Researching Language and Semiotic Registers in Chemistry Lessons Using Multimodal Narratives

Abstract

The main objective of this chapter is to extend the discussion of language and the use of semiotic registers in chemistry lessons. Audio and video recordings, students' notebooks, photographs of content, and activities recorded on the blackboard in chemistry lessons for high school students taught in a public school in the interior of the State of São Paulo enabled the construction of multimodal narratives (MNs). The qualitative analysis of the MNs allowed the identification and understanding of the semiotic registers present in eight lessons conducted by a chemistry teacher. The study revealed several semiotic registers present in the lessons, but there is little exploration of the processes of conversion between semiotic registers by the teacher and therefore by the students. The use of different semiotic registers without the necessary understanding of them can result in difficulties in the teaching and learning processes of chemical concepts.