Empowering Multilingual Learners: Real-World Adaptation of Multimodal Strategies in English Education

The research investigates the adaptation process of multimodal strategies used by secondary English teachers at multilingual classrooms to develop student engagement, language proficiency, and identity development. The study examines the integration of student home languages in English teaching through digital storytelling, collaborative tasks, and bilingual media projects, utilizing multimodal learning principles and translanguaging teaching methods. The research team investigated instructional effectiveness using qualitative case study methods in Guangdong, China, which relied on classroom observations, interviews with teachers, student work examples, and the collection of artifacts. The study demonstrated that students made significant progress in their oral skills and vocabulary development, and boosted their language confidence while completing multimodal assignments that incorporated all their linguistic skills. The study results show that institutions featuring rigid curricular instructions and restricted access to technology warrant teachers to exercise professional autonomy through development programs. The paper offers practical insights into classroom multimodal translanguaging approaches in real-world environments, while advocating for institutional improvements in inclusive English education structures.