Options for Multimodal Expression and the Literacy Required for Perceiving the Meaning of Textual Material in the Digital Age

Abstract

This article deals with the visualization of textual information, and provides a description and an analysis of the principal means by which this process of visualization can be achieved. Extensive attention has been given to images of various kinds which are being employed nowadays in almost all types of discourse and on different language levels, and their specific advantages and disadvantages have been noted. Other media devices including charts, graphs and various types of diagrams have received some attention as well, although not to the same degree, and their importance and their unique characteristics have been described. The distinctive features of non-verbal means have been analyzed in the light of the developmental patterns which can be observed in recent decades. A great deal of attention has been focused on the fact that traditional paradigms are in the process of being reoriented in the 21st century. As a result of this evolution, it is necessary to reconsider some paradigms which we may have assumed to be fixed permanently. On a broader level, the concepts of multimodal and visual literacy have been characterized in terms of the approaches which are proving to be appropriate for present-day linguistic study.
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