Visual Literacy in Teaching English (EFL)

Anuario de Investigación en Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, 2018

Nowadays a dynamic theoretical paradigm, an eclectic approach, is needed for a reorientation of the two methodologies that prevail when we talk about L2 teaching – given the patent limitations of both methods–: the communicative approach and reading and analysis of texts. Literacy is a key indicator of our ability to construct and communicate meanings to elaborate our own thoughts. In this paper, we assure that literacy must be understood as a pedagogical process – that goes hand in hand with the integration of literature in the teaching of a language – and not as final product. To prove it, we will discuss concrete proposals that specifically aim to adapt literacy models to the new social reality of classrooms, the relevance of Aesthetic Emotions that a Multiliteracy-based Approach implies and applies to education, as for example the triangular model proposed by Reyes-Torres (2012-2016). The relevance of picture books in the process of reading comprehension carried out by student-readers is highlighted. That is why it is essential that the student-reader knows the link between the word and the icon, in the same way that it is necessary that the teacher-reader carry out a preliminary approach to the literary text and thus be able to integrate it into the teaching-learning scheme.

The technological advance that has dominated various aspects of our daily life has led to the emergence of new literacies. This created a need for reconceptualizing the old notion of literacy which was restricted to the ability of reading and writing. It has been stated forward by many scholars that we now require a richer and more diversified concept of literacy that includes not only verbal literacy, but also visual literacy (Buckingham, 2007; Jewitt, 2005; Makin &

English Education and Applied Linguistics Journal, 2023

Digital and multimodal literacy are commonplace in the everyday life of learning English. Digital and multimodal literacy can be defined as social technologies utilized as media to both digitally and textually support learning. Multimodal literacy describes communication practices that use two or more modes of meaning (Mills & Doyle, 2019

Anuario de Investigación en Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, 2018

Actualmente se necesita un paradigma teórico dinámico, un enfoque ecléctico para reorientar las dos metodologías que prevalecen sobre la enseñanza L2, dadas las limitaciones de patentes de ambos métodos: el enfoque comunicativo y la lectura y análisis de textos. La literacidad es un indicador clave de nuestra capacidad para construir y comunicar significados, así como para elaborar nuestros propios pensamientos. Mediante este trabajo aseguramos que la literacidad debe entenderse como un proceso pedagógico que va de la mano de la integración de la literatura en la enseñanza de un idioma, no como producto final. Para ello partimos de algunas propuestas que pretenden adaptar los modelos de literacidad a la nueva realidad social de las aulas y de la relevancia de las emociones estéticas que propicia el enfoque basado en la Multiliteracidad y sus aplicaciones en la educación, como el modelo triangular propuesto por Reyes-Torres (2012-2016). Se pone de manifiesto la importancia de los álbumes ilustrados en el proceso de comprensión lectora que llevan a cabo los alumnos-lectores y la necesidad de que estos conozcan el vínculo entre la palabra y el icono, así como que el docente-lector lleve a cabo una aproximación previa al texto literario y pueda integrarlo en el esquema de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Nowadays a dynamic theoretical paradigm, an eclectic approach, is needed for a reorientation of the two methodologies that prevail when we talk about L2 teaching-given the patent limitations of both methods: the communicative approach and reading and analysis of texts. Literacy is a key indicator of our ability to construct and communicate meanings to elaborate our own thoughts. In this paper, we assure that literacy must be understood as a pedagogical process-that goes hand in hand with the integration of literature in the teaching of a language-and not as final product. To prove it, we will discuss concrete proposals that specifically aim to adapt literacy models to the new social reality of classrooms, the relevance of Aesthetic Emotions that a Multiliteracy-based Approach implies and applies to education, as for example the triangular model proposed by Reyes-Torres

2017

Visual literacy complements verbal literacy (Braden, 2001; Dwyer, 1988; Stokes, 2002), and the synergy between the two enable language learners to effectively utilise visual resources that saturate their learning spaces. However, visual literacy along with multimodality is an underresearched area in ELT and TESOL (Early, Kendrick, & Potts, 2015; Kress, 2000). Guided by the social semiotics (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), multiliteracies pedagogy (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015), and socio-cultural theory of learning (Vygotsky, 1978), this thesis set out to address this gap through a qualitative study in two parts, conducted at a leading public university in Cambodia. Part One was a case study of visual teaching and learning practices among six EFL lecturers and four groups of learners, using classroom observations, document analyses, interviews, and a survey. Part Two probed the issue further by implementing action research in a class at the same research site, using the four instruments in Part One plus student focus groups and diaries. The action research entailed two cycles of interventions. The first cycle implicitly taught questions the students could use to approach a visual resource more critically. The second cycle explicitly taught visual literacy metalanguage and provided visual analysis practices through an adapted model of the Teaching and Learning Cycle (da Silva Joyce, 2014). Part One suggested that the lecturer and student participants had varying degrees of visual literacy, were better at interpreting than creating visual resources, and generally agreed on the facilitative potential of visual literacy instruction for language learning. Part Two revealed that the visual teaching interventions in both cycles ameliorated learning attitudes, engagement, motivation, memory, vocabulary and grammar learning, and critical thinking. A pedagogical framework and two visual literacy instructional approaches have been proposed for ELT researchers and practitioners who believe in the educational value of visualmultimodal resources and seek practical ways to use visual literacy to help achieve language learning, educational, and professional goals.

Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 2019

This study adopts the framework proposed by KvL to analyse visual images in Indonesian senior high school EFL textbooks, to shed light on their functions as well as their appropriateness and suitability for pedagogical purposes. The data in this study cover all the visual images in the three EFL textbooks, a total of 232 images. The findings suggest that, regarding gender bias and stereotypes males were more frequently portrayed than females (66% and 34% of images respectively). Also, the meaning of the images suggested an objective and impersonal connection between images and viewers. Moreover, there was no apparent power discrepancy between images and viewers suggesting that students would be able to make connections to the images. Furthermore, it is suggested that the visual images could help students to engage effectively with the exercises and provide emphasis for the assertions made in the linguistic parts of the text. Thus, the image-structuring in the three senior high school EFL textbooks in Indonesia provided and emphasised concepts and meaning in the text.

This paper investigates Visual Literacy and English language teaching in a Brazilian university. We briefly present the theoretical framework of the research. Then, we will analyze students' interpretations of images in order to investigate visual literacy practices. Finally, we will focus on the importance of rethinking visual practices within English teaching contexts.

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

LANGUAGE IS NOT LEARNED through words alone; images lie at the heart of language development. This article suggests three essential guidelines for teachers as they create and use photographs for content learning, second-language development and image-reading. Each guideline is accompanied by content, visual literacy and language objectives. Photographs and sets of sample-levelled questions exemplify the use of the language objectives for content and visual learning in social studies, geometry or science. In sum, an informed use of visual imagery can enhance the exploration of curriculum content if based on teacher knowledge of content, of the language through which photographs speak, and of the language needed to talk about both content and image.

I review a decade of empirical research specifically addressing possibilities and challenges of multimodal literacy practices in learning and teaching English as an additional language, particularly for adolescent multilingual English language learners (ELLs). Given the lack of empirical research and discussions about multimodal literacy practices of ELLs, this review focuses on the issues of multimodal literacy practices of ELLs and their teachers. Thus, I look mainly at the promise and potential of engaging ELLs in multimodal literacy practices and potential tensions of implementing multimodal literacies into classroom practices. Findings of this review suggest more empirical research related to how ELLs consume, interpret, and produce multimodal texts as well as some implications for pedagogy.

Kiss, T. & C. Weninger (2017) Cultural learning in the EFL classroom: the role of visuals. ELT Journal. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccw072 First published online: November 20, 2016 Visual texts are part of everyday communication and they have the potential to carry multiple layers of meaning. This complexity is what makes them an ideal resource not only for language learning, but also for developing learners’ intercultural communicative competence and cultural awareness. Cultural meanings are not locked into these materials; they are emergent and dependent on cultural and subcultural membership, lived experiences, and the geo-cultural grounding of learners who interact with them. In a small-scale research project, we aimed to explore how the cultural background of language learners influences their meaning-making processes and we found that the meanings learners create operate on three levels: universal meanings, cultural and subcultural meanings, and, finally, individual meanings. The richness of students’ interpretations points to the need to draw on them as resources in the language classroom, as they can provide the basis for negotiating cultural understanding.