Helen Caple

Office: 19.2097
Phone: +61 2 4221 4002
Email: hcaple@uow.edu.au

Biography

Helen joined the University of Wollongong in June 2009 after completing her PhD with the Department of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. Previously, she had been teaching EAP and Media Studies at The University of Sydney Foundation Program and at the Australian Centre for Languages. Helen has also lectured in the areas of Media Discourse and Journalism at the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney and at the University of Technology, Sydney.

As a former press photographer, Helen is particularly interested in text-image relations, visual storytelling and news reporting. She has worked on research projects investigating the portrayal of women in sports by the Australian Media (with the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales) and investigating visual storytelling techniques at the ABC. Other research interests include Ecolinguistics (language and the environment), Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory (genre and discourse analysis) and English for Academic Purposes (Critical Reading). Helen is keen to supervise students in these areas.

Research Profile

Searchable RIS Publications database >>

Selected Publications

Caple, H. (2008a). ‘Intermodal relations in image-nuclear news stories’. In L. Unsworth (Ed.). Multimodal Semiotics: Functional Analysis in Contexts of Education, 125-138. London: Continuum.

Caple, H. (2008b). ‘Reconciling the co-articulation of meaning between words and pictures: exploring instantiation and commitment in image-nuclear news stories’. In A. Mahboob and N. Knight (Eds.). Questioning Linguistics, 77-94. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Caple, H. (in press). ‘Doubling-up: allusion and bonding in multi-semiotic news stories’. In M. Bednarek & J.R. Martin (Eds). New Discourse on Language:

Functional Perspectives on Multimodality, Identity, and Affiliation. London/New York: Continuum.

Caple, H. and Bednarek, M. (forthcoming). ‘Double take: unpacking the play in the image-nuclear news story’. Visual Communication (accepted for publication 11/11/2008).

Bednarek, M. and Caple, H. (forthcoming). ‘Playing with environmental stories in the news – good or bad practice?’ Discourse and Communication (accepted for publication 26/03/2009).

Caple, H. (2009). ‘Multisemiotic communication in an Australian broadsheet: a new news story genre’. In C. Bazerman, A. Bonini & D. Figueiredo (Eds.). Genre in A Changing World, Perspectives on Writing, 243-254. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press. Available for download from: http://wac.colostate.edu/books/genre/

Current Research Projects

ABC/USYD ARC Linkage Project: “New Media, New Narratives: Beyond Broadcasting”

Helen is currently working with Associate Professor Anne Dunn (Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney) on a joint ARC Linkage project between the university and the ABC. The project investigates the training of journalists at the ABC in relation to multi-platform news reporting. One of the specific aims of the project is to design and implement a visual storytelling training module which will be taken up by the ABC in the training of all entry-level journalists.