IB MYP Language Acquisition – Criterion B – Reading written multimodal texts Study Guide

This study guide teaches Criterion B – Reading for IB MYP Language Acquisition. It is aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023), and suits MYP years 4 and 5 (MYP has no SL/HL split). It applies to your school reading tasks and to the on-screen examination from the May 2023 and November 2023 sessions onwards.

MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units. This page covers a skill that one of the brief’s four assessment criteria names: reading written multimodal texts. The page is written in English with English model texts; the method transfers directly to the language you are learning, and each section says how.

Quick links: revision notes, practice questions, course hub, printable checklist.

What the brief says about Criterion B

The brief describes Criterion B like this: you construct meaning from a text and interpret its written, spatial and visual aspects, so you understand how those aspects work together with the words to convey ideas, values and attitudes.

Other facts printed in the brief:

• The four criteria (Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing) are weighted equally. Each has eight achievement levels (1-8) in four bands.
• Courses are assessed at one of three proficiency levels: emergent, capable or proficient.
• The on-screen examination has three tasks. The objective “comprehending written multimodal texts” is assessed by Criterion B for 24 marks.
• Examination texts may come from any topic on the language acquisition topic list.

The brief does not print the strand wording or the level descriptors. Your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications for your level. For how the four criteria compare, see the four criteria in practice; for the exam format, see eAssessment exam preparation.

What this unit covers

Skill	What you must be able to do	Level
Main ideas	State what the whole text, or one section, is mainly about	MYP years 4-5
Supporting details	Find the facts, examples and reasons that back up a main idea	MYP years 4-5
Text-type conventions	Use the features of a blog, poster, leaflet or article to find and interpret information	MYP years 4-5
Visual and spatial elements	Explain what images, layout, colour and typography add to the words	MYP years 4-5
Purpose and audience	Say why the text was written and for whom, with evidence	MYP years 4-5
Perspective, values and attitudes	Identify whose point of view the text gives and what it shows the writer believes or feels	MYP years 4-5

A reading routine in three passes

Answering too early causes most slips. Use three passes.

1. Skim (1-2 minutes). Read the title, headings, images, captions and the first and last lines. Ask: what type of text is this, who is it for, and what is it mainly about?
2. Scan for the question. Read the question, pick out its key words, then look for those words – or synonyms – in the text. Questions often paraphrase: the question says “worried”, the text says “nervous”.
3. Read closely. Read the sentences around the match. Check negatives (“not”, “never”, “hardly”), contrast words (“but”, “however”) and time words (“at first”, “by week three”). These often decide the answer.

In your target language: build a list of question words (who, why, how, according to) and connectives (but, however, therefore) in that language. You will spot them faster in the text and in the questions.

Worked text A: a blog post

Source A – original text written for Marlbridge

Three weeks, two languages, one very small kitchen Posted by Mira, exchange diary, week 3 [photo: three people laughing over a chopping board; caption: “Week 3: finally trusted with the big knife”]

When I signed up for the exchange, I pictured museums and markets. Nobody warned me about the kitchen. My host family cook together every evening, and on my first night I was handed a knife and an onion before I had even unpacked.

I was nervous. My vocabulary covered “hello” and “where is the station”, not “chop this finely, please”. But cooking turned out to be the best language lesson of the trip. You learn the word for “pan” very quickly when the pan is on fire. (It was a small fire.)

By week three I could follow a recipe read aloud, joke about my own mistakes and ask for seconds without pointing. My advice to anyone going on an exchange: say yes to the boring jobs. That is where the conversations happen.

[sidebar with a lightbulb icon: “Mira’s top tips – 1. Carry a notebook. 2. Ask what things are called. 3. Laugh first.”] [below: “12 comments – Leave a comment”]

Main idea and supporting details

The main idea is the point the whole text makes. It is rarely one quoted sentence. Here: helping with everyday jobs, especially cooking with her host family, improved Mira’s language more than sightseeing.

Supporting details back that idea up:

• She learnt new words through need (“the word for ‘pan’”).
• By week three she could follow a recipe read aloud, joke and ask for seconds.
• Her advice, “say yes to the boring jobs”, sums up the lesson.

“I pictured museums and markets” is not the main idea; it sets up a contrast with what actually helped.

Conventions as clues

A blog has a title, a named writer, a date or post label, first-person voice, an informal tone and a comment section. These are not decoration. The post label (“week 3”) tells you the text looks back over the trip. The comment count tells you it is written for a public audience of other readers, not a private diary. Features of each type: text types and conventions.

Visual and spatial elements

Criterion B names written, spatial and visual aspects (more in multimodal texts and visuals):

Aspect	Examples	Question to ask
Visual	Photos, drawings, icons, charts, logos, colour	What does it show, and does it repeat, add to or contrast with the words?
Spatial	Position on the page, size, columns, boxes, white space	What does the layout make you notice first, and what is grouped together?
Typographic	Capitals, bold, font size, bullet points	Which words are made to stand out, and why?

A strong answer does three things: names the element, describes it precisely and explains its effect on the message. Compare:

• Weak: “There is a photo of people cooking.”
• Strong: “The photo shows Mira and her hosts laughing over a chopping board. This supports the idea that the kitchen became a social place, not a chore. The caption, ‘finally trusted with the big knife’, adds humour and shows her progress since the nervous first night.”

Worked text B: a poster

Source B – original text written for Marlbridge

[top third: headline in large white capitals on a dark green band] GROW IT. SHARE IT. [centre: photo of an older volunteer and a teenager planting seedlings together, both smiling] [row of three icons: a trowel, a watering can, a basket of vegetables] No garden? No experience? No problem. We will show you how to dig, water and harvest. Last season we grew 312 kg of vegetables for the local food bank. How much will you help grow? [bottom strip, green] Harlow Vale Community Garden (fictional) – every Sunday, 09:00-12:00, behind the station. Tools and gloves provided. Children welcome with an adult.

Question: How do the visual and spatial aspects of Source B work with the words to persuade readers to come?

Model answer:

1. The headline is the largest text and sits at the top, so it is read first. Its two short commands balance each other (“GROW IT” / “SHARE IT”), which makes the message easy to remember.
2. The photo shows two generations working together and smiling. It suggests the event is friendly and open to everyone, which supports “No experience” and “Children welcome”.
3. The three icons match the three jobs in the text (dig, water, harvest). A reader can see at a glance what they will do.
4. The practical details are grouped in a separate green strip at the bottom, so readers can find the time and place quickly. Green often suggests nature, which fits a garden.
5. “312 kg” and “How much will you help grow?” invite the reader to join in.

Each point links a feature to a specific effect.

Purpose, audience, perspective and attitudes

• Purpose is why the text exists: to inform, persuade, entertain, advise, instruct. Many texts have more than one. Source A entertains and advises; Source B informs and persuades.
• Audience is who it is for. Look at register (formal or informal), vocabulary and where the text appears. Source A speaks to people thinking of going on an exchange (“My advice to anyone going on an exchange”).
• Perspective is whose point of view the text gives. Source A is one visitor’s view. The host family might tell a different story about the pan fire.
• Values and attitudes are what the writer shows they believe or feel. Mira values everyday contact over sightseeing. Her attitude to her own mistakes is relaxed and self-mocking (“It was a small fire”).

The brief lists word choice, conventions and idiom as examples of related concepts. Word choice is often your best evidence for attitude: “finally trusted” tells you she is proud of her progress, which you would not get from “allowed”.

Answering the question types

Question type	What earns credit
Find the word or phrase that means…	The exact words from the text, no extras
True or false, with justification	The correct choice and the shortest quotation that proves it
Choose the correct statements	Check every option against the text; do not rely on memory
Answer in your own words	Rephrase; do not lift whole sentences
Explain the effect of a visual	Name it, describe it, link it to the message
Identify purpose or attitude	A clear label plus evidence from words and visuals

Worked example. “Mira felt confident on her first night. True or false? Justify your answer.” Answer: False – “I was nervous.” A tick alone, or a whole copied paragraph, does not show where you found the answer.

Reading at your proficiency level

The brief says courses are assessed at emergent, capable or proficient level; it does not describe the texts used at each level. The six skills apply at every level; the text length and how much you must infer change. Practise explaining visuals and attitudes, not only finding facts. Proficiency phases and levels explains how levels and phases differ.

Using this page in your target language

• Find a short authentic blog, poster or leaflet in your target language.
• Apply the three passes, then write the main idea in one sentence in the target language.
• Make a table of three visual or spatial features, each with its effect.
• Label the purpose, audience and attitude, each with a short quotation.

Common errors

• Giving a detail (“she went to the market”) as the main idea.
• Describing an image without saying what it adds to the message.
• Treating layout and colour as decoration instead of meaning.
• Missing a negative or a contrast word and reversing the answer.
• Copying long passages as “evidence” instead of the precise words.
• Naming a purpose with no evidence, or giving only one purpose when the text clearly has two.
• Answering from general knowledge, not the text.

Next steps

Condense this with the Criterion B revision notes, then try the Criterion B practice questions and the criteria in practice questions. Track progress with the printable checklist and the course hub.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023), published by the IB. The brief names Criterion B: Reading and assigns it 24 marks in the on-screen examination. All texts on this page are original.