A multimodal Analysis of Semiotic Hybrid Texts on Sustainability in Science Textbook

Abstract

In a context of intense environmental debate and the expansion of anti-ecological discourses in our society, we analyzed, based on references from Social Semiotics - especially Multimodality Studies and the Grammar of Visual Design - two semiotic hybrid texts on the environment and sustainability in a science textbook for the 6th and 9th grades of Brazilian elementary school. The investigation, classified as qualitative of the documentary type, proposed an analysis of the conjuncture problematizing relations between (anti)ecological/(anti)environmental discourses, environment and sustainability, followed by a semiotic analysis of verbal and visual elements of the texts. Based on relations between conjunctural aspects and semiotic elements, we argue that the texts reinforce environmentally responsible behavior at the individual level, although they include contexts that can be pedagogically explored to problematize aspects of anti-ecological discourses that aim at the formation of critical social subjects. In addition, we discuss how analyzed examples explore perspectives that value interdisciplinarity and contextualization, as well as establish relationships with current curricular guidelines.