What is Multimodality?

Gesture in Communication

In this course, Dr Jack Wilson (University of Salford) explores the use of gesture in communication. In the first module, we think about the concept of multimodality, the idea that communication can involve different 'modes', e.g. linguistic, visual, gestural, etc. After that, we think about the relationship between language and gesture more specifically, noting that gesture can often contain additional information that is not contained in the linguistic mode. In the third module, we think about the relationship between gesture and thought, before turning in the fourth module to consider the relationship between gesture and language acquisition. In the fifth module, we think about the role of gesture in both learning and teaching, before turning in the sixth module to consider the gesture of pointing in more detail. Do we all point in the same way? If not, why not?

What is Multimodality?

In this module, we think about the concept of multimodality, focusing in particular on: (i) what language actually is; (ii) the idea that communication can involve more than one 'mode', e.g. a comic book, which combines both visual and linguistic 'modes'; (iii) the sense in which all communication, both written and oral, is multimodal; (iv) gesture as a 'mode' that accompanies spoken language.