Developing strategies for conceptual accessibility through multimodal literacy in the English for tourism classroom

Teaching English for Tourism at university involves both developing specialized language skills and forming knowledgeable professionals capable of appropriate intercultural communication. The distinctive feature of most instances of tourism discourse is the fact that it draws from a range of specialized domains. It mediates the tourist experience and contributes to closing the gap between the home- and the destination’s culture by making culture-specific knowledge and specialized concepts accessible to non-specialists. The article discusses the instructional effects of authentic multimodal materials within task-based project-work carried out with learners at the University of Pisa. The focus is specifically on the communicative strategies used to make specialized terminology or concepts easily understandable for the hearer. This study reports on a multimodal analysis of two sets of videoclips created by the students before and after dedicated instruction based on authentic English L1 clips from documentaries, “docu-tours” and guided tours. It discusses the positive changes observed in the learners’ use of popularization strategies to create conceptual accessibility.