Rethinking visual literacy: research in progress

A study currently underway in Nepal aims to discover how quickly standards of visual literacy can be improved by teaching several key clues to picture interpretation. Among non-literate populations, this could help to bring improvement to the effectiveness of extension workers in health, and many other areas. It is noted that research in the visual literacy field has given clear indications of the type of illustration most likely to be understood by people with limited exposure to printed materials. Such research has led to emphasis on a particular style of simplistic illustration typical of health and other development programmes in many third world countries. However, it is hypothesized that increased exposure to illustrated materials affects response. Making illustrations merely 'understandable' may not then be sufficient to challenge entrenched behaviour patterns which require more creative and imaginative interpretations.