Multimodality in the efl classroom

Multimodality in the EFL Multimodality in the EFL classroomclassroom

La Salle University BA in Spanish, English, and French

Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 1

IntroductionIntroduction

In our globalized and culturally diverse world, communication is increasingly multimodal, hence the importance of devoting attention in the classroom to how semiotic resources other than verbal language have been used to create identities and to position people socially (Bezerra, 2011, p. 167).

In this context, more actions should be taken to foster students’ multimodal communicative competence’, which involves “the knowledge and use of language concerning the visual, gestural, audio and spatial dimensions of communication, including computer-mediated-communication” besides the other communicative competences described by Hymes (1972) and Canale and Swain (1980) (Bezerra, 2011, pp. 167-168).


The new London groupThe new London groupA new approach to literacy pedagogy called ‘multiliteracies’” (1996).


Situated practice

Overt instruction

Critical Framing

Transformed practice

Approach meaning-making resources from the starting point of the personal experiences of students.

Provide students with the metalanguage to carry specific investigations; e.g. provide them with the tools to understand how images work.

Have students interpret the contextual background andvalues which inform whatever social practice and its related text.

Have students start designing their own practices based on the new knowledge in the same or in new contexts.

The grammar of visual designThe grammar of visual design

• Visual language is not (…) transparent and universally understood; it is culturally specific (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, as cited by Bezerra, 2011, p. 169).

• As a result, teachers and students need to develop visual analysis having the following three metafunctions as realizing meanings: the representational, the interactional and the compositional.


Representational metafunction

Interactional metafunction

Compositional metafunction

How participants, objects, events (processes) and circumstances are symbolized or characterized (Bezerra, 2011).

How the interrelation between the image and the viewer takes places; e.g. interaction (contact), social distance, attitude, power and realism (Bezerra, 2011).

How the distribution of the elements and information in the image are related and integrated into a meaningful whole (Bezerra, 2011).

Metafunctions of visual designMetafunctions of visual design


Representational metafunctionRepresentational metafunction• Narrative representations Narrative representations They concern actions, reactions, thought and speech.

Actions and reactions are represented by the presence of a vector (imaginary line or trajectory) connecting the participants.

In actions, the vector departs from the actor and is directed towards the goal.It can be bi-directional, with both participants being at the same time actor and goal, which would be the case if both bears were touching each other.

In reactions, the vector is formed by the eye line, that is, one participant (reactor) is looking at another (phenomenon), or both are looking at each other (bi-directionality).

Actions and reactions can be either transactional or nontransactional,depending on whether or not both represented participants can be seenby the viewer.


Representational metafunctionRepresentational metafunction

Thought is depicted by thought clouds and speech by speech balloons or bubbles, both being connected to the participants (senser and sayer, respectively) also by a vector.

•Conceptual representations Conceptual representations Images can either classify (covert or overt taxonomy), show part-whole relationships or attribute/suggest values (symbolic).


Covert taxonomy of types of car.

The focus is only on part of an aircraft (its engines).

The golden hue arguably adds a symbolic value of wealth to the city.

Interactional metafunctionInteractional metafunction


Contact Social distance Attitude Power Realism

It can be defined as either demand demand or offeror offer, depending on whether or not the represented (human, human-like or animal) participant is looking directly at the viewer.

It may happen in one of three levels: intimate intimate (close shot), (close shot), social (medium social (medium shot) or shot) or impersonal (long impersonal (long shot)shot).

It may either show involvement involvement (frontal angle) or (frontal angle) or detachment detachment (oblique angle(oblique angle.

It may be attributed to the attributed to the represented represented participant (low participant (low angle), to theangle), to theviewer (high viewer (high angle) or there angle) or there may be a sense may be a sense of equality (eye-of equality (eye-level view)level view).

It is measured by how color, context, depth, detail and light interplay in a continuum of real to unreal.

Compositional metafunctionCompositional metafunction


Information value Framing Salience

We observe the layout in regard to the positioning.

Given information is located on the left-hand side of the page.

The new information being introduced to the viewer is on the right-hand side.

Real or concrete information is on the bottom of the page.

Idealistic or aspired information is on the top of the page.

It can be strong or weak, depending on whether the elements are shown as being connected or disconnected.

Identifying which factors may give prominence to specific elements in the image, which can be done, for instance, through the use of relative size, color and foregrounding.

Conclusion Conclusion

It is important to bring forth once more the need for systematic actions towards the preparation of teachers to work with multimodal texts in their classes, especially for the fact that students will undoubtedly have increased contact with texts which not only use varied semiotic resources, but whose access has also changed, including to a greater extent the computer-mediated technologies (Bezerra, 2011, p. 175).


ReferenceReference

Bezerra, F. (2011). Multimodality in the EFL classroom. BELT Journal, 2(2), pp. 167-177.


Multimodality in the efl classroom

Education