Toward multimodal corpus pragmatics: Rationale, case, and agenda

Abstract

Abstract Human interaction is multimodal in nature, and meaning in discourse is created through an interplay of an array of modalities. Inspired by the integration of multimodality and corpus pragmatics, we are concerned with a general multimodal framework that facilitates the exploration on pragmatic questions by using corpus methods. By demonstrating how the study on speech acts in situated discourse is benefited from the multimodal corpus approach, we claim that the scope and methods of pragmatic studies will be enriched and the classic pragmatic theories could be further developed toward multimodal corpus pragmatics. This article, therefore, hopes to inspire further theoretical discussion and case study in this domain.