A Study on the Impact of Multimodal Teaching Methods on the

Improvement of College Students' English Reading Ability in the Era

of Mobile Internet

Ying Wang

and Zhaohao You

Department of School of Foreign Languages, Guangdong University of Science and Technology,

Guangzhou, Guangdong, 523083, China

Department of School of Foreign Languages, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, 524048, China

Keywords: Multimodal Teaching Methods, Mobile Internet, English Reading Ability, College Students.

Abstract: The main goal of this study is to explore in depth the role of multimodal teaching method in promoting college

students' English reading ability and its related effects in the context of the mobile Internet era. The results of

the study show that the popularization of mobile Internet has significantly changed students' learning habits,

especially in terms of attention allocation. This change brings new challenges to multimodal pedagogy in

enhancing reading ability. At the same time, students' preferences for the content of mobile apps and the

quality of teachers' lessons have become key factors affecting the effectiveness of multimodal teaching

methods. Therefore, in order to effectively improve students' English reading ability in the mobile Internet

era, teachers need to constantly innovate their teaching methods and compete with a variety of factors in order

to attract students' attention and stimulate their interest in learning.

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

In the context of the era of rapid development of

mobile Internet, English, as a key language for

international communication, has become

increasingly rich in forms of communication, and

multimodal contents are widely circulated globally

through smart devices (Chai, 2024).

This puts higher demands on college students, who

not only need to be able to interpret traditional textual

information, but also need to have the ability to

understand and use non-textual information in order

to adapt to the rapid development of globalization and

social informatization.

However, the popularization of mobile Internet

also brings certain challenges. On the one hand, it

provides students with massive learning resources

and convenient ways of learning; on the other hand,

the problems of information overload and distraction

are becoming more and more prominent, which poses

a higher challenge to the implementation of

multimodal teaching.

Therefore, educators need to actively explore how to

effectively utilize multimodal teaching methods in

the context of the new era, not only to give full play

to its advantages and enhance students' English

reading ability, but also to cope with challenges such

as distraction and help students better adapt to the

flood of information brought about by globalization

(Zhang, 2024).

1.2 Conceptual Definition of

Multimodal Theory

In the 1990s, the concept of “multimodal discourse”

came into being, based on the theory of critical

discourse analysis by Western scholars Kress and

Leeuwen, and then combining the theories of

systemic functional grammar, social semiotics and

traditional discourse analysis. Famous scholar Gu

Yanguo defines modality as multimodal discourse,

i.e., a way of communicating with the outside world

in a multimodal way through various human senses,

and then through images, language, sound and

movement as well as diversified means (Wang,

2010).

Wang, Y. and You, Z.

A Study on the Impact of Multimodal Teaching Methods on the Improvement of College Students’ English Reading Ability in the Era of Mobile Internet.

DOI: 10.5220/0013942300004912

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development (IESD 2025), pages 5-10

ISBN: 978-989-758-779-5

The New London Group was the first organization

to propose the Multimodal Theory, which was

successfully produced thanks to two developments:

firstly, the in-depth development of discourse

analysis theories, and secondly, the advancement of

modern technology. The multimodal discourse

analysis theory is evolved on the basis of the systemic

functional linguistics theory proposed by Halliday,

who proposed that language is a social symbol

system, and in addition to language, sculpture,

painting, music or dance can be regarded as a

representation system, which can realize the social

function of transmitting symbols together with

language (Chai, 2024). One of the more

internationally recognized studies is Kress and

Leeuwen's book Multimodal Discourse: the Modes

and Media of Contemporary Communication, in

which it is suggested that “multimodality

encompasses any medium that can be used to

communicate, such as movement, sound, gesture,

expression, and form. Discourse communication is

also not limited to verbal elements alone, but also

through the use of various non-verbal elements.” In

addition, Kress and Leeuwen, in particular,

emphasize that the multimodal nature of discourse

that occurs during reading is an important feature of

the use of discourse in communicative processes

around the world (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001).

1.3 Study Topic

This study aims to explore the impact of multimodal

teaching method on college students' English reading

ability, analyze its acceptance in a heterocultural

context and its functions and limitations. By

exploring students' motivations for choosing between

classroom learning and mobile phone application use

and its actual impact on English reading proficiency,

this study will examine how the multimodal approach

to teaching and learning can help students to learn

English in a multicultural context. Through

qualitative research, this study will reveal the

functions and limitations of multimodal pedagogy

aimed at improving college students' English reading

ability.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Wang Huiping's study fills the theoretical gap by

recognizing that traditional English reading teaching

ignores non-literal modalities and fails to meet the

demand for multimodal literacy in modern society

(Wang, 2010). She first mentioned that multimodal

literacy is very important in the new era, but there is

a lack of empirical evidence. Lv Meijia and Che Xiao

proved through empirical research that multimodal

teaching has a positive effect in improving college

students' English reading ability (Che, 2022; Lv,

2014). Liu Dongyan and Zhong Jiuhai et al. provide

a specific framework on practical instruction, but the

sample is limited (Liu, 2018; Zhong, 2024).

Although studies have demonstrated the role of

multimodal instruction in improving English reading

proficiency, there is a lack of systematic exploration

of its applicability and effectiveness in the mobile

Internet environment. The innovation of this study is

to analyze the effect of multimodal teaching on

college students' English reading ability in the mobile

Internet era. The core issues of concern in this study

are college students' perceptions of multimodal

teaching to improve their English reading ability, how

college students choose between mobile APPs and

classroom content and their motivation for choosing,

and the actual effect of APPs on the improvement of

their English reading ability.

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Objects

This study conducted a semi-structured interview to

qualitatively analyze the views of L2 learners in

higher education institutions on the impact of

multimodal teaching on English reading ability under

cross-cultural backgrounds. It discusses the function

and limitations of this teaching method in the era of

mobile Internet. This study selected 10 English-

proficient ESL college students as respondents,

requiring them to have an English reading score of

75% or above and at least 3 years of multimodal

teaching experience, covering different genders and

urban backgrounds (see Table 1).

IESD 2025 - International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development

Table 1: Basic Information of the Interviewees.

Case Numbe

Gende

e Re

ion

(

Province

)

Stud

Pro

ress

Student A Male 21 Guangdong

Chinese Language and

Literature

IELTS Preparation

Student B Male 21 Hubei Broadcasting and Hosting IELTS Preparation

Student C Female 21 Gansu Business English TEM-4 Preparation

Student D Male 22 Fujian Physics CET-4 Preparation

Student E Female 23 Guangxi Physical Education CET-6 Preparation

Student F Female 22 Guangdong

Early Childhood

Education

CET-4 Preparation

Student G Female 23 Hunan Biology CET-6 Preparation

Student H Female 23 Hunan Musicology CET-6 Preparation

Student I Male 21 Guangxi

Translation and

Interpreting

TEM-4 Preparation

Student J Male 22 Gansu English Education IELTS Preparation

3.2 Semi-Structured Interviews

This study used semi-structured interviews to

qualitatively analyze the impact of multimodal

teaching in the mobile Internet era on English

learners' English reading ability. The interview data

was used to extract the validity of viewpoints through

thematic analysis. The format of the interview is

question and answer, extracting the interviewee's

views on the advantages and disadvantages of

multimodal teaching methods and their impact on

English reading ability. A total of 10 interviewees

will be interviewed for half an hour each, and the

interview content will be transcribed into text for

analysis.

4 ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEW

RESULTS

4.1 Students' Views on Multimodal

Teaching Methods and Their

Improvement of Reading Ability

When asked if they were familiar with multimodal

teaching methods, students all answered "yes". When

asked about "what multimodal content does the

teacher include in class", all students answered,

"including various types of pictures, audio, and

video". When asked about "whether the teacher's

multimodal teaching has improved your English

reading ability", students A, B, C, D, E, F, and J said

"there has been improvement because the reading

scores have improved a bit"; students G. H said,

"There's not much difference from before, my reading

scores are sometimes good and sometimes bad. "

From the above questions, it can be seen that all

students are familiar with multimodal teaching, and

teachers generally adopt multimodal teaching in the

classroom, which has a certain effect on improving

students' English reading scores.

4.2 Students' Views on the Multimodal

Teaching Quality of Teachers

When asked about the quality of the teacher's classes,

students C, D, E, and J said, "It's not very stable. I feel

that this class is very well prepared and takes a lot of

time. I'm worried that the quality of the next class will

be average." students A, B, F, G, H, and I said, "If the

class is interesting, I listen, but if it's boring, I can't

help but play with my phone."

From the above questions, it can be seen that the

quality of teachers' classes is crucial for multimodal

teaching. Teachers need to improve students' English

reading ability in a targeted manner and maintain

stable teaching quality, otherwise, students are easily

distracted by mobile Apps.

4.3 Students' Use of Mobile Apps in

Class

When asked if they bring their phones to class,

students all answer "yes". When asked about the

reason for playing with mobile phones in class,

students A, E, and G said, "The teacher's voice sounds

like reciting scriptures, and I'm almost asleep";

students B. J said, "The teacher's PPT looks like it's

A Study on the Impact of Multimodal Teaching Methods on the Improvement of College Students’ English Reading Ability in the Era of

Mobile Internet

from many years ago and hasn't been modified at all.

It feels like there's no lesson preparation specifically

for us. "; students C. H said, "The teacher is reading a

book, I can read it myself, there's no need to listen. ";

students D. F said that "the content on Tiktok is very

funny, and I forgot to attend class after watching the

content on the phone."

It can be seen from the above questions that college

students generally take their mobile phones with them

in class. If they feel that the course is "boring", they

are likely to be distracted from playing with their

mobile phones, which provides an opportunity to

accept new Internet content.

4.4 Students' Use of Multimodal

Resources on Mobile Apps

When asked if there are multimodal learning

resources on their mobile Apps, all students answered

"yes". When asked, "Do you use multimodal learning

resources on Apps to improve your English reading

ability and why?", students B and E said, "I only

watched multimodal learning resources once or twice.

Because I think the content is similar to the classroom

and not very interesting"; students D. F said, "I have

only seen multimodal learning resources a few times.

Because other content on Tiktok is more interesting,

I will always browse and forget to learn"; students A.

C and G said, "I have only seen multimodal learning

resources a few times. Because Tiktok has been

pushing funny bloggers to me, it is troublesome to

find learning resources"; students H. I, J said, "I

hardly watch multimodal learning resources. Because

every time I open Tiktok, a video of the dance blogger

will automatically pop up, and I will forget to use the

App to study."

From the above question, it can be seen that

although college students have multimodal English

teaching resources on apps in their mobile phones,

they rarely use them to improve their English reading

ability because other content is more attractive -

creators on the mobile phone often attract students’

attention with exaggerated body language and copy.

In short, the challenge for teachers to enhance

college students' English reading ability is no longer

a competition between traditional and multimodal

teaching method, but a competition between

individual teaching methods and mature commercial

teams and platform addiction algorithms. The

multimodal teaching of teachers is a struggle against

human weaknesses in the era of “entertainment until

death”.

5 DISCUSSION

After systematic research and analysis, the authors

have come to the following conclusion: in the context

of the mobile Internet era, the multimodal teaching

method does show its unique advantages in

improving college students' English reading ability,

but it also faces many challenges. The effect of this

teaching method is not only affected by students’

preference for the content of mobile APPs, but also

closely related to teachers’ teaching quality.

First of all, from the point of view of students'

preference for the content of mobile APP, the

popularity of mobile Internet makes it easier for

college students to obtain all kinds of information, but

at the same time, it also brings the problems of

information overload and attention distraction. In this

case, students' preference for mobile APP content

directly affects their learning effect in a multimodal

teaching environment. Some students may prefer

graphic and interesting content, while others may pay

more attention to the depth and breadth of the content.

Therefore, teachers need to give due consideration to

students' preferences when designing multimodal

teaching content to better attract their attention and

stimulate their interest in learning (Zhou, 2019).

Second, the quality of teachers' teaching is also one

of the key factors affecting the effectiveness of

multimodal teaching methods (Reima, 2024). In a

multimodal teaching environment, teachers need to

have richer knowledge and skills in order to flexibly

use various media and tools for teaching. At the same

time, teachers need to be more enthusiastic and

patient in order to cope with the problems and

difficulties that students may encounter in the

learning process. The multimodal approach can only

be most effective when teachers are able to fully

understand students' needs and provide targeted

guidance.

However, people must also recognize that

multimodal teaching methods still face many

challenges in improving college students' English

reading ability. Among them, the most prominent

problem is the distraction of students' attention (Yan,

2023). Under the mobile Internet environment,

college students are easily disturbed by various

information, which makes it difficult for them to

maintain concentration for a long time in the learning

process (Zhang, 2024). In addition, since multimodal

teaching content usually contains multiple media and

tools, students may feel confused or overwhelmed

when using them, thus affecting their learning

effectiveness.

IESD 2025 - International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development

To address these issues, people believe that

teachers need to further optimize the multimodal

pedagogy to better suit the needs of teaching and

learning in the mobile Internet environment. For

example, teachers can try to adopt more concise and

clear teaching content and design to reduce students'

cognitive load; they can also take advantage of the

convenience of the mobile Internet to provide

students with more personalized and customized

learning resources and guidance. In addition, teachers

can enhance interaction and communication with

students to better understand their learning needs and

difficulties and provide targeted help and support.

6 CONCLUSION

Although this study provides a useful exploration of

the application of multimodal teaching method in

college English reading teaching, there are still some

limitations and shortcomings, which reminds people

that they need to explore more deeply and

comprehensively in future studies.

Among them, the limitation of sample size is an

important issue. This study involved only 10 ESL

university students, and such a sample size may not

adequately reflect the characteristics and needs of a

broader group of L2 learners, thus affecting the

generalisability and reliability of the findings. To

overcome this limitation, people need to further

expand the sample size in future studies to cover more

learners with different backgrounds and levels of

proficiency in order to obtain more comprehensive

and accurate data.

In addition, this study was designed to use mainly

qualitative analyses, and although it was able to

explore respondents' perceptions and experiences in

depth, it lacked the support of quantitative data,

which may limit the objectivity and accuracy of the

findings to a certain extent. Therefore, in future

research, people can try to combine quantitative

analysis methods and collect more data to verify and

supplement the results of qualitative analysis through

questionnaire surveys and data analyses, so as to

reflect the actual effects of multimodal teaching

methods more comprehensively and objectively.

At the same time, people also need to pay attention

to the optimisation path and application strategy of

multimodal teaching method in the digital

environment. With the continuous development of

mobile Internet technology, the digital environment

provides a broader space and more possibilities for

college English teaching. Therefore, in the future

research, people should further explore the

application strategies of multimodal teaching method

in the digital environment, so as to better adapt to the

students' learning needs and improve the teaching

effect.

To sum up, multimodal teaching method has

positive significance for the innovation and

development of college English reading teaching, but

it still needs to be optimised and improved in practical

application. Looking ahead, the researchers expect

that the multimodal teaching method can play a

greater role in university English reading teaching

and help more students to improve their reading

ability and comprehensive language use ability.

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

All the authors contributed equally and their

names were listed in alphabetical order.

REFERENCES

Che, X. 2022. A Practical Study on the Application

of Multimodal Teaching in College English

Newspaper Reading. Foreign language e-

learning, (04):65-70.

Chai, N. P. 2024. The Application of Multimodal

Teaching Mode in English Writing Teaching in

Senior High School. Education Reform and

Development, (9):129-134.

Liu, D. Y. 2018. The value and realisation of

‘multimodal’ English reading teaching. Teaching

and Management, (27):106-108.

Lv, M. J, Mou, W. J. 2014. Research on the influence

of multimodal teaching mode on college students'

English reading ability. China Electrochemical

Education, (12):129-132.

Reima, A. J. 2024. Multimodal Teaching and

Learning in the EFL College Classroom. Journal

of English Language Teaching and Applied

Linguistics, (4): 68-75.

Wang, H. P. 2010. Cultivation of multimodal literacy

in English reading teaching. Foreign Language

World, (05): 20-25, 10.

Yan, D. C, Yuan, W. N. 2023, Algorithmic worries in

the construction of youth network civilisation:

Black box, control and dependence. China News

Communication Research, (03):137-150.

Zhang, Y. 2024. Application of Multimodal Teaching

in Junior High School English Vocabulary

A Study on the Impact of Multimodal Teaching Methods on the Improvement of College Students’ English Reading Ability in the Era of

Mobile Internet

Instruction. International Journal of Social

Science and Education Research, (9),104-111.

Zhang, D. Y. 2024. Analysis of higher vocational

English teaching strategies under the perspective of

multimodal theory. English Teacher, (12), 66-69.

Zhang, S. X, Zhang, Y. 2024. The impact of

information recommendation algorithms on the

mainstream value identity of youth and

governance strategies. China Edit, (03):40-46.

Zhong, J. H. Wang, B. Wang, G. L. 2024. A study of

English reading effect based on multimodal

discourse analysis theory. Journal of Social

Sciences of Jiamusi University, 42(04):191-194.

Zhou, B. H. 2019. The Use of Algorithmic

Recommendation APP and Its Impact - An

Empirical Analysis Based on a National Audience

Survey. Journalist, (12):27-37.

IESD 2025 - International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development