A Study On Multimodality Of PowerPoint In College English Teaching

With the development of modern teaching technology and the reform of foreign language teaching going further, multimedia courseware, especially PowerPoint courseware, has became a common tool to assist the foreign language teaching. Multimodality is one of the main features of PPT which can combine multiple modes (words, images, colors, sounds and actions) together to make meaning. It can attract the students'attention to the presented information form multiple channels and enhance language information input, so it will serve the goal of teaching. However, the PPTs made by teachers have different degrees of quality and affect the teaching quality. Therefore, improving the quality of PPT in English teaching should be an important issue.Based on the analysis of multimedia learning, the theory of input enhancement and the review of relevant studies abroad and at home, this research aims to explore the advantages of multimodal PPT, the condition of modes, the attitude and understanding of students and teachers on multimodal PPT, and the deficiencies of PPT made by teachers.Data for this study are 30 PPT courseware form 20 teachers and two questionnaires for 175 college students and 20 teachers respectively. Classroom observations and students interviews are also conducted as data. In terms of data analysis, the author mainly adopted qualitative method.The result of data analysis showed that multimodal PPT has lots of advantages such as a clear presentation and convenient operation. In teachers-made PPTs, text mode and picture mode are their two major and preferable modes to express meaning. But audio mode and video mode are very much favored by students. The students have positive attitude towards the use of multimodal PPT and think that it is helpful for their learning. Most teachers like PPT teaching but there are some deficiencies in their PPTs because of limited computer skills. For example, extensive texts not only make a poor page layout, but also make students be tired of PPT; inappropriate modes distract the students'attention; single presentation patterns leave less time for students to think and there is less interactivity between teachers and students.On the basis of the above findings, it is suggested that English teachers should show the advantages of multimodal PPT fully, choose modes according to the need of teaching contents and students and adjust the proportion of modes. They should also design various activities to increase the interactivity to improve the level of English teaching. Meanwhile, teachers should have more training in the use of computer technology to improve the quality of PPT.It should be pointed out that the study itself has its limitations. For example, the number of subjects is limited and fewer questions are designed in questionnaires. Therefore, more studies should be done in the future.