Responding to texts

Responding to a text begins with understanding what it actually communicates. A text may be a notice, conversation, advertisement, story, graph or video. Its context is the situation in which it is produced and encountered. Social messages often depend on shared relationships; workplace instructions depend on roles and practical consequences. Community texts address collective activities, while imagined texts construct events that need not have happened. Cultural contexts involve values, histories, practices and identities. These categories can overlap.

A community exhibition notice, for example, may also communicate cultural priorities.

Set a reading purpose before collecting information. If you need to attend an event, look for its date, location, eligibility and booking requirements. Skim headings and opening sentences to establish the overall subject. Then scan for specific words, dates or names. Finally, read the relevant passage closely. Skimming alone can miss an exception, and scanning can locate a number without explaining what it measures. When listening, preview the question, record key phrases and listen again where possible.

When viewing, consider captions, labels, placement and sequence alongside words.

Organise information in a table with columns for source, main idea, essential detail and uncertainty. Record exact wording only when a quotation matters; otherwise paraphrase accurately. Keep a creator's opinion separate from an independently established fact. A missing detail should be recorded as missing, rather than filled with a guess. A useful summary reduces length while preserving the relationships between ideas, including conditions and qualifications.

Check comprehension by explaining the message to someone who has not encountered the source. Can they act on your summary without being misled? If not, return to the text. Efficient collection means selecting relevant evidence and preserving its meaning, rather than copying everything or discarding inconvenient conditions.