A presentation on using the grammar of visual design to work with multimodality in the EFL classroom

1. Multimodality in the EFLMultimodality in the EFL
classroomclassroom
La Salle University
BA in Spanish, English, and French
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 1

2. IntroductionIntroduction
In our globalized and culturally diverse world, communication is increasingly
multimodal, hence the importance of devoting attention in the classroom to how
semiotic resources other than verbal language have been used to create
identities and to position people socially (Bezerra, 2011, p. 167).
In this context, more actions should be taken to foster students’ multimodal
communicative competence’, which involves “the knowledge and use of
language concerning the visual, gestural, audio and spatial dimensions of
communication, including computer-mediated-communication” besides the
other communicative competences described by Hymes (1972) and Canale and
Swain (1980) (Bezerra, 2011, pp. 167-168).
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 2

3. The new London groupThe new London group
A new approach to literacy pedagogy called ‘multiliteracies’” (1996).
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 3
Situated
practice
Overt
instruction
Critical
Framing
Transformed
practice
Approach meaning-
making resources
from the starting
point of the
personal
experiences of
students.
Provide students
with the
metalanguage to
carry specific
investigations; e.g.
provide them with
the tools to
understand how
images work.
Have students
interpret the
contextual
background and
values which inform
whatever social
practice and its
related text.
Have students start
designing their own
practices based on
the new knowledge
in the same or in
new contexts.

4. The grammar of visual designThe grammar of visual design
• Visual language is not (…) transparent and universally understood; it is culturally
specific (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, as cited by Bezerra, 2011, p. 169).
• As a result, teachers and students need to develop visual analysis having the
following three metafunctions as realizing meanings: the representational, the
interactional and the compositional.
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 4
Representational
metafunction
Interactional
metafunction
Compositional
metafunction
How participants, objects,
events (processes) and
circumstances are
symbolized or
characterized (Bezerra,
2011).
How the interrelation
between the image and the
viewer takes places; e.g.
interaction (contact), social
distance, attitude, power
and realism (Bezerra,
2011).
How the distribution of the
elements and information in
the image are related and
integrated into a meaningful
whole (Bezerra, 2011).

5. Metafunctions of visual designMetafunctions of visual design
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 5

6. Representational metafunctionRepresentational metafunction
• Narrative representationsNarrative representations
They concern actions, reactions, thought and speech.
Actions and reactions are represented by the presence of a vector (imaginary line or
trajectory) connecting the participants.
In actions, the vector departs from the actor and is directed towards the goal.
It can be bi-directional, with both participants being at the same time actor
and goal, which would be the case if both bears were touching each other.
In reactions, the vector is formed by the eye line, that is, one participant (reactor) is looking at
another (phenomenon), or both are looking at each other (bi-directionality).
Actions and reactions can be either transactional or nontransactional,
depending on whether or not both represented participants can be seen
by the viewer.
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 6

7. Representational metafunctionRepresentational metafunction
Thought is depicted by thought clouds and speech by speech balloons or bubbles, both
being connected to the participants (senser and sayer, respectively) also by a vector.
•Conceptual representationsConceptual representations
Images can either classify (covert or overt taxonomy), show part-whole relationships or
attribute/suggest values (symbolic).
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 7
Covert taxonomy of types of
car.
The focus is only on part of
an aircraft (its engines).
The golden hue arguably
adds a symbolic value of
wealth to the city.

8. Interactional metafunctionInteractional metafunction
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 8
Contact Social distance Attitude Power Realism
It can be defined
as either demanddemand
or offeror offer,
depending on
whether or not the
represented
(human, human-
like or animal)
participant is
looking directly at
the viewer.
It may happen in
one of three
levels: intimateintimate
(close shot),(close shot),
social (mediumsocial (medium
shot) orshot) or
impersonal (longimpersonal (long
shot)shot).
It may either
show involvementinvolvement
(frontal angle) or(frontal angle) or
detachmentdetachment
(oblique angle(oblique angle.
It may be
attributed to theattributed to the
representedrepresented
participant (lowparticipant (low
angle), to theangle), to the
viewer (highviewer (high
angle) or thereangle) or there
may be a sensemay be a sense
of equality (eye-of equality (eye-
level view)level view).
It is measured by
how color,
context, depth,
detail and light
interplay in a
continuum of real
to unreal.

9. Compositional metafunctionCompositional metafunction
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 9
Information value Framing Salience
We observe the layout in regard to
the positioning.
Given information is located on the
left-hand side of the page.
The new information being
introduced to the viewer is on the
right-hand side.
Real or concrete information is on
the bottom of the page.
Idealistic or aspired information is on
the top of the page.
It can be strong or weak,
depending on whether the
elements are shown as being
connected or disconnected.
Identifying which factors may give
prominence to specific elements
in the image, which can be done,
for instance, through the use of
relative size, color and
foregrounding.

10. ConclusionConclusion
It is important to bring forth once more the need for
systematic actions towards the preparation of teachers to
work with multimodal texts in their classes, especially for
the fact that students will undoubtedly have increased
contact with texts which not only use varied semiotic
resources, but whose access has also changed, including
to a greater extent the computer-mediated technologies
(Bezerra, 2011, p. 175).
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 10

11. ReferenceReference
Bezerra, F. (2011). Multimodality in the EFL classroom. BELT
Journal, 2(2), pp. 167-177.
Yamith Fandiño Bogotá, Colombia, 2016 11