Exploring the affordances of multimodal competence, multichannel awareness and plurilingual lecturing in EMI

Abstract

In this paper we expand on a theoretical-methodological framework for micro sociolinguistic multimodal analysis of situated practices in English-Medium Instruction (EMI) research (Moncada-Comas, & Sabaté-Dalmau, in press). We examine an interaction of a lecturer and his 21 students in an engineering class at a Catalan university. Drawing from video/audio-recorded classroom interactions, interviews, logs and visual materials, we argue that the EMI lecturer's praxis hinges on the use of multimodal-competence repertoires (non-verbal cues involving materiality, kinesics and positionality) and of multiple technology-based learning channels (Internet sources), for particular pedagogical functions. We show that his multimodal and multichannel lecturing intersects with his plurilingual practices (e.g., his monitored local-language(s) use), which become key to help students with insufficient English-language competence to access disciplinary content. Overall, our case study reveals that the combination of semiotic/kinesic modes and multichannel strategies with meaningful use of shared local languages makes “doing education” successful, without jeopardising the attainment of the required content and English-language level. This contributes to the exploration of how multimodal, multichannel and plurilingual practices interplay in effective classroom interactions, and of the affordances of our framework for the design and applicability of EMI pedagogies that consider all language ecologies in non-English speaking universities.