Volume 14, Issue 1 - Special Issue: Multimodality, Multilingualism & Identity; Guest Editors: Andrew Jocuns and Freek Olaf de Groot

This special issue of Multimodal Communication is devoted to seven papers studying social interaction at the intersection of multimodality, multilingualism and identity. The goal of this special issue is to provide a platform to discuss how this intersection enables us to gain a better understanding of multimodal and multilingual practices in action as well as critically engaging with the current theories in the field that provide the lens for us to do so.

With their access to an unprecedented amount of streamed multimodal, multilingual content, it becomes increasingly common among Chinese social media users to translate and transcribe multilingual speech via the digital writing function of bullet comments (superimposed writing on a moving screen played simultaneously with the video). In this article, we look at “Konger” (“intentional mishearing”) to offer a timely discussion of amateur writing/literacy practice afforded by digital technologies. Leveraging unique affordances of Chinese characters (unlike alphabetic writing), when transcribing multilingual speech (from foreign speakers and Chinese dialect speakers) users deliberately select characters that deviate from their “original” meanings, often in unexpected, humorous and ludicrous ways. Adopting digital ethnography, thematic and textual analysis, we offer three case studies involving high-profile influencers who speak non-standard Putonghua with heavy regional accents. We argue that bullet comment users’ collectively produced and intricately orchestrated Konger writings recreate new layers of orality and serve diverse identity-making purposes within an increasingly commercialized Chinese social mediascape.

This study explores the role of Geographies of Discourse (GoD) (Scollon, Ron. 2013. Geographies of discourse: Action across layered spaces. In Ingrid De Saint-Georges & Jean-Jacques Weber (eds.), Multilingualism and multimodality: Current challenges for educational studies , 183–198. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers) in creating spaces for multilingualism. Building on work that examined the role of multimodality in civic participation (e.g., de Groot and Jocuns 2023. Multimodality as civic participation: The case of Thailand’s rap against dictatorship.  Journal of Language and Politics  22(1). 107–128) we show how mapping, analyzing and connecting the multimodal geographies of discourse within language portraits and a mapping task in Kurdistan create insight into the historical, present and future linkages that create a network of mobile language repertoires. We discuss how geographies of discourse (GoD) emerged from how multilingualism in Iraqi Kurdistan map these GoD between the different material objects and create historical and future connections that emerge as small stories. Describing and mapping these intersections and transformations reifies Latour’s (2005. Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory . Oxford: Oxford University Press) notion that neither the material nor the immaterial realizes these transformations or gives meaning to them, instead, the transformative actions and meanings indexed are situated in the social relationships between actors that produce these intersections. We argue that this way of understanding the complex networks of discourse practices that produce GoD is important presently when social interaction is situated in a nexus of online and offline spaces.

This paper studies how internet memes in the context of China are the result of complex semiotic remixing practices and how these multimodal practices offer opportunities for identity work. It offers a situated perspective on the processes that underlie the creation of Chinese memes (Biaoqingbao), the ways in which these memes mediate the digital practices of members in a student community, and how these students find opportunities for identity work. This study takes a social semiotic (Kress, Gunther R. 2010. Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication . Taylor & Francis) and Mediated Discourse Analysis approach (Scollon, Ron. 2001. Mediated discourse: The Nexus of practice . Routledge; Scollon and Scollon 2004; Norris, Sigrid & Rodney H. Jones. 2005. Discourse in action: introducing mediated discourse analysis . London: Routledge) to analyze biaoqingbao as the mediate the social interaction within a light community. The data was collected using a form of digital ethnography. The memes studied in the current paper are unique in two ways. First, they combine both local and global people, places, objects and discourses deploying both Chinese and English texts and effectively create semiotic trajectories between highly localized digital meme practices and more global mainstream meme practices. Second, the practices of producing, sharing and remixing these memes are exclusively situated in a distinct light community and offer important opportunities for multimodal identity performance.

This study explores the integration of multimodal teaching, translanguaging, and dialogic pedagogy to improve English literacy among junior students in a Chinese private university. In the context of globalization, proficiency in English is essential for these students, yet many face challenges that hinder their literacy development. This research examines how multimodal mind maps, as tools for translanguaging and multimodal learning, reveal student perspectives on language learning and literacy development in Chinese private universities. The study offers insights with significant potential for shaping educational practices and curriculum design in Chinese private universities (Canagarajah, Suresh. 2012. Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations . New York: Routledge). By strategically implementing multimodal teaching techniques, the research introduces innovative strategies to enhance English literacy (García, Ofelia & Li Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and education . Palgrave Macmillan; Jewitt, Carey & Gunther Kress. 2010. Multimodality, literacy and school English. In D. Wyse, R. Andrews & J. Hoffman (eds.), The Routledge international handbook of English, language and literacy teaching , 342–352. London: Routledge; Vygotsky, Lev S. 1978. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). The findings highlight the interplay between linguistic strategies, instructional methods, and student perspectives, offering effective pedagogical interventions that prioritize multimodal engagement. By bridging theory and practice (Canagarajah, Suresh. 2012. Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations . New York: Routledge), this research provides actionable insights that address the literacy challenges and aspirations of junior students. Using a multimodal teaching approach (García, Ofelia & Li Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and education . Palgrave Macmillan), this study not only demonstrates how diverse modes of communication strengthen students English skills and foster their confidence but also addresses the development of their identities as competent members of an English academic community. Drawing on Norton’s (Norton, Bonny. 2013. Identity and Language learning: Extending the conversation . 2nd edn. Bristol: Multilingual Matters) work on identity and investment in language learning, this research underscores the importance of identity construction in the language learning process. It shows how students, through multimodal engagement, can assert their identities and claim the right to participate in academic communities, thereby preparing them for success in a globally interconnected society.

Within current social science discourse, understanding the complex relationship between materiality, agency and discourse is crucially important for grasping the dynamics of social practices and action. This study employs a linguistic ethnography approach to examine the nuanced interplay between discourse, objects and participants within social interactions. Drawing from theoretical frameworks including mediated discourse analysis (MDA), actor-network theory and historical materialism, we explore how materiality and discourse form and coverage one another. Our analysis reveals that objects and discourse are not fixed and static entities but rather dynamic processes that mutually influence and constitute each other within social situations. We argue that while objects possess agency, they are mediated by human participants and broader social forces which emphasises the need for context-specific analysis and examination. Through a dialectical lens, we unpack the intricate ways in which material conditions inform and reflect social relations, demonstrating the role of objects as tangible manifestations of social processes. Our findings enhance a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between agency, materiality and discourse with implications for theories of practice and social interaction. By recognising the role of objects in shaping cultural practices and social dynamics, we enhance our understanding of the processes everyday social life.

Contributing to previous research on schoolscape, this study explores artifacts crafted by international student organizations (i.e., flyers and roll-up banners) across a U.S. university campus. Specifically, drawing on elements from geosemiotics (i.e., visual semiotics, place semiotics, and interaction order), the authors examined (1) how the producers convey their identities through both multilingual and multimodal practices, and (2) how the artifacts interact with the surrounding space. Considering the ephemeral nature of the artifacts under scrutiny, pictures of the actual artifacts were collected over a two-month period in 2024. The findings show that the sign makers constructed their identities through varied semiotic resources, including text, images (e.g., national flags, natural elements, historical landmarks), typography (e.g., typographic mimicry), colors indexing ethnocultural and/or national identities or university affiliation, code preferences, and linguistic choices creating multiple interaction orders. Regarding the emplacement of the artifacts, different patterns emerged, including a preference for authorized spaces over those associated with transgressive semiotics, and, more generally, a shift towards digital spaces for organizational promotion.

This paper shows how commercial Instagrammers construct a shared Northern German identity by employing the regional language Low German and other (visual) means. In today’s mobile and globalised societies, the use and functions of regional or minority languages are changing. Besides communicative purposes and the construction of regional identities in multilingual societies, these languages are commodified as signs of authenticity and regionality. Challenged by High German and other dominant languages, Low German is still spoken in the domestic domain and by older generations. It has recently gained significance in marketing and as a marker of regional identity. The question of how commercial Instagrammers construct regional identity is answered using a multimodal corpus of 1,157 Instagram posts and a discourse analysis based, qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The findings suggest that the Instagrammers express regional identity through three strategies: 1) Using well-known Low German words and short texts; 2) portraying character traits and humour as key features of Northern Germanness, and 3) a clear distinction between an out-group and an in-group through meta-linguistic commentary. Together, these strategies construct a collective, generalised regional identity, reinforcing the Instagrammers’ “Northern Germanness” and allowing consumers to express their regional identities through this content and products.