Media Studies A-Level
Encoding
What Encoding means in Media Studies A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Encoding
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Encoding in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
The process by which a producer constructs meaning in a text by selecting and combining signs within a particular framework of knowledge, technical infrastructure and relations of production.
The process by which producers build meaning into a text using codes and conventions, building in a preferred meaning.
Topics that use Encoding
- Reception theory - Hall's ideas and theories on reception theory (AQA A-Level)
- Theories of representation - Hall's ideas and theories on representation (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- Decoding
- Asymmetry of meaning
- Dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings
- Negotiated reading
- Oppositional reading
- Reception theory
- Stuart Hall
- Hegemonic reading
Using Encoding in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise Media Studies questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
Start free
All Media Studies A-Level termsA week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge