Constructing Interpersonal Meaning in Indonesian Science Classrooms through Language, Space and Gaze

Classroom communication involves the integration of various semiotic modeswhich is linked to particular meanings, like teacher-student relationships or interpersonalmeanings. This study investigates the different semiotic resources used in an Indonesianscience classroom and the power relations manifested in the classroom through theanalyses of different semiotic modes. The present study employed a qualitative case studybased on Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. The data were recorded videos of ascience lesson in a private school located in Lembang, West Java, Indonesia. The data wereanalysed using the framework of negotiation developed in Systemic Functional Linguisticsto investigate language use, spatial pedagogy and gaze. The study found that the observedteacher predominantly produced speech functions in the forms of questions (40 percent),statements (28 percent) and commands (18 percent) while her students predominantlyproduced answers (49 percent) and questions (26 percent) during the interactions. In termsof space, the teacher occupied authoritative, personal and interactional spaces while thestudents mostly occupied the interactional space. With regard to gaze, the teacher’s gazewas directed at the students, the objects under discussion and the books, while her studentsdirected their gaze at the teacher, the objects under discussion and the books. Thesefindings reflect a dynamic pedagogy. While the observed teacher maintains her authoritymost of the time, she focuses on building a rapport or a certain solidarity with her studentsas reflected in her use of the semiotic resources.