Abstract

The capabilities afforded by new information technologies (e.g. hypertext, multimedia, interactivity) have enabled the appearance of new genres, whose interpretation and understanding calls for new models of genre analysis. In the screen age, in which multimodality (Kress, 2004) and reading-path-multiplicity are central issues, our research focuses on developing a model of analysis that takes into account these elements and on using the results of such analysis for pedagogical purposes. Hypertextual and multimedia technology affords writers the possibility of constructing multimodal rhizome-based texts, thus providing users/readers multiple choice points and multiple pathways. This possibility raises the question of how genres can become raw material for transgeneric constructions in new social-semiotic practices (Lemke, 2003).

The purpose of this webtext is to present a model of analysis of digital genres that takes into account the features of genres deriving from the Internet capabilities and that can provide insights into how the readers/users of these genres construct meaning throughout their trajectories across hypertext. This analysis will allow us to propose new pedagogical criteria that should be considered when designing reading and writing tasks based on hypermedia texts in the FL context.

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