Reading Between the Signs: A Qualitative Think‐Aloud Study of <scp>L2</scp> Learners' Meaning Construction Around a Multimodal Web Text

ABSTRACT This qualitative study employed a prompted think‐aloud protocol to examine the textual thinking , or meaning‐making processes, of nine collegiate second language (L2) French learners at the intermediate level. Each participant took part in an individual 60‐min session on Zoom with two researchers. Following a modeling and training session in performing think‐alouds, each participant was instructed to read a digital multimodal web text and respond to a series of multiple‐choice questions guided by multiliteracy pedagogies targeting both text‐internal and text‐external factors. Participants were instructed to voice their thoughts continuously while reading; researchers prompted participants periodically to expand or elaborate on their interpretations. Data consisted of participants' think‐aloud protocols, which were professionally transcribed, and analyzed qualitatively through a sequential inductive to deductive coding process, and themed according to linguistic, multimodal, cognitive, and sociocultural dimensions of literacy. Findings revealed participants' elaborate meaning‐making processes as well as their ability to generate plausible interpretations of the text, despite some linguistic processing challenges. Findings point to the viability of teaching with authentic multimodal web texts and the importance of teaching reading as a multiliteracy practice and suggest ways to continue to build learners' analytical skills for contemporary digital genres.