Multimodal Analysis

The development of computer-mediated communication has made a whole range of new multi-modal options available to companies, profoundly affecting the organization of their communication effort. Of course, recourse to multimodality is not exclusive to computer-mediated communication, as today there are other areas – e.g. advertising, cinema, TV – where it is used extensively; but computer-mediated communication is particularly meaningful, as the inherent ‘multi-medianess’ (Askehave - Ellerup Nielson 2004: 12-13) of Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments (Hoffman - Novak 1996) offers easy access to the simultaneous and integrated deployment of different media, and consequently to the utilization of a whole range of multimodal resources – images, sounds, animation, videos – which can be created and distributed to millions of users the world over in no time and with no additional costs. Companies have taken advantage of such options not only to enact more effective interpersonal and inter-organizational communication, but also to enhance all forms of communication that contribute to corporate image-building and promotion, in the business environment proper as well as in marketing activities and in relations with customers, investors and other stakeholders. This chapter explores the impact of the spread of new multi-modal technologies on corporate communication, illustrating their effects and their potentialities. In particular, attention is focused on theoretical and methodological issues raised by this evolution in terms of discursive practices, rhetorical strategies and language use. The analysis of communicative practices in multimodal computer-mediated environments involves the need to identify a conceptual framework that is suitable to cope with the complexity of multimodal semiotics associated with new multimedia constellations within which traditional forms of communication are remediated (Bolter – Grusin 1999); this requires either extending and adapting traditional theories or developing new ad hoc analytical tools. Starting from a critical review of the literature on multimodality (Kress – van Leeuwen 2001; LeVine – Scollon 2004; O’Halloran 2004; Ventola et al.), and in particular of the few contributions dealing specifically with business communication (e.g. Bargiela 2006; Garzone 2002, forthcoming; Garzone et al. forthcoming), the analysis will rely on discourse-analytical tools, adapting them to suit multi-modal discourse (cf. Kress – van Leeuwen 2001) and the inherent properties of the hypertextual environment (e.g. interactivity and unique participation framework), which are of special importance in the case of corporate and commercial activities. Within this theoretical framework, the study analyses the website as representative examples, an e-commerce business-to-consumer (B2C) website and a tourist portal, i.e. a purely ‘transactional’ website and one where the informative or promotional component is more prominent. It will explore how meaning is made through the integration of different semiotic modalities, focussing on the relationship between discursive practices and other semiotic resources deployed, also giving attention to the inherent characteristics of the hypertextual / hypermedial environment. This will make it possible: • to ascertain if, when used in Website communication, normally textualized verbal language exhibits any peculiar distinctive features and to illustrate its interaction with other semiotic resources deployed; • to evaluate the efficiency of the use of multimodal resources actually made by companies, also pinpointing the main requisites for an effective exploitation of multimodality in computer-mediated communication; • to identify the aspects of business communication on which the impact of the spread of multimodality has been most pervasive and the areas where there is the greatest potential for future developments; and finally: • to identify which of the options made available by multimodal technologies are especially interesting for corporate communication, discussing their potential utilization. References Askehave I., Ellerup Nielsen A. 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