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

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Recine 36 comics; they were asking to experience new language through the kind of comics they already knew and liked. Tiemensma’s definition is also useful in another way when I recommend manageable, visually supported reading for students who have no particular interest in comics but are struggling to find reading material they can understand with ease. Because these students are not already interested in comics, they may see mainstream comics’ fictional narratives, cartoony art styles and pop cultural tropes (superheroes, teen romance, talking animals, etc.) as useless or uninteresting “fluff.” To avoid this potential problem, I eschew works with features strongly associated with Tiemensma’s limited but commonly accepted definition of comics. In one such case, I was approached by an international graduate student who came to the tutoring center I worked in, seeking help with general reading ability. She was a serious scholar, not interested in fictional stories, cute cartoony characters, short humorous sequences, or most of the other tropes typically associated with comics. Still, it was apparent that she could benefit from the visual context provided by comics. Knowing that she had a great appetite for nonfiction and interesting facts, I gave her a paperback collection of Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Perhaps not strikingly recognizable as a comic, Ripley’s still provides helpful visual context for written English in the same way that other more conventional comics would. In another similar situation, an international medical student approached me, looking for texts on biology that were as informative as her primary texts but easier to read. I recommended a number of graded science readers to her, and lent her my copy of Larry Gonick’s Cartoon Guide to Genetics. While comics given for pleasure reading may be selected based on their general look and feel as measured against Tiemensma’s listing of common comics features, comics used for specific pedagogical goals should be scrutinized more carefully. This is where the definition of comics provided by Eisner, McCloud and Cohn can be quite useful. The definition draws ESL/EFL instructors’ attention to the variety of function, structure, space, and style found in the comics medium, helping instructors to
Recine 37 know their options and make informed decisions as they seek out comics. When an instructor understands that comics may have any number of themes or messages beyond the conveyance of a narrative, they will be able to search for a wider variety of comics that serve specific purposes or cover specific content areas. Internet searches for phrases like nonfiction comics have allowed me to find Guy Delisle’s travelogue/political essay comic book Pyongyang: A Journey in Korea and recommend it to a colleague of mine who wanted to find visually supported reading related to her course topics: global politics and social justice (fig. 2.5.1). Similarly, by understanding that comics may or may not have words, I have been able to search for a wealth of wordless comics that prompt productive language skills. Such works compel my students to be creative by adding their own words to the narrative (fig. 2.2.5 and 2.2.6). Similarly, my familiarity with captioned single panel comics has helped me find many short, one panel comics with easily removable captions. Such comics are ideal for classroom activities where students must either match captions to their appropriate illustrations or create new captions of their own (fig. 2.2.10). Of course, learning which kinds of comics exist is merely the first step in comics selection. The comics scholars’ definition of comics also helps teachers of ESL/EFL to know how the features of comics can vary. My reading of Eisner, McCloud, and Cohn’s body of work has helped me become more aware that artwork and text can have a variety of relationships in comics, and that these relationships can be used to different teaching ends. For instance, while I was working as an English trainer for an international construction company, I was approached by a student who wanted some extra practice reading. I had already noticed a problem when this student read English language instruction manuals related to his trade. He had great difficulty relating the pictures to the text. Instead, he tended to read the text while ignoring the pictures, or “read” the pictures while ignoring the text. To correct this, I gave him a Beetle Bailey paperback. I selected Beetle Bailey because that particular comic strip often makes its pictures and text interdependent so that neither component is fully
Page 1 and 2: Comics Aren’t Just For Fun Anymor
Page 3 and 4: Recine I Table of Contents 1. Intro
Page 5 and 6: Recine 1 1. Introduction 1.1. The P
Page 7 and 8: Recine 3 Fig. 1.1.2. Left: Sample f
Page 9 and 10: Recine 5 1.2. Some Apparent Advanta
Page 11 and 12: Recine 7 instruction. Clearly, comi
Page 13 and 14: Recine 9 highlight one aspect of TE
Page 15 and 16: Recine 11 2. The Definition of Comi
Page 17 and 18: Recine 13 Fig. 2.1.3. A photo colla
Page 19 and 20: Recine 15 teachers have actively em
Page 21 and 22: Recine 17 Fig. 2.2.2. Lions, Tigers
Page 23 and 24: Recine 19 as the primary or sole me
Page 25 and 26: Recine 21 Fig. 2.2.7. From left to
Page 27 and 28: Recine 23 Fig. 2.2.9. Journey: The
Page 29 and 30: Recine 25 variation of line widths
Page 31 and 32: Recine 27 Fig. 2.2.14. The cover im
Page 33 and 34: Recine 29 TESOL, the comics scholar
Page 35 and 36: Recine 31 Fig. 2.3.2. The See With
Page 37 and 38: Recine 33 language from another is
Page 39: Recine 35 identify mediums that are
Page 43 and 44: Recine 39 language needs (fig. 2.5.
Page 45 and 46: Recine 41 Fig. 2.5.4. A TOEFL prepa
Page 47 and 48: Recine 43 condescending. TESOL prof
Page 49 and 50: Recine 45 integral to the professio
Page 51 and 52: Recine 47 3.2. TESOL Professionals
Page 53 and 54: Recine 49 (“Peabody”), North Ca
Page 55 and 56: Recine 51 Fig. 3.2.2. Make Beliefs
Page 57 and 58: Recine 53 focus on extensive readin
Page 59 and 60: Recine 55 Fig. 3.3.1. An out-of-seq
Page 61 and 62: Recine 57 activities, my engagement
Page 63 and 64: Recine 59 proficiency students and
Page 65 and 66: Recine 61 Fig. 3.4.3. Sample from m
Page 67 and 68: Recine 63 teachers not only find co
Page 69 and 70: 4. Maximizing the Effectiveness of
Page 71 and 72: Recine 67 Fig. 4.1.2. Ancient cave
Page 73 and 74: Recine 69 Fig. 4.1.4. Mesoamerican
Page 75 and 76: Recine 71 Fig. 4.1.7. A comic strip
Page 77 and 78: Recine 73 Fig. 4.1.8. Ninrteenth ce
Page 79 and 80: Recine 75 successor, picture writin
Page 81 and 82: Recine 77 4.2. Constructivism and t
Page 83 and 84: Recine 79 Fig. 4.2.3. Sequences fro
Page 85 and 86: Recine 81 by onomatopoeias, lexical
Page 87 and 88: Recine 83 Fig. 4.2.8. An educationa
Page 89 and 90: Recine 85 While constructivism was
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Recine 87 say that the human abilit
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Recine 89 Fig. 4.3.1. Timbertoes Co
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Recine 91 reinterpret. Similar expl
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Recine 93 Fig. 4.3.6. A political c
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Recine 95 similar children’s comi
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Recine 97 Fig. 4.4.2. A simply draw
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Recine 99 mindful of the fact that
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Recine 101 simplified or highly car
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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
Page 119 and 120:
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 121 When selecting comics, c
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Recine 123 found to promote memory
Page 129 and 130:
Recine 125 Fig. 5.2.1. A comic stri
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Recine 127 input. Per Krashen, the
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Recine 129 In short, while comics c
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Recine 131 look like in comparison
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Recine 133 verbalize about in a var
Page 139 and 140:
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 141 Fig. 5.4.11. An alcohol
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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
Page 159 and 160:
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 163 Ibrahim, Mohammed. “Tr
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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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