CHAPTER 5: EVALUATING MESSAGES AND IMAGES Of

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXTS

• Communication in the 21st century demands learners to become critical readers of different cultures.

• Text provide the means for communicating and form an important part of study in any given course.

• Evaluating messages and images of different types of texts requires the evaluator to comprehend the
initial textual data that lie on the text features.

• Print-based refers do those text that are prepared in prints, but any printed text is a multimodal.

• Multimodal text refers to those types of text that use a combination of two or more communication
modes.

FORMS OF MULTIMODAL TEXTS

1. PAPER

— This form is print-based, such as, books, comics, posters, magazines.

2. DIGITAL

— It is computer-based like slide presentations, emails, e-books, blogs, web pages, social media,
animations, films, movies, video games.

3. LIVE

— It is a form of actual performance or an event.

Two or more of the following semiotic systems are included in a multimodal text.

1. LINGUISTIC SYSTEM

It refers to the linguistic components like vocabulary, structure, and grammar of a text.

2. VISUAL SYSTEM

It pertains to the color, vectors and viewpoint in still and moving objects.

3. AUDIO SYSTEM

This mode refers to the volume, pitch, and rhythm of music and sound effects of a presentation.
4. GESTURAL SYSTEM

It denotes the movement, facial expression, and body language of the characters.

5. SPATIAL SYSTEM

It indicates proximity, direction, position of layout, and organization of objects in space.

CRITICAL READING AND LISTENING

• Multimodal texts require readers and listeners to become critical readers and listeners. Since
comprehension is the central goal of both reading and listening, the ability to comprehend multimodal texts
develops students to become critical readers and listeners as well as active evaluators of multimodal texts.
The key elements of the communication situation (sender, message, medium, receiver (audience), and context
which it provide an understanding of multimodal texts.

CRITICAL READING OF MULTIMODAL TEXTS

•Critical reading is the process of reading that goes beyond comprehension of a text. It means to say that one
to be a critical reader must be actively involved in responding to the reading text.

Critical Reading Involves:

1. Carefully considering and evaluating a reading text;

2. Identifying the strengths and implications of the text;

3. Identifying the weaknesses of the text; an

4. Looking at the image and deciding how the reading fits into the greater academic context.

One who is a critical reader is inquisitive, always asks questions about the texts. Hence, the reader closely
examines the key elements of the text. These elements may affect how strong the message is, that is, how
convincing it is. However, before you consider the message, you should build up a background information
about the text or an image through considering the following questions :

SOURCE

1. Who created the message? Is the source reliable? Was it by a news organization, a public citizen, an
editorial team of a scientific journal, or an advertiser?
MESSAGE

2. What does the message say (subject, main point, support)?

3. Is the information fair and logical?

4. What points of view are shared in the message? Which ones are left out?

5. What images or sounds catch your attention?

MEDIUM

6. What type of text is used to deliver the message?

7. What are the advantages and limitations of the text format?

AUDIENCE

8. Who is the target audience of the message?

9. How might other people interpret the message of the text?

CONTEXT

10. What is the purpose of the message?

11. Who controls the transmission of this message?

LISTENING AS A CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY

 Listening is a voluntary active process,it is a psychological. According to Lynch(2013) adults

listen 50% or less,while teenager listen 25% or less. Studies show that those who are practice
listening skills get better grades, achieve their goals more often than those who do not.

 Critical listening requires active thinking because it goes far beyond just hearing a speaker's
message. It involves analyzing the information of a speech and making important decisions
about truth, authenticity and relevance.Lynch qualifies that critical thinking;

1. Involves being able to access the strength and weaknesses of an argument

2. Involves being able to distinguish between the fact, theory and opinion of an argument

3. Allows thinking outside the box.

4. Allows compromised and growth.

5. Involves being able to judge the credibility of source.

 6. Requires accessing the quality of evidence.

7. Involves discerning relationship between ideas.

8. Involves priorities on what to remember and in what context.

9. Allows for fewer mistakes and reduce trial and error in everyday life.

10. Does not mean negative thinking.

11. Is a normal process that requires practice and reinforcement.

12. Requires and open mind and ability to consider and understand all sides of an issue and.

13. Means replacing name calling and images with reason compromise and the ability to persuade
instead of attack.

 Multimodal text refers to any text that combines two or more modes of communication, such as
text, images, audio, video, and interactive elements. It can be found in various forms, including
websites, advertisements, presentations, and educational materials.Kadjan Baumeyer suggest to
readers and listener to perform the following;

1. Identify support for the claims, this means performing research to determine the process the
speaker used to actually gather facts and information

2. Evaluate the arguments of the speaker or the text, try to figure out whether the speaker is using
emotional appeals,a logical argument or actual evidence to state the case.

EVALUATING MULTIMODAL TEXTS

Putting communication at the front of your mind and becoming more aware of how you communicate in
a given situation can be informative and have many positive effects. Whenever you evaluate multimodal
texts, you are able to apply what you have learned about critical reading and listening to improve your
performance and overall experience. You also consider the key elements of communication in order to
evaluate messages within various relationships. Whenever you evaluate multimodal texts,
communication allows you to see more of what is going on around you, which allows you to participate
actively and competently in various communication in a multicultural setting.

Multimodal texts are constructed means such that they can also be deconstructed or separated into its
various parts-source, message, medium, audience, and context. We will create a text evaluation system
in this section, using the Evaluation Tool (Deliberate Learning, 2014) when evaluating the language.
1. SOURCE

 Readers or listeners should ask first about its authorship. Who created the message?
 Examine if the source is reliable. Is the source is reliable?

 Evaluate the choice about content did the source make. What choices about content did the
source make?

2. MESSAGE
— After evaluating the source, the content of the text should be examined in order to get its
message. There are various questions that one may ask in getting the message of the text
( Thoughtful Learning 2014)

A. a. What does the message say?

You may ask question such as:

 What is the subject?

 What is the main point?

 How is the main point supported?

B. Is the information fair and logical?

C. What points of view are shared in the message? Which ones are left out?

D. what images or sounds catch your attention?

IDENTIFYING THE SUBJECT, MAIN POINT, AND SUPPORT .

 The subject of the message may be a person, product,service,place,program among others.

 It concerns on what is talked about in the text

 The main point is no less the main idea or the claim of the source.It can be explicitly or
implicitoy expressed in the text.

 An explicitly main point is well expressed in the text.

 An implicitly main point is covertly expressed in the text and can only be extracted based on
suggestive features such as,graphics,images,or sound effects.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AND AMONG FACT, OPINION AND CLAIMS

1. FACT - is a statement about the real world that can be shown to be true and can be checked
for accuracy through gatherings of evidence.

2. OPINIONS - However is a self- report or additional statement of feelings or personal

judgement.

3. CLAIM - Is a debatable statement that can be supported with evidence and reason.

EVALUATING LOGIC AND BALANCE

When evaluating a message, it is important to examine the chain of reasoning used by the source, as
any gaps or problems can undermine the validity of the conclusion. You may ask; Is the information fair
and logical? Check out if key terms were defined, if it has logic and if there are flaws in the reasoning.
Likewise, examine if the information is fair. You have to consider whether the argument is appropriately
balanced, looking at the issue or problem from relevant perspectives. Evaluate if there are questions that
are not answered in the text, if the text is biased, if there are other perspectives on the issue, and if the
text present a counter argument.

Every point of the message should follow on from the last point. If there is a gap between two ideas,
this undermines the overall conclusion. Likewise, some readings are more biased that others. A biased
statement is characterized by prejudice, partiality, or preference for or against a person, an object, or
an idea. Biased information has the following indicators:

A. The language is offensive; expression might be biased in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, age,
and disability.

B. The message appeals more to the emotion rather than to reason or logic.

C. Ideas are worded with the intent to oversimplifly or over generalized.

D. The message is one-sided or it only presents a limited viewpoint.

ANALYZING POINTS OF VIEW

All multimodal text messages reflect the culture of their creators —their values, lifestyles, points of view,
preferences, among other things. A rigorous analysis can tell you about the source's values and
perspectives as well as those that are missing in the text the question on points of view should be given
importance: What points of view are shared in the message? Which ones left out?
Analyzing points of view in multimodal texts should also involve examining how broader societal
contexts influence the creation and reception of the message.

Identifying Shared Points of View: Look for explicit or implicit perspectives conveyed within the text. These
could include values, beliefs, attitudes, or preferences that are evident through language, imagery, design,
or other modalities

Identifying Missing Points of View: Consider perspectives that are not represented or acknowledged in the
text. This involves thinking critically about potential biases, omissions, or exclusions.

Analyzing Implications: Reflect on the significance of both the shared and missing points of view. This
involves considering the impact on audience perceptions, potential consequences, and opportunities for
greater inclusivity or diversity.Of course! When you look at ads or questions, think about what they say
and what they don't say.

CREATING MEANING THROUGH IMAGES AND SOUND

o Multimodal text like presentations, advertisement, newscast video, bring, animation
infographics are created beyond words.

o Virtual elements and sound technique can affect your interpretation of a image.

VISUAL ELEMENTS
1. LIGHTNING

• Low lighting suggest sadness or fear, while bright lightning conveys happiness or joy, soft
lightning express beauty and romance.

2. CAMERA ANGLE

This visual elements is used to position the viewers so that they can understand their rationship
between the characters. It is a very important in shaping meaning in film as well as in other visual texts.
A low angle view makes people or things appear larger than they actually are often indicating
importance. Conversely a high angle view makes people or things appear smaller and less significantel.

3. COMPOSITION

Visual elements should be arranged in a manner that they do not affect the viewers perception.
Arrangements such as close up a face convey attention or intimacy, wider views showing people or
things that dress surroundings usually express significance of the setting.
4. BODY LANGUAGE

Non-Linguistic elements like the body language are more revealing than words. They seem to be
more catchy than the words provided and the text.

SOUND TECHNIQUES
1. SOUND EFFECT

• This sound technique that is added after the filming enhances a scene making it realistic
although the effects themselves are often artificially produced.

2. MUSIC

• This is another sound technique that affect the mood and intensity of a scene.

3. VOICE - OVER OR NARRATION

• Some videos or film And television shows use narrator other than the characters in the story to
speak to the audience.

MEDIUM ANALYSIS: BOOK AS A MEDIA FORMAT

What type of text is used to deliver a message?

The book titled "Sentence building and paragraph writing" is a school based instructional material for
international students.

ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA FORMAT

 it provides intellectual discussion on various topic

 it has unique quality

 specialized format

But has educational advantages and limitations.

ADVANTAGES

The book was organized into a form that is logical linear and concise.

LIMITATION

Lack of inherent expressiveness of speech, absence of interaction and readers become very selective.

Each form of media has its inherent strength and limitations smart phone for instance or faster forms
than print based text but messages are very informal and cannot be kept as accessible public documents.
Social media messages are speedy and time saving but prone to imprecisions. Technical books are
accurate and informative but they lack visual appeal, interactive component, and rapid and up to date
delivery of message.

MEDIA TYPES THAT ARE SEEM TO BE BORING

o Letters

o Books

o Reports

MEDIA THAT ARE INTERESTING AND INVITING

o Blogs

o Television

o Radios

o Music

o Text messaging

o Social networks
AUDIENCE

 Refers to the receiver of the message it's either a person or group.

 Some texts are personal email, invitation to talk, or thank you note.

 Some texts are for larger audience like research reports, advertisement, signages, books, and
brochures.

Two important questions to guide audience adaptation and multimodal communication

1. Who is the target audience of the text?

2. How might other people interpret its messages?

In determining the target audience we need to know the audience characteristics, age, gender, education,
occupation, economic status, habits, interest, religion and culture.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS: SAMPLE RESEARCH ARTICLE

Who is the target audience of the text?

 The research article is intended for researchers in the field of linguistic and other related
disciplines like literature and communication arts.

 Students

 Teachers

 Researchers

How might other people interpret the message of the text?

 Readers from the same field understand the same content.

CONTEXT

— This section includes the purposes and authorship of the text.

3 Purposes

o To inform

o To persuade

o To entertain

Who controlled the transmission of the message?

3 MAIN CATEGORIES OF OWNERSHIP

1. GOVERNMENT - multimodal text that were created by government offices or state owned and
must be carefully evaluated for propaganda, publicity, advertising, marketing and information
dissemination.

2. CORPORATIONS - most media messages are controlled by private companies like videos,
newspapers, websites and more.

3. INDIVIDUALS - text and other media forms that are free of government and corporate
influences are controlled by individuals.