32.2209, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis: Ledin, Machin (2020)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-32-2209. Tue Jun 29 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.2209, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis: Ledin, Machin (2020)

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Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2021 17:58:41
From: Mashael Althobiti [mashael.aied at gmail.com]
Subject: Introduction to Multimodal Analysis

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36679757


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-3281.html

AUTHOR: Per  Ledin
AUTHOR: David  Machin
TITLE: Introduction to Multimodal Analysis
SUBTITLE: 2nd edition
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group)
YEAR: 2020

REVIEWER: Mashael Ayed Althobiti, University of Reading

SUMMARY

Thirteen years after the publication of the first edition of “Introduction to
Multimodal Analysis”, Per Ledin and David Machin have introduced a revised
version. The first edition focused on providing an accessible introduction for
students and mostly provided various analytical examples (Ensslin, 2008);
however, Ledin and Machin (2020) felt that a new edition was needed to keep
pace with the new references in the field of multimodal studies and to update
the analytical examples. This book comprises theory and practice of
multimodality and visual communication and is aimed at students, teachers, and
designers. Some of the first edition chapters remain, as does the same main
toolkit approach. However, a new section about the theory of multimodality has
been added. There are also two further additional chapters, which contain
texture, materials and diagrams. In addition to the summary at the end of each
chapter, there are tasks for students that encourage the reader to do some
actual analysis to apply what they have read. The second edition thus
contributes an efficacious update to the list of presently accessible
introductory books about research into multimodality/multimodal analysis. In
the second edition, the authors’ emphasis is on visual design and the choices
made to develop meanings and construct connections, as well as concepts and
values in and for specific artefacts. Their point of departure is that
individuals who focus on the way artefacts connect tend to lack the tools that
allow them to know how these work. Hence, the authors have constructed the
topic of the book based on these tools. 

The first chapter concerns the theoretical foundation of the book and shows
how people should consider communication on the basis of choices implemented
for specific communication aims in different contexts, since when analysing a
multimodal text we must have an understanding of the contexts and standard
usage patterns. Also, Chapter One elucidates the huge transformations in the
nature of communication so that, to understand contemporary designs, we need
to understand that change. Finally, this book uses the social semiotics
approach, a theory of communication introduced by Halliday (1978, 1985). 
Chapter Two addresses the concept of iconography, which leads us to look in
more detail at various types of visual elements that can carry meaning and at
the concealed meaning of such images. To understand the denoted meaning of
these discourses, we need to consider the compositions as a whole. 

The focus of Chapter Three is on modality, which refers to how we are able to
experience the world as it is characterised in visual communication. Pictures
could be formed to construct our understanding and experience of the worlds
that are represented around us. In turn, these pictures represent an action in
a specific time and place, which could allow us to make assumptions about our
impression of those pictures. Moreover, being conscious of the analytical
process of visual communication can allow us to reach the ideology of the
representation. There are eight modality scales, which can be applied to
assess the modality formation for an image. Degree of articulation of detail
is a scale running from the simplest line drawing to the sharpest photograph.
Degree of articulation of the background can range from an empty background,
through a lightly sketched background, in or out of focus, to a very sharply
detailed background, while degree of articulation of depth extends from the
lack of any depth to the maximum deep view, with other possible options in
between. Degree of articulation of light and shadow, with other possibilities
in between, starts from zero articulation to the highest number of degrees of
shade depth. Degree of articulation of tone ranges from just two tonal
gradation shades—any colour’s light and dark version—to maximum tonal
gradation. Whereas degree of colour modulation starts  from flat, unmodulated
colour and extends to the representation of a given colour’s fine nuances, in
degree of colour saturation the colours range from black and white to
maximally saturated. degree of colour differentiation extends from maximum
colour distinctiveness to a limited palette of colours and monochromes. In
this way, the authors provide the reader with the meaning of modality and
eight modality scales. 

Chapter Four is mainly about colour. While most people tend to think about how
a specific colour or colours denote particular meanings, this chapter focuses
on the colour dimensions and potential meanings. These dimensions are hue
(which is a range of warm red to cold blue), brightness (which is the opposite
of darkness), saturation (exuberance, which is unlike tenderness and
subtlety), purity (modernism and clearness), modulation (as in real colours,
are there different shades?), differentiation (is there a full colour and
monochrome range?), luminosity (does the colour become invisible or does it
shine with light?), and fluorescence (does the colour shine with vitality?). 

Chapter Five covers typography, which focuses on the meaning of various types
of letter shapes and sizes. Typographic form is used to achieve different
types of communicative purposes and these functions are representations of
ideas (for example, using a bold font could denote a certain idea like
toughness), attitude (using an irregular font, such as uneven, could suggest
an attitude like informality), and giving coherence (using the same font
throughout the whole document could denote the meaning of coherence).

Chapter Six deals with textures and material, which are deeply interconnected.
Texture does not express any kind of meaning in isolation; it is hard to say
that a rough surface denotes certain things. Materials are the substances
organised as we create things and these can have the impact of sending some
specific meaning. In other words, the choice of material can communicate
different meanings, for example, a wood surface in a café has a different
connotation to a plastic one.

Chapter Seven concerns the visual composition and how various qualities and
characteristics are worked together into whole designs. This chapter also
presents a toolkit for studying the way that different aspects of designs can
be employed to establish a meaning. The chapter first considers salience,
which is about how a specific component can be made to stand out, to focus the
viewers’ attention on it. Considered nextis framing, where, by using the
frame’s devices, there will be a connection between the components in the
design. Considered lastare images on the page, which entails the utilisation
of images composed on one page or in relation to text.

Finally, the main focus of Chapter Eight is diagrams. It illustrates how the
different classifications and procedures are symbolised in various kinds of
diagrams.  The chapter is concerned with how diagram shapes can be helpful in
classifying and representing processes, people, and social and work
associations. Additionally, this chapter focuses on how these visual
communications (i.e. using graphs) are used to explain “how things work in
their essence” (p. 167).  In these kinds of visual communication, the most
significant semiotic resources utilised are language and graphs (i.e. shapes
and lines), whereby these two elements work together in the produced material
such as paper or on screen.     

EVALUATION

Overall, “Introduction to Multimodal Analysis” provides an approachable
introduction to multimodal analysis. Its analysis particularly concerns
communication forms, investigating two types of platforms, printed and
digital, and the volume achieves its main objective in a systematic way by
providing more contemporary examples and activities. These are  appropriate
for the target audience, namely, designers who want to improve their knowledge
about multimodal analysis and, more generally, design or visual communication
students. This book is organised in a systematic way which is easy to follow,
with each concept explained and linked to other sub-concepts. For example,
Chapter Four is about the concept of colours and is ultimately linked to
smaller concepts like the dimensions of colour.  At the end, there are also
activity sections, which add further to the book and make it useful to
students to learn and practise.

Approaches to multimodal analysis have changed over the last decade as a
result of the interest in studying forms of communication aside from language
(Royce & Bowcher, 2007). Many scholars have studied multimodality differently
by focusing on just one aspect, which has led to many different sub-fields of
multimodality, although there is a connected bridge between them.
“Introduction to Multimodal Analysis” fits with many works in the field of
multimodal studies, such as the Jewitt’s “Routledge Handbook of Multimodal
Analysis” (2011). These two works are explicitly aimed at showing a wide range
of theoretical and methodological aspects. In addition, they are complete
research toolkits in the field of multimodal studies. Ledin and Machin have
succeeded in explaining, presenting and drawing a whole picture of multimodal
studies and, most importantly, they have provided extensive modern examples.
In this way, their book provides important input to the field of
multimodality.

Looking at the structure of the book suggests two points for improvement.
First, since the book contains several concepts in the field of multimodal
analysis, there is a need to link all these ideas together at the end by
providing a summary. Second, it would have been clearer and more
attention-focusing if the pictures in this book were in colour. However, the
book has a linear construction, which guides the reader thoroughly and
successively builds information based on the previous chapter, which helps in
creating a clear and interconnected perspective. Looking briefly at two
chapters, for example, moving from visual composition in Chapter Seven (pp.
146-166) to a more specific topic like diagrams in Chapter Eight (pp.
167-187), these are interconnected and there is a flow in presenting the
information. These examples let us see the smooth construction of ideas.
Undoubtedly, the authors have improved the approachability of the book for the
audience and have expanded the contemporary examples and the tools that can be
used to comprehend the mechanism of multimodality. In sum, “Introduction to
Multimodal Analysis” is a useful book that can guide both students and, more
generally, people who have an interest in the field of multimodality. Overall,
it provides an interconnected, clear, and very well-structured elaboration. 

REFERENCES

Ensslin, A. (2008). Introduction to Multimodal Analysis by David Machin.
“Journal of Sociolinguistics”, 12(3):393-398

Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. (2013). “Halliday's introduction to
functional grammar”. Routledge.

Jewitt, C. (Ed.). (2011). “The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis”.
Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Ledin, P., & Machin, D. (2020). “Introduction to multimodal analysis”.
Bloomsbury Publishing.

Royce, T. D., & Bowcher, W. L. (Eds.). (2007). “New directions in the analysis
of multimodal discourse”. Psychology Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Mashael Althobiti is a lecturer in English language and literature department
at the Taibah University in Saudi Arabia. Her main research interests are
Syntax, Discourse Analysis, Corpus linguistics, and Media discourse. She
finished her Master degree in University of Reading 2019 in the field of
syntax. Now, she is working on her PhD. research, which carried a combination
of her research interest in the field of CDA and corpus linguistics.





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