A Systemic Functional Semiotic Investigation of Illustrations in Chinese Poem Books: An Ontogenetic Perspective

Abstract

While images have been sufficiently investigated from the systemic functional semiotic approach in various multimodal text types, illustrations in poem books have received relatively little attention. This paper analyzed 2233 images in 15 poem picture-books (IPBs) targeted at different age groups, and classified as pre-school, school and adult groups. Statistics herein show that visual meanings in different groups manifest significantly different patterns in terms of ideational, interpersonal and compositional functions. The distributions are clearly motivated by different pedagogical functions, moving from basic cognitive development, to literacy cultivation and affiliation, and finally to enculturation of aesthetics and social values. The study therefore informs IPB practitioners how to match the visual design of illustrations with the pedagogical needs of readers of different ages.