Beyond Text: Multimodal Composition as a Resource for Analytical Meaning-Making in Undergraduate Saudi EFL Writing

Although academic communication increasingly involves multiple semiotic resources, writing instruction in many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts remains predominantly text-centered. Digital multimodal composition offers opportunities to extend analytical writing beyond exclusively linguistic forms of representation by integrating written, visual, audiovisual, and spatial resources. This qualitative study examines how Saudi undergraduate EFL students use and perceive Digital Multimodal Analytical Essays (DMAEs) as resources for constructing analytical meaning. Drawing on multimodal content analysis of 42 DMAEs and thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, the study explores the relationship between students' compositional practices and their reported experiences. The findings indicate that participants perceived multimodal resources as helpful for communicating ideas, presenting evidence, and supporting analytical interpretation. However, the analysis of the DMAEs revealed variation in how effectively students coordinated these resources. While some compositions demonstrated purposeful integration of visual and audiovisual evidence with written interpretation, others relied primarily on written commentary, with multimodal elements serving illustrative or redundant functions. This contrast highlights a tension between students' perceptions of multimodal composition and their observed practices. The findings suggest that multimodal composition can provide additional resources for analytical meaning-making, but its contribution depends on how effectively different modes are coordinated. Pedagogically, the study highlights the value of explicit instruction in modal affordances and intermodal coordination to support the purposeful integration of multimodal resources in EFL analytical writing. Received: 27 July 2026 / Accepted: 24 October 2026 / Published: November 2026