A Multimodal Analysis of Constructive Narratives in English-Chinese News for Children
Journal
Constructive News Across Languages and Cultures
Start Page
51
End Page
68
ISBN
9781003515586
Date Issued
2025-08
Author(s)
Abstract
Constructive journalism seeks to protect people from the damaging impacts of news on their mental health while empowering readers and enhancing public discourse. Such an orientation imbues a news story with the characteristics of solution-oriented framing of the news. Studying multimodality in such texts highlights the interplay of several semiotic channels and non-verbal components, enabling a thorough understanding of the semiotic complexity of the text. This research explores the use of multimodal techniques in creating a constructive narrative for English–Chinese journalism aimed at young audiences in Taiwan. By investigating a case study of the website of The Reporter for Kids, particularly its bilingual section, this research examines how these semiotic components emphasize some if not all attributes and features of constructive journalism targeting a younger readership. The chapter argues that such a news platform seeks to do more than merely improve journalistic literacy and bilingual knowledge among these particular populations in Taiwan; more importantly, the semiotics of multimodal narratives contribute to engaging the younger generation by broadening their perspective and inspiring curiosity. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Ashley Riggs and Lucile Davier; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.
Publisher
Routledge
Type
book part