WEEK 3: MEDIA AND INFORMATION LANGUAGES

MEDIA LANGUAGE
Media Language is the way in which the meaning of a media text is conveyed to the audience. There are
different types of media languages which include visual, aural, written, verbal, and non-verbal.

VISUAL LANGUAGE This type of language can often be observed on television and film. What
is on the screen has been chosen specifically to generate a series of
effects and meanings also called as semiotics.
Semiotics, also called semiology, the study of signs and sign-using
behavior. It was defined by one of its founders, the Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure, as the study of “the life of signs within society.”
There are two identified orders of signification, denotation, and
connotation.

Denotation is the literal or obvious meaning - description of what is physically seen or heard.
Connotation is the potential or suggested meaning of something seen or heard.
EXAMPLE: object: APPLE
denotation: RED, SWEET, FOOD connotation: KNOWLEDGE, SIN, GRAVITY

AURAL LANGUAGE Aural language is basically the use of sound. Why use sound in media text?
Sound can help create a scene and construct the environment, atmosphere,
and mood. There are two kinds of sound often used in media text, diegetic
and non-diegetic.
Diegetic sound is any sound that emanates from the story world of the film.
The source of diegetic sound doesn't necessarily need to be seen on screen,
if the audience understands that it is coming from something within the film.
Non-diegetic sound, also called commentary or nonliteral sound, is any
sound that does not originate from within the film’s world. The film’s
characters are not able to hear non-diegetic sound. All non-diegetic sound is
The aural language of a media textadded by sound
can also editors
help us in post-production.
to define the genre of a piece.

WRITTEN LANGUAGE This type of language is mostly seen on print-based media, also in texts
such as captions for photographs. Captions allow the communicator of
the message to present a story in a particular way.
Examples:
VERBAL LANGUAGE

This is used in media areas such as television, radio, and film.

NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
This is in terms of body language like gestures
and actions. The meaning received by the
audience is seen through how the actor useless
their body.

MEDIA TEXT

Media text is utilized to depict any media item, for example TV programs, photos, adverts, film, radio programs,
etc. These texts are our way of understanding how media languages create meaning.
Any native language itself is a set of codes: letters made up into words, words made up into sentences, and
sentences made up into paragraphs. Just as we learn to read letters, words, and sentences, so, too, we learn to
“read” media and languages. We learn that sounds and images can be put together sequences, working as
codes, to give meaning.

CODES
Chandler’s Typology of Genre Codes
 CONVENTIONS
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. Like for example, the way people write
essays. It is understood that in writing an essay, you must start with a title, then introduction, body, and
conclusion. The use of conventions allows the audience to understand more than just the surface of the
speeches.

Tropes in Television
Television, being a popular media form, may be found in any corner of the house. And, without one noticing it,
you must have encountered different tropes in TV shows. Tropes are the conventions happening in TV genres.
In literature, these are the figures of speech that viewers recognize fast and easily. In the world of films, these
are called motifs or recurring themes.
Reference
● Liquigan, B.. (2016). DIWA: Senior High School Series: Media and Information Literacy. DIWA Learning System Inc.
● Campos, P., (2016). PHOENIX: From Cave to Cloud Media and Information Literacy for Today. THE PHOENIX Publishing
House Inc.
● Department of Education - Commons. (2020). Deped.gov.ph.
https://commons.deped.gov.ph/documents?filter%5Bcategory%5D=a2fefa69-8ff8-425f-b674-
0d8fcd2e25ef&filter%5Bgrade%5D=c8d5d4c9-8558-42e6-bc41-f398c72b7ffe&offset=10
● Young. (2017, September 29). Media Codes and Conventions. Https://Medium.Com/. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from
https://media.codes/media-codes-and-conventions-c03423c06aa8
● Labay. (2019, March 10). Lesson 6: Media and Information Languages. Https://Wordpress.Com/. Retrieved March 17, 2022,
from https://mediaandinformationliteracyblog.home.blog/2019/03/10/lesson-6-media-and-information-languages/
● DepEd Tambayan. (n.d.). Media and Information Literacy Module: Media and Information Languages.
Https://Depedtambayan.Net/. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://depedtambayan.net/media-and-information-literacy-
module-media-and-information-languages/