Visual Aspects of Media Literacy

Abstract

A central component of media literacy should be an understanding of the representational conventions through which the users of media create and share meanings. This paper analyzes the representational conventions of visual communications. It distinguishes between semantic and syntactic conventions and focuses on those characteristics that most sharply differentiate visual language from other modes of communication. It examines the impact of visual literacy on viewers' cognitive growth and on their development as informed consumers of visual media.

Multimodality and Genre

“…Moreover, even when a document designer has done their job well and set reasonable demands on a reader, used the visual resources consistently, etc., it is still by no means clear that a reader will be in a position to recognise and interpret the visual modalities deployed without appropriate training-a concern addressed increasingly by visual literacy (cf. Dondis 1972, Messaris 1998, Messaris and Moriarty 2005, Seppänen 2006). …”

Managing Voter Impressions: The Use of Images on Presidential Candidate Web Sites During the 2000 Campaign

“…Voters could have interpreted this as a lack of concern by Humphrey for significant national problems. Messaris (1998) has described two basic properties of visual language: The first is the ''analogical relationship between images and the concepts for which they stand'' and the second is the ''implicitness of the connections established through visual syntax'' (p. 77). As Messaris and Abraham (2001) explained, ''the central characteristic of images, which most clearly distinguishes them from words, is the fact that images constitute a largely analogical system of communication, whereas words are almost wholly arbitrary'' [italics added] (p. 216).…”

Valores de lectura icónica en estudiantes de educación superior: identificación y desarrollo de propuestas

“…Dentro de los ámbitos académicos existen fuertes consensos en relación con la importancia de la lectura icónica en los procesos cognitivos, entre los que se destaca, que: (i) la cultura visual es la esencia de la alfabetización visual (Ferreras Rodríguez y Leite, 2008); (ii) el acceso y la necesidad de las imágenes para la vida cotidiana resulta ineludible, aunque para muchos posicionar la imagen sobre la escritura tiende a causar daños a la sociedad (Blázquez Entonado, 2001); (iii) la construcción de conocimiento y de identidades socioculturales está influenciada por la escuela, pero además, por el mercado de la publicidad (Mercado Maldonado y Hernández Oliva, 2010); (iv) la lectura icónica puede servir para el desarrollo de la creatividad y para ampliar la capacidad cognitiva de los individuos (Messaris, 1998); y (vi) propicia el desarrollo de la percepción y el almacenamiento de conocimientos, incluso influyendo en el mejor desempeño escolar de los estudiantes (Ferreras Rodríguez y Leite, 2008).…”