A Multimodal Pragmatic Analysis of Iranian Teacherpreneurs' Instagram Ads: The Role of Non-Verbal Elements in Learner Engagement

In the era of digital transformation in language education in Iran, entrepreneurial teachers have emerged as key players in the online education market, turning Instagram into a primary platform for promoting language courses, private classes, and educational content. This study employs a multimodal pragmatic approach to precisely examine the role of non-verbal elements including teachers' personal images, short teaching videos, emotional and motivational emojis, background music, graphic color schemes, learner progress infographics, and visual call-to-action (CTA) elements-in ۵۰ selected promotional posts from Iranian English language entrepreneurial teachers' accounts with at least ۵,۰۰۰ followers, spanning October to November ۲۰۲۵. Data were collected via ethical scraping of public posts, highlighted stories, and semi-structured interviews with ۱۰ teachers, then analyzed using SPSS software. Results revealed that non-verbal elements account for over ۶۸% of the variance in learner attraction (R۲=۰.۶۸, F=۳۲.۴۵, p<۰.۰۰۱), with teacher images showing the strongest correlation in credibility building (r=۰.۸۲, p<۰.۰۱), while videos increased conversion rates by ۴۰% (t=۵.۶۷, p<۰.۰۰۱). Emojis and ۱۰۰ demonstrated significant distribution (x=۴۵.۳۲, p<۰.۰۰۱), reinforcing directive and expressive speech acts. Representational speech acts were identified in ۷۵%, directive in ۸۰%, and expressive in ۶۵% of posts. This study localizes the multimodal pragmatic framework in the Iranian cultural context, demonstrating that in Iran's collectivist and visually oriented culture, non-verbal elements serve as effective substitutes for direct expression, guiding learner registration behavior through emotional empathy, trust-building, and implicit CTAs. Findings align with global research but highlight local features such as emphasis on personal images and warm colors.

کلیدواژه ها:

Multimodal analysis ، pragmatics ، Instagram advertising ، entrepreneurial teachers ، non-verbal elements ، learner attraction ، speech acts ، visual culture