Multimodal Discourse Analysis as a Tool for Developing Communicative Competence

In recent years a few attempts have been made to integrate multimodal discourse analysis into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum. In such pedagogical proposals the emphasis is frequently placed on professional communication; however, multimodality is present in all kinds of social interaction, which is partly reflected in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This paper presents a flexible instructional approach to teaching how to identify, interpret and create multimodal ensembles in discourse. The authors argue that this approach might be used in various instructional contexts and at all levels of proficiency. The methodology consists of six steps and is aimed at discovering, practicing and producing target non-verbal elements and multimodal ensembles in appropriate contexts. Flipped classroom is chosen as the main pedagogical approach. We suggest using multimodal discourse analysis (MMDA) as a tool for guided discovery to let learners reveal functions of non-verbal elements in authentic contexts step by step under instructor’s guidance. Since mastering MMDA could be challenging and might divert students’ attention from the subject matter, we also provide guidelines to adapt analytical procedures to reduce cognitive load if learners are new to MMDA. This paper presents a conceptual framework for planning lessons while a discussion of implementation of the proposed methodology is beyond its scope. We hope that, notwithstanding its theoretical nature, this pedagogical proposal would contribute to the growing area of research into EFL teaching in multimodal perspective by exploring how explicit teaching of MMDA might foster the development of overall language proficiency.