Multimodality on students' digital English composition

Multimodality is the utilization of various modes to express meaning through a composition. Digital composition is a product of a digital genre in which the students integrate one or more modes to create meaning. The aim of this study is to examine the modes used in students’ digital composition and the interaction among modes to create meaning in students’ digital English composition. By using content analysis, this study collected and analyzed the possible existence of five modes of multimodality and their interactions. Five 11th-grade students’ digital compositions at SMAN 10 Surabaya were analyzed. The findings showed that there are various modes found in students’ digital compositions that contribute to the meaning-making. Those modes are: linguistic, visual, spatial, aural, and gestural. The linguistic mode becomes the most dominant mode, followed by visual and spatial mode. These modes are found to interact and complement the message delivered by the students. The aural and gestural modes only appear as supporting elements, while also giving emotional effect to the readers. The findings indicate that students become more creative in writing English. This study adds perspective on multimodality that it is an effective approach to enhance the meaning-making process of students and improve their literacy skills.