Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites
The "About Us" sections of private hospital websites are essential for establishing credibility, highlighting unique offerings, and building trust with potential local and international patients. These sections are crucial in promoting private hospitals and contributing to the growth o...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2025
|
| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/1/Gema_25_1_5.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848816491485462528 |
|---|---|
| author | Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, Wan Fatimah Solihah Wan Abdul Halim, |
| author_facet | Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, Wan Fatimah Solihah Wan Abdul Halim, |
| author_sort | Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The "About Us" sections of private hospital websites are essential for establishing credibility,
highlighting unique offerings, and building trust with potential local and international patients.
These sections are crucial in promoting private hospitals and contributing to the growth of the
medical tourism industry. However, limited research has explored the effectiveness of this
promotional channel, particularly from a multimodal perspective. Limited prior studies have
examined the generic structure of this section by integrating multimodal discourse analysis. This
study employs a multimodal move analysis framework to examine the "About Us" sections of 41
Malaysian private hospital websites, with "move" as distinct strategies or steps that collectively
develop rhetorical strategies to fulfill specific communicative purposes. The methodology includes
two phases: verbal move analysis, guided by Swales’ genre analysis framework, to identify
rhetorical moves expressed through text, and visual move analysis, based on Kress and van
Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar Theory, to explore representational, interactive, and compositional
meanings of visual elements. The findings reveal how verbal and visual elements interact to
achieve cohesive communicative goals. Verbal components emphasize credibility,
professionalism, and technological advancements, while visuals such as images, diagrams, and
banners evoke trust, engagement, and emotional resonance. Moves like "Establishing Credentials"
and "Indicating Value of the Hospital" are achieved through a combination of text and visuals,
creating cohesive representations. This study provides insights into how private hospitals can
leverage multimodal strategies to promote their services and attract international medical tourists
and collaborators effectively. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:06:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:25956 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:06:43Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:259562025-10-07T07:15:49Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/ Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, Wan Fatimah Solihah Wan Abdul Halim, The "About Us" sections of private hospital websites are essential for establishing credibility, highlighting unique offerings, and building trust with potential local and international patients. These sections are crucial in promoting private hospitals and contributing to the growth of the medical tourism industry. However, limited research has explored the effectiveness of this promotional channel, particularly from a multimodal perspective. Limited prior studies have examined the generic structure of this section by integrating multimodal discourse analysis. This study employs a multimodal move analysis framework to examine the "About Us" sections of 41 Malaysian private hospital websites, with "move" as distinct strategies or steps that collectively develop rhetorical strategies to fulfill specific communicative purposes. The methodology includes two phases: verbal move analysis, guided by Swales’ genre analysis framework, to identify rhetorical moves expressed through text, and visual move analysis, based on Kress and van Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar Theory, to explore representational, interactive, and compositional meanings of visual elements. The findings reveal how verbal and visual elements interact to achieve cohesive communicative goals. Verbal components emphasize credibility, professionalism, and technological advancements, while visuals such as images, diagrams, and banners evoke trust, engagement, and emotional resonance. Moves like "Establishing Credentials" and "Indicating Value of the Hospital" are achieved through a combination of text and visuals, creating cohesive representations. This study provides insights into how private hospitals can leverage multimodal strategies to promote their services and attract international medical tourists and collaborators effectively. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2025 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/1/Gema_25_1_5.pdf Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, and Wan Fatimah Solihah Wan Abdul Halim, (2025) Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 25 (1). pp. 75-101. ISSN 1675-8021 https://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1803 |
| spellingShingle | Nasser Salimi Aghbolagh, Wan Fatimah Solihah Wan Abdul Halim, Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title | Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title_full | Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title_fullStr | Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title_short | Multimodal moves in the "About Us" section of Malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| title_sort | multimodal moves in the "about us" section of malaysian private hospitals’ websites |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25956/1/Gema_25_1_5.pdf |