through purposeful visual storytelling, audience awareness, and creative design. Rather than being limited by standardized formats or dominant language norms, students crafted disciplinary messages that reflected their lived experiences and communicative intent. This study advances TMP as a critical equity‐oriented pedagogy that repositions MLs as designers of science communication and active participants in disciplinary literacy

Infographic · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Science education · Sociology · Teaching method · Computer Science · Literacy, Media, and Education · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching