A Multimodal Analysis Of The Lead-in Part In English Demonstration Classes Of Middle School

In recent years,the multimodal discourse analysis based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar has been commonly applied in the studies of college English classrooms.However,few studies have investigated the English classes in middle school from a multimodal perspective,especially the lead-in part of the class.This study analyzes the modes and their functions in the lead-in part with a multimodal discourse analysis based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar.Twenty teaching videos from the 12^thSession of National Middle School English Demonstration Class Seminar are randomly selected as corpora in this study.By dividing modes in the classes into language mode,PPT mode,action mode,distance mode,and blackboard mode,this study aims to answer the following two questions:firstly,what are the distribution features and functions of modes in the lead-in part of English demonstration classes in middle school?Secondly,how do different modes orchestrate each other to achieve four functions of the lead-in part,namely gaining attention,arousing motivation,structuring,and making links?Based on the statistical analysis of the corpus,the findings of this study are concluded as follows:Firstly,language mode is dominant in the lead-in part of demonstration English classes in middle school.Meanwhile,teachers use more instruction words with a high-stimulating thinking level to communicate with students.Secondly,image&text form is the main modal combination in PPT.Thirdly,teachers use the combination of language,action and distance most frequently in the realization of four functions in the lead-in part.Fourthly,teachers use the highest variety of modal combinations in arousing motivation.Finally,making links involves the most complex modal combination,including language,action,distance and blackboard mode.Based on observation and research of task complexity,making links is the most complicated process in achieving four functions.Therefore,this study proposes a hypothesis that the complexity of teachers’modes is related to the complexity of the teachers’teaching tasks.In other words,teachers would use more complex modal combinations if the task is more complicated.This study has interpreted the above findings from a cognitive perspective and offered three suggestions for the lead-in part teaching.Firstly,teachers could use instruction words with a high-stimulating thinking level to promote students’thinking.Secondly,since the findings show that the combination of language,action,and distance is the combination with the highest frequency in the lead-in part of middle school English classrooms,teachers should pay attention to not only their language but also actions like gaze,gesture,etc.Meanwhile,teachers had better keep a comfortable and appropriate distance with students for better communication between them in English classes.Thirdly,it is necessary for teachers to take task complexity into account in teaching design and consider using different modes in teaching activities.