Webinar – Multimodal Pedagogies in the L2 Classroom: Moving from Language to a Communication Paradigm

Presented by José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia, Ph.D., Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Language Sciences at Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

Download the presentation slides (PDF)

The current communication landscape shows that communication is multimodal by nature. This new perspective on language and communication impacts directly second language acquisition and pedagogical practices. Multimodal pedagogies intend to bring this perspective into second/foreign language classrooms by highlighting the centrality of modes of communication and transmodal practices in the design of tasks that engage learners in processes of language/communication appropriation. By looking at language as one more semiotic resource among many others that make up communication ecologies, multimodal pedagogies recognize and look for ways to articulate and rearticulate students’ cultural semiotic resources, including their languages, their embodied communicative practices, and their identity affiliations.

In this webinar, participants are introduced to the main concepts of multimodal pedagogies such as design, modes, semiotic resources, and transmodality. Likewise, the presenter will discusses the main principles of this new approach, followed by some examples on how it can be implemented in a language/communication classroom.

This event was one in a three-part webinar series exploring literacy-based lesson planning in the language classroom. The others were presented by Cherice Montgomery and Heather Willis Allen. 

Watch presentation in YouTube

Bio:

José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia, PhD, is a professor of applied linguistics at the School of Language Sciences at Universidad del Valle, Colombia. He has been a language educator for more than 20 years in contexts such as the US and Colombia. He is the chair of the Major in ELT Education in the Interinstitutional Doctoral Program at Universidad del Valle. He has authored/co-authored several articles and book chapters in the areas of discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, language policy, language teaching approaches, teacher education, intercultural communication, and multimodality. His publications include a co-edited book titled Critical Views on Teaching and Learning English Around the Globe (Information Age, 2016) and the upcoming chapter titled: Practical and Theoretical Articulations between Multimodal Pedagogy and an Intercultural Orientation to Second/Foreign Language Education. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Colombian Association of Teachers of English (ASOCOPI). His current research focuses on the intersection of multimodal communication and intercultural communication, multilingualism, and nonverbal communication.


Registration closes at 5PM (Arizona) on November 17, 2020.

During the registration process, participants can request to receive a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education for attending the live event; or participants can request to receive a digital badge after the event.

Participants requiring closed captions at the time of CERCLL’s events should request this at least a week in advance by emailing CERCLL at cercll@email.arizona.edu.