A flying visit to Multimodal London

A flying visit to London to attend two sessions concerned with multimodality. Yesterday evening (14 April 2016) I visited the London Knowledge Lab for a meeting of the Visual and Multimodal Research Forum, followed today by Multimodality in Social Media and Digital Environments from the New Media Group of the British Association of Applied Linguistics, this time at Queen Mary University of London. My flight back to Edinburgh tonight is delayed so I’m filling the time by gathering my thoughts over an expensive coffee.

At the Visual and Multimodal Research Forum, Dr Elisabetta Adami, University Academic Fellow in Multimodal Communication at the University of Leeds, presented some ongoing research where she is taking a multimodal approach to investigate the experience of super diversity in Kirkgate Market in Leeds city centre. I had the chance to spend some time chatting with Elisabetta in the post-forum debrief where it emerged that we share a number of research interests. First, her work around understanding experiences of the Kirkgate Market isn’t so far from my own interest in how we can take a multimodal approach to understanding our relationship with the urban environment. Add to that Elisabetta's interest in multimodal assessment - she teaches a course on multimodality - and we had lots to talk about. 

And then today was dedicated to Multimodality in Social Media and Digital Environments where I presented the following paper about tutor experiences of multimodal assessment:

Judging by the conversations which took place over lunch, and the Twitter commentary that accompanied my presentation, my discussion of the ways that multimodality affects assessment seemed to strike a chord:

Great questions from JLamb about multimodality: is multimodality reflected in assessment criteria and are we equipped to assess #LNMSIG2016

— Erika Darics (@LinguaDigitalis) April 15, 2016

How many people are researching setting up second life for their modules right now? #LNMSIG2016

— Agnieszka Lyons (@AgnieszkaLyons) April 15, 2016

#LNMSIG2016 great discussion about how humanities scholars can learn from architecture and music in multimodal assessment

— Ruth Page (@ruthtweetpage) April 15, 2016

In a multimodal world do we need multimodal assessment? And what does that look like? #lnmsig2016

— Dorottya Cserzo (@dorottya_c) April 15, 2016

Lamb: Multimodality is not new or unique to the digital realm #LNMSIG2016

— Henriette Arndt (@arndthen) April 15, 2016

Multimodal assessments put emphasis on acts of interpretation as opposed to measurements of quality Lamb in #lnmsig2016

— Erika Darics (@LinguaDigitalis) April 15, 2016

I love that @EdinburghUni has a VLE in second life #LNMSIG2016

— Jai Mackenzie (@macksocioling) April 15, 2016

Question for James Lamb if out there: will you present your PhD on multimodal assessment multimodally? #LNMSIG2016

— Caroline Tagg (@Carotagg) April 15, 2016

Now in brief summary - my flight has now moved from red to green on the Departures screen - here are three of the ideas that emerged most strongly from the different presentations, workshops and conversations over the last day-and-a-half.

1. When we collect visual data, we needn’t necessarily be too concerned with capturing ‘high quality’ photos. On the contrary, I would argue that photos with an over-attention to composition (or post-production treatment in Photoshop) might be out-of-step with the scene or activity they are intended to record. Whereas Elisabetta Adami had apologised for the poor compositional quality of her photos, I would argue that they were haphazard in a way that was perfectly in tune with the experience of walking through a busy market on a Saturday afternoon. The nature of her photographs were in tune with the subject she was trying to convey. I’m not suggesting we should attempt to wilfully take photos with a shaky hand, simply that we needn’t get too hung up on getting the 'perfect' shot. I would say that it’s the difference between trying to record a scene and trying to produce an image.
2. We need to listen more closely to sound. I don’t mean voice or music, as these are already a feature of multimodal analysis and wider discourse. I would suggest though that we tend to over-look the way that the ambient noise of our environment carries meaning. Perhaps this can be explained by multimodality’s interest in the way that individuals select and configure modes to satisfy interests: this implication of choice and control is less easily exercised over the white noise of technology or the sound of passing traffic which contributes to the aural character of the spaces we inhabit. We seem to pay a great deal of attention to gathering, transcribing and analysing visual data, however I wonder whether we close our ears to the way that sound features in the orchestration of semiotic resources that come together to convey meaning? Instead of trying to exclude background noise, or seeing it as a distraction from the visual-oral scene unfolding, maybe we need to see it as part of the construction and communication of meaning that is taking place.
3. Multimodality is being negotiated What was really clear from the range of presentations at this morning's session was that multimodality is being used to offer insights into meaning-making practices in a wide range of settings. At the same time it is being differently used as an analytical tool, as part of wider theoretical framework, and more loosely as a way of thinking about rituals around knowledge construction and communication. Perhaps due to its relatively young age as a research discipline, it feels like multimodality is still being negotiated, as it is interpreted and adapted to suit different ends. It felt really exciting to be a part of these conversations over the last day and a half.

Flight called. 
Coffee finished. 
The journey continues.

With thanks to Sophia Diamantopoulou (University College London), Agnieska Lyons and Colleen Cotter (both Queen Mary University of London) for giving me the chance to attend the sessions described above.

See also:
Multimodality and the presentation assignment
​Listening to the street
Multimodal wondering/wandering in London EC1