A multimodal approach to reading language-image-text combinations

Abstract

The project presented here is an experience report carried out in a university C1 German course and based on the reading of F.C. Delius' novel The Walk from Rostock to Syracuse. This article aims to provide suggestions for the practical application and the linking types of language-image texts. The students re-live the protagonist's escape on a sailing boat across the Baltic Sea from Eastern Germany during Germany’s separation from the West to fulfill his dream of a journey through Italy. This text lends itself to be explored in a multimodal way, as it presupposes implicit knowledge that includes certain historical and cultural contextual references. Therefore, information and extra-textual images are necessary to visualise and understand the narrative. Both the reading process and the results of the multimodal project are recorded in a reading blog. This offers a variety of possibilities for linguistic expression and acquisition as the multimodal approach provides varied resources for activity-based reading and communicative learning among peers.

Keywords: Images, intertextuality, literacy, multimodality, reading comprehension;