How Literary Practices Enhance Understanding of the Text - Essay Example

Lecturer How Literary Practices Enhance understanding of the Text Introduction The literary practices have transformed from the illustrations of texts as sign arrangements, to the considerations of the meanings of the font types, and finally the analysis of the texts as the actions which achieve the social needs effectively. More emphasis should be placed on factors that are more than the text in order to ensure effective understanding of the communication message. A key example is that a recommendation letter places more emphasis on the origin of the letter, instead of the text content. The signatory of the letter should illustrate authority and an opinion that is more likely to attract respects or favor. Writing and reading are always understood in the context they are written in. Many individuals consider reading as an easy way of handling boredom and the discomforts associated with waiting. It turns a time duration that will otherwise be rendered useless, into an appropriate chance for acquiring knowledge and also entertainment. Reading is effective in developing a barrier between an individual and the external world. This enables the individual to ignore the undesired attention and ensure the sense of privacy. Concentrating attention on text materials renders it socially appropriate to ignore the interaction with other individuals. The language that the text is written in is very important. For instance, the outsiders can consider individuals reading the English newspaper or magazine in India as favoring the foreign cultures. But, this does not illustrate the complexities of the usage of the English language in India. India’s national language, and thus is easily applied during the important official communications. In India, the English language is majorly associated with the middle and upper classes. Thus, reading English literary materials associates an individual with higher aspirations. English is the key language in India’s higher education system. Thus individual reading English texts, illustrates higher academic achievements. English is also the official communication language during large scale commerce nationally or internationally. Thus English is significant in the business culture. Lecture instructions, diaries and blogs are common everyday writings that are considered “vernacular literary practices.” The practices illustrate significant personal roles that assist in organizing life by making records of issues like; finance, birthdays, social contacts, and life documentaries. Analysis of these practices illustrates the insights into the practices of ordinary individuals in ways that are more superior to the literary writings. One instance of ordinary writing involves the act of sending postcards, which is significant in terms of communication. The literary practices vary significantly between the diverse cultures and the groups of individuals. Thus, differences are also illustrated by the multimodal features of the texts that are applied in those literary scenarios. The visual representations across cultures and groups have diverse genres; for example, assembly diagram, self portrait, and road signs. The multimodal genres, just like speech and text, illustrates social actions which have experienced historical developments so as to serve recurrent needs through the convenient approach. For instance, the cartoon strip genre integrates both text and image. The 18th caricature caricatures in the English language are illustrated speaking through the spoken words that scroll from the mouths of the caricatures in a bubble-like form, but they do not show the think bubbles. The speech and though bubbles is not adequately understood, can result into confusion of meanings. The reading direction is also a technique that affects understanding of the texts. The western comics are generally analyzed from two key direction; left to rights, and the top to bottom. In contrast, the Japanese comics are analyzed through the opposite direction. When the Japanese comics are targeted at the western mass audiences, they undergo language translation and also visually flipped or interchanged. The complex interrelationships between the digital, written and printed aspects of communication have great influence concerning the text, genres and technologies involved. The complexities involved hinder the communication from artificially circumscribing aspects like speaking, writing and also language. Language communication is the main focus of the analysis, in addition to the considerations of the media, and also the paralanguage aspects involved. Thus to effectively understand English communication, several other institutional, historical and cultural factors must be taken into consideration. Pronunciations, reading and writing approaches are influenced through the societal understanding and dynamics of literary issues. The high rates of technological developments are changing the literary techniques globally; for instance, in the areas of texting, social media, emails, text messages, internet blogs, and websites. During the Ottoman Empire downfall, the Atartuk changed the Turkish systems and also the phonological, lexical and grammatical. Hence, the societal factors change the Turkish language (Weibel 2007). The English language development has a lot of significance. The displacement of the Anglo Saxon administration through the Normans led to diminution of English. The increasing economic performance resulted into the reoccurrence of English, and the introduction of the printing press enhanced the abilities of generating huge quantities of texts. Chaucer, a significant royal administrator, engaged in mainly writing English instead of the official court language of Norman French. This is very significant in the English development. The print languages theory illustrates the economic factors that enhance language change. The King James Bible printing was very significant in the development of a particular aspect of English. Also, the effectiveness of the printed dictionaries enhances language development (Bernhardt 2014). The mass literacy and also the enhanced accessibility of the printed texts, greatly improved the understanding of the English language. The printing technology enhanced further through the political and economic development in the Afrikaans region. Millions of people access the internet annually and internationally (Zarcadoolas 2012). This has great developments in the English language. A lot of scientific journals are illustrated in the online databases. The end of the twentieth century was characterized by technological developments that drastically changed the way individuals communicate. It is estimated that in 2000, 360 million individuals accessed the internet. The online access figure continues to increase drastically, because the approximately two billion individuals accessed the internet in 2010. The twentieth century is considered as the digital age, which explains the era of information technology or computer. Digital show the approaches of processing, storing or transmitting data. It transforms information of various categories; for example, sound to image, sound, or number sequence. Majority of the electronic gadgets are presently driven by technology in digital form, like mobile phones, computers, watches and cameras. The technological developments have significant impact on the English language. The communication technologies thus influence the language forms and even the communicative aspects that speakers practice. Digital English illustrates the emerging practices in the language and also the changing language factors. Online communities, for instance, entails the users who consult the entries in the internet resources like Wikipedia. These online communities develop digital texts that are stored in the digital medium instead of the printed or engraved on the surface that is physical. The digital talk concept also illustrates features of both ‘talk’ and ‘text’. Digital English is utilized due to its international popularity, and also the unique position it has through the digital contexts. Despite the influence of digital medium of communication, it is the users who determine their interest and actions. Instead of being limited by technology, the individuals have the ability of applying several technologies through diverse approaches (Daniel & Barbara 2012). People effectively communicate through reading and writing. Writers and readers depend on contexts to enhance the meaning of texts. Literary practice is utilized to illustrate the connection of between written language and social identity. In majority of the communities, parents are expected to generate reading experiences. There are several key approaches for the effective analysis of texts. The written language is analyzed in terms of signs, which illustrate the words related to particular concepts. Signs are meaningful because they are part of accepted and appropriate sign systems. Understanding texts enables individuals to illustrate the purposes that individuals apply them. Text meaning is generally communicated through diverse approaches, just like talk communication is analyzed by gestures and tone voice. Thus writing is viewed through the multimodal approaches. Attention is placed on the visual and also the linguistic approaches. The most basic aspect of the text in English in these modern times is the English alphabets letters. An alphabet is illustrated as the sign system that applies letters as a form of sign. Each letter possesses unique features, and also illustrates a particular sound characteristic. The letters are combined to form even more complex meanings. In English, the letters P, A, N, I, and L can be arranged to generate two words; plain and also lapin. Other languages apply separate or unique sign systems. The operations of signs in those systems work separately, even though the signs may be superficially similar. A case in point is that, the N in Polish language is very different from the letter N in the English language. This is because the polish N is part of a collection of 32 letters, instead of the 26 letters applicable in the English language. It does not matter how letters are illustrated through the handwriting, as long as it is not confused with the other alphabet letters. Signs do not illustrate meaning if they exist outside an appropriate sign system. If the letter N does not exist in a sign system, then it will be considered meaningless and considered as only a zigzag image. Vocabulary is considered a language sign system that operates in the same unique way. Vocabulary is very different from the fixed code such as the alphabet. Introducing new letters to an existing alphabet is generally difficult. The English language, for instance, adopted the 26 letter alphabet centuries ago, and it is not likely to expand or contract during the near future. However, living languages adopt new words on a continuous basis. This can be through coinages or borrowing. Coinages entail the invention of new phrases of words, while borrowing explains accepting words applied in the other languages. The semiotic theory explains that, to be effectively applied in a new language, the particular word must be reviewed to illustrate new sign in the new sign system. ‘Lapin’ phrase has different meanings in English and French. Bibliography Bernhardt, Anna. (2014). "Literacy and life skills education for vulnerable youth: What policy makers can do". International Review of Education 60 (2): 279–299. Weibel, Mall. (2007). Adult Learners Welcome Here: A Handbook for Librarians and Literacy Teachers. Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., New York. Zarcadoolas, Pleasant. (2012). Advancing health literacy: A framework for understanding and action. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA. Read More