Vocational College English Teaching Of Reading Based On Multimodal Theory

With the rapid development of information and communications technology(ICT) and the increasing frequency of international communication, the importance of English becomes more and more evident. ICTs such as multimedia powerpoint, projection and digital camera have been widely used, which makes the research of such non-linguistic discourse possible as vision, sound, animation and color design.“Multimodal” is a term coined by the members of the New London Group, who argue that it is not just one mode that can be realized through medium in communication. The concept of multimodal teaching grew out of the background of well-developed information and communications technology, and such media as email, MSN, BBS, video communication, role play gaming have generated a linguistic register in the process of meaning construction.This thesis attempts to use multimodal discourse analysis theory(hereafter MDA) and Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning(CTML) in combination with cognitive load theory(CLT) to investigate how the different modes cooperate and coordinate in accomplishing the teaching objectives more effectively and affect students’ long-term memory in English reading course.The analysis of the experimental results shows that the difference in their English reading proficiency becomes clear in the post-test after one semester, and the English reading ability of the experimental group has proved to be better than the control group, though there is no significant difference in the English level of proficiency between experimental group and control group before the experiment. Besides, the survey of the questionnaires shows the students generally hold a positive attitude toward multimodal teaching. Last, for the purpose of achieving better teaching effects, teachers should take the guidance of CLT and CTML into consideration and abide by learners’ cognitive processes and principles of multimedia instructional design.