Multimodal Analysis on Teacher Talk

张丽君

【Abstract】With the development of multi-media and computer technology， discourses are transforming into multi-semiotic， which is a more complex pattern， containing pictures， flash， font colour， tables， layout etc. Based on the multimodal analysis of an excellent lesson on English grammar， this paper explores how to realize meaning construction and interaction in class multimodally， how to make classroom discourse enlightening， vivid and coherent， and thus realize the experiential， interpersonal and textual function of classroom discourse.

【Key words】classroom discourse； multimodality； function analysis

1. Introduction

Teacher talk refers to the speeches that the teacher uses to speak to students when the teacher undertakes teaching tasks in foreign language teaching. Pprevious researches on teacher talk are mainly focus on the amount/ time of teacher talk， teachers question， waiting time， etc.， teachers feedback and modification of teacher talk. Hence， a study on investigating how to make teacher talk more effective in presenting teaching content and facilitating learners to understand the knowledge presented is of great necessity and emergency.

2. Multimodal Discourse Analysis and Its Theoretical Background

According to Kress & Leeuwen， multimodality refers to the use of several modes in the design of a semiotic product or event， together with the particular way in which these modes are combined – they may for instance reinforce each other （say the same thing in different ways）， fulfill complementary roles， or be hierarchically ordered.

Hallidays systematic functional grammar provides theoretical foundation for multimodal analysis. His conception of language as a social semiotic device suggests that all the meaning-making alternatives are understood to realize three kinds of function. Although ideational， interpersonal and textual meanings are distinct， they are always integrated in communication and all three are in simultaneous operation.

3. Case Study – Multimodal Analysis of PPT in an Excellent English Grammar Lesson

Through analyzing the ppt courseware of an excellent English grammar lesson which has been awarded first prize in a teaching contest， the author attempts to explore how various modes in PPT cooperate to make sense and realize metafunctions in the teaching process. The typical modes in the presented PPT are pictures， flash， font color.

3.1 pictures

3.1.1 How to articulate meaning

In this PPT courseware， pictures are used as ground， ornament and most important， as evocator. Take the poster of Titanic on page 3 for example. The teacher leads in by making hypothesis on Jack and Roses love story. The presentation of poster can easily evoke students interest in making hypothesis using the syntactic structure of subjunctive mood.

3.1.2 How to realize metafunctions

Ideationally， the pictures help students understand the teachers intention and follow her teaching steps. Interpersonally， the pictures pose as a visual form of direct address. By perceiving connotation of these pictures， students react to the instruction of the teacher. Textually， these pictures are positioned left or above caption， which indicate a low information value and make the caption salient.

3.2 font colour

Colour as mode is entirely distinct from language as mode.

3.2.1 How to articulate meaning

In this PPT courseware， the teacher intentionally use contrast font color to make meaning salient. For example， page 5 repeat the content and layout of page 4 but highlighted the verb forms in each sentences with red font color.

3.2.2 How to realize metafunctions

Ideationally， different font color represents the sharpness of focus. By the contrast of warm color the cold color， by the change of various font and color， the difficulties and main points of teaching content are highlighted. Interpersonally， In piles of grammar rules and exercises， the change of font color makes key points stand out and helps students understand what the teacher says， thus the purpose of teaching can be realized. Textually， font color should be coherent to the content and style of the layout， together with pictures， flash， diagrams， layout etc.， communicatively meaningful whole texts are formed.

4. Conclusion

From the incomplete case study above， we find that PPT courseware is a part of teacher talk ， it also embraces many kinds of semiotic resources itself， so teacher talk is taking on a landscape of multimodality. Moreover， PPT slides need to be multimodal and realize ideational， interpersonal or textual function. This paper only covers three modal in the grammar PPT courseware， which is far from being complete and sound and needs further study.

References：

[1]Kress，G.& van Leeuwen，T.Multimodal Discourse：The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication[M].London：Amold，2001.

[2]Halliday，M.A.K.An Introduction to Functional Grammar[M].Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.