The Application of Multimodal Discourse Theory in the Teaching of Business English Writing Course

Abstract

The deep integration of modern information technology and education has brought opportunities for the development of business English teaching in higher vocational college. Teachers can make use of multi-modality and media to create multimodal situational contexts and cultural contexts, with attention paid to the synergy between multimodal symbols. Taking the module of business English course in a vocational college in Guangzhou as an example, teachers are expected to use a multimodal teaching approach that can help students build an active, effective and interactive learning process. The method used in this research is classroom action research in which both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques were implemented in two classes, which aim at (1) tracking the improvement of students’ skills in both writing competence and business practice; and (2) finding the synergy among different modalities when efficiency could be successfully achieved in a business writing class. Results showed that when such measures as multimodal teaching were taken, this approach could facilitate teachers to improve students' capability in business English writing, promote the interaction between teachers and students, improve students' multimodal reading ability and critical thinking, and enhance students' awareness of cross-cultural business communication. To achieve the best effect, the synergy among different modalities should be highly emphasized.