Multimodality Resources

Use the GWRJ Tags to find published pieces on multimodal writing.

This ISU Writing Program brief overview document shares a little bit about how we understand and practice multimodality as writers. We also link you to other resources to check out depending on what you’re interested in, what you need as a writer, or what you’re struggling with as a learner.

In this Writing Spaces chapter, Melanie Gagich introduces multimodal composing with definitions for the five modes of communication. Gagich describes why multimodal composing is an important practice for all writers and offers strategies for some multimodal composing practices.

In this YouTube video of a recorded conversation at the Institute of Education at the University of London, Berit Hendriksen talks with oft-cited multimodality scholar Gunther Kress about how–and why–people choose between modes to communicate with each other in specific writing situations.

In this research article, Janine Butler makes explicit connections between multimodality and accessibility to show us what American Sign Language (ASL) music videos can teach us about making multimodal writing and teaching more accessible. Butler includes and analyzes several ASL music videos as stellar examples of communicative relationships between modes, including visual and embodied modes.