Home Enhancing multimodal communicative competence in ESP: the case of job interviews
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Enhancing multimodal communicative competence in ESP: the case of job interviews

  • Inmaculada Fortanet-Gómez ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Vicent Beltrán-Palanques ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: October 4, 2021

Abstract

ESP teaching has traditionally centred on the discourse practices of specific genres to develop students’ discursive competence in the target language. However, with the advent of studies on multimodality, there has been a growing recognition that new pedagogical approaches are required in ESP teaching. In this study, we discuss a research-informed pedagogical proposal to deal with job interviews, a highly routinised spoken genre that is typically addressed in Business English courses. Drawing on previous literature (Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2015). The things you do to know: an introduction to the pedagogy of multiliteracies. In: Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (Eds.), A pedagogy of multiliteracies. Learning by design. Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire, pp. 1–36; Lim, F.V. (2018). Developing a systemic functional approach to teach multimodal literacy. Funct. Ling. 5: 1–17), we present a pedagogical proposal that aims to promote students’ awareness of the multimodal nature of job interviews and develop their multimodal communicative competence through instruction, practice and feedback.


Corresponding author: Inmaculada Fortanet-Gómez, Departament d’Estudis Anglesos, Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, E-mail:

Award Identifier / Grant number: PGC2018-094823-B-100

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [grant number PGC2018-094823-B-I00] and is also as part of the research project funded by the Research Promotion Plan at Universitat Jaume I (Spain) [Grant ID: UJI-B2020-09].

Appendix 1

RUBRIC FOR JOB INTERVIEWS

GROUP:

INTERVIEWER:

CANDIDATE:

JOB DESCRIPTION:

VALUE: 1 (VERY LOW) AND 5 (VERY HIGH)

GENERAL CANDIDATE INTERVIEWER
1 Is the general appearance appropriate?
2 How would you rate the candidate and the interviewers?
LANGUAGE
3 Is the language correct?
4 Is the language appropriate for the context?
5 Does the interview follow the established structure?
6 Is there interaction between speakers? Ex. turn-taking respect, and asking and giving the floor
POSTURE AND GESTURES
7 Is the posture and attitude shown adequate?
8 Are gestures used appropriately?
FACIAL EXPRESSION
9 Is smile and/or serious expressions used to accompany the discourse?
10 Do they use other expressions to accompany their speech, such as frowning eyebrows, opening eyes widely or closing eyes?
EYE RAPPORT
11 Do the speakers look at their interlocutor?
PAUSES, INTONATION AND STRESS
12 Is the pronunciation correct and clear?
13 Are there strategic pauses used?
14 Is there a suitable intonation?
15 Are strategic words and phrases emphasized?
TOTAL
COMMENTS:

References

Beltrán-Palanques, V. and Querol-Julián, M. (2018). English language learners’ spoken interaction: what a multimodal perspective reveals about pragmatic competence. System 77: 80–90, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.01.008.Search in Google Scholar

Bonsignori, V. (2018). Using films and TV series for ESP teaching: a multimodal perspective. System 77: 58–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.01.005.Search in Google Scholar

Campbell, S. and Roberts, C. (2007). Migration, ethnicity and competing discourses in the job interview: synthesizing the institutional and personal. Discourse Soc. 18: 243–271, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926507075474.Search in Google Scholar

Coccetta, F. (2018). Developing university students’ multimodal communicative competence: field research into multimodal text studies in English. System 77: 19–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.01.004.Search in Google Scholar

Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2015). The things you do to know: an introduction to the pedagogy of multiliteracies. In: Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (Eds.), A pedagogy of multiliteracies. Learning by design. Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire, pp. 1–36.10.1057/9781137539724_1Search in Google Scholar

Council of Europe. (2020). Common European framework of reference for languages: learning, teaching, assessment, Companion volume, https://rm.coe.int/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching/16809ea0d4 (retrieved 10 06 2021).Search in Google Scholar

Crawford Camiciottoli, B. (2015). Elaborating explanations during OpenCourseWare humanities lectures: the interplay of verbal and nonverbal strategies. The interplay of verbal and nonverbal strategies. In: Multimodal analysis in academic settings. From research to teach. Routledge, London, pp. 144–163.10.4324/9781315738758Search in Google Scholar

Crawford Camiciottoli, B. (2019). Harnessing multimodal literacy for knowledge dissemination in ESP teaching. In: Bonsignori, V., Cappelli, G., and Mattiello, E. (Eds.), World of words: complexity, creativity, and conventionality in English language, literature and culture, Vol. 1. Language, Pisa University Press, pp. 47–52.Search in Google Scholar

Crawford Camiciottoli, B. and Bonsignori, V. (2015). The Pisa Audiovisual Corpus Project: a multimodal approach to ESP research and teaching. ESP Today 3: 139–159.Search in Google Scholar

Crawford Camiciottoli, B. and Campoy-Cubillo, M. (2018). Introduction: the nexus of multimodality, multimodal literacy, and English language teaching in research and practice in higher education settings. System 77: 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.005.Search in Google Scholar

Fortanet-Gómez, I. and Bernad-Mechó, E. (2019) Análisis multimodales del discurso específico. Special issue. Ibérica. Available at: http://www.aelfe.org/?s=revista&veure=37.Search in Google Scholar

Ho, W.Y.J. (2019). Developing professional communication: the construction of a multimodal understanding of job interviews. Languages 4: 2–12, https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010005.Search in Google Scholar

Jewitt, C. (2014). Different approaches to multimodality. In: Jewitt, C. (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis, 2nd ed. Routledge, London, pp. 31–43.Search in Google Scholar

Jewitt, C., Bezemer, J., and O’Halloran, K. (2016). Introducing multimodality. Routledge, London.10.4324/9781315638027Search in Google Scholar

Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge, London.Search in Google Scholar

Lim, F.V. (2018). Developing a systemic functional approach to teach multimodal literacy. Funct. Ling. 5: 1–17, doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40554-018-0066-8.Search in Google Scholar

Lipovsky, C. (2008). Constructing affiliation and solidarity in job interviews. Discourse Commun. 2: 411–432, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481308095938.Search in Google Scholar

Morell, T. and Pastor, S. (2018). Multimodal communication in academic oral presentations by L2 Spanish students. J. Spanish Lang. Teach. 5: 125–138, doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23247797.2018.1538334.Search in Google Scholar

Norris, S. (2004). Analyzing multimodal interaction: a methodological framework. Routledge, London.10.4324/9780203379493Search in Google Scholar

Norris, S. (2016). Concepts in multimodal discourse analysis with examples from video conferencing. Yearb. Pozn. Linguist. Meet. 2: 141–165, doi:https://doi.org/10.1515/yplm-2016-0007.Search in Google Scholar

Paltridge, B. (2012). Discourse analysis. An introduction, 2nd ed. Bloomsbury, London.10.5040/9781350934290Search in Google Scholar

Querol-Julián, M. and Beltrán-Palanques, V. (2021). PechaKucha presentations to develop multimodal communicative competence in ESP and EMI live online lectures: a team-teaching proposal. Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn. 22: 73–90.Search in Google Scholar

Querol-Julián, M. and Fortanet-Gómez, I. (2012). Multimodal evaluation in academic discussion sessions: how do presenters act and react? English Specif. Purp. 31: 271–283, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2012.06.001.Search in Google Scholar

Querol-Julián, M. and Fortanet-Gómez, I. (2019). Collaborative teaching and learning of interactive multimodal spoken academic genres for doctoral students. Int. J. Engl. Stud. 19: 61–82, doi:https://doi.org/10.6018/ijes.348911.Search in Google Scholar

Räisänen, C. (1999). The conference forum as a system of genres: a sociocultural study of academic conference practices in automotive engineering. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Gothenberg.Search in Google Scholar

Royce, T. (2002). Multimodality in the TESOL classroom: exploring visual-verbal synergy. Tesol Q. 36: 191–205, doi:https://doi.org/10.2307/3588330.Search in Google Scholar

Ruiz-Garrido, M.F. and Fortanet-Gómez, I. (2006). English Communication for International Business I. Universitat Jaume I, Castelló.Search in Google Scholar

Ruiz-Madrid, N. and Valeiras-Jurado, J. (2020). Developing multimodal communicative competence in emerging academic and professional genres. Int. J. Engl. Stud. 20: 27–50, doi:https://doi.org/10.6018/ijes.401481.Search in Google Scholar

Scheuer, J. (2001). Recontextualization and communicative styles in job interviews. Discourse Stud. 3: 223–248, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445601003002004.Search in Google Scholar

Swales, J.M. (2004). Research genres. Explorations and applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.10.1017/CBO9781139524827Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2021-01-19
Accepted: 2021-09-17
Published Online: 2021-10-04

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 16.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/mc-2020-0032/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button