Analyzing Multimodality in ELT Videos

Abstract

This study aims to  investigate  how the visual and verbal signs work together in constructing meaning in instructional videos. This is a kind of descriptive qualitative research. The data were derived from ELT videos in YouTube “Teaching 21st Century Skills: Oxford Discover Sample Lesson Level 3” (part 1 - part 4). The analysis follows the framework of Multimodality, Visual Grammar, and  Intersemiotic Complementarity. The  findings covers  several modes used in the videos: linguistic,  visual, gestural, and spatial. These modes are used in a combination of two or more modes in one video frame entitled “Teaching 21st Century Skills: Oxford Discover Sample Lesson Level 3”. In addition, this study also found narrative processes which include action and reaction processes, eye gaze, distance, camera angles, information value, salience, and framing. These elements are used in a frame combined with mode or multimodality and were connected to each other to create a meaning. In particular, the verbal and visual modes support each other to form cohesion through the relation of repetition, synonyms, homonyms and meronyms. The combination of these modes serves to convey a message to the audience so that it is easier to understand the entire content of the video