Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Figures Used in the English Textbook “Get Smart Plus”
Abstract
The study analyzed the multimodality of the EFL textbook for elementary school students. A qualitative descriptive study has been employed to carry out this study. The source of the data is the textbook, namely Get Smart Plus. The data was visual and verbal elements within the textbook, including any text and images that explain each other. The study used the multimodal framework proposed by Krees Van Leuween’s visual grammar and Halliday’s transitivity system to analyze the data. The finding shows that the visual elements of the textbook contain representation, composition, and relational patterns. In addition, the dominant process in the textbook is the verbal mode of communication (42%). However, the material process based on the analysis of Halliday’s theory was not represented in the book. The visual and verbal elements relate to each other and can potentially support students’ learning and understanding of the content. Therefore, the textbook can be a multimodal resource for students’ English learning. This study hopes to benefit textbook developers and designers by improving the use of visual and verbal elements of the textbook to support students’ cognitive development. Further research can be conducted on the impact of textbook multimodality on students’ learning achievement to contribute more to the study of discourse.
Keywords: Multimodal Discourse Analysis, EFL, English textbook
References
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Japelj Pavešić, B., & Cankar, G. (2022). Textbooks and Students’ Knowledge. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 12(2), 29–65. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1283
Jauhara, D., Emilia, E., & Lukmana, I. (2021). Re-contextualising “Greeting”: A Multimodal Analysis in an EFL Textbook. Indonesian Journal of Functional Linguistics, 1(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijsfl.v1i1.32621
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Kristina, D. (2018). Multimodal Branding of Indonesian Online Promotional Discourse in Hospitality Industries. Proceedings of the Fourth Prasasti International Seminar on Linguistics (Prasasti 2018). https://doi.org/10.2991/prasasti-18.2018.4
Lacoe, J. (2020). Too Scared to Learn? The Academic Consequences of Feeling Unsafe in the Classroom. Urban Education, 55(10), 1385–1418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916674059
Li, M. (2021). A multimodal discourse analysis of textbooks: A case study of Oxford junior middle school English (Shanghai Edition). International Society of Learning Sciences, 889–890.
Liu, S. (2019). A multimodal discourse analysis of the interactive meaning in public service advertisement. Journal of Advance in Linguistics, 10, 1523–1534.
Mufida, N. H., & Ningsih, H. K. (2022). Identifying Compositional Instruments in a Bilingual Picture Book for Language Learning. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 25(2), 596–615. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v25i2.4696
Nisak, S., & Rukmini, D. (2021). Relations between Verbal Language and Visual Image in Students’ Textbook Implementing the Concept of Metafunctions. English Education Journal, 11(3), 406–416. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15294/eej.v11i1.45334
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Purwaningtyas, T. (2020). Didactic Symbol of Visual Images in EFL Textbook: Multi-modal Critical Discourse Analysis. Pedagogy: Journal of English Language Teaching, 8(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.32332/pedagogy.v8i1.1959
Qadha, A. M., & Al-Wasy, B. Q. (2022). The Impact of Implementing Visual Grammar on Learning Participle Adjectives by EFL Learners. PSU Research Review, ahead of print(ahead of print), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-02-2022-0017
Qodriani, L. U., & Kardiansyah, M. Y. (2018). Exploring Culture in Indonesia English Textbook for Secondary Education. JPI, 7(1), 2541–7207. https://doi.org/10.23887/jpi-undiksha.v7i1.13692
Rahikummahtum, K., Nurkamto, J., & Suparno, S. (2022). The Pedagogical Potential of Visual Images in Indonesian High School English Language Textbooks: A Micro-Multimodal Analysis. AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan, 14(4), 5979–5990. https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v14i4.2171
Risager, K. (2021). Language Textbooks: Windows to the World. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797767
Ruggeri, A., Walker, C. M., Lombrozo, T., & Gopnik, A. (2021). How to Help Young Children Ask Better Questions? Frontiers in Psychology, 11(586819), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586819
Saragih, A. (2010). Introducing Systemic Functional Grammar of English. FBS UNIMED.
Sarah, G. W., Thyrhaya Zein, T., & Putri, D. M. (2022). Sukin Skincare Product Advertisement in Social Media: A Multimodal Analysis. LingPoet: Journal of Linguistics and Literary Research, 3(3), 2022–2023. http://talenta.usu.ac.id/lingpoet
Smart, A., Sinclair, M., Benavot, A., Bernard, J., Chabbott, C., Russell, G. S., & Williams, J. (2020). Learning for Uncertain Futures: The Role of Textbooks, Curriculum, and Pedagogy.
Sugianto, A., & Prastika, M. A. (2021). “Are They Merely Pictures?”: Delineating the Images Represented in Acrostic Poems of a Primary School Level EFL Textbook. IJECA International Journal of Education & Curriculum Application, 4(3), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.31764/ijeca.v4i3.5834
Wengrum, T. D. (2020). An Analysis of English Textbook in the First Grade of Junior High School. Journal of Research on Language Education (JoRLE), 1(1), 26–30. https://ejurnal.teknokrat.ac.id/index.php/JoRLE/index
Weninger, C. (2018). Textbook analysis. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp. 1–8). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1489
Weninger, C. (2021). Multimodality in Critical Language Textbook Analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(2), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797083
Adilah, S. E., Nurtaat, L., & Susanti, N. W. M. (2023). An Analysis of Textbook “English in Mind: Students’’ Book Starter" for the 7th Year Students of Junior High School Based on Merdeka Curriculum.” JEEF (Journal of English Education Forum), 3(1), 54–60. https://jeef.unram.ac.id
Ahmadi, H., Yazdani, S., Babasalari, Z., & Rabi, A. (2020). Representation Meaning of Multimodal Discourse in Textbooks (A Case Study of Persian Language-Learning Textbook). Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education & Research, 10(2), 114–122. www.japer.in
Alfiana, Y. (2012). The Journal of Process Types in Transitivity System. Linguistica, 1(1), 53–58. https://doi.org/DOI: https://doi.org/10.24114/jalu.v1i1.381
Alzahrani, M., Alharbi, M., & Alodwani, A. (2019). The Effect of Social-Emotional Competence on Children Academic Achievement and Behavioral Development. International Education Studies, 12(12), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v12n12p141
Andrä, C., Mathias, B., Schwager, A., Macedonia, M., & von Kriegstein, K. (2020). Learning Foreign Language Vocabulary with Gestures and Pictures Enhances Vocabulary Memory for Several Months Post-Learning in Eight-year-old School Children. Educational Psychology Review, 32(3), 815–850. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09527-z
Apriyani, L. A., & Robiasih, R. H. (2019). Eight Grade Text Book Evaluation by Cunningsworth’s Theory. Journal of English Language and Pedagogy, 2(2), 94–103. http://jurnal.ustjogja.ac.id/index.php/ELP
Ayuna, M., Puteri, S., Muthalib, K. A., & Heriansyah, H. (2023). Analyzing Character Education Values in Textbook English on Target. Research in English and Education (READ), 8(2), 103–112. https://jim.usk.ac.id/READ/article/download/25739/12046
Banaruee, H., Farsani, D., & Khatin-Zadeh, O. (2023). Culture in English Language Teaching: A Curricular Evaluation of English Textbooks for Foreign Language Learners. Frontiers in Education, 8(1012786), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1012786
Boling, E., Eccarius, M., Smith, K., & Frick, T. (2004). Instructional Illustrations: Intended Meanings and Learner Interpretations. Journal of Visual Literacy, 24(2), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/23796529.2004.11674612
Cárdenas, Y. I. C. (2021). Questioning as an Effective Tool to Enhance Students´ Interaction in the English Classroom. South Florida Journal of Development, 2(2), 3510–3520. https://doi.org/10.46932/sfjdv2n2-185
Chan, B. J., Yeh, W. L., & Chen, L. H. (2012). Applying illustration and layout design for the textbook to enhance the art of teaching: A case of social studies textbook. Journal of Textbook Research, 5(1), 47–84.
Cornerstone. (2020, March 26). How to Help Preschoolers Recognize and Express their Feelings?
Damayanti, I. L., Moecharam, N. Y., & Asyifa, F. (2021). Unfolding Layers of Meanings: Visual-verbal Relations in Just Ask—a Children’s Picture Book. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 372–381. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i2.39195
Derakhshan, A. (2024). ‘Should Textbook Images be Merely Decorative?’: Cultural Representations in The Iranian EFL National Textbook from the Semiotic Approach Perspective. Language Teaching Research, 28(1), 79–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168821992264
Dewan, P. (2015). Words Versus Pictures: Leveraging the Research on Visual Communication. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 10(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/DOI:10.21083/partnership.v10i1.3137
Eisenmann, M., & Summer, T. (2020). Multimodal Literature in ELT: Theory and Practice. Children’s Literature in English Language Education, 8(1), 52–73. https://storybird.com/
Elmiana, D. S. (2019). Pedagogical Representation of Visual Images in EFL Textbooks: A Multimodal Perspective. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 27(4), 613–628. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2019.1569550
Fitriana, W., & Wirza, Y. (2021). An Analysis of Multimodal Text in EFL Textbook of Secondary School in Indonesia in Assisting Students’ Text Understanding. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN), 627–632.
García, O., Flores, N., & Spotti, M. (2017). The Oxford handbook of language and society. Oxford University Press.
Ghoushchin, S., Yazdani, H., Dowlatabadi, H., & Ahmadia, M. (2021). A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Pictures in ELT Textbooks: Modes of Communication in Focus. Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literatures, 13(4), 623–644. https://doi.org/10.47012/jjmll.13.4.2
Haiyan, L. (2018). Image-text relations in junior high school EFL textbooks in China: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(6), 1177–1190. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0906.07
Halliday, M. A. K. (2014). Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar (C. M. I. M. Mattheiessen, Ed.; 4th ed.). Routledge.
Hart, C., & Cap, P. (2014). Contemporary Critical Discourse Studies. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Jabour, R. S., & Faisal, W. M. (2022). An Investigation of the Integration of Inter-semiotic Complementarity in Iraqi EFL Textbook. Register Journal, 15(2), 245–263. https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v15i2.245-263
Japelj Pavešić, B., & Cankar, G. (2022). Textbooks and Students’ Knowledge. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 12(2), 29–65. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1283
Jauhara, D., Emilia, E., & Lukmana, I. (2021). Re-contextualising “Greeting”: A Multimodal Analysis in an EFL Textbook. Indonesian Journal of Functional Linguistics, 1(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijsfl.v1i1.32621
Jewitt, C. (2014). 12 Multimodal Approaches. In S. Norris & C. D. Maier (Eds.), Interactions, Images and Texts: A reader in multimodality (pp. 127–136). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614511175.127
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2020). Reading Images (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003099857
Kristina, D. (2018). Multimodal Branding of Indonesian Online Promotional Discourse in Hospitality Industries. Proceedings of the Fourth Prasasti International Seminar on Linguistics (Prasasti 2018). https://doi.org/10.2991/prasasti-18.2018.4
Lacoe, J. (2020). Too Scared to Learn? The Academic Consequences of Feeling Unsafe in the Classroom. Urban Education, 55(10), 1385–1418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916674059
Li, M. (2021). A multimodal discourse analysis of textbooks: A case study of Oxford junior middle school English (Shanghai Edition). International Society of Learning Sciences, 889–890.
Liu, S. (2019). A multimodal discourse analysis of the interactive meaning in public service advertisement. Journal of Advance in Linguistics, 10, 1523–1534.
Mufida, N. H., & Ningsih, H. K. (2022). Identifying Compositional Instruments in a Bilingual Picture Book for Language Learning. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 25(2), 596–615. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v25i2.4696
Nisak, S., & Rukmini, D. (2021). Relations between Verbal Language and Visual Image in Students’ Textbook Implementing the Concept of Metafunctions. English Education Journal, 11(3), 406–416. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15294/eej.v11i1.45334
Pourrajab, M., Rabbani, M., & Kasmaienezhadfard, S. (2015). Effects of Pictures in Textbooks on Students’ Creativity. Multi-Disciplinary Edu Global Quest (Quarterly), 4(14), 84–96. www.mdegq.comwww.mdegq.com
Purwaningtyas, T. (2020). Didactic Symbol of Visual Images in EFL Textbook: Multi-modal Critical Discourse Analysis. Pedagogy: Journal of English Language Teaching, 8(1), 51–63. https://doi.org/10.32332/pedagogy.v8i1.1959
Qadha, A. M., & Al-Wasy, B. Q. (2022). The Impact of Implementing Visual Grammar on Learning Participle Adjectives by EFL Learners. PSU Research Review, ahead of print(ahead of print), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-02-2022-0017
Qodriani, L. U., & Kardiansyah, M. Y. (2018). Exploring Culture in Indonesia English Textbook for Secondary Education. JPI, 7(1), 2541–7207. https://doi.org/10.23887/jpi-undiksha.v7i1.13692
Rahikummahtum, K., Nurkamto, J., & Suparno, S. (2022). The Pedagogical Potential of Visual Images in Indonesian High School English Language Textbooks: A Micro-Multimodal Analysis. AL-ISHLAH: Jurnal Pendidikan, 14(4), 5979–5990. https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v14i4.2171
Risager, K. (2021). Language Textbooks: Windows to the World. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797767
Ruggeri, A., Walker, C. M., Lombrozo, T., & Gopnik, A. (2021). How to Help Young Children Ask Better Questions? Frontiers in Psychology, 11(586819), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586819
Saragih, A. (2010). Introducing Systemic Functional Grammar of English. FBS UNIMED.
Sarah, G. W., Thyrhaya Zein, T., & Putri, D. M. (2022). Sukin Skincare Product Advertisement in Social Media: A Multimodal Analysis. LingPoet: Journal of Linguistics and Literary Research, 3(3), 2022–2023. http://talenta.usu.ac.id/lingpoet
Smart, A., Sinclair, M., Benavot, A., Bernard, J., Chabbott, C., Russell, G. S., & Williams, J. (2020). Learning for Uncertain Futures: The Role of Textbooks, Curriculum, and Pedagogy.
Sugianto, A., & Prastika, M. A. (2021). “Are They Merely Pictures?”: Delineating the Images Represented in Acrostic Poems of a Primary School Level EFL Textbook. IJECA International Journal of Education & Curriculum Application, 4(3), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.31764/ijeca.v4i3.5834
Wengrum, T. D. (2020). An Analysis of English Textbook in the First Grade of Junior High School. Journal of Research on Language Education (JoRLE), 1(1), 26–30. https://ejurnal.teknokrat.ac.id/index.php/JoRLE/index
Weninger, C. (2018). Textbook analysis. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp. 1–8). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1489
Weninger, C. (2021). Multimodality in Critical Language Textbook Analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(2), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797083
Published
2023-12-31
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2023 Didin Nuruddin Hidayat, Khoirunnisa Fitri, Alek Alek, Nida Husna, Agus Sufyan
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