The multimodal genre of synchronous videoconferencing lectures: An eclectic framework to analyse interaction

Abstract

Virtual learning environments are increasingly important in higher education. These instructional settings render a view of academic genres that have evolved towards the development of technology-mediated communication. The chapter focuses on the digital academic genre of synchronous videoconferencing lecture to find out how a multimodal-in-context approach can be applied to examine the constraints and affordances of interaction in this digital environment. It begins by positioning genre analysis from a multimodal perspective and outlining the main features that characterize interaction in live lectures. Then, the theoretical and methodological research framework is introduced, which integrates concepts central to multimodality that belong to different perspectives: meaning functions (systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis), modal affordance and multimodal ensemble (social semiotics), modal density and higher-level actions (multimodal interaction analysis), and sequential and simultaneous actions (multimodal conversation analysis). Drawn on this eclectic framework, the analysis of interaction in this digital genre is illustrated with examples taken from a synchronous videoconferencing lecture given in an English-medium master’s degree programme. The chapter contributes to the study of spoken interactive genres. This methodology facilitates the multimodal analysis of the considerable amount of communicative modes that interplay in social interaction. Its application is neither limited to instructional nor to virtual settings.