Abstract
This introduction to the special issue “Multimodality perspectives in second language writing and second language acquisition: Issues in theory, research, and practice” situates this collective project in prior multimodal scholarship, and provides an overview of its aims and contents. It starts with a global synthesis of multimodality research in second language acquisition and second language writing, followed by an overview of the aims and contents of the special issue. Subsequently, the focus, relevance, novelty, and intended contribution of the special issue are further assessed from a dual angle, namely, the advancement it represents with respect to past research, on the one hand, and the way in which the theory and research reported in the special issue are embedded in suggested future research agendas in the domain, on the other.
Funding
This paper is part of the research conducted within a program of research financed by the Spanish Research Agency (Research Grant PID2022-137544NB-I00)
References
Bakla, A. (2020) A mixed-methods study of feedback modes in EFL writing. Language Learning & Technology, 24(1), 107-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/44712
Belcher, D. (2017). On becoming facilitators of multimodal composing and digital design. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38, 80-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.10.004
Bush, J. C. (2021). Using screencasting to give feedback for academic writing. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15(5), 473-486. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2020.1840571
Cheng, D., & Li, M. (2020). Screencast video feedback in online TESOL classes. Computers and Composition, 58, 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102612
Cheung, A. (2023). Developing and evaluating a set of process and product-oriented classroom assessment rubrics for assessing digital multi-modal collaborative writing in L2 classes. Assessing Writing, 56, 100723. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2023.100723
Crawford Camiciottoli, B., & Campoy-Cubillo, M. C. (2018). Introduction: The nexus of multimodality, multimodal literacy, and English language teaching in research and practice in higher education settings. System, 77, 1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.005
D’Angelo, L. (2018). Disciplinary cultures in academic posters: A textual and visual metadiscourse analysis. Lingue e Linguaggi, 28, 69-83.
Early, M., Kendrick, M., & Potts, D. (2015). Multimodality: Out from the margins of English language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 49(3), 447-460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.246
Elola, I., & Oskoz, A. (2016). Supporting second language writing using multimodal feedback. Foreign Language Annals, 49(1), 58-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12183
Elola, I., & Oskoz, A. (2022). Reexamining feedback on L2 digital writing. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12(4), 575-595. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2022.12.4.3
Hafner, C. A., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2020). Assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Towards a process-based model. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47, 100710. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100710
Jiang, L., & Hafner, C. (2025). Digital multimodal composing in L2 classrooms: A research agenda. Language Teaching, 58(4), 528-546. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444824000107
Jiang, L., Lee, I., & Yu, S. (2024). Conceptualizing multimodal feedback literacy for L2 writing teachers in the digital age. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 34, 1479-1496. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12578
Jiang, L., Yu, S., & Lee, I. (2022). Developing a genre-based model for assessing digital multimodal composing in second language writing: Integrating theory with practice. Journal of Second Language Writing, 57, 100869. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2022.100869
Kessler, M. (2024). Digital multimodal composing: Connecting theory, research and practice in second language acquisition. Multilingual Matters.
Li, M. (2021). Researching and teaching second language writing in the digital age. Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87710-1
Li, M., & Akoto, M. (2021). Review of recent research on L2 digital multi-modal composing. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 11(3), 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCALLT.2021070101
Li, M., & Storch, N. (2017). Second language writing in the age of CMC: Affordances, multimodality, and collaboration. Journal of Second Language Writing, 36(2), 1-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.05.012
Lim, F. V., Gilje, Ø., & Djonov, E. (2025). Editorial for special issue: Digital multimodal composing in the era of artificial intelligence. Computers and Composition, 75, 102911. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2024.102911
Lim, J., & Kessler, M. (2022). Directions for future research on SLA, L2 writing, and multimodality. In R. M. Manchón, & C. Polio (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing (pp. 325-338). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429199691-33
Lim, J., & Kessler, M. (2024). Multilingual composing in second language acquisition. Language Teaching, 57, 183-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444823000125
Lim, J., & Polio, C. (2020). Multimodal assignments in higher education: Implications for multimodal writing tasks for L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47, 100713. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100713
Manchón, R. M. (2017). The potential impact of multimodal composition on language learning. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38, 94-95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.10.008
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.1.17370n67v22j160u
Oskoz, A., & Elola, I. (2020). Digital literacies for writing in the 21st century FL classroom. Equinox.
Qu, W. (2017). For L2 writers, it is always the problem of the language. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38, 92-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.10.007
Shin, D., Cimasko, T., & Yi, Y. (Eds.) (2021). Multimodal composing in K-16 ESL and EFL education. Springer DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0530-7
Smith, B. E., Pacheco, M. B., & Khorosheva, M. (2020). Emergent bilingual students and digital multimodal composition: A systematic review of research in secondary classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(1), 33-52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.298
Yi, Y. (2017). Establishing multimodal literacy research in the field of L2 writing: Let’s move the field forward. Journal of Second Language Writing, 38(4), 90-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.10.010
Yi, Y., Shin, D., & Cimasko, T. (2020). Special issue: Multimodal composing in multilingual learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Second Language Writing, 47, 100717. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100717
Yu, S., Zhang. E. D., & Liu, C. (2026). Research into practice: Digital multimodal composition in second language writing. Language Teaching, 59(2), 197-213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444824000375
Zhang, M., Akoto, M., & Li, M. (2021). Digital multimodal composing in post-secondary L2 settings: A review of the empirical landscape. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(4), 694-721. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1942068
Zou, B., Wang, C., He, H., Li, C., Purwanto, E., & Wang, P. (2025). Enhancing EFL writing with visualised GenAI feedback: A cognitive affective theory of learning perspective on revision quality, emotional response, and human-computer interaction. Learning and Motivation, 91, 102158. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2025.102158
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Rosa M. Manchón, Lourdes Cerezo, Florentina Nicolás-Conesa

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.
