Om ‘geletterd’ te wees, beteken letterlik die vermoë wat die mens het om te kan lees en skryf. Dit kan ook op die vermoë dui om tekens, behalwe woorde, te kan lees, nl. gebare en beelde. In die samelewing word die mens vandag aan baie visuele elemente blootgestel, baie meer as slegs die gedrukte woord – in koerante, tydskrifte, televisie, advertensies, spotprente, strokiesprente, musiekvideo’s, die internet, ens. Om visueel geleterd te wees, is ‘n dus ‘n belangrike vaardigheid wat die mens of in hierdie geval, die leerder, moet aanleer om onderskeidend na die visuele te kan kyk. In hierdie opsig lê die verantwoordelikheid by die onderwyser, en in ‘n groot mate die taal-onderwyser om die leerders die vaardighede wat nodig is om krities en denkend te kan waarneem, aan te leer en te ontwikkel. Visuele geletterdheid is dan die vermoë om te sien, te verstaan, om grafies te dink, te skep en te kommunikeer. In hierdie geval sal die visueel geletterde persoon in staat wees om krities na enige beeld te kyk om dít wat die kunstenaar vir die kyker wil deurgee, te kan ontleed en vertolk. Hierdie vaardighede kan deurgaans op die verskillende visuele elemente toegepas word, nl. foto’s, prente, tekeninge, grafiese kunsvorme soos spotprente, strokiesprente en illustrasies, films, kaarte, ens. Al hierdie visuele elemente stel inligting vry wat die kyker moet kan vertolk. Visuele geletterdheid gee dus die kyker die geleentheid om idees en inligting i.v.m. voorgehoue beelde in konteks te plaas en te bepaal of dit geldend is of nie. Visuele geletterdheid vereis meer as een vaardigheid. Soos by die tradisionele geletterdheid waar dit slegs ‘n vereiste is om woorde en sinne te kan ontleed, maar om met begrip te lees, is ‘n verdere vaardigheid wat verkry moet word. Hier help die onderwyser die leerder om nie net woorde en klanke te onderskei nie, maar te verstaan wat hulle lees. Hierdie vaardigheid sluit ‘n breë woordeskat en kritiese denke in. Hiervoor gebruik die onderwyser verskillende strategieë om by sy uiteindelike doelwit uit te kom, nl. om die leerders kontekstuele begrip teenoor dit wat hulle lees, te laat verkry. Die eerste vlak van visuele geletterdheid is die basiese identifisering van elemente in ‘n prent, foto of grafiese uitbeelding. Die vaardighede wat hiervoor nodig is, is fyn waarneming, maar terselfdertyd die begrip van dít wat gesien word ook in verhouding met ander elemente. Dit gee aanleiding tot kritiese denke, wat noodsaaklik vir die leerder is om afleidings en analisering uit die gegewe visuele te kan maak. Dit sal ook vir die leerder help om uit die oorvloed inligting waarmee hy daagliks op webtuistes en tekste wat aan hom voorgehou word en mee gekonfronteer word, betekenis te vind. Uitkomsgebaseerde Onderwys wat ten doel het om kritiese denke by leerders aan te wakker en te ontwikkel, kan die vaardighede in hierdie studie met vrug toepas. ENGLISH : Literacy literally means the ability of a human to read and write. It can also indicate the ability to read and interpret signs other than words - for example actions and images. Today in civilised society, mankind is exposed to a multitude of visual elements, so much more than only the printed word - in newspapers, magazines, on television, in advertisements, cartoons, comic strips, music videos, the internet: - the list is endless. To be visually literate is an important skill that man, in this case the learner, has to master to be able to look at the visual and distinguish differences in meaning. In this regard, the responsibility lies with the Education department and especially the language teacher. Learners have to be taught the skills to evaluate thoughtfully and critically and to be led to the development of this skill. Visual literacy is the skill to see, understand, think, create and communicate graphically. The visually literate person will be capable of assessing any image critically as well as analysing and interpreting what the artist wanted the viewer to know. These skills can be applied to any visual material - photo's, pictures, drawings and graphic art forms like cartoons, comics, illustrations, films and maps. All these visual elements give information that the viewer must be able to analyse. Visual literacy grants the viewer the opportunity to place ideas and information, relating to an image, in context and to evaluate whether those ideas and information are relevant. Visual literacy demands more than just one skill. Like traditional literacy there is one skill to analyse words and sentences and to read with comprehension, an additional skill must be mastered. The teacher helps the learner not only to identify words and sounds, but also to understand what he reads. This competence includes a wide vocabulary and critical thinking skills. The teacher uses different strategies to achieve his ultimate goal - to have learners gain contextual understanding of their reading. The first level of visual literacy is the basic identification of elements in a picture, photograph or graphic image. Here the necessary skills are careful observation as well as comprehension of what is seen in relation to other elements. This develops critical thinking which is essential for the learner to make deductions from and analyse the given visual material. It will also help the learner to make relevant meaning of the flood of information that he is confronted with in cyberspace and visual texts on a daily basis. Outcomes Based Education, which has as its goal the creation and development of critical awareness in learners, can use the skills explained in this study, with great success. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Afrikaans / unrestricted