Editorial. Teaching writing in a changing semiotic land-scape

P.-O. Erixon, H. Nixon
2007 L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature  
This special issue of L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature focuses on what it means to teach writing in secondary schools in the age of new media. We approach this topic from the understanding that people worldwide are now operating within a 'changing semiotic landscape' (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996) that is associated with social, economic and technological change. This changing landscape of communication is affecting not only how we read and write, but also is expanding the range
more » ... semiotic modes and media with we habitually engage in order to make meaning, communicate and get things done in the world. Now, for example, in order to be fully literate, people need not only to be able to read and write using language and the technology of pen and paper; they also need to be able to comprehend, design, compose and disseminate multimodal meanings using digital multimedia. The new digital media in turn are dominated by the representation space of the screen (rather than the page), the meaning-making mode of the image, and the multiple and non-linear affordances of electronic hypertext. These developments pose significant challenges for teachers charged with the responsibility of teaching language, literature and communication, and it is to precisely to these challenges that the authors in this special issue turn their attention. Just as TV has transformed our lives in many ways, so too the computer and the internet are transforming our ways of thinking, living and communicating. For example, the so called "data base form" as an interface between computer and human beings represents a new way of structuring our experiences and our world (Manovich, 2001). The world now appears to us as an endless and unstructured stream of pictures, texts and other data. From a semiotic perspective, the computer's interface mediates cultural messages by means of different media. By organising the informa-PER-OLOF ERIXON
doi:10.17239/l1esll-2007.07.04.01 fatcat:ucenpgombnbopmbhjrfprva7jy