Semiotic work

Abstract

This article imagines a tussle between Multimodality, focused on ‘modes’, and Applied Linguistics (AL), based on ‘language’. A Social Semiotic approach to MM treatsspeechandwritingas modes with distinct affordances, and, as all modes, treats them as ‘partial’ means of communication. The implications ofpartialityconfound long-held assumptions of the sufficiency of ‘language’ for all communicational needs: an assumption shared by AL. Given MM’s plurality of modes and the diversity of audiences,designmoves into focus, with a shift from competent performance toapt design. Principles of composition — e.g.linearityversusmodularity— become crucial, raising the question at the heart of this paper: how do AL and MM deal with the shape of the contemporary semiotic landscape?

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