In imparting subject-specific competencies, visual stimuli often serve as the basis for classroom discourse. Images are used in every subject as they serve both as stimuli for expressions and to support learning and introduce subject-specific thematic aspects (Hallet 2008). In second and foreign language teaching, there are numerous assumptions about the potential of using images for linguistic learning (Kress & van Leeuwen 2021).

In the context of scaffolding support (Gibbons 2015), multimodal practices play a significant role: According to Gibbons (2015: 45), references to various carriers of meaning provide multiple connection points to everyday experiences and already known or learned content. Gibbons describes this strategy or didactic function of relying on visualizations or other modes of support, such as gestures, with the term 'message abundancy' (Gibbons 2015: 42–45): "Message abundancy is a significant aspect of comprehensible teacher talk and is central to effective learning. When teacher talk is integrated with other systems of meaning, it is much more likely to be understood." (Gibbons: 44–45) By combining different semiotic resources, L2 learners can activate their prior knowledge, stimulating comprehension processes and thereby eliciting output. Especially when it comes to leading learners from a concrete level of observation to a more abstract, context-reduced level, this strategy can be helpful (Kniffka, & Neuer 2008: 129). Many didactic-methodological concepts and programmes for language-sensitive subject teaching are based on the assumption that visualization and contextual embedding support a dual subject-matter-specific and associated linguistic progression.

However, in dyadic classroom communication with L2-learners, it is unclear which interactional and multimodal practices come into play in relation to image perception. How knowledge is constructed depends on the way it is presented, and the methods and media used. The form of representation influences both what is learned and how it is learned (Jewitt 2008: 241). Switching between modes of representation and thus the perception of meanings from different modalities, in particular the visual material in the school subject context, their integration and implementation in a communicative act requires multiliterate discourse competence (Jewitt 2008: 255).

Therefore, the aim of this interdisciplinary exploratory study on subject-specific image discussions with L2 learners (n = 18) in secondary schools (Germany, Hesse, May–July 2023) is to capture students' image communication in relation to specific teaching objectives, to analyse and compare discourses about images. This serves to draw conclusions about the characteristics and conditions of acquisition-supportive, learning-productive, and academically challenging practices for the use of images. By describing and analysing the subject-specific and linguistic practices of students in dyadic image conversations, the study investigates which subject-specific, visual, and associated linguistic and discursive practices and competencies play a role in image reception and the associated gain in knowledge.

Conclusions about multimodal interaction via images are drawn with reference to the foundations of multimodality (Kress 2021; Rowsell & Collier 2017) and the understanding of interactional competence according to Sert (2015: 44-50), Seedhouse (2009), Hall and Pekarek Doehler (2011: 1-3), and the conceptualisation of 'classroom discourse' as a form of media-related classroom interaction (Thomson 2022: 17-21).

The current study (April 2023–July 2023) was conducted with L2 learners (n = 18) in an intensive class shortly before their transition into regular classes. Selected students, whose language proficiency was determined using C-Tests, were presented with images from introductory pages of a textbook for the subject of social studies. According to the curriculum (HKM n.d.) and teaching materials, the illustrations are intended to prepare the students for work on topics such as "Children of the World" or "Living spaces". During various dyadic interactions, which were videotaped (approximately 350 minutes), the conversation partner, a subject, and German as a Second Language teacher, supported the participants as needed, including through interactional scaffolding and strategies like "cued elicitation" (Hammond & Gibbons 2005: 23) to achieve the subject-specific learning objectives. Working with images in a school context means understanding the different resources of meaning in their interplay and in relation to the professional teaching objective. To this end, the objectives associated with the visual material, on the one hand, and the teacher's impulses for initiating mode shifts and negotiating meaning, on the other, are analysed. The focus of the analysis is therefore on the multimodal reference system of image and speech. Conversation analysis (CA) is used to reconstruct the organisation of the multimodal interaction on the pictures in relation to the associated learning objective. The focus of the data selection for the lecture is on sequences in which the L2 learners take the topics represented by the material as a starting point for their personal questions. The conversations were transcribed according to GAT 2 conventions (Selting et al. 2009) and analysed using conversational analysis (Birkner et al. 2020). This analysis particularly focused on identifying interaction sequences where visual, linguistic, or predominantly subject-specific epistemic pathways of understanding were prominent. The discourse practices were analysed in relation to the subject of observation. The reconstruction of multimodal interaction allowed for conclusions about different ways of steering in supportive, learning-productive, and academically challenging teaching scenarios.

Conceptual foundations and curriculum guidelines for the goals linked to using images suggest that the intended learning steps are directly achievable. However, meaning arises in discourse, and learning pathways depend on the experiences and subject-specific, linguistic, and visual competencies of the learners and teachers. In specific situations, various interactional practices, and support in the form of micro-scaffolding come into play (Gibbons 2015). Through the exemplary analysis of selected discourses, it becomes clear that micro-scaffolding has different starting points depending on the individual participant: Sometimes impulses for conscious perception are required, and at other times, it involves assistance in naming the subjects of the images and their interrelations. The different cultural interpretation patterns of the participants in relation to the depicted contexts, situations, and people also indicate that differentiated support is necessary to achieve subject-specific epistemic goals. For instance, it cannot be assumed that students understand images as representations of a subject-thematic context. Depending on prior knowledge, interests, and experiences, there are often very individual starting points that determine not only the direction of observation but also the discourse. The data offer insight into the interplay of the modes of representation, image, and language, in conjunction with the perspectives and competencies of the participants. The study shows that the strategy of switching representation levels from concrete to abstract is not inherently supportive of acquisition for learners of German as a Second Language, as previously assumed. Instead, they need further support in grasping the pictorial level, establishing connections, incorporating their own prior knowledge, and transforming what is observed and described into understanding.

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