A Social Semiotic Approach To Multimodal Discourse Analysis And Second Language Teaching And Learning

Discourse analysis is a rapidly growing and evolving field which has arrested wide attention since 1950s. On one hand, discourse analysis can be carried on different levels of language; on the other hand, it provides new research methods and new perspectives for the analysis of a variety of genres and diachronic studies of languages. However, with the fast development of science and technology and the widespread use of multimedia and the Internet, communication begins to employ both language and some other semiotic modes to transmit information (such as sound, image and three-dimensional cartoons). This enriches the scope of expression systems of meanings, breaks the monotony of conventional media and manifests the multimodal nature of communication. Traditional discourse analysis is thus criticized for neglecting studies of these other semiotic resource systems. In order to transcend this restriction, a new paradigm for the analysis of discourses is formulated in 1990s, that is, multimodal discourse analysis by the social semiotic approach.The transfer theory holds that native language could greatly affect second language acquisition both positively and negatively. When the learners'native language and their second language differ from each other, negative transfer may occur. Chinese and English belong to different language families, so there are huge differences in their language features and cultural traditions; and these will cause discrepancies in thinking modes and expressing manners which exert negative influences on Chinese learners'English study. Language transfer is a very complex process in which there are many inter-related factors that influence the content, time and way of language transfer. These factors can be divided into linguistic and non-linguistic perspectives, including metalingual awareness, sociolinguistic factors, markedness, language distance, psychotypology, developmental factors and so on. In second language teaching and learning, teachers should make appropriate use of learners' native language, take advantage of the similarities and differences between these two languages; more importantly, realize the significance of cultural knowledge and introduce cultural background in language teaching.The present study applies a social semiotic approach to the analysis of English films as multimodal discourse which Kress and Van Leeuwen has constructed, incorporating Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics, in hope of making a clarification on how image, sound, color, etc. as a social semiotic resource and language as a social semiotic mode work together in English films to create meaning, and meanwhile examining how films function as accelerators to improve the process and result of second language teaching and learning.