English Second Language·Reading skills · NSSCO 4.7
Reading visual texts: tables, adverts, signs & graphics
Narrated lesson · press play
Not everything you read comes as neat paragraphs. In your Paper 1 reading you will meet posters, advertisements, road signs, bus timetables, price lists, bar charts and forms — we call these visual texts. In this lesson Miss Veronica shows you, slowly and gently, how to read each one: how to find the key facts in an advert and spot its persuasive tricks, how to read the exact meaning of a sign, how to cross a row with a column in a timetable, and how to follow a bar's height across to the number scale. Find the exact detail, and never guess.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO English Second Language 4.7):
- Explain what a visual text is and name the common kinds that appear in Paper 1 (adverts, notices, timetables, charts, maps, forms)
- Find the key information in an advertisement or poster — the what, when, where, price and contact details
- Identify the persuasive techniques used in advertisements (slogans, emotive words, 'free', exaggeration and imperatives)
- Read the exact meaning of a public notice or sign, paying attention to strong words like 'not', 'must' and 'only'
- Read a table or timetable by finding where a row and a column meet
- Read a bar chart by following a bar's height across to the number scale, and read simple pie charts, diagrams and maps with a key
- Answer exam questions on visual texts by locating the exact cell, line, bar or label and copying the answer without guessing
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