Today we are going to have a look at CLIL and Multimodality.

Enjoy!

So let's start our presentation today on CLIL and Multimodality.

As you know, I come from the University of Malaga and here is my email address in case you need to ask me questions or you would like to consult with me or ask for further readings or you want to conduct further research, just feel free to email me at any time.

I might take a little bit long, particularly now during summer time to reply but I promise I do reply if you write to me, okay?

So having said that, let's start with some definitions about Multimodality, okay?

So when we are discussing Multimodality and Multimodal Communication, we are discussing basically different ways in which we convey meaning in which we send messages to other people that do not necessarily depend on language.

I'm going to give you a number of examples here.

So for example, in this case we have a number of Taiwanese newspapers and even though I cannot read Mandarin Chinese, I'm sure that, for example, these are the titles or the names and here you have a little piece of news with a picture.

When you have titles, you have different font size, even different font color and then for example, here they are talking about the weather.

I don't know what it means but I know it's about the weather in different regions of Taiwan.

So even if you cannot read another language or even if you cannot decode the linguistic mode, you can decode the other modes that are present in all types of communication.

Like for example, the icon of an apple and probably recommending that you eat apples or you stay healthy or something or maybe not, maybe it's a different thing.

But in case, regardless of the language that you use, there's a number of things you can still decode and they are not part of language but they accompany language so that the message gets across.

Now your students are probably experts in decoding the messages in video games because they do play video games on a daily basis, most of them, outside the classroom and in this case, the modes in video games have to do with music, for example, different music and tones for different scenes and different stories, sounds.

Also you have different movements, different messages that are provided within video games and they can decode them regardless of also being accompanied by language or not.

Now in the classroom, you have a number of modes that you can include as you can see for example, facial expression of the teacher, even if you cannot see her face very clearly, you can see that she's smiling, the body language, she's expecting students to probably provide an answer to her question or volunteer something and then she's satisfied that they are participating and they are engaged.

I'm sure that you know, for example, the body language you see here, the gestures, they have a specific meaning in this particular context but maybe and in this case, it's probably to provide an answer but when you have the same gesture in a different context, for example, at a conference, this is not to provide an answer, this is to ask a question.

So different contexts would have different modes of communication conveying different meanings.

Now this is another multi-modal example of communication, the main difference between this and this has to do with technology.

She is using multi-modal communication and technology.

So many people understand that multi-modal communication is always digital, it's not, it can be digital or not, not necessarily digital.

So basically, it's the combination of different modes, in this case, she has a drawing, she has language, she has the body language, the posture, even the facial expression, she is conveying a different meaning to the meaning that she is conveying with her facial expression.

So you get the idea, we have different ways of communicating that complement language and not every time they depend on language.

So all practices are always multi-modal, a theory has to be developed in which that fact is central and a methodology produced for forms of description in which all modes are described and describable together.

So even though we were analyzing them in isolation, so the gesture, the body language, etc.

When we are using those elements in communication, they are combined, they are integrated.

We don't do body language without, you know, the facial expression or without the other modes of communication, okay?

Now, people communicate through speech, accent, facial expression, gaze direction.

So I'm sure you can tell if students are looking one way or the other, this is telling you one message or the other, the position you have and the movement you have in the lesson.

If you are moving around, maybe this is conveying that this is a part of a lesson in which students are participating or working in groups.

But if you are standing next to the blackboard, maybe you have a different meaning, let's pay attention to the screen or let's pay attention to the question I just posed.

So all different ways in which we communicate have different levels of meaning and we combine them together in multi-modal communication.

Now, contexts also have meaning.

So things that you do in the classroom to either decorate the classroom or keep track of things, of content, of parts of knowledge that you want to convey, they all also convey meaning.

You may convey meaning through color and texture and position, where you place elements in a class, a meaning.

Now, multi-modality moves from the idea that one medium communicates in a particular way, for example, television, to the idea that one medium may employ a number of different modes of meaning.

You may have in television, you may have language and music and movement, etc.

If we think about it in the classroom, when we talk about mediums and we talk about modes, we may be talking about oral communication, but then oral communication also integrates other modes like gestures and gaze and position and movement, etc.

Now, multi-modality in CLIL is very, very important because if we need adaptation and scaffolding in regular monolingual classrooms, in bilingual education, it's even more important.

Multi-modality for the CLIL teacher can result in the creation of attractive and professional resources and can provide linguistic support.

This is very important because you can provide linguistic support both in the student's native language, but also in their target language.

And now for the CLIL student, a multi-modal approach can be a powerful motivator.

It can add variety and interaction to a lesson and it can provide stimulating visuals to support understanding of both language and content.

Now, adaptation is very important in this sense.

Adaptation has to do with the adaptation of multi-modality in CLIL, not only to your content, but also to your context, to the way your students learn, to the varieties of students that you have in your classroom.

Some of them may have specific needs.

Also, to the local curriculum and to the necessities that every particular school, different schools may have in terms of guidelines on what to teach and how to teach it, particularly having to do with CLIL.

So adaptation of multi-modal communication in your CLIL context is very important.

Now, going back to the definitions, modes are abstract or non-material resources of meaning making, for example, the languages of image, sound, gesture, color, texture and narrative.

Now, the modes, the original five modes were textual, aural, spatial, visual and gestural.

Today, there are seven modes.

You don't need to know all of the labels, just you need to know that there are different elements in communication that are integrated so that when we are teaching our CLIL courses to our students, it's not only the language that you're using or not only the images that you're using, but it's the integration of everything that conveys the complete meaning and then eventually will foster learning.

Now, media are different from modes.

Media are basically the material forms which in which modes are realized.

So, for example, a photograph is a material form in which different modes like the visual mode is conveyed.

A computer screen or a whiteboard or projection screen in a classroom can have a drawing and it can have vocabulary, it can have the description of a process or a concept and that would be the medium, the screen, and then the modes would be the combination of visual mode, aural mode, linguistic mode, etc.

Now, you may be using the right media, but the wrong modes or the right media and the right modes.

Obviously, we prefer that in the future you use the right media and the right modes, but it's not so difficult.

Let's have a look at the wrong mode.

OK, so in this case, we have the teacher.

She's using the right medium.

In this case, she's using the whiteboard.

This is OK.

In fact, this item was designed for education, but then she's using the wrong mode because both the visual mode and the linguistic mode, in this case, they are too complex for these students.

If you check the the kind of details that you have here, this is not appropriate for primary school students.

OK, not only the language here, but also the visuals.

OK, they are not appropriate for these students.

And I added the question marks just to make a point.

OK, now I have examples from Seaman Elementary School when I was doing observation sessions in December 2018.

And this is a cool math session that I observed.

In this case, these are examples of right medium and also right modes.

OK, in this case, the teacher is using what we call multimodal scaffolding.

I'm sure you are familiar with multimodal scaffolding or at least with scaffolding because it's based on Bigotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development.

And the emphasis is on providing assistance to students to enable the learner to reach beyond what they are able to achieve alone.

Learners initially need support and guidance until they are able to perform the activity themselves and aided.

OK, so this is an example of what we could see in an already clear classroom in Taiwan.

OK, so here we have the teacher and she's using a girl as an example to revise concepts that were covered in a previous session and they had to do with horizontal and vertical lines.

OK, so at this stage, I'm sure you can notice she's combining the linguistic mode, the gestural mode, the visual mode with a screen.

She's also using proximity to student, even touching her, pointing to her clothes so that other students can see where the horizontal lines are.

Now, in this other part of the lesson, she's also using the correct medium.

This is the whiteboard, but she is asking students to find and identify the types of lines that they have learned.

In this case, again, horizontal lines, but in the pictures, not in the student's T-shirt.

Now, in this case, she's asking students to find vertical lines in the classroom.

So again, she's using the context to illustrate her content.

And again, she's using the medium of the screen.

This is digital medium, but she's also using oral communication, body language, I'm sure you know, their hair, facial expression, etc.

And in this case, this is an example of students being able to perform the activity themselves.

In this case, the teacher is providing materials.

She is monitoring, but she's not doing the activity herself.

So basically, they're doing it, you know, they are growing away from scaffolding.

As you can notice, the screen here is not providing answers.

It's just asking them to use scissors and glue and colors to be able to work in groups and make the classification of lines themselves.

This is another example of the same idea.

OK, so group work.

And this is a very successful example of both multimodal use of communication in the CLIL classroom.

This is, again, second grade math in Siemens Elementary School.

Now, CLIL teachers as multimodal producers, so CLIL scaffolding, as you could see in the examples, involve teacher talk, obviously, all of the nonverbal communication elements like voice and pauses and body language, etc.

But it also involves visuals.

And this normally can be digital, but not necessarily.

As you could see, the teacher could bring printouts of pictures.

So those are not digital.

And then it has to do with task design, how the activities and how students are participating with the multimodal elements that are proposed to them.

It can involve use of the L1 because multimodal communication is normally translingual.

It's not only transmodal using and integrating several modes, but also integrating different languages.

And in this case, it is OK at some point to integrate your L1, in this case, Mandarin Chinese.

And then there are other elements that you can use for CLIL scaffolding, but the ones I highlighted in pink or red or orange have to do with multimodal.

So these are multimodal and the others are not necessarily multimodal.

Now, the multimodal scaffolding that you can do in CLIL have to do with manipulatives and realia.

They have to do with real objects.

That you can bring to the classroom, maybe to conduct an experiment or to understand how they work or to understand the process.

You can also bring pictures.

They don't have to be again, they don't have to be digital.

So you can bring a printout or you can have them in presentation.

So they become digital.

But again, multimodal scaffolding can be analogical or digital.

So you don't need to be an expert in technology to be a proficient multimodal CLIL teacher.

And then you can have demonstrations of, again, realia or products.

You may have graphic organizers.

They can be digital or analogical, etc.

Now, in terms of examples of multimodal scaffolding, you may have written texts and you may not know this or you may not be aware of this, but your textbooks, at least the ones I could browse while I was in Taiwan, your textbooks are already multimodal.

You have text, you have drawings, you have different colors.

Sometimes you even have audio recordings with instructions and things.

So those are multimodal already.

You can bring, as I said, visual or audio data.

You can bring documentary.

You can create blogs, either you or with your students.

You can bring video recordings, etc.

It is very important that when you bring audio or video recordings or podcasts or video recordings, you make sure that you have a variety of English, different accents and varieties.

This means that it is important in CLIL, and this is often forgotten, that students should be exposed to different ways of using the language.

There is not one standard language.

This is only for learning purposes, but they should be exposed to different ways of communicating in the target language.

So bringing videos of other kids around the world, talking about the topic that you're covering or explaining some kind of experiment, this is fun for them and it also exposes them to different ways of using the English language.

Now, in terms of digital tools that you can use for presentation, I've divided them between presentation tools and assessment tools.

For presentation tools, as I said, PowerPoint is normally the most popular.

The one I'm using is Prezi.

I like it because it zooms in and out into different content and it shows students what's important and what's less important or more general.

You can also use Powtoon.

This is very popular among primary educators because it creates it's a free online software.

It creates animations and kids love it.

It's really, really good.

We will see examples of this at later video lessons, so just stay tuned.

And then for video editing software, you have a number of programs that you can use.