Transforming a Magazine into a Video Involving a Target Audience: A Multiliteracies Case Study in an EFL Context

Abstract

In this article, we presented a case study in an EFL context that investigated how a magazine was transformed into a digital video involving a target audience. A group of fifty international students responded to a survey questionnaire developed based on the multimodality framework and some were interviewed to express their preferences for the content and format of the video and to evaluate different versions of the video product. The results show that the transforming process consisted of four stages including (1) collecting target audience’s preferences for the video content and format, (2) converting the discourse type from textual to oral, (3) creating multimodal materials for the video, and (4) (re-)composing the video. The target audience’s responses revealed that effective multimodal orchestration could provide a better engagement and viewing experience for the target audience. The multiliteracies competency of the video creators and viewers was deepened and expanded through the digital transforming processes and interdisciplinary collaboration, which enabled EFL learners to experience, conceptualize, analyze, and apply the learned and new knowledge. With the ultimate goal to cultivate EFL learners to become multimodal literate citizens in the global society, this study advances our understanding of multimodality and yields significant pedagogical implications for multiliteracies education and educational technology in the EFL context.

Keywords

• video
• target audience
• multimodality
• multiliteracies
• educational technology