1. Liu Yu Multimodal Analysis Lab National University of Singapore
A Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) Approach to Science Literacies in Secondary School Chemistry textbooks
Liu Yu
Multimodal Analysis Lab
National University of Singapore

2. Background: Significance of science education
Highly valued in the school curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007)
Governments’ generous financial investment on science education (Rose, 1997: 3)

3. Scientific Literacy vs. Science Literacy
Scientific Literacy: Students’ individual cognitive development and the ability to understand scientific concepts.
Science Literacy: Scientific talking, reading and writing as representations.
(Bennett 2003: 148)

4. Literacy challenges posed by multimodal construction of scientific knowledge
Language
Images
Graphs and tables
Mathematical symbols
Chemical symbols

5. Research questions
How to bridge scientific literacy and science literacy and incorporate their insights in chemistry education?
Why did modern chemical symbolism emerge complementary to language?
What are the special functions of chemical symbolism and their implications for teaching and learning?

6. Outline
Revisiting a classic psychological model in chemistry education (Johnstone 1982, 1993) and incorporating its insights into the SF- MDA approach (O’Halloran 2007)
Investigating semogenesis of modern chemical symbolism and analyzing its functional affordances
Discussing teaching and learning implications from Bernstein’s (1990) sociology of education

7. Scientific literacy: The psychological approach
Macroscopic Level
Submicroscopic Level Representational Level
Adapted from Johnstone (1993: 703)

8. Different descriptions of the rusting of iron
Level
Macroscopic
Submicroscopic
Representational
Description
Solid iron nail has a brown flaky coating on it that comes off easily when touched.
Iron metal has iron atoms all closely packed together to form the solid nail. Some of the iron atoms next to the surface have reacted with the oxygen molecules forming a bond between an iron atom and an oxygen atom according to the formula Fe2O3.
The chemical equation summarizes the reaction showing the number of iron atoms and oxygen atoms involved in the reaction. A ball-and-stick model and a computer simulation can depict the solid iron atoms being attacked by the oxygen molecule.
Real or Representation
Real
Real-but too small to be seen with naked eyes
Representation
Perception
Visible
Can’t be seen with naked eyes, so mental image is based on descriptions, diagrams, explanations
The model is a tool to help understand the real entity.
Adapted from Chittleborough (2004: 22)

9. Science literacy: Social semiotic approach
Context plane
Common sense
Scientific knowledge
Content plane
Semantic stratum
Ideational meaning
Lexico-grammatical
stratum
Common language
Technical language
Based on Martin (2007: 34)

10. Systemic functional linguistic approach to chemistry verbal texts
Meaning
Stratum
Ideational meaning
Semantic stratum
Macroscopic meaning
Submicroscopic meaning
Lexicogrammatical
stratum
Common language (e.g. a brown flaky coating)
Technical language (e.g. ferri oxide)

11. Recent research on Multimodal Discourse Analysis from Systemic Functional perspectives (SF-MDA)
Displayed art (O’Toole 1994)
Visual design (Kress and van Leeuwen 1996)
Scientific and mathematical visuals (O’Halloran 1996, 1999a, 2000, 2005, 2007b ; Baldry and Thibault 2006; Guo 2004; Jones 2007)
Mathematical symbolism (O’Halloran 1996, 1999a, 2000, 2005)
Three-dimensional objects (O’Toole 1994, 2004; Kress and van Leeuwen 2006)
Embodied action (Martinec 1998, 2000)
Music (Van Leeuwen 1999)

12. Lexicogrammatical stratum
SF-MDA approach to science literacies in secondary school chemistry textbooks
Meaning
Stratum
Ideational meaning
Semantic stratum
Macroscopic meaning
Submicroscopic meaning
Lexicogrammatical stratum
Common language
Photographs
Technical language
Micrographs
Scientific drawing
Tables
Graphs
Chemical symbolism

13. Semogenesis of modern chemical symbolism
Quantification requirements of chemistry
Theoretical revolution of chemistry in the late 18th century
Meaning making potentials (language vs. symbolism)
Ratio rate between elements (e.g. calcium chloride / CaCl2)
Medium in an Ergativity configuration
[e.g. Charcoal is burned. / C + O2]

14. Lexicogrammatical strategies: The Reactive process
[[C + O2]] CO2
[[Fe + O2]] Fe2O3
The Reactive/Operative process
[[2Fe + 3O2]] Fe2O3

15. Lexicogrammatical strategies: Multiple rankshift
Clause: H2 + O2 → 2H2O
Expression: H2, O2, H2O, 2H2, 2H2O (i.e. word group
/phrase)
Atom: H, O, 2, +, → (i.e. word)
[[[[2[[H2]]]] + [[O2]]]] → [[2[[H2O]]]]

16. Lexicogrammatical strategies: Multiple rankshift
Process
Participants
Rank 1 (ranking clause)
→(Relational)
2H2+O2
2H2O
Rank 2
+ (Reactive/Operative)
2H2 O2
Rank 3 (Ⅰ)
Х (Operative) 2 H2
Rank 3 (Ⅱ)
Rank 3 (Ⅲ)
H2O
Rank 4 (Ⅰ)
+ ( Reactive/Operative) H
Rank 4 (Ⅱ) O
Rank 4 (Ⅲ)

17. Lexicogrammatical strategies: Multiple rankshift
Step 1: Write the formula H O2 → H2O
Step 2: Count the atoms
Step 3: Add ‘2’ in front of H2O H O2 → 2H2O
Step 4: Count the atoms again
Step 5: Add ‘2’ in front of H H O2 → 2H2O
Adapted from (Onn, Ang and Khoo 2006: 59)

18. Symbolic representations of ‘copper oxide’
Lexicogrammatical strategies: Ellipsis of the Reactive/Operative process at the rank of Expression
Symbolic representations of ‘copper oxide’
Congruent representation: Cu + O (Berzelius 1813, see Brock 1993: 154)
Rank-shifted representation: CuO

19. The semo-genetic codification of copper oxide+ Cu O
CuO

20. Viewed from Bernstein’s (1990) classification of pedagogical devices
Intra-individual Psychological approach (e.g. Johnstone 1982, 1993) Acquisition Transmission SF-MDA approach (e.g. O’Halloran 2007 ) Inter-group

21. Concluding remarks Chemical symbolism as powerful meaning potential
Developing scientific literacy with science literacies
Chemical symbolism as powerful meaning potential
for semantic expansions rather than a jargon
Towards a SF-MDA meta-language for
developing literacies with a visible pedagogy

22. Thank you!