Communicative Repertoire Research Articles

Translanguaging practices in global K‐12 science education settings: A systematic literature review

AbstractRecently, there has been a surge of literature on the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy and practices in science education settings. By activating and validating learners' full communicative repertoire, translanguaging holds promise to build an inclusive science learning community where multilingual learners' ways of knowing are not only respected but celebrated and extended. Drawing from the dual synergy between translanguaging and science education on multimodalities and social justice agenda, this systematic review synthesized the key features of empirical research published from 2010 to 2023 that reported translanguaging practices in global K‐12 formal and informal science education settings. The results indicated high heterogeneity in the studied socio‐geographic landscapes and in the definition, implementation, and implication of translanguaging practices. Analysis of the science sense‐making practices indicates some epistemic practices are more widely represented than others, with marginal global differences observed. To maintain and embolden the synergy between science education and translanguaging, our findings recommend increased collaboration between Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics (STEM) education and bilingual education and collaboration between teachers and researchers to develop an effective translanguaging environment for science learning.

Visual interpersonal communication on social network sites in romantic relationships

Based on a research project examining visual communication in close relationships in Switzerland, this study examines interpersonal communication between romantic partners on social network sites (SNSs). It explores (1) the role of SNSs in couples’ communication repertoires and (2) the social functions accomplished in the exchange of visual elements on SNSs. Sixty-three semi-structured couple and individual in-depth interviews with romantic partners (N = 42) were conducted, including network drawings for visual elicitation. The results suggest that interpersonal communication on SNSs is intertwined with mass self-communication on SNSs and other channels that make up the communication repertoires of romantic partners. The partners nearly exclusively exchanged visual elements through interpersonal communication on SNSs, accomplishing four social functions: phatic communication, visual references to shared experiences and shared knowledge, functional sharing, and inspirational sharing. This study extends understanding of the importance of communicative interdependence in the field of interpersonal communication and the significance of visual communication on SNSs in maintaining romantic relationships.

English First Additional Language teachers’ perceptions of translanguaging pedagogy: A case of Vhembe District, Limpopo Province

This article reports on Grade 7 English First Additional Language (FAL) teachers’ perceptions of their use of a translanguaging pedagogy in teaching English FAL among Grade 7 learners in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. The Continua of biliteracy model (CBM) underpinned the study. CBM foregrounds the development of biliteracy among bi/multilinguals and supports the view that learners’ communicative repertoires and language practices form an integral part of their learning process. The participants in the study were 6 Grade 7 English FAL teachers purposefully selected from three different primary schools. The study collected data through classroom observations, open-ended questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The overall results of the study revealed two differentiated strands of the teachers’ perceptions of the translanguaging approach in the teaching and learning of English FAL among Grade 7 learners. Firstly, the majority of Grade 7 teachers have a positive outlook on translanguaging pedagogy in the teaching and learning of English FAL. Alternation and flexible use of Tshivenḓa HL and English are permitted for scaffolding and acceleration of L2 learning. Secondly, the study revealed that some of these Grade 7 English FAL teachers objected to the use of translanguaging in preference for an English-only approach to accelerate the learning of English in their L2 classrooms. In their view, Tshivenḓa Home Language and English must be taught in isolation because of their distinct linguistic systems.

Decreasing self‐injury in a child with multiple disabilities: A practitioner's demonstration

AbstractSelf‐injurious behavior is thought to be the product of interactions between deficits related to a primary disability (e.g., limited communication repertoires and adaptive skills) and learning experiences that reinforce problem behavior (e.g., consoling the child, terminating non‐preferred activities, etc.). For these cases, functional communication training (FCT) may be prescribed to decrease challenging behavior and increase the client's communicative repertoire. However, FCT procedures for individuals with multiple physical impairments may require considerable individualization and modifications. Unfortunately, the existing body of research related to the assessment and treatment of behavior of individuals with motor, visual, or other impairments is relatively limited. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate how practitioners can modify assessment and treatment procedures to decrease challenging behavior and promote independence when working with individuals with multiple impairments. We provide an example of effective skill acquisition and behavior reduction interventions for a young girl, Ava, presenting with multiple disabilities—including visual, hearing, and motor impairments. Consistent with the habilitative aims of applied behavior analysis, the intervention was effective at decreasing Ava's challenging behavior and increasing her independent communication and adaptive behavior.

Culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy: Examining teachers' conceptualizations of affirmative instructional practices for multilingual learners

AbstractA culturally and linguistically responsive teaching force is a critical element in the pursuit of educational justice (Levinson, 2022). Culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy (CLRP) can disrupt patterns of marginalization and strengthen students' ability to thrive in schools (Akiba et al., 2010). In this study, the researchers examine how preservice and in‐service teachers understand and enact CLRP when teaching multilingual learners (MLs). Drawing on post‐observation reflection data with six preservice teacher residents and post‐observation interviews with 11 in‐service teachers across multiple classroom contexts and grade levels, the authors demonstrate how teachers enact responsive pedagogies by (1) implementing culturally relevant curricula, (2) embracing students' full communicative repertoires, (3) dismantling deficit‐based perspectives of MLs, and (4) practicing critical consciousness in teaching and learning.

Analysis of Failed Atlantoaxial Reduction: Causes of Failure and Strategies for Revision.

The craniovertebral junction (CVJ) presents intricate anatomical challenges. In severe or irreducible malformations, complications such as reduction loss and fixation failure may occur, necessitating revision surgery. The posterior facet joint distraction and fusion (PFDF) technique, offers a solely posterior approach for revisions. Hence, we delineate varied revision scenarios, proposing surgical strategies and technical details to enhance outcomes and mitigate risks, thereby enriching the neurosurgical community's repertoire. This was a retrospective cohort study, analyzed patient data from Xuanwu Hospital, between 2017 to 2023. All patients had a history of surgical treatment for CVJ malformations, and experienced failure or loss of reduction. The distance from the odontoid process tip to the Chamberlain's line (DCL), the atlantodental interval (ADI), clivus-canal angle, cervicomedullary angle, width of subarachnoid space, CVJ area, and width of syrinx were used for radiographic assessment. Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores and SF-12 scores were used for clinical assessment. Independent sample t-tests were employed. A significance level of p < 0.05 indicates statistically significant differences. We analyzed data from 35 patients. For patients who underwent PFDF, the postoperative DCL, ADI, and clivus-canal angle significantly improved. For all patients, the postoperative cervicomedullary angle, width of subarachnoid space, CVJ area, and width of syrinx all demonstrated significant improvement, indicating the relief of neural compression. All patients showed significant improvement in both symptoms and clinical assessments. Severe atlantoaxial joint locking or ligament contracting are the fundamental cause of reduction and fixation failure. Anterior odontoidectomy is indicated for patients with robust bony fusion of the atlantoaxial joint in an unreduced position. The PFDF technique is safe and effective for patients with incomplete atlantoaxial bony fusion. Preoperative assessment of surgical feasibility and vertebral artery status ensures surgical safety and efficacy.

Multilingual and multimodal methods to examining the situated communication among deaf children and their caregivers

ABSTRACT This paper discusses methodologies for examining the multilingual language experiences of young deaf children that are sensitive to different cultural contexts of childhood, caregiving and language practices. We argue that in the context of early support, the combined use of situated multilingual and multimodal approaches to examine and assess individual language resources can provide rich and reliable information about individual communicative repertoires in their given context. This approach extends commonly used monolingual and unimodal research and assessment tools that lack the inclusivity of reach and granularity of analysis needed to inform contextually appropriate early intervention for multilingual and migrant deaf learners. We illustrate the potential of these methods using case study examples from multimodal video-based and ethnographic data gathering and analysis techniques deployed across three projects in different multilingual contexts, in Ghana and the UK. We use these case studies to examine the methodological choices, challenges and opportunities of researching different multilingual environments in culturally sensitive ways as a basis for supporting and assessing the language and communication development of young deaf children in multilingual and migrant contexts. We discuss how the resulting new knowledge base can extend Euro-Western epistemologies that are currently leading models of early intervention and support.

Adopting a stance of vulnerability in healthcare evaluation: Amplifying the patient voice.

This paper argues that one aspect of re-imagining evaluation in health planning and management is for leaders and clinicians to develop comfort with vulnerability when engaging in service evaluations. Starting with an exploration of how the service user voice is traditionally expressed in healthcare evaluation, the paper then proceeds to explore the particular role and challenges faced by clinician-evaluators, including their role as 'privileged interlocutors' in conversations with service users. The tensions in reconciling the role of the clinician as an expert, with the related but different skills needed for effective discourse in qualitative evaluation are explored, and it is asserted that it is important for clinicians and leaders to be comfortable in showing and working with vulnerability when evaluating healthcare interventions. Clinicians are already skilled in holding discourse with service users, and extending the communication repertoire to include the management of emotion and expression of vulnerability is achievable and rewarding. The paper concludes that the ability to hold a vulnerable stance when conducting evaluation can have benefits in reducing defensiveness, encouraging a truer sense of enquiry and amplifying the service user voice.

“I had to watch the commercial. That was annoying!” Audio-observing active parental mediation of advertising

ABSTRACT Active mediation is considered the gold standard mediation style for parents seeking to help their children cope with potentially harmful media content. However, little is known about what actually happens during active mediation episodes. In this study, we employ an interactive task on advertising formats to audio-observe parent – child interactions during active mediation episodes (n = 23 dyads). The study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring the communicative repertoires that parents and children draw on during active mediation episodes. We show how parents and children, in exercising their agency, respond to one another by adopting the parent positions of educator, role model, investigator, and bridge builder, and the child positions of novice, informant, and cognoscente. Most of the time, the episodes follow a clear pattern according to which parents are in control of the mediation episode and children mainly react to their parents’ initiatives. However, in instances of reverse mediation, this default hierarchy is turned upside down. Here, children explain media logics and educate their parents about advertising. The structure of active mediation episodes mapped in this study will allow researchers to develop a deeper understanding of active mediation as a complex and heterogenous phenomenon.

Mending the intersectional gap: Supporting emergent multilinguals labeled as disabled through translanguaging and Universal Design for Learning

ABSTRACT TrUDL is a pedagogical approach that considers the intersections of translanguaging and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to support the needs of students in any classroom, but especially emergent multilinguals labeled as disabled (EMLADs). In this article, we offer tools to help educators ensure their lessons support the full communicative repertoire and learning strengths, needs, and preferences of their EMLADs. Educators must self-assess to ensure they do not fall into the trap of UDL OR multilingual supports, and instead integrate multimodal, multilingual, and culturally responsive strategies for all learners. We present a range of mechanisms for educators to evaluate and improve their lessons, including culturally relevant questions for exploratory interviews with families; approaches to languaging in classrooms; reflections on the intersections of racialization and disablement; and ensuring that the cultural responsiveness of the curriculum supports students’ holistic growth and success.

A Comparative Study on Dialogic Communication Strategies of Preschoolers in Greece and Rwanda

The present research aimed to delve into the communicative profile of children in early childhood education in Greece and Rwanda. More specifically, the study was designed and implemented with the aspiration to examine the communication strategies employed by young children and to explore the potential influence of gender, culture and age on the variation of these strategies among children in Larissa (a city in Greece) and in Kigali (a city in Rwanda, Africa). In the study, 120 children were observed in an attempt to document the communication strategies and further look for differentiations on the basis of their gender, age and cultural background. The study findings indicated that children's communicative repertoire is highly affected by their age and country of origin, while, concerning gender, no statistically significant associations were detected. The results of the research indicate the importance of acknowledging the diverse communication strategies employed by children and implementing a dialogic approach to teaching that accommodates the unique communication requirements of each child.

Institutionelle Kommunikation in der digitalen Öffentlichkeit: Das kommunikative Repertoire der Polizei Hamburg auf Twitter

Abstract This paper uses the notion of communicative repertoire to investigate the language conduct of an institutional organization in a social media environment, with the Twitter (now ‘X’) account of Hamburg Police as a case in point. Theoretically drawing on interactional sociolinguistics, media linguistics and Twitter research, we view communicative repertoire as the sum of linguistic and semiotic resources that are mobilized by organizational agents to participate in a multi-faceted digital public space that comprises both the dissemination of messages to a digital audience (the account’s followers) and dialogic exchanges with self-selected members of the digital publics. The analysis is based on all tweets produced by the Hamburg Police over a period of three months, complemented by an interview with the organization’s social media team. We operationalize the communicative repertoire by means of a multi-level analytical scheme that comprises: (a) different types of linguistic and graphic resources, (b) two participation formats (initiative and responsive messages) and (c) several action types. The findings show that the language conduct of Police Hamburg is multi-faceted and shows striking stylistic differences between initiative and responsive tweets. While initiative tweets draw on pre-digital genres of Police communication (e.g. call for witnesses), responsive tweets repeatedly show accommodation towards users. Overall, the case of Hamburg Police illustrates how mediatization transforms practices of institutional communication.

Digital storytelling and intersectional identities: youth with refugee experiences (Re)claiming life stories

ABSTRACT This study addresses the urgent need to develop pedagogies that enhance language and literacy learning and identity affirmation (and resistance) opportunities for youth from refugee backgrounds. In Canadian high schools, this population of students enter school with varying levels of literacy in their first language(s), as well as potentially difficult experiences due to their forced migration. For many, language-content learning may become a formidable challenge, negatively impacting identities. A growing corpus of case studies is beginning to show how pedagogies that draw on youth’s everyday meaning making and their intersectional identities can effectively engage refugee-background learners in academic learning. In this qualitative case study involving nine refugee-background youth in an English language learning classroom in Western Canada, we explore the potential for digital storytelling to enable learners to draw from their full communicative repertoires to enhance language and literacy learning and enable intersectional identity representation, renegotiation and affirmation. Our study is informed by three interrelated conceptual frameworks: intersectionality , communicative repertoires , and digital literacies . We undertook a six-phase process for thematic data analysis of the collection of digital stories, using contextual data such as semi-structured interviews, participant observations and informal conversations to understand the relationship between the students’ digital stories and their lived experiences. Using an adaptation of Rose’s (2016) visual methodology, we provide a more in-depth analysis of the digital stories of two students with a focus on the intersectionality of the various contexts of their lives and identities. Across all participants, four interweaving themes emerged from our thematic analysis of the nine digital stories overall: 1) contesting single-axis labels; 2) reconciling mutually constitutive categories of difference; 3) (re)claiming life stories; and 4) recognizing the critical role of audience. (293)

From everyday exposure to pragmatic mastery

Abstract In this paper, we review recent findings on the development of communicative behaviour of monolingual and bilingual toddlers and preschoolers. We describe how the unique experience of growing up with two (or more) languages affects children’s everyday experiences and the pragmatics of their communicative behaviour. Deriving from this literature, we introduce a novel perspective on children’s development of communicative behaviour (COMmmunicative-Experience, COME), discussing potential mechanisms behind this pragmatic behaviour. It assumes that children experience communicative situations of varying efficiency and that these experiences shape their communicative behaviour: The more experiences children have with non-effective communicative situations, the larger their communicative repertoire becomes and the more flexibly this repertoire can be applied in a given situation. Notably, the COME perspective is not limited to bilingual communicative development but can be applied to a variety of other pragmatic contexts. Therefore, we broaden the discussion by identifying open questions for future research.

Primate socio-ecology shapes the evolution of distinctive facial repertoires.

Primate facial musculature enables a wide variety of movements during bouts of communication, but how these movements contribute to signal construction and repertoire size is unclear. The facial mobility hypothesis suggests that morphological constraints shape the evolution of facial repertoires: species with higher facial mobility will produce larger and more complex repertoires. In contrast, the socio-ecological complexity hypothesis suggests that social needs shape the evolution of facial repertoires: as social complexity increases, so does communicative repertoire size. We tested these two hypotheses by comparing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gibbons (family Hylobatidae), two distantly related apes who vary in their facial mobility and social organization. While gibbons have higher facial mobility than chimpanzees, chimpanzees live in more complex social groups than gibbons. We compared the morphology and complexity of facial repertoires for both apes using Facial Action Coding Systems designed for chimpanzees and gibbons. Our comparisons were made at the level of individual muscle movements (action units [AUs]) and the level of muscle movement combinations (AU combinations). Our results show that the chimpanzee facial signaling repertoire was larger and more complex than gibbons, consistent with the socio-ecological complexity hypothesis. On average, chimpanzees produced AU combinations consisting of more morphologically distinct AUs than gibbons. Moreover, chimpanzees also produced more morphologically distinct AU combinations than gibbons, even when focusing exclusively on AUs present in both apes. Therefore, our results suggest that socio-ecological factors were more important than anatomical ones to the evolution of facial signaling repertoires in chimpanzees and gibbons. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Wild and captive immature orangutans differ in their non-vocal communication with others, but not with their mothers

In many group-living species, individuals are required to flexibly modify their communicative behaviour in response to current social challenges. To unravel whether sociality and communication systems co-evolve, research efforts have often targeted the links between social organisation and communicative repertoires. However, it is still unclear which social or interactional factors directly predict communicative complexity. To address this issue, we studied wild and zoo-housed immature orangutans of two species to assess the impact of the socio-ecological setting on the production of non-vocal signal repertoires. Specifically, we compared repertoire size, dyadic repertoire similarity, and number of social goals (i.e. observer’s estimate of the signaller’s intended interaction outcome) for communicative interactions with mothers versus other conspecifics, controlling for critical individual and environmental factors. In this small sample of immature orangutans, wild-captive contrasts were statistically significant only for other-directed repertoires, but not for mother-directed repertoires, and not for the number of social goals that immatures communicated towards. While the repertoires of individuals living in the same research setting were more similar than those living in contrasting settings, this difference was most pronounced for other-directed repertoires of the less socially tolerant orangutan species. These results suggest that the boosted interactional opportunities in captivity rather than mere differences in environmental affordances or communicative needs drive the wild-captive contrast in orangutan communicative repertoires. Overall, this fine-grained analysis of repertoires further underscores that not only a species’ social organisation but also the targeted audience may have a profound impact on communicative behaviour.Significance statementNavigating a dynamic social environment often requires flexible signal use. While it has repeatedly been shown that the social organisation and structure of species predict the complexity of their communication systems, the mechanisms underlying these relationships are largely unknown. Because targeted studies to assess this issue in great apes are difficult, we take an alternative approach here: we compare the same species living in the wild and in artificial habitats in captivity. This contrast allows a direct test of how repertoires respond to the relevant difference in socio-ecological conditions. Our results show that the diversity of interaction partners (i.e. social opportunities), but not the diversity of social goals (i.e. possible interaction outcomes) or the broader physical opportunities (i.e. safe ground use), predict the size and consistency of wild and captive signalling repertoires.

Patterns of attention-sensitive communication contribute to 7-20-month-olds' emerging pragmatic skills.

The present study aimed at investigating the ability of 7- to 20-month-old infants to display attention-sensitive communication using either canonical markers of language acquisition (e.g., pointing gestures, canonical babblings) or other signals based on the physical features actually perceived by the mother in everyday interaction (e.g., body movements, mouth sounds). We studied 30 French mother-infant dyads in naturalistic settings. We assessed the infants' attention-sensitive communication through unimodal and cross-modal adjustment, defined as the capacity of infants to address visually inattentive mothers by avoiding visual communication mismatches and/or favoring communication matches through audible-or-contact signals. Unimodal and cross-modal adjustments were tested for specific signals across spontaneous "conditions" of maternal visual attention (attentive/inattentive) from video footage filmed in the home. Both canonical markers of language development and signals belonging to an extended repertoire of communication were used by infants to adjust to their mother's visual attention. Gaze-coordinated signals were overall not significantly better adjusted to maternal attention than non-gaze-coordinated signals, except for specific silent-visual signals at certain ages. Overall, these results indicate that attention-sensitive communication is relevant to the development of early pragmatic skills and that the intentional use of signals may be more reliably approximated by this capacity than by gaze-coordination with signals.

Dangdut Koplo as a Manifestation of Popular Culture In Indonesia

One of the original works of Indonesians is dangdut music, more specifically, dangdut koplo. Dangdut music continues to grow, and the coming of dangdut koplo is accompanied by the human invention of information and communication technology, namely social media. This technology has succeeded in having a positive impact on the work of the nation, namely spreading dangdut koplo to all corners of the islands and even to the corners of the world. The objective of this simple piece of writing is to highlight a popular culture that occurs in Indonesia. One of the results of human thought, especially that of the people of East Java, in terms of art, especially music, can be a type of music that is light, pleasing to the ear, favored by people of all ages, strata, and social statuses, is able to eliminate all kinds of barriers in society, and can be an alternative form of entertainment. The objective of the study is to describe a new culture which emerged from the grassroot but it attracts international attention. The method used is the observation of communication phenomena that occur in society and literature study, which are then linked into propositions that can be used as subjects for the development of the scientific repertoire of culture and communication. It can be concluded that the emergence of dangdut koplo is clear evidence that everyone can produce a work that can be enjoyed by many people and can become a new culture in society that does not discredit previous works but instead strengthens and perfects previous great works.

A multimodal translingual approach to study a young learner's willingness to communicate

AbstractContrary to prevailing research on willingness to communicate (WTC) which treats spoken second language (L2) as the predominant indicator of WTC, this study examines a young English as a second language (ESL) learner's WTC expressed through multimodal means and her utilization of multimodal and multilingual resources for mediating WTC in translingual environments. Data were collected from videotaped ESL lessons and an interview. Adopting a multimodal conversation analysis (CA) approach, this cross‐disciplinary study analyzes the ESL novice's WTC expressions in two communicative settings: small‐group interactions in ESL class and a multilingual triad conversation in an interview. Findings reveal that (1) gestural WTC display can signify more than one's intention to enter discourse, (2) contrary to previous WTC studies, first language (L1) use can indicate L2 WTC, and (3) the learner used diverse semiotic resources to mediate WTC and sustain discursive engagement. Implications are discussed with respect to the findings. This study extends the understanding of WTC beyond spoken L2 expressions, emphasizing embodied display and L1 use in the learner's communicative repertoire. Additionally, it sheds light on the learner's strategic use of multimodal resources to sustain engagement in translingual environments, contributing to the broader field of language education and multimodal analysis.

The Communication Repertoire of the Wits #FMF Movement

This article looks at the communication repertoire of the Wits Fees Must Fall (#FMF) movement of 2015–2016. It documents and discusses the different ways in which the students communicated during their movement activities. With many scholars often praising the use of Twitter in social movements, this article speaks to the importance of looking at more than one form of communication practice and technology to make sense of the different roles played by different practices in the life of a movement. There is no doubt that social media has changed the communication environment of movement activists. Social media has many benefits for activists, which are also mentioned in this article. However, even in this new digital world, one cannot dismiss the importance of interactions that take place through other means. By discussing these various communication practices and their roles in the Wits #FMF movement, the article highlights the key role of face-to-face interactions. It shows that movement activists use different platforms to perform various communication practices at the same time for different purposes. This article consults two frameworks that encourage such a holistic understanding: Emiliano Treré and Alice Mattoni's “repertoires of communication” and Marshall McLuhan's “media ecologies”.