For Teachers

For Students

Bukidnon Association of Catholic School (BUACS), Inc.

Diocese of Malaybalay
SACRED HEART ACADEMY OF VALENCIA, INC.
Dagatkidavao, Valencia City, Bukidnon

MEDIA & INFORMATION LITERACY

Grade 11- Joy
FIRST QUARTER
School Year 2022-2023

Name of Learner: ______________________________________ Grade Level: __________________

Section: _____________________________________________ Date: ________________________
Teacher: MISS FRANCE LOISE P. CORONADO_____________ Date of Release: _______________
Date of Submission: ____________________________________ Date Received: ________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET NO. 5

Media and Information Languages
A. Background Information for Learners
In media studies, codes are known as a system or collection of signs that create meaning when put together.
Ex. As boy scouts or girl scouts, you might be familiar with the use of the Morse code, the smoke signals, or the
signal flags for relating a message to another. All three codes are organized and intelligence because the other
person who sees the code also understands the code. The meaning is agreed upon by the communicators
because the rules in understanding the codes are shared by members of a community that use that particular
code.
1. Differentiating Media Messages through Genres
Codes are better understood when you have a good grasp of what the genres in media are and how they
are classified and interpreted using codes and conventions. Genre is a French word for “type” or “kind”. Genre
has been a major component in understanding literature, theatre, film, television, and other art and media forms.
The grouping into recognizable categories of content of these forms is what characterizes genre. Each of these
categories is furthered marked by “particular set of conventions, features, and norms.”
2. Role of Genre in Understanding Media Messages
Genre helps audiences—readers and viewers—to understand the text by merely looking at hose signs
that you can recognize and interpret. Oftentimes, you may not understand the whole film you are watching but
because there are clues in context that these codes or signs provide, you are able to form interpretations. This is
why those who construct the message should “conform to certain standard practices within the boundaries of a
particular genre.” The codes in the genre guide the audience toward a particular understanding of the message.
But genre is not fixed or static.
2.1. Factors that may influence how messages may be understood:
2.1.2 Your role in the society—a student’s interpretation may be different from that of the working
adult.
2.1.2. Group purposes—your reasons for consuming the message affect your understanding of it, e.g.
when you watch for entertainment, you may tend to be less critical of the hidden intention of the message.
2.1.3 Professional and organizational preferences and prerequisites—your biases toward the
message may also affect your interpretation of it. A teacher’s perspective on Anti-Terror Law is different from
that of a police.
2.1.4. Cultural constraint—the culture you belong to may have a different way of looking at things
compared to other cultures.

3. Codes in Media Messages

Social and cultural values and beliefs are reflected in media content. In order to effectively understand
how media and content messages produce desired effects by both authors and audience, there should first be a
familiarity with genre codes and conventions.
 For Teachers
Codes consist of signs that have meanings are dictated by agreed rules of interpretation. Although code
guide the way of a message may be interpreted or understood, it is not guaranteed that all people will
understand the message in the same way that others would. The message is still open to miscommunication and
misinterpretation because of certain factors such as culture, personal biases, and level of knowledge. Culture
affects the way codes are interpreted. Perhaps the most common area on which codes are expected to be strictly
manifested are in audio-visual media messages such as films and television programs. Some of those codes may
be also be seen in printed media messages.
Major Code
Verbal Languages
Social Codes Bodily Codes
Commodity Codes
Behavioral Codes
Scientific Codes
Aesthetic Codes within the Various expressive
Textual Codes Representational Codes Genre, Rhetorical, and Stylistic Codes
Mass Media Codes
Interpretative Codes Perceptual Codes
Ideological Codes
These categories of codes are not exhaustive and rigid. An overlap may exist among these codes so the
“the most widely mentioned in the context of media, communication and cultural studies” are considered in this
topic.
The knowledge discussed in the table above are meant purely to introduce to you certain concepts that
may encounter in further study of the media. For you everyday consumption of media messages, the more
common codes which are characterized as technical, visual/symbolic, or written should be more practical at the
moment.

Technical -when equipment is used to tell the story in a media text which
Codes consequently affects how you can interpret the meaning of that text. These
are signs that are produced when camera techniques, framing, depth of
fields, lightning and exposure, and juxtaposition are utilized.
Ex. In video editing technique, a flashback would normally be shown in
black and white.
Visual/ -Codes that are embedded in the technical codes such as objects, setting,
Symbolic body, language, clothing, and color. The understanding of the message may
Codes depend on the receiver of the message.
Ex. In a soap opera, you may see a character dressed in black and crying
while seated on a rocking chair and caressing an object of importance to
him or her. Because of your familiarity with the cultural symbolism of
wearing black, you will begin to think that another character very dear to
the one crying has passed away.
Written Codes The use of language style and textual layout also express meaning. For
instance, the layout speaks about the degree of importance of a news story
with respect to other news stories. Typically, newspaper editors follow the
inverted “S” of news layout because the mode by which people read would
be from left to right and the upper fold of the newspaper down to the lower
fold. Captions, titles, slogans, taglines, and some other language elements
are also utilized in a way that may suggest a particular meaning. This is
more often dictated by editorial principles and policies of a particular news
agency/organization.

4. The Relationship of Codes and Textual Feature of Audio-visual Messages

 For Teachers
Codes are signs and for you to interpret what they mean, you have to be familiar with how these signs
operate. As an example, audio-visual media, i.e. film and television may be categorized based on recognizable
genres i.e., horror/thriller, fantasy, drama, science fiction, Western, and so on. In order to recognize the
properties of a particular genre of film that you watch, consider these textual features.

Textual Feature Distinctive Properties Attributed to a Film Genre

Narrative Similar plots and structures, predictable situations, sequences,
episodes, obstacles, conflicts, and resolutions
Characterization Similar types of characters, roles, personal qualities, motivations,
goals, behavior
Basic themes, topics, Social, cultural, psychological, professional, political, sexual, and
subject matter, and moral
values
Setting Geographical and historical
Iconography (echoing A familiar stock of images or motifs, the connotations of which
the narrative, have become fixed; primarily but not necessarily visual,
characterization, theme, including décor, costume and objects, certain ‘typecast’
and setting) performers, familiar patterns of dialogue, characteristic of music
and sounds, and appropriate physical topography.
Filmic techniques Stylistic or formal conventions of camerawork, lighting, sound
recording, use of color, editing, etc. (viewers are often less
conscious of such conventions that of those relating to content).

The features help you dissect the film and interpret it accordingly using these same features. You will
find that in your exposure to various films on the same genre, they share similar distinctive properties attributed
to that genre. Thus, when taken collectively, all these films define the genre where they belong to.
5. Conventions: Indicators of Content Familiarity
A convention refers to the generally accepted way of doing things that has formed into a habit because
of repeated exposure and experience of these messages. Sometimes a convention may prove to be a hindrance in
critically assessing media content or messages because people may grow too accustomed to them and they do
not see the values and biases that are embedded in the content. On the other hand, recognizing a convention
may be useful for keeping the audience’s guard up. When you are able to spot the convention used, you may
find it easier if there are any agenda or propaganda in media messages.
As you watch television programs, you may encounter, without knowing it, the different tropes i.e.
storytelling devices as the figures of speech that audiences recognize to easily because of their occurrences in
almost all programs under a particular genre. In film language, these are called motifs or recurrent themes.
B. Learning Competency with Code
1. Present an issue in varied ways to disseminate information using the codes, convention, and language
of media.
C. Objectives/Learning Targets
At the end of the lesson, the students must be able to:
1. Describe media and information languages such as codes, convention, and media messages
2. Present an issue in varied ways to disseminate information using the codes, convention, and language
of media.
D. Detailed Directions/Instructions
Read carefully the following instructions in each activity
E. Exercise/Activity
Activity 1: Episode/Movie Review
F. Rubrics for Scoring (www.cusd80.com)

Focus Details Summary Grammar/Spelling

Excellent Your entire paper is You give a lot of Summary No spelling or
about the movie. details about the lists all major grammar mistakes
 For Teachers
(20 pts.) You have one movie. You use a points in the at all!
opinion and you lot of examples movie but
Sentences are all
STICK TO IT! from the movie to does not give
structured correctly.
Everything is related emphasize your away ending.
to your opinion. point.
Good Your entire paper is You give some Summary 1-2 mistakes, tops!
about the movie. details about the lists most of Sentences are all
(19-16 pts.)
You have one movie. You use the major structured correctly.
opinion and you some examples to points in the
mostly stick to it! emphasize your movie, does
point. not give away
ending.
So So Your opinion is You use some Summary More than 3
obvious but you examples from the lists most of grammar or spelling
(15-11 pts.)
might reference movie to emphasize the major mistakes but less
other stuff (other your point. points in the than 5. Sentences
movies, actors, movie, may are all structured
etc…) give away correctly.
ending
Not So Hot Your opinion might You don’t use a lot Summary More than 5
not be obvious. You of examples, but lists some of grammar or spelling
(10-5 pts.)
basically just tell me you do reference the major mistakes but less
what the movie is the movie in your points in the than 10. Sentences
about. You miss the support. movie, may might not be
point of the or may not structure correctly.
assignment. give away
ending.
Poor What was this You don’t use ANY Summary More than 10
assignment about? details to support lists a few of spelling mistakes,
(4-0 pts.)
You aren’t quite your point. (This the major Sentences are not
sure…at least in movie was good points in the structured correctly.
your writing. because I liked it.) movie, gives
away ending.
Late/ Late/Missing Late/Missing Late/Missing Late/Missing
Missing

G. Values Integration
Discipline and Excellence
H. References for Learners
Liquigan, Boots. DIWA Senior High School Series: Media and Information Literacy. Makati City:
DIWA Learning Systems, Inc., 2016.

Activity 1: Episode/Movie Review ( 20 pts )

Instructions: Select a particular episode of your favorite TV series or movie. Then make a movie review by
identifying its genre, code, and other media languages based on our discussion. Your review must have a title
with the necessary details (title of the movie/TV series and a short plot summary). It could be encoded (1 page;
Short Size; 1.0 spacing; 12 font size; and Times New Roman Font style) or handwritten work (1 whole sheet of
paper with no erasures). Submit your work on the next meeting.