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The fast development of English Language Teaching (ELT) has placed multimodal resources at the forefront of modern pedagogy, especially with global trends favoring visual and interactive learning. This study presents a qualitative multimodal analysis of chapter opening covers from three English textbooks published by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education under the SIBI platform. Using Kress and Van Leeuwen’s framework, covering representational, interactional, and compositional meanings, alongside Carl Jewitt’s view on intersemiotic complementarity, the research explores how visual and textual elements work together to create meaning. Findings show that the covers contain rich multimodal features that support deeper understanding and student engagement. These elements help teachers design apperception activities, activate prior knowledge, and motivate learners. By using the chapter covers effectively, educators can ease transitions into lessons, clarify language points, and link students’ experiences with new contexts. In Indonesia’s educational setting, where relevance and engagement are key, these multimodal tools offer practical benefits for innovative teaching. This study highlights how textbook design can serve as an active resource in ELT, aligning with global trends while addressing local needs.

ELT practices; Indonesian context; multimodal analysis; textbook design; visual literacy