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What Is Multimodal Discourse?1.1 What is discourse? Discourse is an important means for humans to convey information, which consists of language units that have communicative significance or contextual semantics.1.2 The forms of discourse can be either monomodal or multimodal. Here, mode refers to the patterns or methods of conveying information in discourse.1.3 The spoken or written language we use in our daily conversations or articles typically employs a single mode. The words spoken or the articles written constitute monomodal discourse.1.4 “Multimodal” is in contrast to “monomodal.” If, in addition to language, we also use images, emojis, sound effects, animations, and other means, the discourse contains two or more modes, which is referred to as multimodal discourse.

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Classification of Modes in Multimodal Discourse2.1 The “modes” in multimodal discourse can be divided into two main categories: linguistic mode and nonlinguistic mode.2.2 The linguistic mode can include various languages such as Chinese, English, Spanish, etc., and can be either spoken or written, oral or printed.2.3 The nonlinguistic modes can further be subdivided into four categories: visual Visual (e.g., nonlinguistic symbols, charts, graphics, images, colors, animations, etc.), gestural Gestural (e.g., nonlinguistic expressions, gestures, body language, performance art, etc.), spatial Spatial (using space and position to convey meaning, such as installation art, etc.), and aural Aural (e.g., nonlinguistic sounds, music, sound effects, etc.)【Note】.2.4 Multimodal discourse involves the combination of any two or more of the above five types of modes to convey information or express meaning.

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Why Emphasize Multimodal Discourse Teaching in English Curriculum?3.1 In the digital information age, multimodal discourse is ubiquitous in our daily work and life. For example, commonly used textbooks, picture books, PPTs, and electronic whiteboards in classroom teaching, as well as movies, television, advertisements, WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Meipian, Toutiao, Xiaohongshu, etc., are all familiar examples of multimodal discourse. 3.2 The emphasis on multimodal discourse teaching in recent years in English curriculum essentially reflects the objective reality of social development.3.3 The fifth skill mentioned in the English curriculum standards for primary and secondary schools (2017/2022) — the skill of “seeing,” primarily aims to cultivate students’ ability to accurately decode information and meaning from English multimodal discourse. ¹The linguistic mode in multimodal discourse is precisely the “linguistic” mode. It should not be confused with “body language,” “symbolic language,” or “color language” as commonly referred to in everyday discourse. In multimodal discourse, body language, symbolic language, and color language fall under the category of nonlinguistic modes.

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Key Points and Challenges in Teaching English Multimodal Discourse4.1 The focus and challenges of multimodal discourse teaching are fundamentally similar to those of traditional discourse teaching, which still revolve around the aspect of English language culture. From the perspective of educational cultivation and English teaching, the focus and challenges of multimodal discourse do not differ essentially from those of traditional reading and listening, which are both about guiding students to acquire information and construct meaning through the correct decoding of discourse forms.4.2 Student advantages. Compared to the linguistic mode of English, the other four modes in multimodal discourse, whether they are charts, icons, images, sounds, colors, or animations, do not pose cognitive challenges for the generation of students who grew up “reading pictures.” As “digital natives,” primary and secondary school students are generally more familiar with various modes outside of language than their teachers.4.3 Differences between native and foreign languages. Chinese students’ understanding of information and meaning construction in English multimodal discourse differs significantly from that in Chinese multimodal discourse, leading to different teaching focuses and challenges. When students comprehend multimodal discourse of similar difficulty in English textbooks or extracurricular materials, the difficulties often lie in the English language. In such cases, images, videos, and other nonlinguistic modes can instead serve as aids for academic understanding of the English language context or clues. 4.4 Cultural aspects. In nonlinguistic modes, there are often culturally significant elements, such as certain colors, symbols, gestures, etc., which may have different special meanings in English culture compared to Chinese culture, potentially affecting the overall meaning conveyed and understood in multimodal discourse. In teaching multimodal discourse, students should be guided to give sufficient attention to these nonlinguistic modal elements.4.5 Utilizing nonlinguistic modes. In foreign language multimodal discourse teaching, the functions of nonlinguistic modes typically manifest in two aspects: one is to stimulate students’ reading interest and motivation, and the other is that students activate their existing life experiences and cognition through interpreting these nonlinguistic elements, serving as scaffolding to improve the speed and accuracy of language understanding.4.6 English teachers need to keep pace with the times, actively understanding various nonlinguistic modes familiar to students. In multimodal discourse teaching, actively utilizing nonlinguistic modes to create rich contexts that align with students’ cognitive experiences, guiding students to fully leverage their existing foundational cognition and life experiences, and focusing on the synergy of multiple modes in meaning transmission, integrating the improvement of language abilities, thinking quality, aesthetic capabilities, and other comprehensive qualities into the entire process of multimodal discourse analysis and understanding. In addition, multimodal discourse teaching typically does not require any special “design.” (Examples of multimodal discourse analysis: curriculum standard cases, textbook cases, PPT cases, extracurricular discourse cases, etc., will be elaborated in another document.)

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Additional Notes6. 1 Specific Requirements for “Multimodal Discourse” in Curriculum StandardsThe following are the specific statements regarding the teaching of “multimodal discourse” in primary and junior high school English from the Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 edition) (high school level omitted; see English Curriculum Standards (2017/2020) for reference):1) In the curriculum content section, it mentions the language skill requirement of “seeing.” “Seeing” generally refers to the skill of understanding meaning by utilizing graphics, tables, animations, symbols, and videos in multimodal discourse. Understanding multimodal discourse requires not only traditional reading skills but also the ability to observe information in charts and understand the meaning of symbols and animations.2) In the content requirements section: Level 1 and Level 1+ teaching requirements “infer the meanings conveyed by images, sounds, colors, etc., in multimodal discourse (such as animations, book covers, invitation cards, and greeting cards)”; Level 2 and Level 2+ teaching requirements “understand the meanings conveyed by multimodal discourse (such as animations, posters, book covers, etc.), extract key information”; Level 3 and Level 3+ teaching requirements “understand the meanings conveyed by non-text resources in multimodal discourse.”3) In the academic quality section, Level 3 (grades 7-9) requires “being able to understand the main content of multimodal discourse (such as broadcasts, television programs, etc.) and obtain key information.”4) In the curriculum implementation section, it requires English teachers to “enhance the effectiveness of using information technology. Teachers should fully recognize that modern information technology not only provides multimodal means, platforms, and spaces for English teaching but also offers rich resources and cross-temporal and spatial opportunities for language learning and usage, playing an important supporting role in creating good learning situations, promoting educational concept updates, and transforming teaching methods.”6. 2 Teacher-related Requirements in the Curriculum StandardsThe Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 edition) point out that in the digital information age, English teachers need to keep pace with the times, continuously improve their information literacy, especially focusing on the unique discourse functions of various nonlinguistic modes in information transmission and meaning construction. Information technology provides rich modal means, tools, and platforms for English teaching, and English teachers can fully utilize and integrate these resources to create meaningful and engaging situations to enhance the effectiveness of English learning, promote the development of students’ core competencies, and better achieve the overall goal of cultivating students through the curriculum.6. 3 Keeping Up with the Times While Staying True to Original IntentionsOver the past two to three decades, attitudes towards multimodal foreign language teaching or second language teaching in the international foreign language teaching or second language teaching field have not been consistent. Similar to the long-standing debate between different schools on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), there have also been different claims such as strong multimodal (Strong Version) and weak multimodal (Weak Version). From the overall situation at present, weak multimodal may be more suitable for our national conditions, teaching situations, and learning situations. In foreign language teaching, while actively exploring how to fully utilize multimodal resources, it is essential to stay true to the original intention of cultivating students through foreign language courses, particularly being alert to the misleading practices of various forms of formalism and technologicalism that may detract from the essence of teaching. 6. 4 Two Related Concepts: Multimodal and MultimediaAnother concept closely related to “multimodal” is “multimedia.” The distinction between these two concepts is still under discussion and lacks a consensus. The generally agreed view is that the difference primarily lies in the perspective: “multimodal” emphasizes the way or mode of discourse construction, while “multimedia” emphasizes the technical means or tools. When the distinction is not particularly emphasized, the two terms may sometimes be used synonymously.

• Original source: “Primary School Teaching Design” (English), Issue 11, 2022. Content has been modified.
• Special thanks to teachers Zhang Yanwen and Jiang Zhenhai for their valuable suggestions on writing this article.

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