Multimodality and pronunciation in ICLHE (Integration of Content and Language in Higher Education) training

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This paper describes a study carried out within an ICLHE training programme in a Northern Italian university. The paper discusses the way an increased awareness of multimodal resources and the ability to deploy them effectively during lectures could offset language deficits of lecturers and enhance overall communicative competence and pedagogy.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight mini-lectures given during a microteaching session undertaken as part of a training module were video recorded for analysis. Lectures are a form of multimodal discourse and multimodal analysis was chosen for an examination of spoken language with a particular focus on pronunciation, audiovisual presentations and non-verbal communication, as well as any other didactic material or strategies used by the participants. The video recordings were chosen on the basis of observations and feedback from the trainers with the aim of investigating ICLHE competence.

Findings and originality

There have been few studies on pronunciation and ICLHE and they tend to be oriented towards investigating students’ pronunciation gains in English-medium Instruction (EMI). The findings of this study suggest that by enhancing multimodal competence and focusing on pronunciation, lecturers can improve their overall communicative competence.

Value

The results of this study provide some indications of how educational developers can help lecturers increase their awareness of the communicative potential of multi-semiotic modes to support their pronunciation and improve the clarity of their lectures.

KEYWORDS:

• ICLHE professional development
• EMI
• microteaching
• multimodal analysis
• pronunciation

Acknowledgements

This article was developed by both authors. Specifically Costa is responsible for sections Background to the Study; Methodology; Sampling and data analysis instruments; Illustration of examples of multimodal features; and Mair for sections Introduction: professional development for ICLHE lecturers in Italy; Context of this study; Analysis of pronunciation cross-referenced with multimodal analysis tables; Discussion and conclusions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 TAEC –Transnational Alignment of English Competences for University Lecturers – was funded through the Erasmus+ programme from 18 September 2017 - 17 April 2020 (https://cip.ku.dk/english/projects-and-collaborations/taec/), whileEQUiiP – Educational Quality at Universities for inclusive international Programmes - Project (2016 - 2019) was an Erasmus+ partnership consisting of seven European universities (https://equiip.eu/).

2 Capital letters are used to indicate stress.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesca Costa

Francesca Costa is Associate Professor in English Language and Linguistics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan. She taught English Linguistics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan from 2002 to 2017, Scientific English at Università degli Studi di Pavia from 2006 to 2014 and English for Primary Education at Università degli Studi di Bergamo from 2017 to 2019. Since 2001 she has been involved in teaching, teacher training and research at all levels of education. Her area of research focuses on applied linguistics, the teaching and learning of the English language at all levels of education (from primary to university) with a particular focus on Bilingual Education, CLIL, ICLHE (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education), EMI (English-medium Instruction) and scientific English.

Olivia Mair

Olivia Mair is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation(CHEI) and the Department of Language Sciences and Foreign Literatures at Università Cattolica, Milan. She is also an educational developer with CHEI and has held numerous training workshops and presented at conferences in Bolzano, Paris and Copenhagen. Her research interests include English as a Lingua Franca, EMI, multimodality and the international classroom, CLIL and early language learning. She holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia, where she taught before moving to Milan in 2007. She also has over 15 years’ experience in ELT in a variety of contexts.