CHAPTER 4

EVALUATING
MESSAGES AND/OR
TEXT
The Text or Message

Message is the information conveyed

in the communication process. It
comprises verbal and/or nonverbal
content, which may be spoken,
written or manual (for sign language).
In this lesson, message refers to any
recorded message such as writing,
audio recording, audio and video
recording that is physically
independent of its sender or receiver
Medium includes such broad
categories as speech and writing or
print and broadcasting, or relate to
specific technical forms with the
mass media (radio, television,
newspapers, magazines,
photographs, films and records).
In order to produce quality text,
you need to consider the following:
Text type
Purpose
Audience

These factors have implications for

structure, language, and
presentation
Structure refers to how the
information is organized. You may
use text genres (kinds of texts based
on its development): texts using
logical order such as exposition – ex:
cause and effect, comparison,
analogy, definition, classification,
problem-solution, persuasion.
Texts using chronological or time
order:
Narration
Process

Texts using spatial or space order:

description
Language is the means by which
the information is expressed
verbally and/or nonverbally.
Ideas may be conveyed using any of
the five language registers : very
formal, formal, neutral, informal,
or very informal.
The formality of vocabulary,
grammar, and mechanics needed
are dictated by the register you
are to use.
Presentation covers the layout,
format, length, oral delivery (voice,
body language, timing) and any other
conventions, such as spelling and
referencing.
SEMIOTIC AND TEXT ANALYSIS
Semiotics is concerned with “everything
that can be taken as a sign.”
It involves the study not only of what
we refer to as “signs” in everyday
speech, but of anything which stands for
something else; in a sense, signs take
the form of words, images, sounds,
gestures, and objects.
Signs consist of signifiers (sounds
and images) and signifieds
(concepts). The sign is the whole
that results from the association of
the signifier with the signified.
The relationship between the signifier
and the signified is referred to as
signification.
For example, if you hear the sounds
represented by the letters “b-o-y” or a
picture of a boy (the signifier), you think
of a concept “male child” (the signified)
Together, the sounds of the word (or the
picture) and the concept created by the
sounds form a sign.
Semiosis, a term borrowed
from Charles Sanders Peirce,
is the process by which a
culture produces signs and/or
assigns meaning to signs.
Semiotics can be understood as the
“mental concept it represents, which
is common to all members of the
same culture, who share the same
language.”
Semiotics, therefore refers to a
kind of social interaction among
individuals who try to make
sense out of the different
interpretation possibilities of the
sign.
Language, as a sign, creates
misunderstanding when used
by second language users.
Errors are often seen in
translation.
Ex:
“Come Alive with the Pepsi
Generation” was literally
translated in Germany as
“Rise from the grave with
Pepsi.
In China, it was translated as
“Pepsi brings your ancestors
back from the grave.”
MASS MEDIA AND MULTIMODAL TEXTS

Mass media refers to the type

of communication that uses
technology to simultaneously
reach a wide audience.
 A text is multimodal when it
combines two or more of the five
semiotic system.
1. Linguistic or textual system,
comprising aspects, such as
vocabulary, generic structure,
and the grammar of oral and
written language.
2. Visual system, consisting of
aspects, such as color,
vectors, and viewpoint in still
and moving images.
3. Audio system, with
aspects, such as volume,
pitch, and rhythm of music
and sound effect.
5. Gestural system, including
aspects, such as movement,
speed, and stillness in facial
expression and body language.
6. Spatial system, covering
aspects, such as proximity,
direction, position of
layout, and organization of
objects in space.
Examples of multimodal texts
which be delivered via different
media or technologies:
1. Picture book, in which the
textual and visual elements are
arranged on individual pages
that contribute to an overall set
of bound pages
2. Web page, in which
elements, such as sound
effects, oral language,
written language, music, and
still or moving images are
combined.
3.Live ballet performance, in
which gesture, music, and
space are the main elements.