Multimodal Approach by Russell Hare

For the most part, English composition classes and particularly first year composition classes focus on communicating with written language. Not only is the focus of this written language typically restricted in the style and tone (i.e. “academic writing:) students are expected to produce, but students are restricted to using a single mode: written communication. These self-imposed limits are ridiculous if you think of composition as a means to create meaning and communicate this meaning. Outside of a classroom, writing often does not occur in isolation, but within a combination of other modalities of communication. Without these additional modalities (image, sounds, videos, etc.) writing fails to fulfill its full communicative purpose. Writing is only part of the meaning making process and if used in isolation writing will only communicate part of the intended message. For example, written news articles often appear in conjunction with images or videos. These images or videos are necessary to deliver the a full view of the authors’ intended message.

In order to create more complete compositions, Shipka suggests using a multimodal approach to composition. Shipka points to “the complex delivery systems in which writing circulates” as a reason to use a multimodal approach.

However, Shipka argues for more than simply allowing students to use multiple modalities in composition. Our goal should be to lead students to “a greater awareness of the ways systems of delivery, reception, and circulation shape (and take shape from) the means and modes of production.” Shipka continues to say students should be given “the opportunity to begin structuring the occasions for, as well as the reception and delivery of, the work they produce.” Basically, a multimodal approach gives students a greater responsibility for constructing the rhetorical situation in which they are operating. This means students not only create their own piece of composition, but they also account for the environment from which the audience receives the composition and the manner in which the composition is delivered to the audience. This type of composition requires a more complete understanding and use of a complex rhetorical situation.

Of course, there are challenges associated with using this kind of multimodal approach. Primarily, it is difficult to assess simply because there isn’t very much literature surrounding such methods or a consensus on how to effectively teach or assess multimodal projects. However, this would be the case for any new pedagogical approach or method. The literature on the subject is limited because the use of a multimodal approach is limited. If a multimodal approach becomes more common, then an understanding of how to teach and assess it will also grow with time. At the moment, it might be a challenge and a journey into unchartered territory, but the only way to change this is by more frequent and widespread use of multimodality in composition courses. Everything was unchartered territory at some point in time.