INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SEMIOTIC MODES AND THE MAKING OF MEANING IN LESSONS OF HIGH EDUCATION

The interest on investigating the contribution of language to the making of meaning in classroom has increased lately. The present paper aims to investigate how two professors mobilize different-semiotic modes and promote interactions among the modes for the making of meaning in classes of Organic Chemistry. We recorded a set of classes of both professors and we selected an episode of each one of the professors for analysis. We observed that both professors use and articulate several modes idiosyncratically in their interactions with students. The analysis demonstrates the importance of the use of different-semiotic modes for communication such as: speech, gestures, the gaze, ball/stick models and drawings on the board. In addition, it is notable that the articulation of semiotic modes enhances the making of meaning in the classroom.

Semiotic modes; Multimodality; Gestures; Classroom; High Education.