12月27日晚7点，川外学坛“学术大视野”教师讲堂邀请国际教育学院刘宇博士做题为“社会符号学视角下的多模态话语分析：基本思路和发展方向”的学术报告。报告由研究生部主任王仁强教授主持，姜孟教授、刘兴兵博士、蒋华教授以及各年级研究生参加了此次学坛活动。
刘宇博士的报告从对“多模态”的定义和多模态研究开展的必要性入手，娓娓道来，层层推进，论及了社会符号视角下多模态研究的理论基础、研究范围以及价值意义等。刘宇博士认为，从社会符号学视角来看，多模态研究主要立足于两大理论基础，一是符号的“元功能”或“纯理功能”（meta-function）学说，即认为凡符号皆具有概念意义（ideational meaning）、人际意义（interpersonal meaning)和语篇意义（textual meaning）的学说；二是环境-符号“层级化”（stratification）学说，即视社会环境和符号系统为具有体现关系的两个系统的理论。刘博士将社会符号学视角下多模态研究的范围概括为四个方面：符内符号化（intrasemiosis）、符际符号化（intersemiosis）、重新符号化（resemioticization）和特殊用途多模态研究（multimodality for specific purposes，msp）。最后，刘宇博士总结道，多模态研究揭示了人类交际的多模态本质，它不但强调了符号作用的复杂性，还突显了符号意义表达的动态性，对我们的教学也有重要的启示意义。
姜孟教授和刘兴兵博士应邀作了点评。姜孟教授指出，刘博士的报告展示了系统功能语言学视角下多模态研究的现状、动态和前景，报告思路清晰，内容前沿，讲解精当易懂，让我们欣赏到了多模态这一新的学术视窗中的新风景。刘兴兵博士也高度评价刘宇博士的报告，他还从多模态话语分析如何与评价性语言相结合的角度阐述了自己的见解，为大家提供了启迪。
最后，王仁强教授作了精彩点评和总结。他首先高度赞扬了刘宇博士的学术报告，他指出，多模态话语分析和批判性话语分析是近年来语言学研究的热点，而社会符号学视角下的多模态话语分析更是一种创新的研究方向，其应用前景十分广阔。王教授还结合刘宇博士的报告指出，语言学研究要创新，可有三个基本的切入点，即：新的研究视角、新的研究对象和新的研究方法。他还同时鼓励大家在研究中努力做到：有定力，在学术研究中能锲而不舍；学会以小见大，能就一个问题做深入细致的研究；有国际视野，能博采众长，兼顾国际和国内。
报告现场
刘宇博士做学术报告
王仁强教授主持报告
姜孟教授（上图）、刘兴兵博士（下图）做点评
文：2011级研究生杨静；图：川外学坛
sisu academic forum of december 27th in 2012 held successfully
at 7 pm, dec. 27th, 2012, the sisu academic forum was opened as scheduled, which was hosted by prof. wang renqiang, presented by dr. liu yu. prof. jiang meng, dr. liu xing bing, prof. jiang hua and graduates from all grades attended this symposium entitled multimodal discourse analysis under social semiotics: basic thought and development direction.
at the beginning of the forum, prof. wang renqiang thanked dr. liu yu cordially and gave a brief introduction about him. before symposium, two maxims were presented to help students get an enlightment about the importance of query in study.
this presentation mainly includes six parts: the definition of multimodality;the reasons for multimodal research; the theoretical assumptions of the social semiotic view; the main scopes of multimodal research; suggestions for further research and conclusion.
dr. liu began with the main definitions from three famous scholars. then dr. liu stated the reasons for exploring multimodality: human communication is multimodal by nature; each mode in a multimodal ensemble realizes different communicative work; new technology has been enriching the multimodal landscape of communication and socially privileged discourse features multimodality. after that, dr. liu indicated two theoretical bases for multimodal research. the first is that all symbols include three meta-functions: the ideational meaning, the interpersonal meaning and the textual meaning. the second is stratification. besides, dr. liu also interpreted four aspects of multimodal scope of research: intrasemiosis, intersemiosis, resemioticization and multimodality for specific purposes (msp).
in conclusion, dr. liu stated the functions of multimodal research. multimodal research gives proper attention to other semiotics nestled with language in communication. it provides an integrated platform for analyzing the functionality of different modes. it not only highlights the complexity of semiotic interaction but also explores the dynamics of meaning making processes. what’s more, it has important pedagogical implications for teaching and learning literacy.
in the comment part, professor jiang firstly commented dr. liu's lectures. he mentioned the forefront of academic research and the importance of the multimodality. he also pointed out that multimodality is a hot topic at present, which is worthy of our attention. dr. liu’s report was full of information. he hoped all the students can have a method innovation in the future.
then, professor liu xingbing said thanks to doctor liu for his wonderful lecture. he emphasized the importance of integration of multimodality and discourse analysis. finally, he said the evaluation language lacked of an acknowledged modal based on multimodality, and he hoped that teachers and students could share with each other in this new project to improve themselves.
in the interaction and discussion part, one student asked dr. liu what we should do to investigate the research from the inspiration. another one asked him about the subject of the multimodality. towards the first question, dr. liu thought we must lay a solid foundation, and then we could see the theoretical problems and form a new theory. about the second one, he said multimodal discourse analysis was mainly used in the picture, text and asocial semiotic analysis. he also stressed that it has a much broader area.
finally, professor wang summarized the lecture given by dr. liu yu and gave corresponding illuminating comments. he pointed out that the multi-modal analysis and critical discourse analysis have become hot issues recent years. and he also emphasized three aspects that should be paid attention to in academic research: first, there should be a fresh research perspective; second, a new study target should be found; third, an original research method was also required. apart from these, students needed to strive for a thorough and intensive research through gaining insights from trivial phenomena. in addition, professor wang also put forward two suggestions on research attitudes. according to him, a good researcher should have not only perseverance in the pursuit of academic career but also an international horizon good for innovation, such as that need for the collection of the literature when resources home and aboard are given equal importance.
before the lecture announced its close, professor wang renqiang once again showed gratitude to tonight’s splendid lecture given by dr. liu yu, and wished everybody all the best in the coming new year.
