Multimodal and Multisensory Approach to Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

Abstract

The paper explores the impact of the use of a dialogical and multimodal approach to teaching and learning vocabulary on young learners. It draws on a classroom research project that investigated the use of the dialogical inquiry approach informed by the philosophy for children. It also calls on a multimodal and multisensory approach that makes use of haptic technological interfaces that allow for the learning experiences to go beyond the use of audio-visual senses. The aims of the project were twofold: to develop and implement a dialogical approach to teach vocabulary and, more specifically, the semantic relationship between words; and to examine the impact of using a multimodal and multisensory approach with the use of digital technologies on the learning process of young learners. The presentation will focus on the later aim and, more specifically, on the possible impact of the adoption of a multimodal and multisensory approach on the vocabulary learning process and how it might influence the learners’ experiences and behaviors. It will conclude with a discussion about the need to understand that the use of multimodality and multisensory as an approach to enhancing the teaching and learning of vocabulary is complex, and that it needs to be understood in terms of an ecosystem where all elements of the system are interrelated. It is the interplay between the different multimodalities and the multisensory affordances offered by the emergent haptic technologies that contribute in enhancing the learner’s learning process and, in turn, the acquisition of vocabulary knowledge.