The Meaning-making With Multimodal Integration In College English Teaching

In Knowledge Age, knowledge culture stresses more on multiplicity of information transmission; Knowledge Management emphasizes technological application. Technology, especially digital technology has profound impact on teaching. The New London Group puts forward multiliteracies to modify the traditional language-based pedagogy to meet with the diversity of culture and communication channels. Multiliteracies primarily refers to multimodal literacy.In order to improve learner's multiliteracies, the teacher should integrate the multimodal resources in English teaching process so as to involve learners more in applying and experiencing multimodality. The contemporary studies on multimodality in CDMA are either devoted to the technical analysis, or focus on the pedagogical perspective. The study of semiotics and multimodality in China is arising; the leading scholars are Zhang Delu, Hu Zhuanglin and Zhu Yongsheng.The meaning-making process is both the semiotic practice and also the material process. Social semiotics and SFL provides theoretical basis as well as tool for MDA. The context theory is the theoretical basis for MDA. The three parameters of register projected in teaching are teaching content, relations between teacher and learner and the interaction of different modalities. The revised Bloom's taxonomy serves as teaching objectives. Halliday's metafunction serves as the analyzing tool for MDA. Semiotic resources can simultaneously construct ideational meaning and can enact social relations (i.e. interpersonal meaning), which are enabled through the organization of the discourse, that is the textual metafunction. Meaning making is realized through the interaction of semiotic resources, which is also the central concept of Constructivism. Constructivism holds that any semiotic resource in the learning environment has the impact on meaning-making, which is the construing of social practice based on the established experience. Meaning making is the result of individual construction and social negotiation.With the theory mentioned above, the thesis uses the qualitative comparative method to analyze four typical English teaching contest discourses from the perspectives of the chosen modalities and how they are interacting with each other, the respective teaching phase analysis and the designed activity analysis. Based on the analysis, the thesis sets up one framework for the modality-based teaching generic structure. This framework consists of the theoretical paradigm including the foundation and principles for modality selecting, the modality available as well as the practical teaching process, such as the schematic structure and the activities and games. Therefore, this investigation is not only meaningful in theory but in teaching practice.The thesis assumes that the identification of learners'learning orientation is the starting point for instructional design. With the clear classification of the three sensory styles, the teacher can match the proper ratio of visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities in the instructional design so as to stimulate learners'full participation in teaching process to realize teaching objectives and develop their meaning potential.The thesis analyzes and summarizes the modalities available for English teaching process. There are verbal and non-verbal communication channels. The former includes the pure verbal and paralinguistic features, such as tone, pitch and stress in oral mode and font, color in written mode. Non-verbal channels may involve the proxemics-related elements: the teacher's particular design of the student-teacher relation and body movement, classroom layout and learning environmental design and teaching instrumental factors, which include the teaching equipment and some supplementary materials.The thesis proposes MTGS, which constitutes seven compulsory phases and six optional phases, two of which is unordered, the MTGS can be summarized as follows:initiation ^ teaching objectives ^ (learning requirement) ^ (transitional phase/ review phase) ^ introduction ^ *cultural background ^ interpretation of the content ^ *{language explanation ^ * language-related activities} ^ (situation-related activities) ^ (self-learning) ^ thematic conclusion ^ language conclusion ^ { assignment ^ * assignment-related activities} The thesis analyzes the teacher's roles matching with every sub-category of RBT; then categorizes the activities into three types: language-related activities, context-related activities and assignment-related activities; then the thesis puts forward the RBT-oriented teaching structure with designed activities and the matching modalities in each teaching phases.With the wide application of new technology, great changes have taken place in pedagogy and requirement for learners owing to their civic and professional identity. There are some implications for further study of the generic structure, including the redesigning of the evaluation system; the reconsideration of learner's affective factor; the rethinking of teacher's development.Any systemic pedagogy should at least include the analysis process, the instructional design, the specific model, and the evaluation system. The following study should focus on the evaluation system incorporating into MTGS. With the new technology applied in our social practice and wide acceptance of multimodality, the evaluation system should be a continuum of evaluating multimodal literacy and focus on performance rather than outcome.In the original Bloom's taxonomy, there is the affective factor. Learner's affective orientation does enhance or undermine learning. Since learners have different preference related to their particular affective orientation, teachers should analyse learner's personal affective orientation to direct the teaching designing and consider some affective elements in learning process for maximum teaching effect.The wide application of new technology reshapes the way of meaning representation. The concept of education is redefined. The teacher's development should be reconsidered. With the local diversity and rapid global connection, education is multicultural and interdisciplinary. The new working situation calls for new workers to negotiate for the solution. All the above changes should justify the transformation of teacher's development.This thesis is a tentative start to reflect on the changes of communication channel representing the new social practice and its cultural background. Here is presented a general statement of the teaching framework along with an open invitation for all the professionals and scholars to contribute to the development of a new model that does make some difference in teaching.