Communicating Research at International Conferences: A Multimodal Analysis of an Intercultural or a Disciplinary Specific Genre?

Abstract

In this study we set out to explore how successful academic speakers, who use English as an additional language (EAL), combine “modes”, that is ways of representing and communicating meaning, such as speech, body language, written texts and non-verbal materials, in their oral paper presentations at international conferences. This combination of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event as defined by Kress and Leeuwen (2001: 20) is called “multimodality”. To determine how effective presenters combine modes, we analysed the multimodal discourse of four 20-min talks, two from the social sciences and two from the technical sciences, which had been highly rated by academic peers. In addition, the speakers were interviewed to gather insight as to whether paper conferences are intercultural or discipline specific genres. The results of this qualitative study lend support to the hypothesis that effective speakers at academic conferences tend to use a variety of modes either simultaneously or consecutively to convey specific meanings. In so far as the question of whether oral presentations may be considered intercultural or discipline specific genres, it appears to be that in some social sciences presentations at international conferences are intercultural genres, whereas in some technical sciences they are discipline specific genres. Nevertheless, the pervasive use of technology and the growing use of EAL may, in time, lead many of the fields of both hard and soft sciences to have a discipline specific academic presentation genre. These findings, although limited, can be helpful for devising strategies that academics, especially those who use EAL, should keep in mind when preparing and carrying out oral presentations for international audiences.