Multimodal Narratives and iPad in Second Language Teaching

Abstract

The present study analyses a group of students' multimodal productions who are learning a second language within a cooperative learning context using the iPad in a 1:1 format. They turn the act of creating free narrative written texts into a complex communicative process where two modes of representation are employed: written text and still images. These narratives become documents where the language of words and images are interrelated, generating production and communicative processes which should be understood in their double dimension: a) analyse the value the students give to the images in their compositions; and b) taking the narrative as an integrated text, where the systems of representation interact. Examples of experiences using mobile technologies studying the processes of learning generated in school contexts are still scarce. It is important to analyse didactic proposals which incorporate formative tasks in the classroom using these technologies, such as this case.