Composition Forum 31 - Spring 2015 - Multimodality, Translingualism, and Rhetorical Genre Studies

Oct 15, 2026

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This article explores a future for Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) within translingual, multimodal composing practices of linguistically diverse students. Drawing on focus-group data from L1 and L2 English students at two large public universities, the study links students’ linguistic repertoires to their approaches to multimodal composition. Results indicate L2 students show advanced expertise and rhetorical sensitivity by layering meaning through multimodal work when they cannot rely on English words alone. The article also proposes a methodology for analyzing students’ embodied composing practices to expand how genres are theorized and taught in composition courses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Composition Forum 31, Spring 2015

Multimodality, Translingualism, and Rhetorical Genre Studies

Rhetorical Genre Studies and Multimodality

Translingualism: A Bridge across Languages, Genres, and Modes

Current Issue From the Editors Weblog Editorial Board Editorial Policy Submissions Archives Accessibility Search Composition Forum 31, Spring 2015 Multimodality, Translingualism, and Rhetorical Genre Studies Laura Gonzales Abstract: This article situates one possible future for rhetorical genre studies (RGS) in the translingual, multimodal composing practices of linguistically diverse composition students. Using focus group data collected with L1 (English as a first language) and L2 (English as a second language) students at two large public state universities, the researcher examines connections between students’ linguistic repertoires and their respective approaches to multimodal composition. Students at both universities took composition courses that incorporate rhetorical genre studies approaches to teaching writing in conventional print and multimodal forms. Findings suggest L2 students exhibit advanced expertise and rhetorical sensitivity when layering meaning through multimodal composition. This expertise comes in part from L2 students’ experiences combining and crossing various modes when they cannot exclusively rely on words to communicate in English. Through this evidence, the researcher argues the translingual practices of L2 students can bridge connections and help develop pedagogical applications of multimodality and RGS, primarily by helping writing instructors teach genres as fluid and socially situated. In addition, the researcher presents a methodology for analyzing the embodied practices of composition students, which can further expand how genres are theorized and taught in composition courses. In their presentation at the 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication,“Rethinking Difference in Composing Composition: Language, Translation, Genre, Modality,” Min-Zhan Lu, Anis Bawarshi, Nancy Bou Ayash, Juan Guerra, Bruce Horner, and Cynthia Selfe situated the future of writing instruction in translingual, multimodal practices and pedagogies. Bringing together key scholars in translingualism, multimodal composition, and North American Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), this panel highlighted the importance of pushing beyond what Selfe described as the “single language/single modality perspective” in writing instruction.{1} The emergence of multimodality and translingualism, and the connections between these concepts, Selfe and Horner explain, reflect “the development and increasingly global reach and use of new communication technologies and networks” as well as “the increasing and increasingly undeniable, traffic among peoples and languages”(4) . Rhetorical Genre Studies, by “direct[ing] our attention to the sociality of discourse,” highlights the movement between languages and modes outlined in translingual and multimodal scholarship (Coe, Lingard, and Teslenko 2) . By putting multimodal and translingual composition in conversation, this paper situates one possible future for RGS in the multimodal, translingual composing practices of contemporary composition students. Rhetorical Genre Studies and Multimodality Rhetorical Genre Studies, developed in part through Carolyn Miller’s seminal work highlighted in this special issue of Composition Forum , expands previous conceptions of genre to “fuse text and context, product and process, cognition and culture in a single, dynamic concept”(Paré 57) . As such, RGS “encourages us [and potentially our students] to consider the complex interconnections” between “the full social and symbolic action of textual practice”(Paré 57) . Rather than focusing on restricted types of genres (e.g. ,“argument” or “persuasive” essays) with bounded (monolingual/monomodal) rules and conventions, RGS illustrates “one of the stronger and most promising developments for comprehending the sociality of discourse while allowing discursive freedom and agency to individuals” (Coe, Lingard, and Teslenko 2) . Building on the discursive freedom and situated practice

FAQs

What future for Rhetorical Genre Studies does the article propose?

It situates RGS in translingual, multimodal composing practices, emphasizing how students move across languages and modes in writing instruction.

How does the study connect L2 students’ repertoires to multimodal composing approaches?

Using focus-group data, the researcher examines how students’ linguistic repertoires relate to their strategies for multimodal composition in course settings.

What do the findings suggest about L2 students and multimodal composition?

L2 students demonstrate advanced expertise and rhetorical sensitivity, especially when layering meaning through multimodal work without relying exclusively on English words.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa