Last week we had the pleasure of celebrating the 5th International Webinar on Multimodal Discourse Analysis (November 16th -17th, 2023), which brought together leading experts in the field of multimodality. Organized by the GRAPE research group at the Universitat Jaume I, the event explored theoretical aspects, current trends, and new tools for multimodal analysis.
The event gathered international experts in the field as invited speakers, including Sophia Diamantopoulou (UCL Institute of Education, UK), Natasha Artemeva (Carleton University, Canada), Rebekah Wegener (Universität Salzburg, Austria), Christoph A. Hafner (City University of Hong Kong, China), and Fei Victor Lim (National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore).
Among the topics highlighted were the evolution of the concept of multimodality, new tools and contexts in multimodal digital communication, as well as pedagogical applications and future research.
Together with the talks and round tables, the co-directors of our group, Inmaculada Fortanet Gómez and Noelia Ruiz Madrid (Universitat Jaume I, Spain) introduced our group and recapped on our last investigations. A significant highlight of the event was the presentation of the newly developed GRAPE MARS (Multimodal Analysis Research Software), conducted by Edgar Bernad-Mechó and Julia Veleiras-Jurado.
GRAPE MARS is a tool designed within the group to analyze the multimodality of oral discourse. During the webinar, attendees received an initial tutorial on the basic operation of the tool, which generated a great deal of interest. Further video tutorials and guides are planned for publication soon, and more information can be found in the ‘GRAPE MARS’ section of the group’s website.
The event was broadcast from the MENADOR, cultural space of the Universitat Jaume I, located in the heart of the city, where the speakers met with the GRAPE research group. This fifth edition of the webinar has experienced increasing interest over the years, attracting a growing international audience.
To access more information, including the full poster and abstract book, visit https://www.grape.uji.es/webinars/. Don’t miss future updates and news!
