Scaled semiotic resources in informal learning on Chinese social networking sites

Bibliographic Data

ID22022902
AuthorsYanli Meng (0000-0003-3497-6602, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume20
Issue2
Pages297-325
Publication date2024-05-31
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChinese Semiotic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2198-9605 • E-ISSN: 2198-9613
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/css-2024-2015
OpenAlexW4399235787
LanguageEN
References cited13

In the globalized internet age, informal learning is gaining prominence in China as mobile technology and social networking sites (SNSs) become widely accessible and virtually ubiquitously popular in Chinese society. An important informal learning platform is made up by the specialized public accounts on WeChat, the most popular SNSs in China. This study is based on three popular WeChat public accounts on parenting and education, especially on English learning, run by diasporic Chinese elites, with a special focus on the semiotic resources they have mobilized and brought across the national and real/virtual boundaries to attract novice parents in China. Drawing on Blommaert’s conception of scaled resources, this study uncovers the patterns of semiotic resources on the local, national, and global scales the public accounts holders have deployed to invoke indexical meanings to attract knowledge-seeking parents in China. The indexicality process reflects an ordered nature deeply embedded in the inequal power relations within the stratified world system and social structures. The value acquisition of local resources in globalized, webified mobility also embodies Barthes’ mythical signification

China · Globalization · Indexicality · Linguistics · Media studies · Political science · Public relations · Semiotics · Sociology · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Social Media and Politics

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