Multimodal competence and effective interactive lecturing

Abstract

Multimodal competence plays a crucial role in effective interactive lecturing, especially when the language of communication is other than one's own. This study explores an English-medium instructor's (EMI) choice and combination of modes when instantiating a university interactive lecture pair work activity. It analyzes the temporal and spatial features of classroom space, gaze, and gestures, together with the spoken and written language, present in the setting up, supervising, and eliciting moves of the activity. Classroom spatial maps and multimodal discourse analysis tables are provided to illustrate the meaning making potential of semiotic resources used by the instructor to carry out specific pedagogical functions. The multimodal discourse analysis reveals that a coordinated use of three to four complementary mode ensembles enables a teacher to textually organize and interpersonally involve students to elicit conceptual meaning. Furthermore, the findings suggest that effective pedagogy has much to do with multimodal competence, the ability to understand the combined potential of various modes for making and eliciting meaning.