Glossary of multimodal terms

Why this glossary
Multimodality studies how and to what social and cultural effects people use and transform resources for communication including speech, image, gesture, gaze, and others. In the last decade or so multimodal studies have introduced many new terms (such as ‘mode’); and they have begun to redefine many ‘old’ones (such a ‘genre’). The aim of this glossary is to provide inroads into this cross-discliplinary enterprise.

Who it is for
The glossary is a resource for those who want to engage with multimodal research, including ‘novice’ and ‘experienced’ researchers across the social sciences, arts and humanities.

What it covers
The glossary reflects the diversity of the field, representing a wide range of frameworks, perspectives and approaches. For instance, you can find entries on different disciplines (e.g. ‘social semiotics’, ‘conversation analysis’, ‘media studies’); and on different theoretical/analytical constructs (e.g. ‘layout’). As in any glossary, the selection of terms and their definitions are partial and provisional, not exhaustive and definitive. Work on the glossary is ongoing; revisions are made and new terms are added every three months. The selection of terms is informed by the frequency and spread of use of the term in current publications on multimodality research. Suggestions for further terms are welcome; please email mode@ioe.ac.uk.

Who writes it
Entries are written and reviewed by a wide range of named experts. Each entry is dealt with by one of five editors from the MODE project and expert contributors as a co-author/reviewer. Readers are encouraged to leave comments on their usage of the term which will be considered by the editor and may lead to amendments.

Please log on to your WordPress account to join the online discussions under each term or email your comments to mode@ioe.ac.uk.

Citing this glossary
Please cite this glossary as follows:
MODE (2012). Glossary of multimodal terms. https://multimodalityglossary.wordpress.com/. Retrieved ddmmyy.

Acknowledgement
Development of this glossary is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, who fund MODE, a node of the National Centre for Research Methods. MODE offers a programme of research and training on multimodality and digital data and environments.

Copyright
All rights reserved.