Binghamton University‘s
2nd Annual Conference Foreign Language Teaching
September 20-21, 2014
The Graphic Novel
in the Foreign Language Classroom:
A Review
Julia Ludewig
Binghamton, State University of New York
Department of Comparative Literature
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1. Introduction
2. One text – Many competencies
2.1. Linguistic
2.2. (Inter-)Cultural
2.3. Multimodal
3. Possible Pitfalls
4. Internet Resources
2
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
hairband
the fan
inspired by Monnin 2009
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surprised
shocked
calm
curious
eager
bored
inspired by Davis 1997
happy
joyful
sad
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Henseler 2012
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Writing
• summaries
• creative first-person narratives
• expository papers
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Panknin & 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 gewesen
sah > hat gesehen
kamen > sind gekommen
lag > 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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ya
I’m
ain’t
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 Situation
o Participants
o Function
o 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
o
o
o
professional stereotypes
family roles
gender roles
…
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25
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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
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Kimes-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 sociohistorical 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,
o movement
o clothing,
o perspective,
o typography,
o use of color
(Templer 2009)
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Henseler 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
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Kimes-Link & Steininger 2012
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Kimes-Link & Steininger 2012
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?
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Jaeckel & Süreyya Er 2010
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• visual symbols comics
o smell,
o movement,
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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• parts of
speech
• idioms
• comics +
worksheets
http://www.grammarmancomic.com/
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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.humbleco
mics.com/comicsedu/re
sources/rubric.doc
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Schäfers 2012
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• syllabi of existing courses,
• instructional units,
• message board
http://www.teachingcomics.org/
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Terminology
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson
1102/terms.pdf
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http://www.comicsenglish.com/teachers/comics-in-education-annotatedbibliography
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Mainstream comics
• DC Comics
http://www.dccomics.com/
• Garfield
http://garfield.com/
• Comics.com
• www.archiecomics.com/podcasts
• OneManga.me
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Sources
Bridges, 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 selfstudy and classroom use. Adapted for students of Turkish.” CIS University of Chicago, n.d. Web. 15
Septemeber 2014.
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.
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