Comics Aren't Just For Fun Anymore: The Practical Use of Comics ...

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Comics, in the form of comic strips, comic books, and single panel cartoons are ubiquitous in classroom materials for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). While comics material is widely accepted as a teaching aid in TESOL, there is relatively little research into why comics are popular as a teaching instrument and how the effectiveness of comics can be maximized in TESOL. This thesis is designed to bridge the gap between conventional wisdom on the use of comics in ESL/EFL instruction and research related to visual aids in learning and language acquisition. The hidden science behind comics use in TESOL is examined to reveal the nature of comics, the psychological impact of the medium on learners, the qualities that make some comics more educational than others, and the most empirically sound ways to use comics in education. The definition of the comics medium itself is explored; characterizations of comics created by TESOL professionals, comic scholars, and psychologists are indexed and analyzed. This definition is followed by a look at the current role of comics in society at large, the teaching community in general, and TESOL specifically. From there, this paper explores the psycholinguistic concepts of construction of meaning and the language faculty. Through an analysis of the evolution of language, art history, and the psychology of perception, comics are revealed to be an innate form of human communication that originated in pre-literate ancient times; this medium continues to be a powerful form of non-verbal communication to this day. Next, educational theories particularly relevant to comics use in TESOL are examined, with a focus Allan Pavio’s Dual Coding theory of learning and Stephen Krashen’s Input and Affective Filter Hypotheses. Each major section of this thesis contains a subsection of case studies from TESOL fieldwork, followed by an index of the things teachers should know and do to use the information in the section effectively.
Recine I Table of Contents 1. Introduction ……………………………….………………………………….……….......................1 1.1. The Prevalence of Cartoon Art as a Tool of the TESOL Profession…….……………….1 1.2. Some Apparent Advantages of Comics over Other Forms of Cartoon Art……..………..5 1.3. Overview of this Paper’s Content and Aims…...………………………..……………….6 2. The Definition of Comics For TESOL Purposes………………………………..…………..….....12 2.1. The Need for a Clearer Definition of Comics in the Field of TESOL.…………………11 2.2. The Definition of Comics in Current TESOL and Linguistics Literature...….…………13 2.3. The Comics Scholars’ Definition of Comics...……………………………….………....27 2.4. The Definition of Comics for TESOL Purposes……………………..………….………32 2.5. Case Studies in the Usefulness of Comics Classification to ESL/EFL Teachers...……..35 2.6. Defining Comics: What ESL/EFL Instructors Should Know and Do…………………..42 3. Current Use of Comics by ESL/EFL Learners and TESOL Professionals……...………………44 3.1. Comics and Global, Cross-Cultural Communication….……………………….…….....44 3.2. TESOL Professionals’ Resources for Effective Comics Use…………………………...47 3.3. Comics Use in Modern TESOL Practice……………….…………………………...…..52 3.4. Case Studies in the Use of Comics in their Common Present-Day Roles as a TESOL Aid………………………………………………………………………………………56 3.5. The Current Use of Comics in ESL/EFL Instruction: What Teachers Should Know and Do……………………………………………………………………………………….62 4. Maximizing the Effectiveness of Comics in TESOL: Cognitive and Linguistic Theory.……….65 4.1. The Evolution of Visual Language………………………………………………….…..65 4.2. Constructivism and the Processing of Visual Language……………………………......77 4.3. The Language Faculty in a Broad Sense……………………………………………......86
Page 1: Comics Aren’t Just For Fun Anymor
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4. Maximizing the Effectiveness of
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Recine 67 Fig. 4.1.2. Ancient cave
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Recine 69 Fig. 4.1.4. Mesoamerican
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Recine 71 Fig. 4.1.7. A comic strip
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Recine 73 Fig. 4.1.8. Ninrteenth ce
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Recine 75 successor, picture writin
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Recine 77 4.2. Constructivism and t
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Recine 79 Fig. 4.2.3. Sequences fro
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Recine 103 5. Maximizing the Effect
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Recine 105 W. Howard Levie compiles
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Recine 107 that may seem distinct a
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Recine 109 of visual distinctness,
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Recine 111 and have greater utility
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Recine 113 Fig. 5.1.8. Instructions
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Recine 115 Goldsmith groups the vis
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Recine 117 visual cohesiveness and
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Recine 119 these areas, teachers wo
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Recine 123 found to promote memory
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Recine 125 Fig. 5.2.1. A comic stri
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Recine 129 In short, while comics c
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Recine 135 Fig. 5.4.5. Splash panel
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Fig. 5.4.7. Page 13 of “Creekbed
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Fig. 5.4.9. A comic strip I designe
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Recine 143 advanced section of this
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Recine 145 with European learners,
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Recine 147 of the narrative or mess
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Recine 149 can build on TESOL comic
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Recine 151 classroom, even if they
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Recine 153 be rare to find a comic
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Recine 155 Bibliography Abel, Jessi
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Recine 157 Bousquet, Mark. "In Defe
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Recine 159 Reading Association & NC
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Recine 161 Frost, Ram. “Orthograp
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Recine 165 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Ser
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Recine 167 2005. Web. 5 Sep. 2012.
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Recine 169 Web. 13 Oct. 2012. Retal
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Recine 171 Web. 06 Oct. 2012. “St
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Recine 173 Wildman, George, and Kar
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