LESSON 6 Vocabulary: Culture

Writing: Composing an Essay

COMMUNICATION AIDS AND
Reading: Reading Comprehension
STRATEGIES USING TOOLS
OF TECHNOLOGY

Learning Outcome
Identify modes of multimodal literacy and types of multimodal texts.

PREVIEWING

How many modes are at work?

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MULTIMODALITY: WHY IT MATTERS

As a participant in a connected society, you have to know how to negotiate between words,
sounds, images, and gestures, and the spaces in which those exist, on a daily basis. Whether you
are tasked with giving an on-the-fly presentation about a report you wrote at work or you want
to use social media to share your vacation photos with your grandparents across the country,
you’re moving between and among different modes constantly.

What is a mode?

A mode, quite simply, is a means of communicating. A mode is different from a medium, which is
the substance through which a communication is conveyed. Examples of a visual medium, for
instance, would be photography, painting, or film.

When a given text makes use of more than one mode, the text can be characterized as multi-
modal.

Fig.1. This chart is based on a diagram created by the New London Group.

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Modes and Media

A mode is a means of communicating. A medium is the channel or system through which com-
munications are conveyed. The plural form of medium is media. So, for example, if we want to
communicate in the linguistic mode, we might choose the medium of print. If we want to com-
municate in the aural mode, we might choose the medium of a podcast. Both print and pod-
casts are forms of media.

When analyzing or producing multimodal compositions, it is important to recognize the opera-

tion of multiple modes within artifacts. But it is also useful to think about which mode generally
predominates in any given medium. Both photographs and films, for instance, employ the visual
mode. Films differ from photographs, however, in that they involve movement of bodies and
objects through space (spatial mode). We might say, then, that the visual mode predominates
in photographs, the spatial mode in film. Being aware of dominant modes within a medium will
prove helpful later when choosing powerful claims and persuasive evidence for composing your
own multimodal argument.

Visual
The visual mode refers to the images and characters that people see. It is sometimes possible to
find compositions that almost, if not completely, rely on a single mode. For instance, the toxic/
poison sign below has no alphabetic text and no sound. It relies on visual information for its
meaning.

Fig. 2. Poison Sign

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Aural

The aural mode is focused on sound including, but not limited to, music, sound effects, ambi-
ent noises, silence, tone of voice in spoken language, volume of sound, emphasis, and accent.
An example of an aural mode is a recording used in listening quizzes. To try a listening quiz, go
to the following link : https://www.esl-lab.com/intermediate/healthy-lifestyle/

Gestural

The gestural mode “refers to the way movement is interpreted. Facial expressions, hand ges-
tures, body language, and interaction between people are all gestural modes. This has always
been important in face-to-face conversations and in theater, but it has become more apparent
on the web lately with the wide use of YouTube and other video players. The gestural mode
works with linguistic, visual, aural, and sometimes even spatial modes in order to create more
detail and convey it better to the consumer” .

Linguistic (or Alphabetic)

The linguistic mode refers to written or spoken words. The mode includes word choice, the de-
livery of written or spoken text, the organization of words into sentences and paragraphs, and
the development and coherence of words and ideas. Linguistic is not always the most im-
portant mode; this depends on the other modes at play in the text, the type of text, and other
factors. Linguistic is probably the most widely used mode because it can be both read and
heard on both paper or audio. The linguistic mode is the best way to express details and list.

Spatial

The spatial mode, as the name implies, refers to the arrangement of elements in space. It in-
volves the organization of items and the physical closeness between people and objects. A
good example of the spatial mode might be the different ways in which chairs and desks are
arranged in a classroom.

Visual

The visual mode is conveyed through choices of visual resources and includes both still image
and moving images. Images may include diverse cultural connotations, symbolism and portray
different people, cultures and practices. Visual resources include framing, vectors, symbols,
perspective, gaze, point of view, color, texture, line, shape, distance, angles, contrast, lighting,
camera movement and subject movement.

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Multimodal Texts
Multimodal texts mix modes in all sorts of combinations. While often one mode will predomi-
nate, more frequently, several modes combine to communicate a message or argument. In
this lesson we will look at several examples of multimodal texts.

So how many modes are at work in this standard book in print?

This text relies mainly on the linguistic mode. In other words, it is made up primarily of letters
and words. However, because most texts are multimodal in some sense, there are at least three
modes at work in this example. Refer to the Lesson Title page for a clearer version.

• The LINGUISTIC mode operates in the printed written text.

• The VISUAL mode operates in the formatting of the text (e.g. fully justified margins) and
in the choice of typography (different fonts used for the chapter title and the use of brack-
ets around the chapter title)
• The SPATIAL mode can be seen in the text’s arrangement (e.g. the epigraph at the top
right portion of the page)

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Examples of Multimodal Texts

While the development of multimodal literacy is strongly associated with the growth of
digital communication technologies, multimodal is not synonymous with digital. The choice
of media for multimodal creation is therefore always an important consideration.

A multimodal text can be paper—such as books, comics, posters, infographics.

A multimodal text can be digital—from slide (power point) presentations, e-books, blogs, e-
posters, web pages, and social media, through to animation, film and video games.

A multimodal text can be live—a performance or an event.

And, a multimodal text can be transmedia—where the story is told using ‘multiple delivery
channels’ through a combination of media platforms, for example, book, comics, magazine,
film, web series, and video game mediums all working as part of the same story.

Creating a multimodal text, a digital animation, for example, is a complex meaning design
process requiring the strategic orchestration of a combination of modes such as image,
movement, sound, spatial design, gesture, and language. The process of constructing such
texts is also truly a cross-disciplinary literacy process, drawing on digital information
technologies and The Arts (media, music, drama, visual arts, design) to bring meaning to life.

MULTIMODAL TEXTS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

English Stories that include text and images, newspaper articles, photographs,
memes, comic strips, dramatizations

Science Scientific illustrations or animations, 3D models, ‘How To’ guides with pic-
tures, museum exhibits

History Biographical portraits, dioramas, replicas of primary sources, pamphlets,

posters, mobiles

The arts Sculptures, performances – dramatic and musical, soundscapes, choreo-

graphed works, advertisements