The Concepts of Multimodal Composition and Multimodality
In the field of composition, a conundrum is observed in relation to defining multimodality-based writing (Prior, 2017). Several definitions, however, elucidating the concepts of multimodality and multimodal composition (MC) have been proposed in the literature. One such definition, put forth by Bowen and Whithaus (2013), characterizes MC as “the conscious manipulation of the interaction among various sensory experiences—visual, textual, verbal, tactile, and aural—used in the processes of producing…texts” (p. 7). In terms of multimodality and modes, Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) define the former as the “use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event” and the latter as “ways of representing information or the semiotic channels we use to compose a text” (pp. 20–22). Thus, these modes can manifest in different forms, such as linguistic, visual, spatial, aural, and gestural.