Multimodal research represents an integrative research paradigm that synthesizes multiple approaches, spanning the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and technology. With its strong interdisciplinary character, it has become an international frontier. To advance this field, the School of Foreign Studies at Tongji University hostedthe First National High-Level Forum on Multimodal Studiesfrom November 24 to 26, 2017. This was the inaugural academic conference in China specifically dedicated to multimodal research, attracting significant scholarly attention. Chinese Social Sciences Today provided comprehensive front-page coverage of the forum’s organization and the state of multimodal research in China in its November 26, 2017 edition.

Research on the discourse of special populations (e.g., elderly individuals with dementia, children with autism, people with mental or neurological disorders, and hard-of-hearing individuals) holds both theoretical value and social benefits. It represents a crucial way for linguistics and related disciplines to respond to national strategies and demonstrate social commitment. To foster this field, Tongji University established the Research Center for Language and Aging and the Institute of Linguistics and Multimodal Semiotics, conducting research on discourses of special populations—focusing on gerontological linguistics—from a multimodal perspective. Tongji’s multimodal research encompasses various approaches, including multimodal discourse analysis and multimodal corpora, and spans fields such as social semiotics, educational semiotics, and clinical semiotics. The team emphasizes practical applications, actively pursuing research on multimodal teaching and learning, as well as multimodal interventions for speech disorders. Zhejiang University has established the Center for Multimodal Communication and Synergy, forming a research team dedicated to discourses of special populations with a focus on children with autism. Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), through its Center for Speech and Language Sciences, specializes in researching the language abilities and impairments of healthy elderly individuals and those with Alzheimer’s disease, conducting the earliest linguistic studies on Alzheimer’s patients in China.

To create academic exchange platforms and advance scientific research on discourses of special populations, the School of International Studies at Zhejiang University hosted the First High-Level Forum on Discourses of Special Populations from November 3 to 5, 2017. Given that language attrition in the elderly is a significant component of special populations discourse research, and to promote the emerging field of gerontological linguistics, the Research Center for Language and Aging at Tongji University organized the First National Gerontological Linguistics Workshop from March 15 to 17, 2019. This workshop received attention from major media outlets such as People’s Daily Online and Chinese Social Sciences Today.

Starting in 2018, with the goal of integrating multimodal research and studies on discourses of special populations through interdisciplinary collaboration—adopting a problem-oriented approach and highlighting distinctive strengths—the School of Foreign Studies at Tongji University held the Second Multidisciplinary Quest Forum on Multimodal Studies and Discourses of Special Populations from November 2 to 4, 2018. The organizing committee invited renowned domestic and international scholars to deliver keynote addresses and provided training in research methods.

The Third Forum on Discourses of Special Populations and Neural Mechanisms, combined with a workshop on multimodal research, was organized by the Center for Speech and Language Sciences at BTBU’s School of Foreign Languages and held in Beijing from October 18 to 20, 2019. Prior to the forum, free workshops on EEG and eye-tracking methodologies were offered.

The Fourth Forum will be hosted by Qufu Normal University in 2020.

In addition to organizing annual academic forums, and to further advance research in related fields, the School of Foreign Studies at Tongji University has taken the lead in planning and publishing the Multimodal Studies and Discourses of Special Populations book series in China. The series includes:Multimodality and Foreign Language Education Research, Speech Act Force Studies Based on Multimodal Corpora: New Explorations in Multimodal Pragmatics, Gerontological Linguistics and Multimodal Studies(forthcoming), and Mechanisms of Doctor-Patient Interaction: From Linguistic Ontology to Multimodality(forthcoming). Furthermore, Gu Yueguo, an adjunct professor at Tongji University and researcher at the Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, guest-edited a special section on “Aging Society and Gerontological Linguistics” in Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning (Issue 5, 2019), published by The Commercial Press. Zhang Delu, a distinguished professor at Tongji University, has also repeatedly guest-edited columns on multimodal research in various academic journals.

Beyond these efforts, the research teams from the three aforementioned universities place a strong emphasis on social service and the translation of research outcomes. Collaborating with hospital departments and social organizations, they provide the public with services such as science popularization, screening, and rehabilitation. Examples include Tongji University’s "Shiyi" Cognitive Impairment Public Welfare Service, Zhejiang University’s Public Welfare Service for Children with Autism, and the Public Service for Language and Cognition in the Aging Population offered by the Center for Speech and Language Sciences at BTBU.

The organizers of the forum series have also launched the official WeChat public account“Multimodal Studies and Discourses of Special Populations”to regularly disseminate academic information and facilitate scholarly exchange.

The organization of the"Multidisciplinary Research on Multimodal Studies and Discourses of Special Populations"forum series and the publication of the "Multimodal Studies and Discourses of Special Populations" book series have established vital academic exchange platforms for these fields in China, making significant contributions to the development of Chinese linguistics in the new era.