Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Multimodal discourse analysis (MMDA) examines how people use various forms of communication—such as words, images, sound, gesture, and layout—to construct meaning in social contexts. This approach acknowledges that meaning is inherently multimodal, with different modes operating simultaneously to enhance communication's richness and intensity. By combining modes, new meanings can emerge, and elements across different modes can either reinforce, complement, or contradict one another. Jewitt (2006) outlines three main approaches to MMDA, each emphasizing different aspects related to contexts, systems, and sign-makers. Resources such as scholarly works, seminal texts like those by the New London Group (1996), and technological tools like Atlas.ti and Dedoose support the study and analysis of multimodal discourse. Examples of dissertations incorporating MMDA, such as those by Fiscus (2018), Ma (2005), and Lewis (2013), demonstrate the diverse applications of multimodality in empirical research. Overall, multimodal discourse analysis offers rich opportunities for exploration and understanding across various fields, facilitated by a range of resources and methodologies.

Take a look at what my team wrote as a literature review on this method.

Here are some other books and studies using multimodal discourse analysis:

  • Discourse in Action: Introducing Mediated Discourse Analysis by Rodney H. Jones and Sigrid Norris (2005) introduces Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA), a framework that examines how discourse shapes social interaction, particularly within technologically mediated contexts. Norris and Jones provide both theoretical foundations and practical examples, making this a valuable guide for researchers and students in discourse, media, and communication studies.

  • Comic Book Analysis: Beth Krone and Patricia Enciso presented "Memes, Mutants, and My Hero Academia: Examining 7th Graders' Transmedial Superhero Storytelling" at NCTEAR 2022. Their study explores how middle school students engage in transmedia storytelling using popular culture references like My Hero Academia to create new, multimodal narratives.

  • Symposia at NCTEAR 2022:

    • "(Re)Storying Superheroes," examining how youth reconstruct superhero identities through multimodal storytelling.

    • "Everything is a Genre: Researching & Teaching for Social Change Through the Use of Multimodal Textual Forms," investigating how genre theory and multimodal practices intersect in classrooms to foster social change.

Additionally, foundational works and studies supporting the growth of multimodal discourse analysis include:

  • Gee’s (1996) work on New Literacy Studies, emphasizing how literacy practices are embedded in social contexts.

  • Street’s (1995) foundational text introducing the ideological model of literacy within New Literacy Studies.

  • Greenhow and Gleason’s (2012) exploration of "Twitteracy," positioning tweeting as a form of new literacy practice.

  • Eva Lam’s research on language, identity, and literacy in multilingual contexts.

References (APA 7th edition)

Enciso, P., & Krone, B. (2022, February). Memes, mutants, and My Hero Academia: Examining 7th graders' transmedial superhero storytelling [Conference presentation]. NCTEAR 2022, Virtual.

Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed.). RoutledgeFalmer.

Greenhow, C., & Gleason, B. (2012). Twitteracy: Tweeting as a new literacy practice. The Educational Forum, 76(4), 464–478. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2012.709032

Jones, R. H., & Norris, S. (Eds.). (2005). Discourse in action: Introducing mediated discourse analysis. Routledge.

Lam, E. (2000). L2 literacy and the design of the self: A case study of a teenager writing on the Internet. TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 457–482. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587739

New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u

Street, B. V. (1995). Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography and education. Longman.

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