Multimodality and L2 Learning
Multimodality has become a much-researched topic since Kress & Van Leeuwen (2001) described multimodality as “the use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event” (p.20). Within the field of L2 learning, many researchers have theorized and performed research on the use of multimodality in the L2 classroom. Vigliocco, Pernis, and Vinson (2014) argue for a multimodal approach to the study of language learning, as face-to-face communication has always been multimodal, for example gesture and tone play an important role in communication, in addition to spoken words. Other researchers have highlighted that multimodal communication has become much more important in the digital age and have noted that the expansion of multimodal meaning-making should be accounted for in learning and teaching. Learning to read a webpage, for example, “means developing the skills to understand not only the text on the page, but the whole multimodal ensemble of writing, images, layout, graphics, sound, and hypertext links” (Hafner, Chick, & Jones, 2015 p.1).
When students are asked to read a text, it is therefore incumbent on the instructor to support not only their L2 development, but their understanding and interpretation the text. In fact, reading a multimodal text is often beneficial for learners as the other modes can scaffold understanding of the L2 (Plass et al., 1998; Royce, 2002). This is because, as Abraham and Farias (2017) state,
multimodal texts more effectively support second language reading by providing input that caters to different learning styles and that they are familiar, authentic, and contextualized to the learners’ lives. Moreover, these texts facilitate learners’ meaningful interaction not only intratextually, by exploring the text/ image semiosis, but also intertextually, by allowing readers to become literate in the different genres that are constructed multimodally. (p. 66)
Thus, while learning is supported by the use of multimodal texts, it can particularly help with the development of L2 learners’ broader understanding of meaning-making and genres.
One aim of all well-designed learning, and L2 learning even more so, is to lower the affective filter (Krashen, 1982). The affective filter is a theoretical construct in L2 learning that refers to the emotional variables associated with the success or failure of acquiring an L2, since it is common for learners to experience language anxiety. To communicate in an L2, learners must perform complex and non-spontaneous mental operations which can be difficult. Any performance in the L2 can make learners feel as though they cannot fully communicate which may conflict with their sense of self as competent communicators, leading to anxiety (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Gilakjani, Ismail, & Ahmadi suggest that “attention to the meaning-making potential of the various multimodal designs can help language learners to cope more efficiently as they face new modes of information presentation” (2011, p.1326) It may be, therefore, that multimodal composition can aid students in lowering their language anxiety.