Observation and Reflection of English Intensive Reading Classroom from the Perspective of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Guo Zhe

doi:10.17722/jell.v14i1.1181

Abstract

The application of Multimodal Discourse Analysis to language teaching classroom adapts to the requirements put forward by the multimodality environment in modern social life, since various multimodal teaching strategies are employed to enhance students' language skills. However, problems exist in the efficient collocation between various modes. Classroom observation is employed to collect the data, and the framework proposed by Zhang Delu (2016) is followed to conduct the Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the Intensive Reading class of the juniors of English majors in North China Electric Power University. Finally, the problems from the aspects of cultural context, contextual context, interactive context, modal and media are identified, and the suggestions to improve language teaching practice are raised accordingly in terms of teachers' employment of modality and the teaching design.

Highlights

The traditional English classes, where the teacher instills the knowledge by orally talking to students, can no longer provide the most efficient learning experience for students
Since 1990s, more scholars and foreign language teachers have been paying attention to the value of MT, and the introduction of it into intensive reading class is a new trend in the development of foreign language teaching
The implementation and optimization of MT are worthy of discussion, Intensive Reading Course for English majors in the North China Electric Power University is selected as a case in this research to explore the solutions

Summary

Introduction

The traditional English classes, where the teacher instills the knowledge by orally talking to students, can no longer provide the most efficient learning experience for students. The change towards Multimodal Teaching (shortened as MT) is expected, which focuses on the extensive use of various medium to help the students to overcome the disadvantages that have existed for a long time in the traditional mode. Since 1990s, more scholars and foreign language teachers have been paying attention to the value of MT, and the introduction of it into intensive reading class is a new trend in the development of foreign language teaching. The implementation and optimization of MT are worthy of discussion, Intensive Reading Course (shortened as IRC) for English majors in the North China Electric Power University is selected as a case in this research to explore the solutions. Multimodal Discourse Analysis is conducted in this case study to identify the MT strategies employed in the IRC, which is expected to facilitate the development of MDA

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Methods

Discussion

Conclusion