The present study investigated students’ (N = 404) interpretations of the main message and use of modes in a persuasive multimodal video on vaccines. It also examined whether students’ topic knowledge, language arts grades, and self-identified gender were associated with their interpretations. Students analyzed a YouTube video in which two entertainers demonstrated the importance of vaccinating children. Students’ interpretations of the usefulness of vaccines varied in terms of quality of reasoning, which was associated with students’ topic knowledge. Notably, many students’ interpretations of the use of modes were incomplete, or they did not even mention certain modes in their response. The results suggest that students should be explicitly taught how to interpret different modes and their uses for argumentative purposes.

本研究调查学生（ñ= 404）主要信息的解释和有关疫苗的具有说服力的多模式视频中的模式使用。它还检查了学生的主题知识，语言艺术等级和自我认同的性别是否与他们的解释相关联。学生分析了一个YouTube视频，其中两个表演者展示了给孩子接种疫苗的重要性。学生对疫苗有用性的解释因推理质量而异，这与学生的主题知识有关。值得注意的是，许多学生对模式使用的解释是不完整的，或者他们甚至没有在回答中提及某些模式。结果表明，应该明确地教导学生如何解释不同的模式及其在辩论中的用途。