The semiotic construction of values in the videogame Watch Dogs
Journal article
Lowien, Nathan. (2016). The semiotic construction of values in the videogame Watch Dogs. English in Australia. 51(2), pp. 41-51.
Authors | Lowien, Nathan |
---|---|
Abstract | The past decade has seen videogames become an important facet in the economic and cultural tapestry of the 21st century. However, while the Australian Curriculum: English (ACE) advocates the teaching of multimodal texts (ACARA, 2016), videogames have been neglected within the curriculum. Nevertheless, such a significant aspect of popular 21st century entertainment culture warrants attention by educationalists and consideration as a highly motivating curriculum resource. This paper aims to explore the linguistic and visual semiotic depictions of value positions in the videogame Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, 2014). Despite the ubiquity and popularity of videogames, and the growing use of Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) and related broader semiotic theory in educational research, limited research has been conducted on games from an SFL perspective. This paper will identify content descriptions from the ACE and how suitable videogames similar to Watch Dogs could be used for the teaching of these descriptions. Semiotic systems such as the appraisal system (Martin and White, 2005) and various approaches to image analyses will be utilised in the identification and explication of game characters' value positions. The logogenetic synergy between the meaning making systems of language and image will then be canvassed in relation to their implications for Systemic Functional Semiotic accounts of inter-modal meaning-making, as well as implications for curriculum and pedagogy in the 21st century. |
Keywords | Criticism; Curriculum policy; Educational games; English curriculum; English teaching; Linguistics; Multimedia; Semiotics; Systemic functional linguistics; Values; Video games; Secondary education |
Year | 01 Jan 2016 |
Journal | English in Australia |
Journal citation | 51 (2), pp. 41-51 |
Publisher | Australian Association for the Teaching of English |
ISSN | 0155-2147 |
Web address (URL) | https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.213569 |
Open access | Published as non-open access |
Research or scholarly | Scholarly |
Page range | 41-51 |
Publisher's version | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
01 Jan 2016 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 01 Jan 2016 |
Deposited | 02 Feb 2025 |
Additional information | © Australian Association for the Teaching of English Inc., 2016. |
Place of publication | Australia |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/911xy/the-semiotic-construction-of-values-in-the-videogame-watch-dogs
Restricted files
Publisher's version
3
total views0
total downloads3
views this month0
downloads this month