Multimodal Communication Apparatus and its Role in Facilitating the Process of Mutual Intelligibility Via Facebook Platform: The Case of Master II Language and Communication Students at MMUTO

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Date

2015

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou

Abstract

The present work is concerned with the investigation of the efficiency of the multimodal communication used in Facebook by the second year Master students of the Language and Communication option at the level of the English Department at Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi Ouzou. In more proper words, the study aims at checking whether the multimodal language used on Facebook facilitates communication or not. It seeks also to discover whether using several modes (texts, images, videos, music…etc.) while communicating on Facebook can transmit more and clearer meanings than using mere words. Another objective of this research study is to figure out whether the emoticons used on Facebook can reveal the users’ state of mind and their emotions. To reach these objectives, we have relied on a questionnaire submitted to the second year Master students of the Language and Communication option. In order to get more reliable data and to reinforce the answers obtained from the questionnaire’s informants, we have collected few conversations that took place on Facebook as well as some timeline posts where multimodal items were used. The research methodology basically revolves around the mixed method: quantitative and qualitative. Finally the results obtained show that the multimodal language used on Facebook facilitates communication and using several modes while chatting helps the users to transmit more and clearer meanings than using the written text mode alone. The results also validate the idea that emoticons reflect the users’ current state of minds and emotions.

Description

66p.:ill;30cm.(+cd)

Keywords

Language, Communication, Computer mediated communication, Social networking sites, Facebook, Multimodality, Emoticons. Social Media Platform.

Citation

Language and Communication