Alignment and Creative Extension in EFL Learners' Multimodal Composing: A Case Analysis of Audiovisual Continuation Tasks

Abstract

Abstract Multimodal literacy has become essential for professional communication; however, EFL pedagogies of digital multimodal composing (DMC) have primarily emphasized independent production, paying less attention to how learners compose in response to authentic multimodal input. Conceptualized as a type of DMC and grounded in the xu ‐argument, audiovisual continuation tasks integrate multimodal comprehension with production by inviting learners to interpret authentic source input and align with and creatively extend it through continued meaning‐making. Drawing on this framing, this study examines how EFL learners align with and creatively extend source input across semiotic and content dimensions in audiovisual continuation tasks. Twenty‐six first‐year Business English majors created continuation videos based on an original video titled “What is a Brand,” following a TBLT framework that combined comprehension, scripting, and video production with peer and teacher feedback. Four videos were subjected to in‐depth analysis. These videos were purposively selected to represent two relatively stronger and two relatively weaker profiles of multimodal meaning‐making. The analysis suggests that the stronger cases combined selective alignment with substantive creative extension across the semiotic and content dimensions, whereas the weaker cases relied more heavily on close imitation and showed more limited conceptual extension. By examining the interplay between alignment and creative extension, the study expands current understandings of digital multimodal composing by showing how learners build on authentic input to make meaning of their own, offering pedagogical insights into designing audiovisual continuation tasks in EFL contexts.