Multimodal Persuasion Strategies in English Learning Advertisements

Abstract

In the digital communication era, English learning advertisements have evolved from language-only persuasion to complex semiotic events that integrate language, image, sound, and space. Drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual grammar and Aristotle’s three persuasive appeals, this study analyzes two real-world cases—Duolingo’s “social-first” campaign and Liulishuo’s “AI Teacher” brand film—to examine how multimodal persuasion strategies operate in English learning advertisements. The findings reveal that these advertisements use language to create anxiety and promise transformation, visual images to construct ideal self-representations, sound to build emotional atmospheres, and interactive space to encourage user engagement. Through the orchestration of these modes, English learning advertisements achieve a distinctive persuasive mechanism: they redefine English proficiency not merely as a language skill but as a gateway to a higher-order identity. This identity reconfiguration drives consumer action. The study provides theoretical insights for advertising practitioners and contributes to the marketing research of English language education.