Multimodality as a Subject in Foreign Linguistic Studies

   Relevance. Modern life is characterized by using information technologies in all spheres, which affects both communication process and approaches to its studying. However, as can be concluded from our experience, despite technologically advanced communication forms, the process is often ineffective, because students lack the skills to extract information from multimodal texts. Consequently, the problem of developing the skills for effective communication in the digital multimodal environment which depend rather on the skills of analytical and synthetic information processing than on the computer literacy skills, remains unresolved.
   The purpose of this work is to comprehensively analyze foreign studies on multimodality issues to reveal research and development trends.
   The objectives set by the authors involve collection, analysis, classification, and systematization of the foreign studies data on multimodality; clarification of the concepts of ‘multimodal text’ and ‘multimodal analysis’; identification of the multimodal analysis implementation techniques when reading/viewing multimodal scientific texts in order to increase communication effectiveness.
   Methodology. To fulfil the objectives set we applied such general scientific methods as acquisition and processing of information, methods of classification and systematization.
   Results. The results obtained showed that the issues related to multimodality are considered from different positions: multimodality as a phenomenon and as an approach to its studying; a multimodal text is a text which use several modes of communication simultaneously; the concept of ‘literacy’ is expanded to ‘multiliteracy’, interpreted as an ability to ‘read the world’. A multimodal analysis is defined as the analysis, search, and extraction of semiotic patterns in multimedia databases in order to explore the relationship between semiosis, text, and context, those patterns that reveal individual, social, cultural and global patterns of meaning creation. Practice-oriented studies propose various models for multimodal analysis implementation: J. Álvarez’s fourcomponent model, F. Serafini’s model, and a Model for Cultivating Multimodal Literacy by K. Danielsson and K. Selander. A number of authors analyze the work of students/children when reading / visualizing digital multimodal texts, but they investigate perception rather than methods of information processing.
   Conclusion. Thus, in the presence of an extensive multimodal communication theoretical and practical developments, the analyzed works do not provide algorithms for performing multimodal analysis. In this regard, the problem raised by the authors remains topical, and the research requires further development to improve learning process effectiveness when using digital multimodal scientific texts.

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