The EFL teaching and learning in Chinese higher vocational colleges are undergoing reforms directed to the shift from teacher-centered knowledge transmission to learner-centered experience and knowledge construction. However, this shift faces some challenges partly due to the conception of learning and college students’ teacher-centered habits and expectations. Furthermore, Chinese students in higher vocational colleges do not have a good command of English so with less confidence, their shift from passive knowledge receivers to active EFL practitioners is not easy. Therefore, it is valuable to research what pedagogy can help fulfill this shift and then enhance their learning effect and subjectivity. This paper is devoted to explore the multimodality, the multimodal pedagogy and the possible methods of implementing this pedagogy in Chinese EFL classrooms of higher vocational colleges. The application of multimodal teaching and learning shows that this strategy greatly increases learners’ participation and enriches their experiences as EFL utilizers due to the learning process through their five senses or various modes, and even with their whole being. The described methods may provide the practical reference on how the multimodal pedagogy could be applied in the EFL classroom and on how to engage the passive learners with the active learning and knowledge construction. However, it should be noted that these pedagogical methods may need amendments and the statistical support on the basis of an empirical study in the future if possible.

EFL, nature of learning, learners’ subjectivity, multimodal pedagogy