Talk with hands-on workshop on video annotation using MARS software
Speakers: Noelia Ruiz-Madrid, Edgar Bernad-Mechó, Julia Valeiras Jurado, Universitat Jaume I (English Studies Department)
Time: Friday 29 May 2026, 12-2pm (BST/UK time)
Place: Online via Microsoft Teams. After you register, your Teams joining link will appear on the confirmation screen. Please save the link. We will also send reminders two days before and on the day of the event.
Registration: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/LZRdqTQ5mq
Abstract
The rapid expansion of video-based communication across digital platforms has created new methodological challenges for multimodal research. Contemporary digital genres increasingly combine a variety of modes, such as speech, gestures, visual design, editing practices, etc., demanding analytical approaches capable of addressing multimodal complexity at scale and in line with platform affordances. This two-hour workshop brings together theoretical discussion, practical examples, and hands-on methodological experimentation around GRAPE-MARS, a free web-based platform for multimodal video annotation and analysis.
The session is structured in three parts. The first part reviews the concept of multimodality and digital discourse, with a focus on oral digital genres and the semiotic resources that compose them — including embodied, disembodied, and filmic modes — providing participants with a shared analytical framework and metalanguage for the subsequent activities. This part also discusses recent research and pedagogical applications developed by the GRAPE research group.
The second part invites participants to engage directly with authentic short-form social media video data. Working collaboratively, participants will explore their own research and analytical interests, experiment with AI-assisted transcription, multimodal annotation, and visualization tools within GRAPE-MARS, and reflect critically on hybrid human–AI workflows and their methodological implications for humanities research. Participants are welcome to bring their own video data to annotate (60’’ max), while we will also make sample videos available for practice.
The third and final part introduces the next generation of GRAPE-MARS currently under development, and opens a collective discussion on the future of multimodal analysis — including its transfer potential beyond academia in areas such as media analysis, education, and the communication industries.
The workshop is especially relevant for students and researchers working on multimodal communication, discourse analysis, digital humanities, and AI-assisted approaches to audiovisual data. Note: Participants willing to test Grape-Mars will need a computer equipped with Google Chrome and a downloaded video (60’’ max)
About the speakers
Mª Noelia Ruiz Madrid is coordinator of the GRAPE research group and Full Professor in the Department of English Studies at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain), where she teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the areas of EAP, ESP, and EFL methodology. Her research interests are related to Multimodal Discourse Analysis, ICLHE, and ICT applied to language learning. She has published in JEAP, Discourse Studies, Language and Communication, Ibérica, Multimodal Communication, Routledge, Springer, and Peter Lang, among others.
Edgar Bernad-Mechó is Assistant Professor at Universitat Jaume I, Spain. He specializes in the use of metadiscourse and multimodality in academic contexts and for science dissemination. He has published papers in journals like the Journal of English for Academic Purposes or Discourse Studies, and co-edited a special issue on multimodality for Ibérica and a volume on English as a Medium of Instruction and multimodality for Routledge. In his recent studies, he has explored the modal density and coherence of YouTube videos for science dissemination and examined the use of humor and other engagement strategies in online science communication.
Julia Valeiras-Jurado holds a Doctor’s Degree in Linguistics from Jaume I University and Ghent University. She is assistant professor at Universitat Jaume I. Her research interests include oral discourse and genres, persuasive language, multimodality, and multimodal genre pedagogy. Her publications have appeared in Ibérica, Discourse Studies, Multimodal Communication, International Journal of English Studies, and Journal of English for Academic Purposes, among others.
Pictures available here: www.grape.uji.es
The Visual and Multimodal Research Forum 