Transcending science in scientific communication: Multimodal strategies to incorporate humanistic perspectives in TED talks on biology

Abstract

When disseminating science to a general audience it is necessary for scientists to refashion the knowledge to meet the audience's expectation that science benefits everyday life rather than just the scientific community. One way to realize this is to transcend the description of scientific inquiry to discuss its implications for the society and humanity. Limited research has been conducted to determine whether and how such transcendence is discursively and multimodally achieved. To fill this gap, I adopted a three-phase analytical approach combining genre analysis and multimodal analysis to investigate 28 TED talks on biology and relevant secondary data. The study revealed that some TED presenters in recent years have adopted the Expanding the horizon move to surpass the intellectual dimension of science and help the audience understand the significance of science. Three multimodal strategies were identified: portraying technological innovations cinematically to create a futuristic sense; presenting quotations from non-scientists multimodally; and strategic use of shots of presenters. The findings suggest a tendency to incorporate “ultra-scientific” perspectives in scientific communication and that multimodal semiotic resources can be useful in such practices.