Visual Social Semiotics:

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Visual Social Semiotics A Picture Paints a
Thousand Words
Presented by M.Indrani A/P Mutusamy P.Dhayapari
A/P Perumal
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TABLE OF CONTENT 1.
INTRODUCTION 2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 3.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5.
LITERATURE REVIEW 6. THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK(S) 7. RESEARCH DESIGN
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INTRODUCTION

• Critical Thinking is piece of the study of
  philosophy the love of wisdom. Though the truth
  might not be reached, we can be searchers, lovers
  of wisdom. ( Kernberger, 2006).
• Can clarify your thinking by evaluating issues,
  arguments or positions apply reasoning
  strategies.Eg.
• is the question/ issue clear or unclear?
  Specific or vague?
• 
  Relevant/irrelevant?
• Is the perspective Narrow or broad?
  Biased or Fair ?
• Is the evidence Complete or
  incomplete Precise or imprecise? Accurate or
• 
  inaccurate? Deep or supeficial? Relevant or
  irrelevant?
• Are the claims or interpretations Logical or
  illogical? Consistent or inconsistent/
• 
  Plausible or implausible? Significant or trivial?
• It's vitally important to your future that you
  develop the ability to be able to look at a
  situation or problem and think through all the
  angles (Matt DeSilva, 2009).
• Multiple benefits of critical thinking
  understand views, listen with open mind, accept
  mistakes, less emotional, better understand
  issues, quick-fix solutions.
  

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• We are no longer expected to really dig down,
  and think a little deeper
• about how are we, really.  We are filling the
  air with shallow thought. 
• We are loosing the art of critical thinking
  (Mobley, 2009). 
• One of the challenges facing Malaysia amidst
  its economic
• development is the achievement of a critical
  thinking society (Yaacob
• Seman, 1993).
• Our school system has failed us. Our children
  are being trained instead
• of being educated.
• Majority communication technologies have
  negative effects on our
• ability to think deeply and critically (
  Mobley, 2009).

The Problem
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• President Obama urged to extend standards "that
  don't simply measure whether students can fill
  in a bubble on a test but whether they possess
  21st century skills like problem-solving and
  critical thinking, entrepreneurship and
  creativity ( Mariotti, 2009).
• Local advertisements are becoming more reliant on
  images like many modern advertisements to convey
  messages, with the leaning of words further and
  further towards meaning it derives from
  interaction with pictures (Cook,2001). However
  they have not been examined in detail.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• This research aims to
• illustrate why Visual Social Semiotics can act as
  a tool to enhance
• critical thinking in classroom.
• 2. introduce how Visual Social Semiotics as a
  tool to enhance critical
• thinking in the classroom.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• This research asks
• 1. Why Visual Social Semiotics should be used as
  a tool to enhance critical thinking in the
  classroom?
• 2. How a visual analysis framework can be used
  as a tool to enhance critical thinking in the
  classroom?

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LITERATURE REVIEW

• C.Thinking Elder Paul ( 2006)
• Visual Social Semiotics (Gunther Kress Theo
  van Leewuen (1996)
• Body Language ( David Straker
  www.changingminds.com)
• Words in Ads (Greg Myers 1994)

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ( C.T)
CRITICAL THINKING
STAIRWAYS
Elder Paul, 1996
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EIGHT- STEP STAIRWAY (CRITICAL ANALYSIS)

• JUSTIFY develop arguments, draw conclusions,
  make inferences
• APPLY - transfer the knowledge from critical
  evaluation to respond to questions, assignments
  and projects.
• EVALUATE Assess the worth of information in
  terms of relevance,
• strengths, weaknesses, evidence and
  relationship to other knowledge,
• information and experiences.
• SYNTHESISE bring together different
  information, make logical connections and
  inference - point to future work.
• COMPARE explore similarities, differences and
  rel.ships with own and
• knowledge, information and experiences of
  others.
• ANALYSE identify key points examine how they
  fit together and
• relate to each other.
• UNDERSTAND comprehend key points, assumptions,
  arguments and
• evidence presented.
• PROCESS Take in information ( you have read,
  heard, seen or done)
• 
  (Paul Elder, 2006)

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (V.S.S)
Compositional Metafunction (Spatial Composition)
Representational Metafunction
Interpersonal Metafunction
Textual Metafunction
Information Value
Salience
Framing
Validity and Reliability
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RESEARCH DESIGN

• Qualitative and descriptive in nature.
• Data comes from a group of American Degree
  Foundation Programme
• students (Malaysian young adults aged between
  18-19) from INTEC,
• UiTM, Section 17, Shah Alam.
• A pilot analysis was carried out on the semiotic
  framework to form a
• comprehensive analysis with generalization as
  well as for reliability.

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FINDINGS STUDENT SAMPLES.

• Identification of Advertisement Type
• (Apply,Analyse Process)
• Vectors are present in the advertisement. The
  body of the woman displays an S-Shaped line in
  the advertisement.
• Narrative Pattern
• Determining Social Relations
• ( Apply, Synthesise, Analyse Process)
• Ex 1 Image Act Gaze
• The woman climbs up the bull and aggressively
  opening up her crotch, giving sexual
  connotations.
• Her messy hair and open-mouth illustrations
  depict the aftermath of engaging in sexual
  activities.

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Cont

• Ex 2 The act of rearranging the hair tries to
  attract the viewers attention to her face.
• The focus on her round buttocks is sensual and
  erotic.
• The womans flexibility of body indicates many
  different positions for sex.
• Angles and Involvement or Detachment
• (Apply, Justify, Synthesise, Analyse
  Process)
• The angle used in this advertisement is the
  oblique angle. The woman is in her own world,
  indulging in her actions. The woman periodically
  glances at the camera to engage with the viewers.
  She serves as a bridge from her indulgence to the
  viewers real world through her body movements
  and her glannces.

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THANK YOU
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• Q A SESSION