Multimodal Communication and Soft Skills Development –
International conference – UPG Ploiești
Multimodality is the notion which stands behind the most fertile investigations in communication and language studies nowadays. Although the practice of multimodal communication is as old as communication itself, some of its aspects have rather been hinted at than thoroughly discussed. Forceville and Uriós-Aparisi (2009) offer great insight into the evolution of theoretical and analytical approaches to multimodal meaning construction.
The generosity of the concept, its wide scope of omnipresent meaning-making via synesthesia, has offered various academic disciplines the opportunity to pursue their own multimodality research agendas, so much so that ‘[r]esearch into multimodality is therefore marked at this point by a broad degree of eclecticism’ (Ventola et al. 2004). Meaning resides in the orchestration of the modes by the producer and the recipient’s ability to decode them all – narrative voices, images, sounds, music, symbols, actions, body language, even evocative silence act jointly to shape the meaning.
Soft skills represent a prerequisite for the understanding of multimodal representations. For instance, Bürgi and Roos (2003) highlight the idea that multimodal depiction of various organizational dimensions, such as strategy-making, enriches people’s understanding of such abstract notions, making them more human. Even before children learn to talk they activate their soft skills or life/human competences, as they are often called, and they employ multimodal communication pertaining to the use of “prelinguistic communication skills such as gestures and vocalizations to participate in social interactions” (Roberts and Hampton 2017). Mittelberg (2013) enlarges upon the concept of ‘exbodiment’ when researching gestural manifestations as a means of reifying mental imagery, action patterns, and emotions.
Constant development of the three main soft skills clusters (Goleman 1998, Boyatzis 2012), namely cognitive competences (critical and creative thinking, problem solving), emotional intelligence competences (self-awareness, self-management such as emotional self-control, adaptability, achievement orientation), and social intelligence competences (organizational awareness, empathy, conflict management, teamwork) will later on make the difference between employers within an organization.
Papers may approach the following topics, but will not be limited to:
- Multimodality and multiliteracy;
- The impact of cognitive research on multimodality;
- Genre analysis and multimodality;
- Speech and gesture in the expression of time/ space/ emotion;
- Multimodal (private, public, educational, and social) communities;
- Multimodality and social /cultural identity shaping;
- Multimodal communication in business/ advertising/ social media/ gaming;
- Multimodal manifestations of metaphorical thought;
- The interdependence of semiotic resources;
- Emotional and social intelligence competences in institutional contexts;
- Critical thinking skills and Critical Discourse Analysis.
The official languages of the conference are English and French.
The event will be organised online via Google Meet.
REGISTRATION
https://multimodalcommunication2020.wordpress.com/about/
Plenary speakers:
https://multimodalcommunication2020.wordpress.com/blog/
Scientific Commitee
https://multimodalcommunication2020.wordpress.com/scientific-committee/