Incorporating digital multimodal composition in content teaching: A multimodal analysis of students’ legal popularization videos

Abstract

Digital multimodal composition (DMC), which involves the use of multiple semiotic resources, has been extensively researched in language education. However, limited research has been conducted on the integration of DMC in content-based instruction. This study aims to fill this research gap by examining the use of DMC in an introductory legal studies course and discussing its potential benefits for content teaching. Five student-generated legal popularization videos, which explain concepts in English company law, were collected. Drawing upon Hafner’s (2015) framework for remix practices in multimodal composition, these videos were analyzed using a software-assisted systemic functional approach to multimodal discourse analysis. This approach is based on the principles that multimodal semiotic resources are combined to create intended meanings and that the choice of resources is socially negotiated. Findings from the multimodal discourse analysis of the DMC product were triangulated with students’ reflective essays to understand the motivations behind their semiotic choices. The analysis reveals that students consciously appropriate various generic, (sub)cultural, and semiotic resources as well as multimodal artefacts when explaining legal knowledge to an indefinite audience. The videos demonstrate that DMC allows learners to critically reconsider the meaning and practical aspects of legal concepts while recontextualizing technical legal knowledge for a general audience.