Exploring modality in multimodal macrogenre: A social semiotic analysis of EFL pedagogic materials in China

Abstract Given the evolving multimodal features in educational settings, modes other than language further enable the diversity in the realization of meanings and pedagogic goals. This paper explores modality in multimodal pedagogic materials for teaching English as a foreign language in China. Drawing upon the social semiotic approach to modality in visual media, this study provides a comparative analysis of modality markers in different elemental genres that constitute the macrogenre of a teaching unit, with a focus on explaining the underlying reasons for the different choices in terms of coding orientation. It is shown that different degrees of deviation from the accepted coding orientation are employed in different constituent genres of the macrogenre of a given text.