A Study Of College English Writing Instruction Based On Multimodality

English writing plays a significant role in foreign language learning and it is recognized as essential to empower students to intensify thinking and promote their expressing ability. However, based on the previous studies, the effect of college English writing instruction leaves much to be desired. Some students may become weary of English writing instruction because of the traditional way of writing instruction. To solve the problem, multimodality-based English writing instruction has been increasingly highlighted.In the context of one of Normal Universities in Liaoning province, the thesis reports on the results of an empirical study based on the integration and transformation of different multimodalities. It is meant to answer two research questions concerning the effect of multimodality-based writing instruction on the subjects’ English writing and on their attitudes towards English writing. In conducting the experimental study, two groups of non-English majors sophomores, altogether 60 subjects were involved. An experiment was employed with tests, questionnaire, semi-structured interview as the instrument of data collection. From the perspective of cognitive psychology, social semiotics and multimodal discourse analysis, the thesis analyzes the collected data with the help of SPSS(16.0) statistic software. Its reliability and validity issues were identified and addressed.The findings show that the integration and transformation of modalities are conducive to improve their English writing, especially their writing content and structure. Their interest in writing is increased after receiving multimodality-based writing instruction as well. The empirical study also provides some new insight into the application of multimodality in college English writing instruction.