English K-10 Syllabus – Visual Literacy
Visual Literacy
Metalanguage
Early Stage 1
Stage 1
Understand
and apply
knowledge

Recognise that words
and pictures have
meaning
Explore the different
contribution of words
and images to
meaning in stories
and informative texts

(ACELA 1786)



Discuss the different
purposes of drawing
and writing in simple
texts




Compare different kinds of
images in narrative and
information texts and discuss
how they contribute to
meaning
Discuss some of the different
purposes for written and
visual texts
Recognise and begin to
understand how composers
use creative features to
engage their audience
Identify creative language
features in imaginative texts
that enhance enjoyment eg.
illustrations, repetition
Discuss how depictions of
characters in print, sound and
images reflect the contexts in
which they were created
(ACELT 1581, ACELT 1587)
Understand that spoken,
visual and written forms of
Stage 2
Stage 3
 Use metalanguage to describe  Use metalanguage to
the effects of ideas, text
describe the effects of ideas,
structures and language
text structures and language
features of literary texts (ACELT
features on particular
1604)
audiences (ACELT 1795)
 Use appropriate
metalanguage to identify and
describe relationships
between and among texts
 Identify organisational patterns  Identify, describe and discuss
and language features of print
similarities and differences
and visual texts appropriate to
between texts, including
a range cv purposes
those by the same author, or
illustrator, and evaluate
 Explore the effect of choices
characteristics that define an
when framing an image,
author’s individual style
placement of elements in the
(ACELT 1616)
image, and salience on
composition of still and
 Compare how composers and
moving images in a range of
illustrators make stories
types of texts (ACELA
exciting, moving and
1483,ACELA 1496)
absorbing to hold readers’
interest
 Discuss how authors and
illustrators make stories
 Explain sequences of images
exciting, moving and absorbing
in print texts and compare
and hold readers’ interest by
these to the ways
using various
hyperlinked digital texts are
techniques..(ACELT 1605)
organised, explaining their
effect on viewers’
 Use images in imaginative,
interpretations
informative and persuasive
texts to enhance meaning
 Recognise how the use of
language and visual features
 Identify and explain language
can depict cultural
features of texts from earlier
This document has been created directly from the English K-10 Syllabus – Judy Gerber 2012.
English K-10 Syllabus – Visual Literacy
language are different modes
of communication with
different features and their
use varies according to the
audience, purpose, context
and cultural background
(ACELA 1460)
Responding



Interpret pictures
with labels,
environmental print
logos and other
visual images
Discuss familiar
written and visual
texts.
Select simple print,
visual and/or digital
texts to read
independently for
enjoyment and
pleasure


Identify visual
representations of
characters’ actions, reactions,
speech and thought
processes in narratives, and
consider how these images
add to or contradict or
multiply the meaning of
accompanying words (ACELA
1469)
Use comprehension
strategies to build literal and
inferred meaning and begin
to analyse texts by drawing
on growing knowledge of
context, language and visual
features and print and
multimodal text structures



times and compare with the
vocabulary, images, layout and
content of contemporary texts
(ACELY 1686)
Appreciate how the reader or
viewer can enjoy a range of
literary experiences through
texts
Identify and interpret the
different forms of visual
information, including maps,
tables, charts, diagrams,
animations and images
Describe how some skills in
speaking, listening,
reading/viewing,
writing/representing help the
development of language
learners
(ACELY 1660, ACELY 1670)


Identify creative language
features in imaginative texts
that enhance enjoyment eg.
illustrations, repetition
Identify helpful strategies
during speaking, listening,
This document has been created directly from the English K-10 Syllabus – Judy Gerber 2012.
assumptions in texts


Identify and explain how
analytical images like figures,
tables, diagrams, maps and
graphs contribute to our
understanding of verbal
information in factual and
persuasive texts (ACELA
1524)
Interpret picture books,
comic strips and sequences
of digital images which do
not contain written text
English K-10 Syllabus – Visual Literacy
reading, writing, and/or
viewing and representing
activities, eg. writing
conferences, class charts
Composing






Create visuals that
reflect character,
setting and events
Retell familiar literary
texts through
performance, use of
illustrations and
images (ACELT 1580)
Communicate the
purposes of drawings
and other visual
media
Use imagination to
represent aspects of
an experience using
written text,
drawings and other
visual media
Compose texts using
drawings and other
visual media to
create meaning
Compose simple
written and visual
texts that include
aspects of home,
personal and local
community life





Compose and review written
and visual texts for different
purposes and audiences
Recreate texts imaginatively
using drawing, writing,
performance and digital
forms of communication
(ACELT 1586)
Compose simple print, visual
and digital texts that depict
aspects of their own
experience
Compose texts supported by
visual information (eg
diagrams and maps) on
familiar topics)
Create events and characters
using different media that
develop key events and
characters from literary texts

Create imaginative texts based
on characters, settings and
events from students’ own and
other cultures using visual
features, for example,
perspective, distance and angle


(ACELT 1601, ACELT 1794)


Experiment with visual
multimodal and digital
processes to represent ideas
encountered in texts
Use visual representations,
including those digitally
produced, to represent ideas,
experience and information for
different purposes and
audiences
(ACELT 1593)
This document has been created directly from the English K-10 Syllabus – Judy Gerber 2012.

Compose increasingly
complex print, visual,
multimodal and digital texts,
experimenting with language,
design, layout and graphics.
Recognise the effect of
multimedia elements eg film
techniques, animation, voiceovers, sound effects, framing,
close-ups
Plan, draft and publish
imaginative and persuasive
texts, choosing and
experimenting with text
structures, language features,
images and digital resources
appropriate to purpose and
audience (ACELY 1704, ACELY
1714)
English K-10 Syllabus – Visual Literacy
Multimedia
Experiment with basic
visual, multimodal and
digital processes to
represent some simple
ideas expressed in texts and
to convey experiences
Construct texts featuring print,
visual and audio elements using
software, including word
processing programs (ACELY
1664, ACELY 1674)


Experiment with visual
multimodal and digital
processes to represent ideas
encountered in texts
Respond to short films,
documentaries and multimedia
texts that express familiar and
new aspects of the broader
world





This document has been created directly from the English K-10 Syllabus – Judy Gerber 2012.
Recognise the effect of
multimedia elements eg. film
techniques, animation, voiceovers, sound effects, framing,
close-ups
Explain sequences of images
in print texts and compare
these to the ways
hyperlinked digital texts are
organised, explaining their
effect on viewers’
interpretations (ACELA 1511)
Compare texts, including
media texts, that represent
ideas and events in different
ways, explaining the effects
of the different approaches
(ACELY 1708)
Discuss the conventions of a
range of complex texts eg…..
layout conventions in print
and digital texts
Respond to short films,
documentaries and
multimedia texts that
express familiar and new
aspects of the broader world