Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

Region III

LYCEUM OF WESTERN LUZON ZAMBALES, INC.

Batonlapoc, Botolan, Zambales

PURPOSIVE
COMMUNICATION
Module 5: Evaluating Messages and Images of Different Types of Texts

MARIE AILEEN M. SANTOS

Instructor

JOSSETTE Y. PEREZ-DAES
School President
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Lesson 5. EVALUATING MESSAGES AND IMAGES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF

TEXTS

Communication in the 21st century demands learners to become critical readers of different text
types reflecting different cultures. Texts provide the means for communicating and form an
important part of study in any given course. It is important to understand how the features of
texts affect reading comprehension, particularly in examining similarities and differences of the
traditional print-based and multimodal texts. Pardo (2004) explains that these types of texts share
characteristics that may include an understanding of the author’s intent, the social purpose of the
text, how it is structured, how well it is written, the subject matter, vocabulary, language choices,
the reading level, and other surface features. Hence, evaluating these text types is given emphasis
on these characteristics modes that offer significant information that could help enrich an
available schema.

Evaluating messages and images of different types of texts requires the evaluator to
comprehend the initial textual data that lie on text features. It involves the active construction of
meaning through the interaction of the evaluator who is engaged on critically reading print-based
or multimodal texts. Print-based refers to those texts that are prepared in prints, but any printed
text is a multimodal text since it involves various communication modalities. Hence, multimodal
texts refer to those types of texts that use a combination of two or more communication modes,
for instance, print, image, and spoken text as in film or computer representations. In the 21 st
century, however, readers tend to devote much of their time reading and comprehending
multimodal texts.

Using multimodal texts require learners to reconsider its nature, the cultural diversity of
readers, and the complex technological environments. The texts should, therefore, be selected
with care for the purpose of exploring one key understanding of how texts have different
meanings for readers with different cultural orientations.

Multimodal Texts

When a text combines two or more semiotic systems (linguistic, visual, audio,
gestural, spatial), it is considered multimodal. Semiotic is the study of meaning-making. It
explores signs and symbols as important components of communication.
The syllabus of the Australian Curriculum mentions that language modes such as
listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing are often integrated and
interdependent activities used in evaluating texts in order to shape meaning and that any
combination of the modes may be involved in responding to or composing print, sound, visual,
or multimedia text. Hence, multimodal texts can be print, digital, or live.
Forms of multimodal texts:
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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, e-
posters, 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
images.
3. Audio system. This mode refers to the volume, pitch, and rhythm and sound effects of
a presentation.
4. Gesture system. It denotes the movement, facial expressions, 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. They key elements of the communication situation (sender,
message, medium, receiver [audience], and context) provide an understanding of multimodal
texts; hence, this knowledge should be expanded in order to accommodate and include in your
understanding the messages multimodal texts provide.

Critical Reading of Multimodal Texts

Critical reading is the process of reading that goes beyond comprehension of a text. It
means to say that no one to be critical reader must be actively involved in responding to the
reading text. It is very useful at all stages of academic study, but it is particularly important when
evaluating messages of multimodal texts.

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; and
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4. Looking at the image and deciding how the reading fits into the greater academic
context.
One 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
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. Consider the following questions
(Thoughtful Learning, 2014):
Source
1. Who created the message? I 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)?
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 psychological. Studies shows that those
who are practice listening skills gets better grades, higher pay and achieve their goals more often
than those who do not. For you to be able to access the message of an argument, you must be a
critical listener. 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 the truth, authenticity, and relevance. Kadjan-Baumeyer (2018) claims that
listening is a critical thinking activity; hence, Lynch qualifies that critical thinking:
1. Involves being able to access the strengths and weaknesses of an argument;
2. Involves being able to distinguish between fact, theory, and opinions of an argument;
3. Allows for thinking outside the box;
4. Allows for compromise and growth;
5. Involves being able to judge the credibility of sources;
6. Requires accessing the quality of evidence;
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7. Involves discerning relationships between ideas;

8. Involves priorities on what to remember and in what context;
9. Allows for fewer mistakes a d reduces trial and error in everyday life;
10. Does not mean negative thinking;
11. Is a normal process that requires practice and reinforcement;
12. Requires an open mind and the ability to consider and understand all side of an issue; and
13. Means replacing name calling and images with reason compromise and the ability to
persuade instead of attack.

Multimodal texts demand one to posses critical thinking because listening and reading
are two language skills that require this active mental processing. To analyze multimodal texts,
Kadjan-Baumeyer suggests to readers and listeners 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. Look for thins like
dates and sources.
2. Evaluate the argument 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. Sometimes, a speaker uses overstatements to stress a point and to make it more
appealing. It is perfectly legal, but it can be misleading. When it comes to evaluating an
argument, there are few things you can do to get the most information.

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. Wherever 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 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, messages, medium, audience, and context.
Using the evaluation checklist (Thoughtful Learning 2014) in evaluating messages,
we will create sample evaluation of text in this section.
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1. Source
Readers or listeners of text should ask
first about its authorship. There is a need
to identify if the source is an individual
or a team although the number of writers
does not warrant credibility of the text.
Examine if the source is reliable or not.
This can be determined through the
background information about the
source. Evaluate the 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. What does the message say?

You may also ask questions 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. It is the reason that makes a claim or a
main point. The main point is no less the main idea or the claim of the source. It can be implicitly
or explicitly expressed in the text. An explicit main point is well expressed in the text. Certain
features of the text would lead to features like sentences, phrases, clauses that provide an
immediate extract of the main point is an explicit expression of the main point. Whereas, the
implicit main point is covertly expressed in the text and can only be extracted based on
suggestive features such as graphics, images, or sound effects. How a message supports its main
point depend on the format and purpose of the message. An online research article, for example,
may use citations, experiments, observations, interviews, statistical data, or graphics to support
its main point, while an outline advertisement may use demonstration and testimonials to
promote a product.
Moreover, readers should also check the accuracy of the message. Double-checking
facts and details should be done to recognize flaws in logic. Therefore, it is important to
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understand the difference between and among fact, opinion, and claim. Revisiting the
differences, a fact is a statement about the real world that can be shown to be true and can be
checked for accuracy through gathering of evidence. An opinion, however, is a self-report or
attitudinal statement of feelings or personal judgment. A claim is a debatable statement that can
be supported with evidence and reason.

Evaluating Logic and Balance

W h e n e v a l u a t i
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 balance, 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 presents 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 than others. A biased statement is characterized by prejudice, partially, or preference for
or against a person, an object, or an idea. Biased information has the following indicators:
a. The language is offensive; expressions 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 oversimplify or over generalize.
d. The message is on-sided or it only presents a limited viewpoint.

Analyzing point 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 are left out?

Creating Meaning through Images and Sounds

Multimodal texts like presentations, advertisements, newscasts, videos, broadcasts,
animation, infographics are created beyond words. Visual elements and sound
techniques can affect your interpretation of a message. You may ask: What images or sounds
catch my attention?
Visual elements include lighting, camera angle, composition, and body language.
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1. Lighting. Low lighting suggests sadness or fear, while bright lighting conveys
happiness or joy. Soft lighting expresses beauty and romance. Use color and tone
to reflect the mood you are trying to create in your image.
2. Camera Angle. This visual element is used to position the viewers so that they
can understand the relationship between the characters. It is very important in
shaping meaning in film as well as in other visual texts. A low-angle view makes
people or things appear larger that they actually are, often indicating importance.
Conversely, a high angle view makes people or things appear smaller and less
significant.
3. Composition. Visual elements should be arranged in a manner that they do not
affect the viewer’s perception. Arrangements such as, clos ups of a face convey
tension or intimacy, wider views showing people or things and their surroundings
usually express significance of the setting.
4. Body language. Non-linguistic elements like the boy language are more revealing
than words. They seem to be more catchy than the words provided in the text.

Sound Techniques
a. Sound effects. This sound technique that is added after the filming enhances a
scene making it realistic although the effects themselves are often artificially
produced.
b. Music. This is another sound technique that affects the mood and intensity of a
scene. Fast-paced music use rhythm and volume to heighten drama and often
accompany car chases, fight scenes, and other action-pack scenes. Slower, softer,
intentionally expressive compositions can create tension and foreboding, as in
gothic films.
c. Voice-over or narration. Some videos or films and television shows use a
narrator other than the characters in the story to speak to the audience. For
example, a narrator may be assigned to describe the series of events portrayed in a
video clip that has no subtitle and dialogue between and among characters.

3. Medium
The medium in transmitting the message may be conventional or digital
although they are often mixed up in a communication situation. Sometimes, print-
based communication needs to be backed up by a digital form in order to achieve a
better and faster communication.

Conventional media are no less than the broadcast and print-based

communication, while digital media include hypertext formats. Hypertext refers to the
structuring of information in blocks of text which are not connected by electronic
links (Kitson, 2011). Below are the different types of media:
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CONVENTIONAL MEDIA
broadcast movies radio
television music
print letters books
booklets brochures
magazines comics
cards mindmap
signs sketchnotes
billboards visual notes
DIGITAL MEDIA
websites presentations blogs
emails Social networks wikis
e-books Streaming music screencast
smartphones Streaming video typedrawing

4. Audience
The audience in the communication situation refers to the receiver of the message.
It may be a person or a group for whom a message is created. Some texts like
personal email, an invitation to deliver a talk, or a thank-you note target just one
person, but other texts are meant for larger audiences like research reports,
advertisements, signage, books, brochures, among other communication forms. Two
important questions guide audience adaptation in multimodal communication: (1)
who is the target audience of the text? and (2) how might other people interpret its
message?

Understanding the message of a multimodal texts activates personal factors about

the audience such as cultures, values, and life experiences. These factors all play a
role in perceiving the transmitted message. Your evaluation of a message is a
reflection of your upbringing education, economic status, interest, aspirations, beliefs,
and culture.

In determining the target audience of a multimodal text, you may examine its
content. For instance, if it is an advertisement, advertisers must often craft messages
based on the audience’s characteristics, such as age, gender, education, occupation,
economic status, habits and interest, religion and culture. That is why, advertisements
in televisions have their particular time slots in order to suit said advertisements to
audiences at a particular time. You would notice that you can see different
advertisement aired during a boxing rematch, a beauty pageant, and a noontime show
like “Showtime”. This selectiveness in airing or posting advertisements is intended to
filter selective messages to highly targeted audiences.
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5. Context
Context in this section includes the purposes and authorship of the text. a text
serves at least one of three purposes: to inform, to entertain, or to persuade. Often, a
text fulfills all three purposes at once. Magazines, for example, may entertain its
readers, but it may also inform and persuade them. Consider and analyze the purpose
before sending any messages. The following are questions that may be used in
evaluating context:

What is the purpose of the message?

1. To inform. The message provides the audience with a clear understanding of the
concept presented by the source. Most of these multimodal texts like books, e-
books, letters, blogposts, emails, magazines, newspapers, video tutorials,
television newscasts, documentaries, and presentations are created for information
dissemination. These multimodal texts were built on society’s interest in learning
and keeping us breast of what is happening in the world. Messages that are meant
to inform or educate are typically free from biased messages. Those messages that
aim to entertain or persuade readers are more prone to biased language. Therefore,
the audience should be sensitive to any organizational bias that might accompany
the message.
2. To entertain. The message or the text amuses the audience. Some of these
multimodal texts that aim to entertain are television sitcoms or primetime shows,
movies, music, sports and travel broadcast, social networks, magazines and
comics. Popular entertainment media are appealing and inviting to advertisers
because they are read and viewed by large audiences who can also be their
potential subscribers or customers.
3. To persuade. The audience is provided with well-argued ideas that can influence
their own beliefs and decisions. Persuasive devices are easy to recognize in
advertisements and commercials, but they are subtle in other media forms. For
instance, a product endorsement may influence you to think one way because the
endorser only talks about the benefits of the product. Media literate individuals
are able to weigh the pros and cons, the advantages and disadvantages, or the
benefits and harmful effects of a certain product; hence, they make up their minds
on an issue before subscribing or trying it.

Who controls the transmission of the message?

One critical question in evaluating messages is in authorship. The creator of the
message was already identified in the earlier section of this topic, but the question on ownership
is another layer of analysis. The message is created by an author who controls the distribution or
dissemination of the message. The three main categories of ownership are identified as:
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1. Government. Multimodal texts that were created by government offices are state-owned
and must be carefully evaluated for propaganda – publicity, advertising, marketing and
information dissemination. Most of the texts are available for preferences and have their
predetermined retention periods.
2. Corporations. Most of media messages are controlled by the private companies.
Different forms of multimodal texts like videos, newspapers, magazines, movies, web
sites are controlled by giant corporations. These media forms are business motivated by
commercials interests, which are gained through advertising. Audiences, readers and
viewers alike should evaluate the message if it serves their best interests or the
corporation’s interest.
3. Individuals. Personal creations are interdependent media forms. Texts and other media
forms that are free of government and corporate influences are controlled by individuals.
Digital-based technologies have greatly helped and promoted independent media voices.
Citizen journalism is a practice that has gained momentum and is now easy for the
journalist to report meaningful news to a large audience due to digital media. Likewise, a
widespread of audience has already advancing and enjoying to spread information
through social media. All of these means of technology have brought an individual source
to be capable producer and creator of meaningful, timely, and interesting messages.