A strategic approach to multimodal discourse analysis

In the paper the author argues that multimodal discourse analysis examines the traditional issues of rhetoric from a pragmatic-discursive perspective and therefore may be regarded as a part of rhetoric. Starting from systemic-functional linguistics, the author proposes a method for studying the multimodality of discourse which highlights the notion of strategy, defi ned as a plan for achieving a particular purpose.Fil: Menendez, Salvio Martin. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Multimodal discourse analysis of ecotourism destinations’ websites

Abstract. This thesis examines ecotourism destinations’ websites, focusing particularly on the linguistic and visual elements utilised. The research questions are (1) how environmental sustainability is represented and (2) how nature is depicted on the destinations’ websites. The data consist of four ecotourism destinations’ websites and the principles of qualitative research are applied in the analysis. The main research method used is multimodal discourse analysis. Ecotourism destinations are dedicated to sustainability. According to the destinations’ websites, the dedication is sometimes visible already in the building stage, as some destinations have built their facilities around the trees to avoid cutting them and the walkways in the premises are usually elevated in order to minimise the damage that might occur on the ground level as a result of tourism. Sustainability lies in the core of ecotourism destinations’ operation and the destinations have the responsibility of spreading knowledge about the environmental issues and how organisations and individuals can help combat them. The ecotourism destinations analysed in this thesis have developed several programmes regarding environmental education and allow scientific research to be performed in their premises. A look into the destinations’ websites highlights the significance of nature in all ecotourism destinations examined, as they primarily depict nature as the ideal environment for the search for personal tranquillity and balance. Ecotourism destinations seem to construct themselves as experiences, varying from active sports experiences to the individual’s pursuit for mental balance and relaxation. That is, the experience does not necessarily refer to an activity based experience; instead, the effect on mental wellbeing is often highlighted on the websites, enabling the tourists to take in the surrounding nature, relax and let go of the stress of the everyday. Eco-friendly accommodations, in particular, seem to prioritise atmosphere over activity, as they are represented as places of relaxation and serenity.Tiivistelmä. Tässä tutkielmassa analysoidaan ekoturismikohteita keskittyen siihen, millaisena ja miten ympäristöystävällinen kestävä kehitys kuvataan ja millaisena luonto esitetään kohteiden nettisivuilla. Tutkimusmateriaalina toimivat neljän ekoturismikohteen nettisivut ja tutkielma on toteutettu laadullisen tutkimuksen ja multimodaalisen diskurssianalyysin menetelmiä käyttäen. Ekoturismikohteet ovat omistautuneita kestävälle kehitykselle. Nettisivujen tarkastelu osoittaa, kuinka ympäristöystävälliset toimintamallit tulevat esille jo rakennusvaiheessa, sillä osa kohteista on välttänyt puiden hakkuuta rakentamalla puiden ympärille ja kohotetuilla kävelyreiteillä pyritään minimoimaan turismin aiheuttamat maanpintaan kohdistuvat vahingot. Kestävä kehitys on ekoturismikohteiden toiminnan ydin, ja kohteilla on vastuu levittää tietoa ympäristöongelmista ja tavoista, joilla yritykset ja yksilöt voivat auttaa niiden selvittämisessä. Tutkielmassa analysoiduissa ekoturismikohteissa suoritetaan monenlaisia tieteellisiä tutkimuksia ja kohteet ovat kehittäneet useita ohjelmia ympäristökasvatukseen liittyen. Tutkimustulokset korostavat luonnon merkitystä kaikille tutkimusmateriaalina käytetyille ekoturismikohteille, sillä kohteet kuvaavat luontoa ideaalina ympäristönä henkilökohtaisen tasapainon ja tyyneyden etsimiselle. Tutkielma osoittaa ekoturismikohteiden esittelevän itsensä kokonaisvaltaisina kokemuksina, jotka vaihtelevat aktiivisista urheilukokemuksista yksilön henkisen tasapainon ja rentoutumisen tavoitteluun. Kokemus itsessään ei kuitenkaan välttämättä viittaa aktiiviseen tekemiseen, vaan nettisivuilla korostetaan usein kokemusta ympäristön psyykkisestä vaikutuksesta, jonka ansiosta turistit voivat rentoutua luonnon keskellä ja irrottautua arkielämän kiireestä ja stressistä. Erityisesti ekomajoituskohteet korostavat tunnelman merkitystä enemmän kuin aktiviteetteja, sillä ekomajoitukset kuvataan ideaaleina ympäristöinä henkisen tasapainon ja harmonian löytymiselle

Multimodal Discourse Analysis in Dettol Tv Advertisement

TV advertisement is one of the various kinds of mass media advertisement which inevitably surrounds people’s life today. It is a multimodal discourse in which the text comprising it consists of complex resources of meanings. The complexity of meanings is due to the message delivered in advertisement which is not only used the verbal language but the visual image as well that work together as a unit of meaning. This study observes TV advertisement featuring Dettol (protecting children version) manifests verbal and visual elements. Under the guidance of Linguistic Functional Grammar and visual grammar, this study attempts to look at any multimodal elements which comprise the advertisement and how these elements express meanings that strengthen the message intended by the producer. The analysis is conducted by following Linguistic Functional Systemic proposed by Halliday (2004). Furthermore, the multimodal discourse analysis is conducted by combining multimodal theory from Anstey and Bull (2010) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), while to determine the generic structure of advertisement, this study follows Cheong’s formulation (2004). This study follows the procedures of analyzing multimodal discourse which include verbal and visual elements proposed by Hermawan (2013). The findings suggest that theoretical framework based on functional grammar and visual grammar is adaptive for multimodal discourse of TV advertisement. By virtue of linguistic and non-linguistic analysis provide the clearer meaning from the message delivered in TV advertisement.   Keywords: multimodal discourse, TV advertisement, verbal text, visual images, LFS

Multimodal Discourse Analysis for Video of Learning

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui seberapa baik siswa dalam menyampaikan idenya tentang materi pembelajaran dan untuk mengetahui perasaan dan kondisi siswa. Penulis menggunakan monolog siswa di Kelas Bahasa Inggris. Video dianalisis berdasarkan teori dalam analisis multimodal discourse. Prosedur dalam menganalisis data mengacu pada beberapa sumber semiotik seperti ucapan dan fitur kinetik seperti tatapan, gerak tubuh dan postur tubuh siswa. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukan siswa menyampaikan materi pembelajaran yang baik. Untuk fitur kinetik, siswa menunjukkan mencoba untuk mengingat dengan keras; itu mengacu pada tatapan siswa. Untuk gerak tubuh dan postur tubuh siswa, keduanya menunjukkan kurangnya kepercayaan diri siswa ketika menyampaikan idenya dan memiliki sesuatu untuk disembunyikan. Artinya siswa memahami materi pembelajaran tetapi perasaan dan kondisinya tidak percaya diri. Hasil Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat membantu para mengajar untuk tidak hanya mengetahui kemampuan akan tetapi juga kondisi siswa saat belajar, sehingga dapat membuat proses penyampaian materi berjalan lancar

A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS’ COVERS

Multimodality has been studied in relation to a variety of text genres, but it has yet to be used to textbook covers. This paper is aimed at examining the representational meaning of visual resources in the covers of selected English textbooks and how the verbal and visual modes strengthen each other’s meaning. This is a qualitative research that uses a multimodal discourse analysis paradigm. Visual and verbal data were gained from two covers of selected English textbooks. The analysis includes representational meaning (Kress van Leeuwen, 2006), text generic structure (Cheong, 2004),  and intersemiotic complementarity (Royce, 2007). The findings indicate that the representational meaning consists of  narrative and conceptual representations within the structures of   lead, display, announcement and emblem. Through the relationships of repetition, synonymy, and meronymy, verbal and visual modes help each other build cohesiveness. The cohesion signifies the relation between visual images and  verbal texts to convey meaningful messages of the covers. Certain implications were also elaborated in this study

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of a Yoruba Song-drama

This paper presents a multimodal discourse analysis of a story that has been turned into a Yoruba song-drama, highlighting the ideational, interpersonal and textual aspects of the song-drama. The data is a short song-drama meant to teach children importunity, determination and hard work through persistence. The multimodal and narrative conventions used for analysis according to Kress and van Leeuwen (2001), show the need for cooperation and determination in a world that is characterized by individualism. The study reveals that, at the ideational level, information, anticipation, request and insistence are prominent features. At the interpersonal level, the study reveals that the song-drama is a metaphor for the possibility of a better life for the poor and needy in a society full of oppression and selfishness, while the textual level reveals the distribution of information in the different modes- song, drama, and paralinguistic expressions. The study concludes that pedagogically, storytelling, re-telling, writing and rewriting have the capacity to improve pupils’ vocabulary development. ESL teachers could creatively use video watching (which has replaced story telling), storytelling and retelling to launch the present day ESL learners into 21st century critical thinking and learning activities

The Subtitle Translation of Wolf Warriors From the Perspective of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

With the rapid advancement of multimedia technology, multimodal discourse analysis has gradually become one of the linguistic research hotspots and it integrates the modalities of other fields such as images, sounds, colors and so on to jointly present the complete meaning of the work. The film subtitles are different from traditional paper texts, and their translation is not only a simple text conversion, but also involves complex factors of the transformation of source language and target language culture. From the perspective of multimodal discourse analysis, this paper studies the subtitle translation of Wolf Warriors by using Professor Zhang Delu’s multimodal theory as a framework from cultural level, context level, content level and expression level to analyze how this theory affects the subtitle translation of the film Wolf Warriors and provides valuable suggestions for other film subtitle translation

Join the coalition: collective action spaces in pioneer journalism and the reimagination of journalistic epistemology.

The aim of this project is to examine how transformation-focused journalism communities produce knowledge vis-à-vis their audiences, public and wider world. This will be carried out by metajournalistic discourse analysis, 30 semi-structured interviews, multimodal discourse analysis of pioneer journalism stories