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The Graphic Novel in the Foreign Language Classroom:

A Review

Julia LudewigBinghamton, State University of New York

Department of Comparative Literature

Binghamton University‘s 2nd Annual Conference Foreign Language Teaching

September 20-21, 2014

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1. Introduction 

2. One text – Many competencies

2.1. Linguistic 2.2. (Inter-)Cultural2.3. Multimodal

 3. Possible Pitfalls

4. Internet Resources  

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INTRODUCTION

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What is a GN?• “sequential art” (Eisner 1985)

o long(er)

o advanced topics

o fleshed-out characters

o visually ambitious

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The fun factor

• authenticity

• popular culture

• young adult literature

• foreign culture/language as attraction

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LINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES

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Reading

• reading aloud (Ranker 2007)

• for beginners’ reading comprehension: yes/no-questions (Monnin 2009)

• vocab building >> vocab lists (David-West 2012)

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the hat

the fan

the hairband

inspired by Monnin 2009

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happyjoyfulsad

curiouseagerbored

surprised shockedcalm

inspired by Davis 1997

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Henseler 2012

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Writing

• summaries

• creative first-person narratives

• expository papers

12Panknin & Wieland 2012

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The Good Ol’ Reading Log

Hermann & Schröter 2012

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First, they take a walk …

Then, they talk about …

Finally, Jobs agrees to...

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Präteritum vs. Perfekt

war > ist gewesensah > hat gesehen

kamen > sind gekommenlag > hat gelegen

inspired by Davis 1997

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tu as >> vous avez

ta >> votre

inspired by Bridges 2009

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Speaking

• read aloud >> practice pronunciation

• retelling >> use own words

• special emphasis: dialogue & spoken language

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I’m

ain’t

ya

inspired by Davis 1997

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(Davis 1997)

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Meta-cognitive/linguistic abilities(Chun 2009)

• How does language change according to

o Situationo Participantso Functiono Time o Culture

• different discourses, registers, different ‘masks’

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Chun 2009

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(INTER-)CULTURAL COMPETENCIES

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“An important benefit of graphic novels is that they present alternative views of culture, history, and human life in general in accessible ways, giving voice to minorities and those with diverse viewpoints.”

Schwarz 2002: 264

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Reading your own culture

• rich in cultural stereotypes (Davis 1997, Vanderbeke 2006)

o professional stereotypeso family roles o gender roleso …

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GN as genre (Bridges 2009)

• culturally and temporarily remote topics • changes in the genre, e.g. growing violence (Vandebeke 2006)

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Genres within the GN

inspired by Bridges 2009

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Reading the ‘other’ culture

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Business Culture

Ousselin 1997

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Immigrants’ experiences

34Kimes-Link & Steininger 2012

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Humor

• (not so) funny situations

• pragmatic failures

• puns

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MULTIMODAL COMPETENCIES

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• critical & media literacy

• “critically engage with and reflect on the politics of […] representations”

• “link personal experiences with socio-historical and institutional power relations”

(Chun 2009 after Morgan and Ramanathan)

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• racial profiling and stereotyping

• African Americans, Latinos

• compare with other GNs on similar

themes

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Multimodality

• many semiotic codes

• verbal, visual, aural

• “Comics are not illustrations of a text, but a certain medium for the combined representation of text and picture. “ (Jüngst 2002)

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Visual literacy: content

• read and interpret o gesture, o facial expression, omovement o clothing, o perspective, o typography, o use of color

(Templer 2009)

41Henseler 2012

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Visual literacy: Panels and Sequences

• How does the sequence influence meaning?

• Which clues help the reader to determine a reading order?

• Why did the artist structure the page this way?

• How do books employ different sequence patterns?

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Schäfers 2012

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Schäfers 2012

45Kimes-Link & Steininger 2012

46Kimes-Link & Steininger 2012

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?

48Jaeckel & Süreyya Er 2010

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• visual symbols comics o smell, omovement, o thinking, o sound effects etc.

• visual grammar partly international, partly culture-specific (Derrick 2008)

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Manga iconography

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Possible Pitfalls

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• overemphasizing form (Hallet 2012)

• inaccessible or pricy material (Vanderbeke 2006)

• abstract language (Vanderbeke 2006)

• unintelligible humor (Ousselin 1997)

• patronizing students (Ousselin 1997)

• ‘interference’ of words and text (Liu 2004)

• ethnocentricity (Templer 2009)

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INTERNET RESOURCES

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http://www.grammarmancomic.com/

• parts of speech

• idioms

• comics + worksheets

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Create your own comics

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/http://bitstrips.com/create/comic

http://marvel.com/games/play/34/create_your_own_comic

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http://www.humblecomics.com/comicsedu/resources/rubric.doc

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Schäfers 2012

58http://www.teachingcomics.org/

• syllabi of existing courses, • instructional units,• message board

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Terminology

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1102/terms.pdf

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http://www.comicsenglish.com/teachers/comics-in-education-annotated-bibliography

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Mainstream comics

• DC Comics http://www.dccomics.com/

• Garfield http://garfield.com/

• Comics.com

• www.archiecomics.com/podcasts

• OneManga.me

SourcesBridges, Elizabeth. “Bridging the Gap: A Literacy-Oriented Approach to Teaching the Graphic Novel Der erste

Frühling.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 42.2 (2009): 151-162. Print.Chun, Christian. “Critical Literacies and Graphic Novels for English-Language Learners: Teaching Maus.” Journal

of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 53.2 (2009): 144–153. Print.David-West, Alzo. “Comics, Contractions, and Classics: At the Sign of the Lion in the University EFL Classroom.”

The Journal of the Faculty of Foreign Studies. Aichi Prefectural University. Language and Literature 44 (2012): 103-114. Print.

Davis, Randall. “Comics: A Multi-dimensional teaching aid in integrated-skills classes.” ESL-lab, 1998. Web. 6 Jul. 2014.

Derrick, Justine. “Using Comics with ESL/EFL Students.” The Internet TESL Journal 11.7 (2008): n.p. Web. 19 Jun. 2014.

Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Art. New York: Norton, 1985. Print.Hallet, Wolfgang. “Graphic Novels. Literarisches und multiliterales Lernen mit Comic-Romanen.“ Der

Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 2-9. Print.Henseler, Roswitha. “Story-orientiere Aufgaben zu einer graphic novel stellen.” Der Fremdsprachliche

Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 10-13. Print.Hermann, Frank, and Anne Schröter. “Sophisticated Suspense. Fremdverstehen anhand einer graphic novel

trainieren.” Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 39-45. Print.Jaeckel, Ralph, and Mehmet Süreyya Er. “ Faruk Geç’s A Letter from Germany. An interactive module for self-

study and classroom use. Adapted for students of Turkish.” CIS University of Chicago, n.d. Web. 15 Septemeber 2014.

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Sources (ctd.) Jüngst, Heike. “ Textsortenrealisierung im Comic-Format. Comics zum Fremdsprachenlernen." Lebende

Sprachen 47 (2002): 1-6. Print.Kimes-Link, Ann, and Ivo Steininger. “American Born Chinese. Sich anhand einer graphic novel mit dem Leben

zwischen zwei Kulturen auseinandersetzen.” Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 28-33. Print.

Liu, Jun. “Effects of comic strips on L2 learners’ reading comprehension.” TESOL Quarterly 38.2 (2004): 225-243. Print.

Monnin, Katie. Teaching Graphic Novels. Practical Strategies for the Secondary ELA Classroom. Gainsville: Maupin House, 2009. Print.

Ousselin, Edward. “Ils sont frais, mes menhirs”: Comic strips in the business French class. Journal of Language for International Business, 8.2 (1997): 22-35. Print.

Panknin, Christian, and Björn Wieland. “Let’s get outta here. Die Handlung einer graphic novel nachvollziehen.” Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 16-21. Print.

Ranker , Jason. “Using comic books as read-alouds: Insights on reading instruction from an English as a second language classroom. The Reading Teacher, 61.4: 296-305. Print.

Schäfers, Monika. “This is not a diary. Narrative Strategien von grafischer Literatur untersuchen.” Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch 117 (2012): 22-27. Print.

Schwarz , Gretchen. “Graphic novels for multiple literacies.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 46 (2002): 262-65. Print.

Templer 2009 in Humanising Language Teaching 11; Issue 3; Vanderbeke, Dirk. “Comics and graphic novels in the classroom.” Cultural Studies in the EFL Classroom. Ed.

Werner Delanoy, and Laurenz Volkmann. Heidelberg, Winter. 2002. 365-379. Print.