Geosemiotics as a multiperspectivist lens: Theorizing L2 use of semiotic resources in negotiation of meaning with mobiles from outside the classroom

The theorization of how multimodal learning intersects with online teaching environments has emerged as a key research area in relationship to the creation of opportunities for L2 online interaction. However, there are few studies which have examined how cross-cultural dyads harness and orchestrate semiotic resources across mobile technologies from real-world locations. This paper reports on how the geosemiotics framework provided a multiperspectivist lens (i.e., one which allowed for multiple perspectives which included taking account of embodied communication, material place, and learners’ deployment of mobile devices and cameras to convey visuals). The theory of negotiation of meaning was also introduced to comprehend how L2 meaning is negotiated multimodally in ways potentially beneficial to second language acquisition. In this qualitative study, speaking tasks were supported by tablets and smartphones from outside the classroom. The aim was to foster negotiation of meaning through dyads locating and sharing public semiotic resources situated in places included cafés and museum. Findings show that learners co-deploy different semiotic resources to clarify task information and engage in word search and negotiation of lexis—with non-understanding also triggered by embodied and visual resources. Conclusions consider implications in fostering negotiation through pedagogic task design which harnesses semiotic resources in “place.”