Multimodality in three types of science communication texts for children

Abstract

Using Systemic-Functional Linguistics, we analize the meaning building configurations of three multimodal texts (Lemke, 2002; Painter, Martin, Unsworth, 2012; Ventola, Charles & Kaltenbacher, 2004) to observe the discursive structures of informative books (Garralón, 2013) specialized in science communication for children. In particular, we observe the metafunctional features of register, understood as variations in the meaning building structures seen in discourse and which are specific to a context of production, as well as the networks of register presented in the science communication genre (Bhatia, 2014, 2017; Martin & Rose, 2008; Matthiessen, 2015), which have the objetive of building specialized knowledge. The approach from a metafunctional perspective enables the analysis of meaningful base structures on which texts are built and their resonance at the level of experience building, according to the context in which its presented.