VISUAL LITERACY

Literacy and visual imagery have arguably gone hand in hand for a vast part of human society since the days of early cave paintings and the first literary texts constructed by the early civilisations to occupy the earth. Whether it be texts or symbols, the purpose of both has always remained the same: create an instant system of communication, catalogue the linguistic qualities of a language, inform of a story or topic and reflect the culture of the people that it applies to.

Signs that can be found in airports for example have taken the communicative aspect of visual aids to a much more advanced level in terms of how they convey the function of literary text. If we think of the symbols for checking-in/checking-out, male and female toilets, the (fire) exit etc. they have been constructed in a way where they follow a specific criteria of being interpretable to multiple cultures as a visual language:

·         “They must be able to communicate in more than the native language of the country.”

·         “They must be able to communicate without cultural bias.”

·         “They must do their communication very quckly.”

My personal feeling is that there is an indication of genuine merits that are established through the use of visual aids in the process of communication which can be transferred into delivery of linguistic learning. With this in mind, the teaching method that I would like to shape my own teaching methodology from is Visual Literacy.

Visual Literacy is an image-based process of learning with a core aim to ‘explicitly teach a collection of competencies that will help students think through, think about and think with pictures.’

AUTHENTIC OR INAUTHENTIC LANGUAGE

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) of Visual Literacy are:

·         “Integrate visual information via the use of materials such as graphs, photographs, videos, charts etc.”

·         “Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually quantitatively, in as well as in words.”

·         “Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of text.”

·         “Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.”

To take from this criteria set out for Visual Literacy, I definitely feel that authentic language through the use of media such as reading books with pictures is an effective way to deliver the linguistic delivery of teaching to my prospective students. The process of coupling imagery with its textual properties can be a powerfully potent tool in the memorising of words in the learned language. Imagery can also help act as a simplifier for understanding more complex aspects of the English language such as phrasal verbs and idioms which even a P5 student could initially struggle to grasp conceptually.

Sometimes it can be increasingly difficult as a student to remember words and phrases in the L2 language by a means of remembering the spelling and pronunciation textually. The notion of word association also has a chance to flourish under the use of pictorial material when a simple image of a geographical location or setting within the home can spur students to initiate a mental sequence of other relevant linguistic tangents.

SYLLABUS

The mission statement for my personally constructed syllabus is as follows:

‘To create an enriching and engaging learning environment which allows all learners to progress effectively through oral and textual learning combined with visual reinforcement to aid in a positive learning journey.”

As an individual with a passion for illustration I would be highly open to implementing my creativity in providing self-made visual aids (illustrations/diagrams) to act as genuine learning materials when delivering my teaching.

Imagery can function on multiple scales for child, teen and adult learners alike in order to deliver a similar quality of teaching in addressing the syllabus to students. In an ideal setting based upon my own desired terms I would like to have a singular space comprised of a spacious room with plenty of natural lighting, containing comfortable seating such as fabric sofas, bean bags and rugs and no desks in order to create a sense of comfort and remove the typical rigid classroom layout. My target clientele would be normal everyday people of all ages simply wishing to learn English over a sustained period of time through carefully laid out levels of progression. The tiers of levels do not have any formal examinations as the core focus of the syllabus is to be monitored informally by myself the teacher as to determine when the level of teaching should increase, remain the same or be slightly lowered according to what best suits the student(s) needs overall.

Classes are set to be one hour in duration covering target language in each session that is dependent on the level of the learner. If students solely (when taught individually) or collectively wish to choose the direction for which their lessons unfold this is also an option that can be taken up.

Although not covered by the general syllabus, I am open to the possibility of extending my syllabus to accommodate business and medical English upon request for students that require a specific set of vocabulary. Medical English would highly benefit from visual aids/diagrams for complex words associated with anatomy and business English can incorporate learning effective body language to make language more dynamic when delivered.

Here is a sample of an initial engagement critieria for a prospective adult student via a phone conversation to determine their level before participating in any sessions:

Starting at Basic Level 0 the idea is to go through all the questions of each level up to the point that the prospective student can no longer understand and respond.

LESSON PLAN

For an initial P3 adult class containing 5 or more students, the lesson plan is as follows:

I EAT/I ATE/HAVE EATEN (VOCABULARY)

INTRO QUESTIONS:

1.       What did you EAT for breakfast?

2.       Have you EATEN any lunch?

3.       What will you EAT for dinner tomorrow?

CLASS ACTIVITY 1

Each student has a collection of picture cards (nine in total):

BREAKFAST: Cereal, a Croissant, Toast

LUNCH: Pasta, a Sandwich, a Salad

DINNER: Soup, Chicken and Vegetables, Lasagne

Each student must use one option from the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner options to form the following sentences in the past tense:

1.       For BREAKFAST I ate…

2.       For LUNCH I ate…

3.       For DINNER I ate

The following sentences are to be formed in the future tense again using one option from each of the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner options:

1.       For BREAKFAST I will eat…

2.       For LUNCH I will eat…

3.       For DINNER I will eat…

CLASS ACTIVITY 2:

Have the students consider the following:

1.       What different types of food have you eaten? E.g. I have eaten Chinese, Japanese etc.

2.       What types of food would you like to try? Why?

3.       What is your favourite food?

Now have the students split into groups and come up with a new recipe. They must come up with a name for the recipe, list all the ingredients needed to make it, what it tastes like and what type of meal it is e.g. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

WRAP UP

1.       What will you EAT for dinner tomorrow?

2.       Have you ever EATEN oysters?

3.       Did you EAT chocolate as a child?

TARGET LANGUAGE

1.       EAT

2.       EATEN

3.       ATE

4.       BREAKFAST

5.       LUNCH

6.       DINNER

TEACHER AND STUDENT ROLES

The Teacher: The teacher’s role from the very start of each lesson is to give full incentive to the students to participate heavily in the layout of what the lesson entails. The intro questions act as a basis from where the students are given the target language whilst being encouraged to respond using the target language in return. There is no formal structure of titling classes by what is deemed to be the linguistic objective e.g. “In today’s class we will be looking at the words eat, eaten and ate.” The activities are a platform for students to confidently explore the depths of the vocabulary, form opinions and take enjoyment from the whole learning process.

The student: The student’s role is to take a large ratio of the STT (student talking time) and use the activities with the visual aids provided to fully engage in the learning process and have no fear to make mistakes, demonstrate current knowledge and use each fellow students for support. Students can approach at any time for 1-on-1 advise or queries related to what is being learned (e.g. words that pose a difficulty, the level they are currently learning at etc.)

EVALUATION

To conclude, I feel that the visual qualities of my teaching method will be highly beneficial to students across all age groups in the L2 language learning process. It invites both learners who develop orally and learners who develop visually to flourish on the same level of learning criteria allowing for a more wholesome and inclusive experience.

The key is always for students to feel completely at ease, maximise use of the visual aids in sessions and build up a mental bank of linguistic teachings to propel them forward in one day becoming competent, confident P5 speakers with a journey of learning that they can take full pride in.

I would like the opportunity to adopt this Visual Literacy approach with young, teen, and adult learners in order to see if one age group performs more or less effectively than the others and if there is any similarities/differences in how they respond to the methodology, As communication becomes more geared towards electronic devices and social media, the need for visual based learning is a factor that I feel can adapt and not be overshadowed by the passing of time.