Multimodality Across Epistemologies in Second Language Research

This collection highlights diverse epistemological perspectives in original research on the important role of multimodality in second language contexts.

The volume explores a wide range of theoretical and methodological traditions toward foregrounding the notion that bodily action is not merely an add-on to the modality of talk but an integral part of second language teaching, learning, and interaction. Following an introductory chapter, 18 empirical chapters feature either classroom or non-classroom research, which shed light on different dimensions of multimodality in second language contexts, including learning reflected in gesture, learning gesture across languages, the role of bodily action in language teaching, and the role of movement in configuring space for effective communication. Each empirical chapter follows a consistent structure detailing the research focus, the background to each study, methodology, and findings. A concluding synthesis chapter braids the insights of these chapters, drawing parallels across different methods, and pointing toward crosscutting areas for future research.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars in applied linguistics, multilingualism, bilingualism, gesture studies, cognitive science and psychology.

Chapters 10 and 11 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access at www.taylorfrancis.com. They has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International license.

Amanda Brown is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Linguistic Studies Program at Syracuse University, USA. She investigates the psycholinguistic effects of multicompetence and associated implications for gesture, language pedagogy and assessment, language across the curriculum, and (equity in) language teacher preparation.

Søren W. Eskildsen is Associate Professor at the Department of Design, Media and Educational Science, University of Southern Denmark. His research interests concern interactional processes and practices in L2 learning in situ and over time, approached from the perspective of usage-based linguistics and multimodal conversation analysis. He works with in- and out-of-class data.