Multimodal Text

• Multimodality involves the complex interweaving of word, image, gesture

and movement, and sound, including speech. These can be combined in
different ways and presented through a range of media.

Bearne, E. And Wolstencroft, H. 2007

 Multimodality

• Mode-a way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced,

expressed, or done. (e.g. signs: sound, graphic material, print)
• Media – the manner of dissemination
A traffic sign as the medium
of communication and the red
border and the image inside
it as the mode.
Kress, G.1997
 Modes of Communication

• Writing or print, including typographical elements of font type, size and shape

• Images: moving and still, diagrammatic or representational

• Sound: spoken words and music

• Gesture and movement

 Linguistic/Written Meaning

• Meaning concern spoken and written language through use of vocabulary,

generic structure and grammar
 Example

• Books
• Poem
• Newspaper
• Emails
• Text messages
 Fear is a beast that feeds on attention

• This phrase explains that fear only grows if you give into it.
 It’s raining cats and dogs

• It is commonly used to describe a very heavy rain. However, it has also been
used to describe when someone is going through many difficult trials in life
all at the same time.
 A heart of gold

• This refers to a person who is kind, good-natured, or generous. The term

"gold" is used because it's something valued for its goodness.
 All the world's a stage

• This was first used by William Shakespeare in one of his plays, As You Like It.
It means that the world is like a stage where everyone is just acting to get
through each day. It's cynical, but we can't deny the truth behind it.
• As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
 Feeling blue

• To feel blue is to feel sad. Blue is often associated with sadness, which is
why it's also used in the idiom "to have the blues."