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Building Successful Communication in EMI Contexts: A Multimodal Approach to Organizational Metadiscourse in Intercultural Lectures

  • Edgar Bernad-Mechó

    Dr. Edgar Bernad-Mechó is Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I, Spain. He specializes in the use of metadiscourse and multimodality in academic contexts and for science dissemination. He has published papers in journals like the Journal of English for Academic Purposes and Discourse Studies, and recently co-authored an edited volume for Routledge exploring the intersection between multimodality and English medium instruction. His latest studies look at the modal density and coherence of YouTube videos for science dissemination as well as the use of humor and other engagement strategies in science communication online.

Published/Copyright: July 3, 2024
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Abstract

Higher education (HE) has experienced a swift internationalization process in the last decade, introducing English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in many universities. This new reality brings about novel challenges for content lecturers as they adapt to a new way of teaching in English for intercultural audiences. Following Ädel’s (2010) taxonomy of metadiscourse, this paper aims to explore the use of organizational metadiscourse in EMI lectures to foster successful communicative interaction and engagement. Assuming that all communication is multimodal, i.e., meaning is conveyed through the combination of several semiotic resources, this paper sets out to go beyond traditional linguistic studies in order to examine the multimodal use of organizational metadiscourse in lectures. To carry out this analysis, three 90-minute-long videorecorded EMI lectures taught at Universitat Jaume I (Spain) were selected, transcribed and manually inspected to account for all instances of organizational metadiscourse. Next, six structuring segments were chosen, i. e. sections within the lectures in which the contents are being organized. Using the software Multimodal Analysis Video, interactions between speech (organizational metadiscourse) and paralanguage, gestures, gaze, proxemics, head movement and facial expression were examined. Finally, the findings were presented to the lecturers in the recordings to obtain an insight perspective. Results show the active utilization of complex multimodal ensembles co-occurring with organizational metadiscourse. These ensembles reveal an underlying aim of achieving successful communication, by accommodating language to a non-native intercultural audience, and engaging the audience. Lastly, these results are interpreted and pedagogical implications for teacher training are put forward.

About the author

Dr. Edgar Bernad-Mechó

Dr. Edgar Bernad-Mechó is Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I, Spain. He specializes in the use of metadiscourse and multimodality in academic contexts and for science dissemination. He has published papers in journals like the Journal of English for Academic Purposes and Discourse Studies, and recently co-authored an edited volume for Routledge exploring the intersection between multimodality and English medium instruction. His latest studies look at the modal density and coherence of YouTube videos for science dissemination as well as the use of humor and other engagement strategies in science communication online.

Acknowledgments

This study is encompassed within a research project funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain (Ref: PGC2018-094823-B-I00) and entitled “Análisis de los géneros académicos en la docencia en inglés de grados internacionales desde una perspectiva multimodal y multicanal.” The author would also like to deeply thank the three lecturers who generously participated in this study.

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Published Online: 2024-07-03
Published in Print: 2024-06-25

© 2024 BFSU, FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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