Multimodal Reading Comprehension of Online Children's Stories: Proposing a Competency Framework Based on Systemic Functional Linguistics and Visual Grammar

Abstract

This study examines the multimodal characteristics of selected online children's stories and proposes a competency framework for multimodal reading comprehension grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Visual Grammar. Drawing on Halliday’s metafunctional framework and Kress and van Leeuwen’s  visual grammar, the study investigates how language and images jointly construct ideational meaning in children's online narratives. Through an analysis of the transitivity system, representational structures, and language–image relations, the study identifies three core competencies required for learners: linguistic decoding, visual literacy, and multimodal integration. The findings contribute to the development of multimodal literacy education and provide pedagogical implications for curriculum design and learner support in contemporary educational contexts. The proposed competency framework may assist teachers in designing instructional activities that enable learners to interpret, connect, and evaluate information across multiple semiotic modes.