Visual Social Semiotics: “A Picture Paints a Thousand Words”

1. Visual Social Semiotics: “A Picture Paints a Thousand Words” Presented by: M.Indrani A/P Mutusamy P.Dhayapari A/P Perumal

2. 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

5. 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, betterunderstand issues, ‘quick-fix’ solutions.

6. “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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. 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)

11. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ( C.T) CRITICAL THINKING STAIRWAYS Elder & Paul, 1996

12. 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)

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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. Con’t • 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 woman’s 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.

17. THANK YOU

18. Q & A SESSION