Towards a multimodal method for identifying and interpreting funds of identity derived from avatars

ABSTRACT Participatory based methodologies, like the funds of identity approach, often employ arts-based methods and graphic elicitation as a complement to the traditional autobiographical interview. The funds of identity approach addresses deficit discourses that position disadvantaged learners as problematic by encouraging teachers to construct curriculum based on their learners’ experiences and identities. Whilst previous research has validated the efficacy of visual strategies in uncovering students’ funds of identity, the role of visual strategies rooted in digital literacies, such as avatars, has yet to be fully explored. This paper contributes to the funds of identity literature by exploring how avatars could be used as a visual strategy for uncovering Chinese students’ funds of identity. It argues that text-based strategies are generally used in funds of identity research as a first step whilst there is not continued or sufficiently robust use of text-based elicitation in association with visual-based creation. This paper shows how text based strategies can be used throughout the data collection process as more than just a complement to visual strategies, but as an integral part of it, in the form of a multimodal method.