Across the islands: A multimodal discourse analysis of government homepages

This article examines the homepages of two island governments: American Hawaii and Chinese Hainan. Under Pauwels' (2012) multimodal framework for analysing websites as cultural expressions, we investigate how the homepages construct identities and multimodally portray the islands as tourist destinations. Through attractive imagery, interpersonal linguistic choices, and interactive links to social media, Hawaii's homepage depicts the state's identity as a modern, welcoming indigenous community. Hainan's website has a Chinese version and an English version. With a newspaper type of official and formal presentation, the Chinese homepage promotes the provincial government's identity as a traditional administration and information hub by extensively using impersonal semiotic resources with limited interactivity. In contrast, the English homepage creates an identity as a thoughtful caretaker and attentive administrator who provides practical resources to meet the needs of foreign guests. In terms of semiotic use and visual design, Hainan's English homepage seems to position itself between two extremes: Hainan's Chinese homepage and the Hawaii homepage. The homepage differences can be explained from the standpoint of communication purposes and cultural values. Although all three belong to a pragmatic discourse type, these homepages situate themselves at different points on a continuum. This paper highlights the importance of researching the relationship between cultural specificity and webpage design.