Textual Aids

• Textual aids refer to non-textual elements that help readers understand the content of the text. They also refer to elements that stand-out from the main text such as titles and subtitles, bold, italicized and underlined texts. Non-textual elements include illustrations, maps, tables, graphs and charts.
• TITLES & SUBTITLES

  • Provide initial idea on what the text is all about
  • Activate prior knowledge on the topic
  • “Represent the key concepts (title) and supporting ideas (subtitles) in the paper” (Elite Editing, 2015)
  • Layering or positioning of these aids convey the ideas’ level of importance
• Identify the parts

  A) Kicker

  B) Title

  C) Subtitle

  
• illustration

  • Visual representation of a subject
  • Facilitates better retention of the information presented
• TABLES

  • Information (facts and figures) that are organized and arranged in columns and rows
  • Used to show patterns and relationships that still appeals to the readers’ verbal system, meaning tables are supposed to be read like a text (Nussbaumer, 2011)
  • Column headings - found on top of columns; used to identify the contents of a specific column
  • Row headings - used to define or identify the contents of a specific row
• Identify parts

  A) Row headings

  B) Column headings

  C) Title of the table

  
• GRAPHS - Used “when a simple table cannot adequately demonstrate important relationships” of and within data (Mind Tools Content Team, 2020)
• 4 TYPES OF GRAPHS:

  1. bar graph - uses either vertical or horizontal bars to show the data it represents but SkillsYouNeed.com (2020) emphasized that these bars do not touch each other
  2. line graph – used to show how numerical data have changed over time and it is best used to show trends
  3. pie graphs - show “how a whole is divided into different parts” (SkillsYouNeed.com, 2020)
  4. pictograph - “similar to bar chart but use pictures to symbolize a countable unit of items” (Google Sites, n.d.).
• maps - Visual representations of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface
• 2 TYPES OF MAPS:

  1. physical map - includes labels for features such as mountain ranges and bodies of water
  2. political map - usually includes labels for features such as cities and major towns, units such as states or provinces, and bodies of water
• Identify the map

  A) Physical

  B) Political