More Than Decoration: Multimodal Meaning-Making through Illustrations in English Textbooks

Research on illustrations in English language textbooks increasingly converges around multimodal, pedagogical, and curriculum-oriented perspectives. Illustrations are no longer treated as decorative supplements; rather, they are conceptualized as meaning-making resources that interact systematically with written language in the textbooks. The main observation for the study is Indonesian National English Textbook series, English for Nusantara for primary school students. 

The analysis is focused on examining how illustrations reflect curriculum goals embedded in the textbook series, and, more importantly, how they are designed to support learning. Informed by frameworks in multimodal text analyses (e.g. Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006; Anstey & Bull, 2010), this study examines how designed illustrations in English textbooks fulfil their functions to guide learners’ attention, frame social relations, and structure information, thereby shaping how linguistic content is interpreted.