How Graphic Novels Affect Reading Comprehension and ...

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How Graphic Novels Affect ReadingComprehension and Memory Recall of StoryElements for Language LearnersStephen Jerome MeuerHamline University, [email protected]

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HOW GRAPHIC NOVELS AFFECT READING COMPREHENSION AND MEMORY RECALL OF STORY

ELEMENTS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS

by Stephen Meuer

A Capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in English as a Second Language

Hamline University

Saint Paul, Minnesota

July 2016

Committee: Jennifer Ouellette-Schramm, Primary Advisor Debbie Hadas, Secondary Advisor Eric Vernon, Peer Reader

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to thank my committee members for your saintly patience.

Thank you to those students that make my life so fulfilling and rewarding.

Thank you to those who gifted me a love of comic books and a rich imagination from a young

age, including Stan Lee, Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Frank

Miller, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, and Joss Whedon. And to Aaron Rice, who is the sole reason

I know who those people are.

To my parents, who always supported me in in everything I did. Thank you for sharing your love

of reading with me, and for always encouraging me to pursue a field of study in it. I am the

person I am today because of your continued guidance.

Finally, thank you to my wife and best friend, Courtney. Thank you for always being a

supportive ear, a helping hand and a loving heart. You have always kept me above water.

How Graphic Novels Affect Reading Comprehension and Memory Recall of Story Elements for

Language Learners.

GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------1

Retells and Memory Recall in Reading Comprehension--------------------2 Graphic Novels in the Classroom----------------------------------------------3 Role/BackgroundoftheResearcher----------------------------------------3GuidingQuestions---------------------------------------------------------------5ChapterOverviews--------------------------------------------------------------5

Chapter 2: Literature Review------------------------------------------------------------7

Visuals,ComicBooks,andGraphicNovelsintheClassroom-----------7ABriefHistoryofComicBooksandGraphicNovels------------------7

TheLinkBetweenVisualsandGraphicNovels------------------------9ReadingComprehension,Retell,andRecall------------------------------12

ReadingComprehension---------------------------------------------------12 MeasuringReadingComprehension-------------------------------------14 Retell---------------------------------------------------------------------------15 MemoryRecall---------------------------------------------------------------17

SupportingReadingComprehensionwithGraphicNovels------------17Representation--------------------------------------------------------------18Organization------------------------------------------------------------------20Interpretation----------------------------------------------------------------21Transformation--------------------------------------------------------------22NeedforResearch--------------------------------------------------------------24Summary-------------------------------------------------------------------------24

Chapter 3 : Methodology ----------------------------------------------------------------26 Overview of the Chapter--------------------------------------------------------27 Mixed Methods Research Paradigm-------------------------------------------27 Data Collection-------------------------------------------------------------------29


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Participants--------------------------------------------------------------------29 Location------------------------------------------------------------------------30

Data Collection Technique 1: Written Retells--------------------------------30 Data Collection Technique 2: Memory Recall Chapter Check-In----------32 Materials----------------------------------------------------------------------------33 Reading Selection--------------------------------------------------------------33 Written Retell Graphic Organizer--------------------------------------------34 Written Retell Rubric----------------------------------------------------------35 Post Chapter Recall Assessment---------------------------------------------35 Data Analysis-----------------------------------------------------------------------36 Analyzing Retells---------------------------------------------------------------36 Analyzing Recalls---------------------------------------------------------------36 Verification of Data----------------------------------------------------------------36 Ethics---------------------------------------------------------------------------------37 Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------39

Chapter 4: Results --------------------------------------------------------------------------41 Results-------------------------------------------------------------------------------41 Student Written Retells--------------------------------------------------------41 Student Memory Recall Assessments----------------------------------------47 Chapter 5: Conclusions ---------------------------------------------------------------------53 Discussion of Results---------------------------------------------------------------53 Reading Retells------------------------------------------------------------------53 Memory Recall------------------------------------------------------------------54 Limitations---------------------------------------------------------------------------55

Implications--------------------------------------------------------------------------57 Further Research---------------------------------------------------------------------58 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------59


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Appendices ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------61

Appendix A: Written Retell Rubric-----------------------------------------------61 Appendix B: Chapter Recall Assessments---------------------------------------63 Appendix C: Retell Organizer Scaffold-------------------------------------------72 Appendix D: Academic Vocabulary Transition Words-------------------------74 Appendix E: Sample Traditional Novel Text-------------------------------------76 Appendix F: Sample Graphic Novel Text-----------------------------------------80 Appendix G: Parent Permission Letter---------------------------------------------84

References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------88


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List of Figures: Figure1CombinedChapterAverageScoresofWrittenRetellsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------45Figure2Eleanor’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel---46

Figure3Jordan’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel-----46

Figure4Anthony’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel---47

Figure5AveragePercentageScoreonMemoryRecallAssessmentsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel---------------------------------------------------------------------------51


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List of Tables:

Table1AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------42

Table2AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------44Table3StudentAveragePercentMemoryRecallScoreIncreaseforGraphicNovels--48Table4PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------49Table5PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------50


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CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION

EversinceIcanremember,Ihavelovedreading.Afreereadingbookcouldalways

befoundnestledsafelywithinmybackpackfromelementaryschoolon;stayinguppastmy

bedtimewithaflashlightunderthecoverswasacommonschoolnightoccurrence.This

ledtocourseloadingofliteraturerelatedcoursesinhighschool;ItookHonorsEnglish,

CreativeWriting,DramaticLiterature,anythingthathadtodowithreading.Incollege,I

naturallystudiedEnglishLiteratureandeventually,afterlivingandteachingabroad,

decidedthatIwantedpassonthejoysofreadingtoothersasacareer.

AsateacherofEnglishLanguageLearnersinamiddleschool,Iseethemyriadof

challengesmystudentsfacewhenitcomestoreading,manymorechallengesthanIever

faced.Someproblemsaredifficulttocounteract,andstemfromastudent’sextreme

povertyandlackofaccesstoreadingresources,parentswhothemselvesarenotliterate,or

sheerlackoffreetimeduetovariousfamilyresponsibilities.Otherequallydifficult

problemsinreadingandreadingcomprehensioncanstemfrominterruptedschooling,

nativelanguageinterference,andanoveralllackoralproficiencyinEnglishtobeginwith.

Despitemyenthusiasmandfeelingsofhighregardtowardsreadingintheclassroom,my

attempttochooseculturallyrelevantandinterestingstoriesformystudents,andmy

providinganextensiveclassroomlibrary,Icontinuedtohavetroublegettingstudentsto

read.Furthermore,whentheydidread,Iwashavingtroublegettingstudentstoexplain

whattheyread.Ibegantosearchforpossiblescaffoldsasasolutionandrememberedthat

itwasnotGoosebumpsorEncyclopediaBrownthatgotmestartedwithreading,itwasThe

X-Men,Batman,TheAdventuresofTintin,andSwampThingthathadmereadingonadaily

basis,andmoreimportantly,talkingatgreatlengthstomyparentsaboutwhatIhadjust

read,andatayoungageaswell.Comicbooksweremyentrywaytotheworldofliterature.

IthenwonderedifcomicbookscouldbeusedforEnglishLanguageLearnersinthesame

manner.

Eversincethesequestionscreptintomymind,Ihavedonemybesttoinfusemy

classroomlibrarywithgraphicnoveladaptationsofclassicliterature;student-friendly

comicbookssitinatrayonmydeskforstudentstotakeandreadattheirleisure.


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PostersofBatmanreadinginhisBatcaveandgraphicnoveldepictionsofPercyJacksonline

thewallsofmyclassroom.Iftherewasanovelthatwasrequiredreadingaccordingtothe

curriculum,Isearchedforagraphicnoveladaptationthatcouldbeusedintandemtohelp

fostermeaningandunderstanding.Eventually,Ibegantonoticethatthevibrantart

containedwithinthesebooksnotonlycreatedinterestinthestories(asseenbythesheer

amountofclassroomlibrarycheck-outs,)but,moreimportantly,hadstudentstalkingabout

thestoriesandgivingmini-synopsestotheirpeerstoencourageordiscouragecheckingthe

bookout.Studentshadtheirfavorites,manyrereadingthegraphicnovelsseveraltimes

over.Incontrastwiththetraditionaltextofyearsbefore,itwasnotashardformeto

imaginesomeofthesestudentsreadingthesegraphicnovelsundertheircovers,flashlight

inhand,farpasttheirbedtime.

IknewIwasontosomething,butIwantedtoknowmore.Iwantedtodiscoverjust

howmuchmoregraphicnovelscouldbeused,notonlyinmyshelteredlanguagelearner

classroom,butalsoincontentclassroomsaswell.Visuals,afterall,arecommonlyusedto

helplanguagelearnerswithintheclassroom…andwhataregraphicnovelsbutsimply

literaturewithaddedvisualaids?Iwantedtoknowifgraphicnovelscouldworkasa

bridgebetweenpicturebooksandtraditionalliteratures.Iaskedbegantoponderif

graphicnovelswereanuntappedresourceintheworldofELLeducation,andiftheycould

haveanyeffectsonreadingcomprehension.Wouldstudentshaveabetterunderstanding

ofthecontentofastorywhenreadingagraphicnovel?Wouldtheirunderstandingbeas

goodasiftheyreadusingthetraditionalnovel?Iquestionedifstudentswouldstillbeable

tograsptheimportantplotelementsofthestory,orifreadingthegraphicnovelversion

wouldnotallowforasdeepofanunderstandingofthestory.Itwastheseinitialquestions,

aswellasmyownvariousclassroomadaptationsthatresultedfromthem,thatservedas

thecatalystformyinitialresearchandeventuallymytworesearchquestions.

RetellsandMemoryRecallinReadingComprehension

Asalanguageinstructorinapublicschool,helpingELstudentsgrowintheir

readinglevelisahugepartofmyjob.Unfortunately,readingisoftenanincredible

challengeformanystudentsasitisverydependentoneachstudent’sproductivelanguage

abilitiesinboththeirfirstlanguage(L1)aswellastheiracquisitionoftheirtargetlanguage

ofEnglish.Addtothatthealreadydifficultnatureofmeasuringreadingcomprehensionin


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generalanditiseasytoseehowcomplextheissuereallyis.ItisforthisreasonIsoughtto

findanappropriatewaytobestmeasuremystudents’responsestotheirreadings.Oral

explanationsstruckmeastoodemandingandpossiblystressfulforstudentstoaccurately

retelltheeventsofachapter.Ifinallysettledontheuseofawrittenretellforstudents,a

formatIfeelcanprovidetheappropriatescaffoldsneededforlanguagelearners,andalso

allowthemagreatdealofindependenceandtimetoproducegoodwork.Forthepurpose

ofmyownstudy,Iwilluseretelltodescribethereadingcomprehensiontaskofwritten

expressionitself,andrecallormemoryrecalltodescribetheaspectofmemoryusage

requiredtocompletethetask.Inmystudy,Iwillspecificallyfocusonhowthesoletaskof

retell,inthebroadswathofvariousreadingcomprehensionmeasures,isaffectedbythe

useofagraphicnovelformat.Ihopetodetermineifstudentswillbeabletoretellto

completenesstheimportantstoryelementsofthechapter.Iwillalsolookattheeffectsthe

mediumhasonmemoryrecall.

GraphicNovelsintheClassroom

Whatisagraphicnovel?Ifyouweretoaskalibrarianorbookstoreclerkthis

question,youmightbesurprisedbythevarietyofdefinitionsyoureceive.

“Itisabigcomicbook.“

“Itisacollectionofthosestoriescontainingguyswithcapesandmasks.“

“Theycanbefoundnexttothechildrensection.”

ThesearesomerealanswersIreceivedfromrealpeoplewhenpositingthequestion

thatstartedthissection.Intruth,therealdefinitionisfarmorecomplex,andsadly,the

answersIreceivedcontributetowhatIfeelisthecontinuedmisunderstandingofauseful

scaffoldanduntappedresourceforstrugglingreaders,ELLornot.Itistheseexact

continuedmisunderstandingsthatpushedmetopursuestudyinthepotentialofcomics

andgraphicnovels.Ioftenwonderedhowsomeformsofartwerevaluedoverothers,and

howwhenitcametoeducation,shouldn’tthevaluebebasedsolelyonresultsandnot

personalopinionsorpossiblemisconceptions?

InChapter2,Iwillcontinuetodelvedeeperintothevarioustheoriesthatexist

regardingtheuseofgraphicnovelsineducation,toshowhowgraphicnovelsmaybenefit

ELLsinandoutoftheELLclassroomandarguefortheirimplementationasascaffold.

Role/BackgroundoftheResearcher


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AsmybackgroundasamiddleschoolELLteachershouldmakeevident,Iworkto

notonlyteachstudentstheintricaciesoftheEnglishlanguageanditsusage,butalsoto

teachstudentshowtosuccessfullyusethatlanguageinthevariousacademicsettings,such

asthemainstreamandcontentclassestheyfindthemselvesinthroughouttheschoolday.

Furthermore,myworkincludestrainingcontentteacherstousespecificstrategies,

scaffolding,anddifferentiationintheirclassroomsinordertobestfacilitateELLstudent

success.ManyofmycolleaguesthatinstructsuchcontentcoursesasEnglish,socialstudies

andscienceexpressconcernforELLsuccessintheirclassrooms,mostoftenasadirect

resultoflow-readinglevelsandlimitedreadingcomprehension.ItisthisfocusonmyELL

teacherroleofprovidingtoolstoothereducators,coupledwiththeconcernforlowreading

comprehensionthathasledmetomystudyongraphicnovelsasapotentialtoolforELLs.

Inaddition,itisimportantformeasaresearchertorecognizethevariouspossible

benefitsofthisstudyforthestudentsthemselves.Studentinteresthasagreateffectonthe

motivationofstudents,dictatinghowmuchstudentsarewillingtoreadintheirfreetime

orcontinuepastaparticularlychallengingexcerpt.Casualobservationofstudentreading

habitsinmyclassroom,aswellasthenumberofgraphicnovelscheckedoutofthe

classroomandschoollibrariesbymyELLstudentshaveshownahighamountofstudent

interestalreadypresentinregardstographicnovels.

Myroleasaresearcherinthisstudywastoseeifgraphicnovelscanpositivelyaffect

students’readingcomprehensionofapassageand,therefore,becomeatoolthatcanbe

usedinvariousEnglish,SocialStudies,andevenScienceclassestoassistreading

comprehension.Sincethestudentsparticipatinginthisstudyweremembersofmypull-

outELLclassroom,Iactedasabotharesearcherandparticipant.

Ibeganthisresearchwithinitialassumptionsandbiasesregardingthe

plausibleoutcomes.Ibelieved,firstofall,thatcomicbooksandgraphicnovelshadan

addedvisualaspectthatwouldnaturallylenditselftoincreasedunderstandingofthe

contentforELLstudents.Ialsomadeassumptionsthatamajorityofstudentswould

benefitfromthisprovidedscaffold,asshownthroughimprovedretellsincomparisonto

thereadingofthetraditionalnovelformat.Finally,Iassumedthatduetothe

aforementionedvisualnatureofgraphicnovels,studentswhoreadthegraphicnovel


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formatwouldbeabletobetterrecallvitalinformationaftersometimehaspassedin

contrasttothosestudentswhoreadthetext-onlynovelformat.

GuidingQuestions

Withthisresearch,Ifocusedonthepossibleeffectofthemediumofgraphicnovels

onreadingcomprehensionforELLstudentsincontrasttotraditionaltext.Ichosethis

becauseIwantedtofindouthowgraphicnovelscanaffectELLreadingcomprehensionin

ordertodeterminepossibledifferentiation,scaffolding,andadaptivestrategiesthatcanbe

madetobeinclusiveofELLstudentswhoarelowreadersorhavedifficultywithreading

comprehension.Graphicnovelsandcomicbooksserveasanaturalmid-pointbetween

picturebooksandtraditionalliterature,andthereforestoodoutasanunder-utilized

resourceofELLuseintheclassroom.Duetothis,Iaminterestedincomparing

performanceofthereadingcomprehensiontaskofretellingbetweentraditionalliterature

andgraphicnoveladaptationsofthesamepieceofliterature.

Inthisstudy,Ihopetofindinsightonthefollowingquestions:

1. Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,

asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle

schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?

Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby

theuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltext

format?

ChapterOverviews

Inthischapter,Idiscussedmyinterestinlookingathowgraphicnovelsmaybeable

toassistELLstudentswithinboththeELLclassroomandcontentclassroom.Iintroduced

mypersonalconnectionwithreadingaswellasmybackgroundasanELLteacherina

middleschoolsetting.IconnectedthistomydesiretohelpmyELLstudentsovercomethe

manyfactorsthatinfluencepoorreadingandreadingcomprehension.Iwentontoexplain

readingcomprehensionfromanELLlens,andhowretellisconnectedtodetermining

readingcomprehension.Ifurtherdescribedtheconnectionthatexistsbetweentheusesof

visualsintheELLclassroom,andconnectedthisconceptoftheuseofvisualstothe

mediumofgraphicnovels.Finally,Iintroducedthestudy,myroleintheprocessthrough

analyzingthestudentretells,andthebiasesandassumptionsthatexist.InChapterTwo,I


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provideareviewoftheliteraturerelevanttoreadingcomprehension,retell,recall,theuse

ofvisualsintheELLclassroom,andgraphicnovels.ChapterThreeincludesadescriptionof

theresearchdesignandmethodologyofthestudy.ChapterFourpresentstheresultsof

thisstudy.InChapterFiveIreflectonthedatacollectedanddiscussthesefindingsthrough

thelensofpossiblelimitationsthatexistandimplicationsforfutureuseandpossible

furtherresearch.


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CHAPTERTWO:LITERATUREREVIEW

Thepurposeofthisstudyistodeterminethepotentialeffectsgraphicnovelscan

haveonreadingcomprehensionintheformofretells,aswellasanypotentialeffectsonthe

recallofinformation.Thestudywillattempttoanswer

1. Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,

asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle

schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?

2. Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby


format?

Thischapterpresentsanoverviewofreadingcomprehensionand,morespecifically,

howretellandmemoryrecallrelatetoandmeasurereadingcomprehension.Itthen

furtherdiscussesthemediumofgraphicnovels,aswellasthepotentialbenefitsoftheuse

ofgraphicnovelsandvisualsintheclassroom,includingresearchonexistinglinksbetween

visualsandreadingcomprehensionandbetweenverbalandnon-verbalsystemsknownas

theDualCodingTheory.

Visuals,ComicBooks,andGraphicNovelsintheClassroom

ABriefHistoryofComicBooksandGraphicNovels.Inhisgraphicnovelentitled

UnderstandingComics,ScottMcCloudcitesWillEisner,illustratorandrecognized

“grandfatherofthegraphicnovel,”andgivesEisner’sdefinitionofcomicsas“sequential

art”(McCloud,1993,p5).McClouddoesnotstophere,however,addinghisownworking

definitionofcomicsas“juxtaposedpictorialandotherimagesindeliberatesequence.”

(1993).Thatis,accordingtoMcCloud,comicsarearrangementsofpicturesandwords

arrangedside-byside(insteadofarrangedinrapidsuccessiontodepictone“moving”


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imageasseeninthemediumofanimation)asanartorstoryformat.So,hereweseehow

graphicnovelsareinthesamefamily,butstillauniquelydifferentmediumfromother

sequencedillustrationslikecartoonanimation,however,differencesdoexistbetween

graphicnovelsandcomicbooksaswell.

Onesimplisticexplanationofagraphicnovelisthatofalarge,full-lengthworkof

comicstyleartthatalsoincludesnarrativewithabeginning,middleandend(Fisher&

Frey,2011).Theyareapopularandever-growingmedium.Thetermgraphicnovelisin

thesamefamilyascomicbooks,butdidnotmakeanappearanceinthevernacularuntil

around1978withWillEisner’spublicationofAContractwithGod(Arnold,2003).The

bookwasseriousinnature,andwaspublishedasanoriginaltradepaperback,thereby

disconnectinganytiesthatmayhaveexistedwiththetraditionalserializedcomicpanelor

comicbook.Thedefinitionofagraphicnovel,therefore,sharesthatofthecomicbookin

termsofitspictorialandtextualstoryformat,butdiffersslightlyinitsaddeddimensionof

thecomicsbeingcollectedandarrangedinabookformatoranthology.Thisgivesgraphic

novelsafeelingofcompleteness;theentirestoryispresentfromstarttofinishandcan

standalone,unlikethenewspapercomicserialshortsormonthlyissuesofcomicbooks.

Forthepurposeofthisresearch,however,itiseasytoseehowthesedefinitionsare

relativelyinterchangeable.Whendiscussingthevisualbenefitsofacomicbook,for

example,itcanbeassumedthesamebenefitsexistusingagraphicnovel,asthedefinitions

areundifferentiatedinregardstothefactthattheybothincludethepictorialandtextual

storyformat.

Todate,therearegraphicnovelsforjustabouteverysubjectorliterarygenre.

Originalworkscandealwitharangeofrelevantandimportantthemes.Withworkslike


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ArtSpeigelman’sMaus,whichisanartisticrevisitingofSpiegelman’sfather’spersonal

experienceduringtheHolocaust,orBrianK.Vaughan’sPrideofBaghdad,whichactsasan

analogyofthewarinBaghdad,andwhichonereviewerdescribedas“….anintense,sad

storythatisintelligent,relevant,andsuperblydrawn.”itiseasytoseehowfarremoved

fromredtightsandevilhenchmansomeofthesetextsreallyare(Traeger,2007,para.12).

Inadditiontotheseoriginalliteraryworks,thereisagrowingmarketofdirectgraphic

noveladaptationsoftraditionaltextnovels,withsuchgraphicnoveladaptationsof

Frankenstein,PortraitofDorianGray,CityofEmber,AWrinkleinTime,PercyJackson,and

manymore.Withthesamethought-provokingthemesasthosepresentintheoriginal

novelandtheaddedscaffoldofvisuals,itiseasytoseethedemonstratedworthofgraphic

novelsandpossibleliterarycapabilitiesoftheiruse;graphicnovelshavethepotentialto

providesupportforstrugglingreaderswhilestillworkingthroughdifficultthemesand

complicatedstoriesbyprovidinglearnerstheaddedscaffoldofvisualsdepictingthestory.

TheLinkBetweenVisualsandGraphicNovels.Therehasbeensomeresearch

thatcanbelinkedtographicnovelstoargueforsupportthemedium’suseinthe

classroom.Visuals,forexample,havelongbeenhailedaspowerfulaidsinassisting

studentsintheirreadingcomprehensionormemoryrecall(eg.,Levie&Lentz,1982;Levin,

Anglin,&Carney,1987).Oneproponentoftheuseofvisualsgoessofarastocategorize

thefivewaysvisualscanaidareader,citingthemas:

(1)Representation:Visualscanactasawaytorepeat,reinforce,oroverlapwiththe

textitself.

(2)Organization:Visualsaddtotheorganizationtomakethetextmorecoherent.


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(3)Interpretation:Visualsacttoprovidethereadermoreconcreteinformation

withinthereadingitselfinordertoaidinterpretationofinferencesmadebythe

author.

(4)Transformation:Visualsallowreaderstofocusonthemorecriticalinformation

andstoreitinamorememorable(i.e.visual)format.

(5)Decoration:Visualscanbeusedasanaestheticchoicetoaddinterest(Liu,

2004).

Itisrelevantthatingraphicnovels,avisualaccompanieseachindividualizedpiece

oftext,beitanarrator’sdescriptionofthesetting,aninnermonologue,orcharacter

speech.Therefore,eachandeveryoneofthefunctionslistedaboveareever-present

withinthecontextofgraphicnovels,constantlyaddingtothefacilitationofreading

comprehensionfortheentiretyofthereading.Itseemsonlynaturalthat,using(3)-

Interpretation,forinstance,anyconfusionwiththeinterpretationofthesettingasdefined

inthetext,willhaveamoreconcreteprovisionintheaccompanyingvisualrepresentation

ofthesetting.Whenlookingat(4)Transformation,wecanevenciteaveryimportantand

relevanttheoryregardingvisualsandreadingcomprehension:thedualcodingtheoryof

cognition(Paivio,1971,1986;Sadoski&Paivio,2001).

Thedualcodingtheorydiscussestwoseparatesystemsofcognition,thelanguage

systemsandtheimagerysystem(Paivio,1971).InmuchthesamewaythatLiuargues

thatvisualsallowreaderstofocusonandstoreinformationbetter,Paivioargueswithhis

dualcodingtheorythatwebetterunderstandandrememberthewrittenwordwhenit

comesintandemwithvisuals.Thesearesomeofthebetter-knownargumentsforthe

beneficialusesofvisualsintheclassroom.


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Thevariousexamplesgivenofthemeritsofvisualsintheclassroomcaneasily

translatetothevisualaspectofcomicbooksandgraphicnovels.SetfootinanyELL

classroomandtherewillbevarietyofvisualspresent,frompicturedictionaries,word

walls,andgraphicorganizers,tostorycharts,mindmapsandsimilarvisualscaffolding.

Visualscaffoldssuchasgraphicorganizersorstoryboardshelpserveadualpurposeof

makinginputmorecomprehensiblethroughcreatingvisualizeddepictionsofthetextas

wellashowitcanbearrangedwithinourthoughtprocesses,whichcansimultaneously

removesomedegreeofaffectivefilterthatmaybepresentbyallowingstudentstograsp

conceptsthatmayhavebeentoodifficultintext-onlyformat(Bruce,2011).Inessence,

studentswhomayotherwisehavelaggedduetolanguagebarriers,arenowprovidedwith

atoolthatcanallowthemtoworkattheleveloftheirnativespeakingpeers,andthen

challengethemintheirZoneofProximalDevelopment(Vgotsky,1978).Takinginto

accountthevisualsprovidedintextfromsuchmediaascomicbooksandgraphicnovels,it

isnaturaltocometotheconclusionthatgraphicnovelsaresimplyanotherformofvisual

scaffolding.Manyhavelongarguedthemeritsofcomics,citingthemedium’suniqueability

todisplaytherelationshipbetweenwordsandvisualimagessimultaneously,allowing

readersaneasierpathtoimaginewhattheyreadwhichisafundamentalkeytofacilitating

comprehension(Eisner,1998).Infact,thispathEisnerwastalkingaboutseemsto

naturallyassiststudentswiththeuseofthevisualizationreadingstrategy,astrategyof

formingmentalpicturesinstudentminds,whichhelpsstudentstoessentiallylivethestory

intheirmindsastheyread(Roe,Smith&Burns,2005).Roe,SmithandBurns(2005)go

ontoarguethatbydoingthistheywillnotonlyenjoythestorymore,butalsounderstand

itonadeeperlevel.Manyresearchersagreewiththisideaofpicturesfacilitating


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comprehension,positingthatthevisualaspectofcomicscanreducethecognitiveloadof

whatwouldotherwisebedensetextormoresophisticatedconcepts(Burke,2012).Thatis,

studentswhonormallymayhavebeenoverwhelmedbydensetext,excessdetailorflowery

andmetaphoriclanguagewillhaveareducedchanceofbeingoverloadedthroughtheuse

ofvisualsactingasascaffoldthatallowsanadditionalvisualchannelforcomprehension,

therebyimprovingprocessing.

Thephrases“easierpath”or“reducingload”mightleadsometobelievecomic

booksorgraphicnovelsaredesignatedaseasyorlow-levelreaders.Thisisnotthecase.

Infact,manycanofferthesamereadinglevelasTIMEMagazine,butsimplycontaintext

featureswithinthatcanhelpfosterincreasedcomprehension(Snowball,2005).Ifteachers

areawareofthealreadydiscussedincrediblecognitivedemandreadingrequires,forELLs

especially,thenextlogicalstepwouldbeforprofessionalstopursueascaffoldingoption

that,throughvisuals,canincreasestudentcomprehensionwhilesimultaneously

demystifyingdifficulttext(Burke,2012;Cary2004).Thefollowingaresomestudiesand

theoriesthatshowhowthisvisualscaffolding,beitthroughcomicbooks,graphicnovels,or

visualimages,canbeusedtosupportELLreadingcomprehension.

ReadingComprehension,Retell,andRecall

Readingcomprehension.Thetopicofreadingcomprehensioninthefieldof

educationisacomplexandbroadone.Theactualprocessofmeasuringreading

comprehensionlevels,however,isevenmoremulti-facetedandinvolved.Infact,Fletcher

(2006)states,“measurementissuesarecomplicated,reflectingthecomplex,

multidimensionalnatureofreadingcomprehension”(p.323).Itseemsthattherearea

myriadofwaysforateachertomeasureastudent’sreadingcomprehension;however,


13

manyofthesemethodshavetheaddedbaneofbeingratherinformal.These

measurementsincludeteacherobservation,anecdotalrecords,studentwrittenresponse,

groupdiscussions,retelling,andtextcomprehensionquestions;noindividualmethodcan

servetoevaluateastudent’stextunderstandinginwhole,asarguedbyresearchersParis&

Stahl(2005)with,“Readingcomprehensionismultifacetedandcannotbeadequately

measuredbyanysingleapproach,process,ortest”(ascitedinCohen,Krustedt&May,

2009,p.106). Reading,therefore,isnotsimplyapassiveact,butratheracomplex,involved,

andongoingprocessrequiringconsistentparticipationfromthereader(Kucer,2005).Itis

muchmorethansimplylookingatthewordsonthepage;instead,itrequiresreader

participationtomakemeaningofthoseworks.Themakingmeaningprocessiswhen

readingcomprehensiontakesplace.Tofullyreadandcomprehendatextisaprocessthat

involvesagreatdealofdifferentfactorstotakeplace,includingnotonlyphonemic,phonic,

andvocabularyrecognition,butalsomoreinvolvedprocessessuchasfluency,decoding,

interpreting,makingconnections,memoryrecall,andhigherlevelthinking(Moore&

Smith,2014).Inessence,readingisamulti-levelprocessthatnotonlyincludesthe

extractionofmeaningfromthewordsandcontext,butthesimultaneousconstructionof

meaningfromthisextraction(SnowandSweet,2003).

Researchingthecomplexprocessofreadingandcomprehensioncanshedsome

lightonwherepotentialdifficultiesforstudentsmaylieregardingreading.Readingisa

highlyactiveandinvolvedprocess,requiringagreatdealofbackgroundknowledge,

strategies,andprocessingcomponentsfromtheparticipants(Kintsch&Kintsch,2005).

Thisprocess,therefore,cannotbesimplytaught,andinterventionscannotbeintheformof

simplesolutions.Inordertohelpourownparticularbrandofparticipants(i.e.middle


14

schoollanguagelearners),teachersknowtheywillneedtocombatreadingcomprehension

problemsinmultipleways,usinganextensivearsenalofinterventionsincludingsuch

conceptsasincreasedmotivation,pre-teachingofreadingstrategies,incorporatingstudent

priorknowledgetobuildlinks,andtheuseofdiversetexts.

Whenconsideringtheever-growingcategoryofstudentslabeledELLs,theprocess

ofimprovingreadingcomprehensionbecomesevenmoredifficult,drawinguponanumber

ofadditionalfactorsandchallengesthisparticularsub-setoflearnersface.These

challengesmayinclude,butarenotlimitedto,thelevelofphonologicalandphonemic

awarenessthestudenthasmasteredintheirnativelanguage(L1),theabilitytotransfer

theirskillsfromL1totheirtargetlanguage(L2),theuniquenatureofstudent’sL1

includingthepresenceofadifferentalphabet,interruptedschooling,andnonliterate

parents(Ford,2005).Readingandreadingcomprehensioncanbeincrediblydifficultfor

ELLs,and,duetothesepossibleadditionalproblemsresultingfromthatoflanguage

acquisition,possiblesolutionswillrequirefactorsindependentfromthewrittenlanguage

itself.

Measuringreadingcomprehension.Wehaveexaminedhowreading

comprehensionisacomplexandinvolvedprocess,soitonlymakessensethattheactof

accuratelymeasuringanddeterminingastudent’sreadingcomprehensionisequally

complexandinvolved.Therearemanywaystomeasureastudent’scomprehensionofa

text,suchasinformalclassdiscussions,smallgroupactivitiesrelatedtothereading,and

evenwrittenresponsestoquestionnaires,eachonewithitsownmeritsandfaultsintheir

abilitytoassessdifferentcomponentsorskillareasastheyarerelatedtoreading

comprehension(Westerveld,2009).Stillsomeothermethodsofmeasuring


15

comprehensioninreadingresearchincludetheuseofopen-endedquestionsafter

completionofareadaloud,theuseofmultiplechoicetextcomprehensionquestions,a

clozetypeprocedurereferencingthetext,studentthink-alouds,freerecalls,andstudent

oralorwrittenretells(Westerveld,2009;Gromley&Azevedo,2006).Despitethemany

differentwaystogoaboutmeasuringstudentcomprehension,itisimportanttonotethat

theyarealluniqueinhowtheygoaboutgettingresults.Someofthesemethodsmight

heavilyemphasizewordrecognitionordecodingoverlanguagecomprehension;some

mightdoagoodjobincorporatingbothwordrecognitionandlisteningcomprehensionbut

relytooheavilyontest-takingstrategiestodisplayunderstanding,whileotherssuchas

classdiscussioncannotadequatelymeasureallinvolved.Withlanguagelearnersin

particular,thereareanumberofhurdlesthatexistbetweenthestepsofreading,

comprehending,anddisplayingcomprehensiontotheinstructor.Itiswiththesepotential

pitfallsinmindthatthemeasurementtoolchosenwasthatofastudentproducedwritten

retell.

Retell.InmultiplestudiesonreadingcomprehensionlikethosebyGambrell

Kapinus,andKoskinen,aswellasinmyownpersonalpractice,therehasbeenone

frequentlyusedmethodofdeterminingastudent’sreadingcomprehension,theretell

(1991).Aretellisaprocessthatoccursafterthereadingofpassage,chapter,orentire

story.Theprocessitselfrequiresstudentstoconsidertheinformationtheyread,and

summarize(eitherorallyorinwriting)whattheyunderstand(Fisher&Frey,2011).While

thisdefinitionsoundssimpleenough,manyresearchershavefoundtheactactually

includesanumberofhigherorderthinkingskillsincludingschematicprocessing

(organizingyourframeworkofthoughttohelpprocessfurtherunderstanding),theability


16

toprocessandfiltertextualinformation,theabilitytosequenceevents,andtheabilityto

determinetherelativeimportanceofevents(Fisher&Frey,2011).Furthermore,uponthe

student’sownproduction,thestudentrequirestheabilitytothenrecallthisimportant

information,aswellastheabilitytoorganizeitinanunderstandableandmeaningfulway

(Klingner,2004).Essentially,inaretell,whileitistruethattheendresultwillhopefully

beaclearviewofastudent’sunderstandingofaparticularsceneorchapterthrougha

summary,theprocessoftheassessmentitselfrequiresthestudenttotaketheinformation

theyjustread,internalizeandreconstructthatinformation,andfinallyrecallthe

informationinordertoretellit,eitherorallyorthroughawrittenformat(Cohen,Krustedt

&May,2009).Itisthroughthishigher-orderthinkingprocessthatresearchers,myself

included,hopetogainanaccurateportrayaloftruecomprehensionofareading.

Theretellisaclearlyresearchedandisanoften-usedassessmentofreading

comprehensionduetoitshigher-orderthinkingprocessesrequired,asitcanbefoundina

numberofresearchstudiesonstudentreadingcomprehension(Fletcher,2009;Shaw,

2005;Brown&Cambourned,1987;Gambrell,Pfeiffer,&Wilson,1985;Irwin&Mitchell,

1983).Infact,ithasbeenarguedthatretellingscanbemoreeffectiveincheckingfor

understandingthandirectquestioning(Gambrell,Koskinen,&Kapinus,1991).

Researchersfeeltheactofretellinginformsusaboutareader’sassimilationand

reconstructionofthetextinformation,and,therefore,reflectscomprehension(Cohen,

Krustedt&May,2009).Beingableto“retell”or“recall”couldbeusedtoelicitmainideas,

givesummariesofthecontentofthestoryorchapter,orprovideastudent-friendly

restatementofthepassageinquestion(Reed&Vaughn,2012).Theprocessitselfrequires

agreatdealofthoughtfulreflection;thestudentneedstorecallorrememberthe


17

informationread,then,reorganizethisinformationtopresentitintheirownwords,and

finallyworkthroughthoseideastodrawtheirownconclusionsonwhattheyread

(Klingner,2004).Inessence,retellingstrategieshavebeenarguedtobeagoodmeasureof

comprehension,andcanservetohelpstudentsbetterrememberandunderstandwhat

theyreadandwould,therefore,beagoodchoiceasatoolformeasuringreading

comprehension(Shaw,2005).

MemoryRecall.Memoryrecall(sometimescalledfreerecallorrecall)isalsoa

factortobeconsideredwhendiscussingmeasuringreadingcomprehension.Memory

recalldescribestheprocessofrememberingcertainaspectsofthereadinginquestionand,

therefore,takesplacebeforetheperformanceofsuchtasksasretellsandthink-alouds

(Reed&Vaughn,2012).Theabilitytoaccuratelyretellanyaspectofastorywilldependto

somedegreeonthereader’sabilitytorememberorrecalltheinformationread(Klingner,

2004).Essentially,astudent’smemoryprocesswillundoubtedlyaffecttheirresultson

anyretellassessment,sothisprocesscannotbeoverlookedwhendiscussingaretell.

SupportingReadingComprehensionwithGraphicNovels

Therearevariousstudiesthatcaneasilybelinkedtosupporttheuseofvisualsin

theformofcomicbooksandgraphicnovelswithintheclassroom.Aspreviouslymentioned

inhisreport,TheEffectsofComicStripsinL2Learners’ReadingComprehension,JunLiu

(2004)liststhevariouswaysinwhichmanyresearchers(e.g.Levie&Lentz,1982;Levin,

Anglin&Carney,1987)havedescribedhowvisualsinreadingcanserveavarietyof

functionstoaidreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall.Liucompilesthisinformation

intofivedistinctcategories:

(1)Representation:Visualsrepeat,reinforce,oroverlapwiththetext.


18

(2)Organization:Visualsaddorganizationtothetext,makingitmorecoherent.

(3)Interpretation:Visualsprovideconcreteinformationforinterpretation.

(4)Transformation:Visualsaidinfocusingoncriticalinformationandallowingincreased

memoryretentionthroughavisualformat.

(5)Decoration:Visualsareaestheticallypleasingandcanaddinterest(2004).

Whatfollowswillprovidemorespecificevidenceofadditionalresearch,theories,

andstudiesthatcanrelatedirectlybacktothesecategoriesand,morespecifically,the

effectivenessofvisualsintermsofsupportingreadingcomprehensionandrecall.Dueto

thisstudy’sfocusonvisualsasaidsinrelationtoreadingcomprehensionandrecallrather

thanstudentinterestormotivation,onlycategoriesonethroughfourwillbediscussedin

detail.

Representation.Theconceptofrepresentationcanbeexpressedastheuseof

visualsasreinforcementofthetext,anoft-researchedtopic.Lookingattheworldaround

us,itiseasytoseehowwordsandimagesingeneralservetosupplementorreinforceeach

otherinordertofosterbettercommunication(Cook,2013).Thisisseeninthecombined

useofwordsandimagesthroughoutourdailylives.Itisevidentinourculture’s

magazines,periodicals,andonline;weevenseeitinourstreetsignsandproduct

advertising.Combiningwordsandimageshavebeenprovenhighlyeffectiveinourday-to-

dayworld,butwhataboutineducation?Whataboutgraphicnovelsasvisuals?

Interestinglyenough,thequestionaboutwhethercomicbooksandtheirvisual

naturecanaideineducationwasdiscussedasearlyas1959(morethantwentyyears

beforethetermgraphicnovelwascoinedbyWillEisner),whenresearchersbegantolook

athowtheU.S.militaryusedcomicbooksinordertoeducatetheirsoldierswhowere


19

nonliterateornon-nativeEnglishspeakers(Vacca,1959).Inhisresearchwithstudentsin

hisSpanishclasses,Vaccareportedthathisstudentsclaimedsomeofthecomicbooksread

wereableto“offeraclearerunderstanding,adeeperinsightintonature,science,

geography,biography,history,andpatriotism”(1959,p.291).Healsoreportedhow

sometimestheincreasedreadingcomprehensionandtheclearerunderstandingofferedby

comicbooksledsomestudentstoreadtheoriginaltextafterwards.Theoverlappingof

comicadaptationandtraditionaltext-onlyliteraturebecameanaturalresultofstudents

feelingmoreconfidentintheirunderstandingasaresultoftheirabilitytodecipheramore

difficulttextafterspendingsometimewiththevisualsintheadaptedcomicbooks.

AnotherstudybyMoss,Lapp&O’Sheafurtheraccentuatesthewayvisualscan

reinforcethetraditionaltext.Inthestudy,theuseofgraphicadaptationsofShakespeare’s

playRomeoandJulietservedtoprovidereinforcementofthetextforstudentsparticipating

inthestudy,andcanpreparethemfortheoriginaltext(2011).Theresearchersarguethat

thevisualspresentinthegraphicnoveladaptationserveasa“tieredtext”orbuildingblock

thatallowsstudentspracticewithaneasierandmorescaffoldedversionofthetextthat

thenpreparesthemforfuturereadingofthemoredifficulttraditionalShakespeareanplay

(Moss,Lapp&O’Shea,2011).Inthisway,thevisualsenablethetraditionaltexttobecome

moreaccessibletostudents,reinforcingthepotentiallydifficultpassagesofShakespeare’s

EarlyModernEnglishbysimultaneouslypairingitwiththemoreconcreteformatofvisual

literacy.

Theusefulnessofvisualsintheframeofrepresentationisnotexclusiveto

secondarystudents.InastudybyJunLiu(2004)ofadultESLlearners,thesamepositive

scaffoldingeffectsofreinforcementofdifficulttextcanbefound,butwithaninteresting


20

twist.UsingtwodifferentgroupsofadultESLlearners,onelow-levelproficiencyandone

moreproficient,Liuhadstudentsreadlow-levelandhigh-leveltexts,bothwithand

withouttheaccompanyingvisualsofcomicsprovided.Theoverallanalysisfoundthatthe

useofcomicstripsdidhelpreinforcestudentperformanceonimmediaterecallprotocols

(IRP)withonecaveat:itwasonlyshowntohelpthelow-levelstudentswith

comprehensionofthemostdifficulttext,whilethehigh-levelstudents’memoryrecallwas

relativelyundifferentiated(Liu,2004).Theseresultshelparguefortheideaofthevisual

aidfunctionofrepresentation,asitshowsvisualsinthelightoftheirabilitytoreinforce

textwhenneeded.Inthecaseofthehigh-proficiencystudentswithbothtexts,thestudents

didnotrequireanyreinforcementorrepetition;thesameholdsforthelow-proficiency

studentswiththelow-leveltext.Onlywhendifficultyintextcomprehensionexisted(i.e.

low-proficiencystudentswithhigh-leveltext)didthevisualsactasananchorfor

comprehensionandservetheirpurposeofreinforcingadifficulttextbyaddingadditional

clues(Liu,2004).

Organization.Anotherwayvisualscanaidreadingcomprehensionandmemory

recallistoaddtotheorganizationinordertomakethetextmorecoherent(Levie&Lentz,

1982;Levin,Anglin,&Carney,1987;Liu,2004).Visualsnaturallyallowforamore

universalunderstandingofaconcept,thisisthereasondepictionsoftentsonroadside

signsindicatenearbycamping,orhowofstickfiguresinpantsorskirtswillaccompany

bathroomsigns--visualsarenotaffectedbyanylanguagebarrier;theyareconcreteand

cannotbesoeasilymisinterpretedasabstractwords.ScottMcClouddescribesthisideaas

relatedtosimplifiedcartoonsincomicsas“amplificationthroughsimplification,”(1993,

p.30).Asimplifiedcartoonallowsreaderstofocusonspecificthings,suchasa


21

visualizationofacharacter’sactions,ratherthanbeoverwhelmedbyeverydetailsuchasa

poetic,verbaldescriptionofacharacter,whathelookslike,andwhatheisdoing.This

“amplificationthroughsimplification”,aconceptthatcanalsodescribehowavisual,when

pairedwithtext,canhelpthereaderfocustheirattentiononwhatismostimportantand

eliminateanyunnecessaryandpotentiallyconfusingaspectsofthetext.

Whenappliedtotheclassroom,itcanbeseenthatthevisualsfoundwithingraphic

novelscontributetowardsmakingcomplextextualinformationmoreunderstandableto

students(Fisher&Frey,2011).FisherandFrey(2011),infact,describethevisualsin

termsofservingas“anexcellentwaytoprovidestudentswithanoverviewofatopic

beforedivingintothedetails,”(p.4).Again,itcanbeseenhowthevisualnatureofcomics

orgraphicnovelscanaidincoherencywithinamoredetailedpiece.

Interpretation.Visualscangivethereadermoreconcreteinformationwithinthe

readingitself.Evenourfavoriteauthorscanstrayfromtheconcrete.Theycangetabit

verbose,sometimespepperingtheirwritingwithwordsthatrequireadustingoffofyour

thesaurus;someauthorscanmakesomepiecestooabstractanddependentoninference,

orassumeabackgroundknowledgestudentsstilllack.Thiscanmakeitverydifficultfor

students,especiallylanguagelearnersnotyetfluentintheirL2,tofullygrasptheauthor’s

meaning.However,showavisualofasmilingfacetoastudentandaskthatsamestudent

howthatparticularcharacterisfeelingandthesimplifiedimageallowslittleroomfor

interpretation(McCloud,1993).Thisisbecausewordsaresimplyabstractstand-insto

representsomethingelse;theyare,asScottMcCloud(1993)argues,“theultimate

abstraction,”whileimagesaremoreconcreteintheirunderstanding(p.47).


22

Transformation.Thefunctionoftransformationisdiscussedmoreinregardsto

howvisualsaffectthebrainbyallowingreaderstofocusonthemorecriticalinformation

andstoreitinaformatthatiseasiertoremember…avisualone.Transformationallowsfor

thediscussionoforiginaltheoriesoflearningandhowthebrainworks,andevenhowthe

brainremembers.Perhapsthegreatestargumentfortheexistenceofavisual’sfunctionof

transformationasLiudescribesitisPaivio’s(1991)dualcodingtheory,whichdiscusses

theprocessourbrainundergoesduringreading.

TheDualCodingTheoryarguesthatalllearnerslearntoreadorwriteinasimilar

butspecificwaythatrequirestwoseparatesystemsofcognition.Thesesystemsarecalled

thelanguagesystem,consistingoftheverbalsuchaswords,sequence,speech,andwriting;

andtheimagerysystem,consistingofthenon-verbalsuchasimagesandvisualizations.

Whilereading,studentsaremakingconnectionsbetweenthesetwodifferentsystems,and

itistheseconnectionsbetweenthetwodifferentsystemsthatallowforbetter

understandingandrecall.Paivio’s(1991)theoryarguesfortheimportanceofvisualsin

comprehension,lendingcredencetothetransformationfunctionaspectofvisualswhenhe

states,“Dualcodingtheoryanditseducationalimplicationsparallelthehistoricalemphasis

onconcretizationofknowledgethroughimageryandpictures”(p.3).Helaterdirectly

appliesthisconcretizationofknowledgethroughimagerybydirectlystatingthatbeginning

readerslearntoreadconcretewordsmuchfasterwhenthewordsarepairedwiththeir

pictures,ratherthanwiththeirpronunciations(Clark&Paivio,1991).Itisobviousthe

non-verbalaspectofvisualsisintegraltothedualcodingtheoryanditsabilitytoallowfor

bettercomprehension,afactthatwillhopefullyhighlightandencouragetheuseofvisual

medialikecomicbooksandgraphicnovelswithintheclassroom.


23

Thetheorygoesontoarguehownotonlycomprehensionisinfluencedbydual

codingofverbalandnon-verbalsystemsofcognition,butalsohowitaffectsmemoryrecall.

Paiviostates,“Thememorybenefitsofdualcodinghasbeenconfirmedinnumerous

experiments,whichalsosuggestthatthenonverbalcodeismnemonicallystronger[…]

thantheverbalcode”(2006,p.4).Essentially,Paiviopostulatesthatinformation,aswe

understandit,isstoredbothverballyandnon-verballyaswordsandimagesseparately,

anditisduetothisformatthatonecanrecallinformationtoagreaterdegree.Heeven

goesastepfurthertostresstheimportanceofvisualsinthisdualsystem,whenheargues

thenon-verbalportionofthesystemofthedualcodingisevenstrongerwhenitcomesto

ourmemoryrecall.

Manystudiesseemtosupportthisconnectionbetweenvisualsandmemoryrecall,

suchasthatofWaddillandMcDaniel’s(1992).Intheirstudy,twodifferentgroupswere

givenreadingstoperform,withonegroupusingatextonlyexcerpt,andasecondgroup

usingatextwithpictorials.Uponcompletionofthereadingoftheexcerpts,participants

wereinstructedtowriteasmuchastheycouldrecallonthesubject.Itwasfoundthat

thosefromthegroupwiththeaddedpictorialsupportwereabletorecallmoreinformation

(Waddill&McDaniel,1992).AsimilarstudyconductedbyOmaggio(1979)usednative

Englishspeakerstoreaddifferenttexts,onetextinEnglishwithnopictures,oneinEnglish

withpictures,oneintheirL2Frenchwithnopictures,oneintheirL2Frenchwithpictures,

andonethatconsistedofpicturesonly.Afterconductingacomprehensiontestpost-

reading,hefoundthatwhilethevisualshadnoeffectonreadingcomprehensioninEnglish,

thevisualsdidhaveapositiveeffectonreadingcomprehensionandrecallinregardsto

theirFrenchL2reading(Omaggio,1979).Inaddition,itwasalsofoundthatthosewho


24

readthetextthatconsistedofpicturesonlywereunabletorecallanumberofcorrect

detailsregardingthetext,afindingthatfurtheraccentuateswhatPaivioarguesisathe

needforthestorageinformationbothverballyandnon-verballyforincreasedmemory

recall(Omaggio,1979).

NeedforResearch

Asthischapterhaspresented,thereisanolackofcomplexityinregardstoconcepts

likereadingcomprehension,assessingreadingcomprehension,memoryrecall,andELL

consideration.

Myinterestforthisstudystemsfromtheoverlapthatcouldexistbetweenthe

usefulnessofvisualsinreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall,andthepotentially

untappedscaffoldingthatcouldbeprovidedfromthevisualresourcethatexistsingraphic

novels,andmorespecifically,howthiscouldaffectELLs.Whenstudentsstruggleproviding

retellsofastory,isitduetotheabstractnatureoftext?Couldtheconcretenessofimagesin

graphicnoveldepictionsaidtheminthisstruggle?Orisitadifficultywithmemoryrecall?

Istheproblemaninterlanguageissue?Myresearchfocusedonthefollowingspecific

questionstoattempttoparseouttheseideas:(1)Howcangraphicnovelsaffectthe

proficiencyofreadingcomprehension,asshownbyperformanceonthetaskofretelling,

formiddleschoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?(2)In

whatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedbytheuseofagraphic

noveladaptationincontrastwiththetraditionaltextformat?

Summary

Thischapterhaspresentedresearchinregardstotheuseofvisualandpictorial

supportsintheclassroom,researchthatpositivelysupportstheirusefulnessintermsof


25

readingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall,aswellasmanystudiesanddissectionsof

graphicnovelsandcomicbooksperformingasthatvisualaidinregardstoreading

comprehension.

Inthischapter,Ihaveprovidedanoverviewofthebasisformystudy.Ihave

definedtermsandexplainedthecomplexities,difficultiesandfactorsthatexistinthemulti-

levelprocessofreadingcomprehension.Iidentifiedtheadditionalproblemsthatexistfor

theELLpopulationinregardstoreadingcomprehension.Theconceptofgraphicnovels

wasexplainedandtheirpotentialusefulnessasvisualsintheclassroomwaspresented

usingvarioustextsandresearchincludingLiu’s(2004)presentationofthefivedifferent

functionsthatdescribehowvisualscanaidreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall.

Whiletherehavebeenmanystudiesandtheoriesontheuseofvisualsintheclassroom,

thereismuchworktobedoneinregardstobringingthespecificmediumofgraphicnovels

intothespotlightasagreatexampleofvisualstosupportandscaffoldtext,mostnotably

forELLs.ItisimportantforELandcontentteachersaliketobeprovidedwithandversed

oneverypossibleformofdifferentiationorscaffoldingthatisdeemedbeneficialtoELLs,

andmystudyaimstoexploreifgraphicnovelsareaviablescaffoldforreading

comprehensionandrecall.Inthefollowingchapter,IwilldescribethemethodologiesI

usedinmystudytodeterminethis.


26

CHAPTERTHREE:METHODOLOGY

Thisstudywasdesignedtoresearchtheuseofgraphicnovelscomparedto

traditionalnovelswithELLs.Morespecifically,Iwasinterestedinexploringtheeffect

graphicnovelshaveonreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecallincomparisonto

traditionalliterature,theresultsofwhichmayhelpdetermineifgraphicnovelscanprovide

scaffoldinginESLandcontentclassroomsalike.Myresearchquestionswerethe

following:

(1) Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,

asshownbyperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddleschool

EnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?

(2) Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby


format?

InthefifthgradeESLprogramintheschoolwhereIteach,Iguidedasmallgroupof

intermediateESLstudentsthroughchapterreadingsofaclassnovel.Thedaysalternated

regardingwhetherwewerereadingachapterfromthetraditionaltext-onlynovel,orthe

graphicnoveladaptationofthechapter.Uponcompletionofspecificchapters,Imeasured

theseparatemediaeffectsoncomprehensionthatoccurredthroughscaffoldedstudent

writtenretellandmemoryrecallassessments.Thiswasdoneinordertohelptodetermine

anypossibleeffectonemediummayhaveovertheotherinregardstoreading

comprehension.Icreatedaretellrubrictomeasurestudents’writtenretellresponses

usingpreviousresearchonformativeassessment,aswellasstudiessimilartomyownin

theiruseofwrittenretells(Frey&Fisher,2011;Reed&Vaughn,2012;Kuldanek,1998).

Retellsallowresearcherstolookatstudentinteractionwithandcomprehensionofthetext

itself,ratherthanaddinganotherdimensionofreadingcomprehensionbyintroducing


27

multiplechoiceoropenendedtestquestionsthatthemselvesrelyonastudent’sabilityto

decodeandinterpretthem.Furthermore,takingintoconsiderationanypossiblelanguage

acquisitiondifficultiesorinterferenceoccurrencesbetweenanESLstudent’sL1andL2,a

storyretellhastheabilitytoremovemanyofthesepossibledifficultiesbyallowingthe

studenttoanswerintheirownwords,attheirownabilitylevel,andusingtheirL1orL2.

ItiswiththeseconsiderationsthatIwilluseretellasthemainmeasureofreading

comprehensionforthisstudy.

Similarly,achapterspecificrecallassessmentintheformofquestionsonachapter’s

importanteventsofthechapterreadwasadministeredonfollowingdayofachapterread

inordertotestaspecificmedium’spotentialeffectsonmemoryrecall.Thisassessment

wasgradedasaquiz,usingthestandardpercentagebasis.

Ihopethefindingsofresearchwillgiveinsighttographicnovelsandwhetherthey

offeranypotentialasscaffoldsthatmaybenefitlanguagelearners,ELLteachers,and

contentteachersalike.

OverviewoftheChapter

Thischapterdescribesthemethodologiesusedinthisstudy.First,themixed

methodsresearchparadigmisdescribed.Second,theprotocolsfordatacollectionare

presented,includingadescriptionofparticipants,setting,anddatacollectiontechniques

used.Third,adescriptionofthedatacollectionprocessisprovided.Fourth,themethods

usedfordataanalysisinthisresearcharedescribed.Finally,anypertinentethical

considerationsnecessaryforthisqualitativeresearchareconsidered.

MixedMethodsResearchParadigm

Thisstudyusedamixedmethodsresearchparadigm;thestudyemployedaspectsof


28

boththequalitativeresearchparadigmaswellasaspectsfromquantitativeresearchin

ordertobetterunderstandtheeffectgraphicnovelsmighthaveasascaffoldforreading

comprehensionandmemoryrecall.Themixedmethodsapproachallowedtheresearcher

tousebothdescriptivedataintheformofobservationsandinterpretationofstudent

producedworkaswellasamorenumber-drivendataassessmentallowedbyquantitative

methodsofresearch(Dornyei,2007).

Thequantitativeparadigmusedinthisstudyisidentifiedthroughthemannerin

whichtheresearcherscoresthestudentwritingbasedonawrittenretellrubric(see

AppendixA).Studentworksamplesintheformofwrittenretellswereanalyzedforthe

inclusionofthechapter’sspecificplotcontentincludingkeyideas,sequence,problem,

resolution,charactersandsetting.Thesedifferentareasweregivenanumericalscoreof0-

3accordingtoarubric(seeAppendixA).Ascoreof0indicatedthefeaturewasnon-

existentintheretell,whileascoreof3indicatedthetextfeaturewaspresentandaccurate

intheretell.Theretellscoresonthetext-onlychapterswerecomparedwiththescoreson

thegraphicnovelchapters.Furthermore,theresearchercollectedqualitativedata

throughobservationduringgroupdiscussions,independentreading,andwrittenretell

worktime.

Thequantitativeparadigmwasusedinthisstudyinordertomoredirectlyquantify

thedifferencesbetweenstudents’scoresonwrittenretellassessments,aswellasthe

variousresearcherdevelopedcuedrecallassessment.Thesechapterrecallassessments

(seeAppendixB)wereadministeredonachapter-by-chapterbasisonthefollowingday

afterreadingthechapter,thereforeallowingalookatthe24-hourretentioncapabilitiesof

eachmedium.The24-hourwaitwaschosenasagoodindicatorofmemory,asaccording


29

totheMichiganStateUniversityCollegeofOsteopathicMedicine(2014),somethingthat

youcanrecallaftera24-hourperiodisconsideredalong-termmemory.These

assessmentsrequiredanumericalapproachinordertoallowforamorequantifiableand

reproducibleexaminationofhowthegroups’resultsdiffered.

DataCollection

Participants.Theparticipantsofthisstudywerefifthgrademaleandfemale

students,allofwhomwerelabeledasLimitedEnglishProficiency(LEP)and,therefore,

receivedESLservices.,Thissmallsampleofstudentsallsharedsimilarcharacteristicsdue

totheirbeingplacedinthisclassinthefirstplace.Allstudentshadcharacteristicssuchas

thefollowing:(1)thestudentswereallrankedaslow-intermediatelanguagelearners

ranging2.8to3.9accordingtotheWorldClassInstructionalDesignandAssessment

(WIDA)levelsusedbyEnglishLanguageLearnerprograms,(2)thestudentswereall

placedinapull-outspecializedEnglishinstructionsettingforoneclassperioddailydueto

theseWIDAlevelsand(3)thestudentsallfellbelowgradelevelinreadinginstruction.

Thegroupofstudentssimultaneouslyreceivingthisformofdeliveryinaclassroom

settingconsistedofsevenstudentsincludingfiveboysandtwogirls.Threeofparticipants,

alongwithbeingdesignatedEnglishlanguagelearners,wereonanIndividualized

EducationPlan(IEP)throughourspecialeducationprogram.Allparticipantsspoke

SpanishastheirL1,althoughthiswashappenstanceandnotcriteriaforinclusioninthe

study.AllparticipantshadbeenintheU.S.fortwoyearsormoreandhadreceivedformal

schoolingeitherintheU.S.orintheircountryoforigin.Allstudentswithinthegroupwere

includedineveryaspectofthestudy


30

Allstudentsinthisclasswereinvitedtoparticipateintheresearchbymeansofa

permissionletterthatwassenthomeforparentstobesigned.Duetoalloftheparticipants

sharingthesameL1ofSpanish,theletterwaswritteninbothEnglishandSpanish,withthe

school’sSpanishspeakingfamilyliaisonservingtodouble-checktheSpanishletter.The

letterexplainedthestudyandwhyIwasconductingit,andwentontoreassurefamilies

thattheresultswouldnotaffectthestudents’gradesandthattheirinformationwouldnot

beshared.Bothmycontactinformation,aswellastheSpanishfamilyliaison’scontact

informationwerelistedincaseanyfamilieshadquestionsorconcernsregardingthe

research.TheSpanishliaisoncontactedthesefamiliesdirectlybyphonetodouble-checkif

therewereanyconcerns.Oftheeightstudentsinmyclassroom,sevenstudentsreturned

theirparentpermissionletterssignedanditwastheseseventhatparticipatedinmy

research.

Location.Thesettingofthedatacollectiontookplaceinanurbanmiddleschoolin

apull-outsettingduringtheschoolday.Thismeansthestudentswerereceivingtheir

Englishlessonsduringthisparticularperiodofclasstimefromme,theEnglishLanguage

instructor,inplaceofatraditionalLanguageArtsclassroom.Thestudentstookpartinthe

reading,readingcomprehensionchecks,andoralinterviewsintheESLclassroomduring

eachclass’s58-minuteclassperiod.Myparticipantswereinafamiliarclassroomsetting

withtheirregularinstructorandclassmatesforthedurationofstudy.

DataCollectionTechnique1:WrittenRetells

Inordertogetstudentsfamiliarwiththeprocessofcomposingtheirownwritten

retells,severalchaptersofthetraditionalnovelwerereadaloudasalargegrouptheendof

eachclassperiodaftertheday’slesson.Thiswasdonepriortocollectingactualdatafor


31

thestudyinordertogarnerinterestinthestoryitselfandkeepstudentsengagedand

intriguedbythestoryforwhentheywouldberequiredtoreadchaptersindependently.As

theclassprogressedthroughthefirsteightchaptersasareadaloud,mini-lessonswere

introducedtohelpstudentsunderstandhowtousetheteacher-providedgraphicorganizer

toproperlyformatawrittenretellaftereachchapter.Writtenretellsofthesechapters

werepracticedforboththetext-onlyandgraphicnovelformatbeforetheindividualized

workonthechaptersusedinthisstudybegan.Thisprocessoccurredthroughlargegroup

readingsdesignedtogetstudentstothinkaboutanswerstoateacherdesignedgraphic

organizer’smainpointsforretell:(a)characters,(b)setting,(c)problem,(d)mainevents,

and(e)solution.Thegraphicorganizer(seeAppendixC)wasfilledoutonthePromethean

boardbymeansofstudentresponsestoteacherprompts.Gradualreleaseofthisprocess

wasusedtogivestudentsanunderstandingofwhatwouldlaterbesomethingtheywere

requiredtocompleteindependentlywhendatacollectionbegan.Thefollowingthree

chapterswerethenreadinthegraphicnovelformatasawholegrouptocontinuemodeling

andguidingtheprocess,andthegraphicorganizerwascompletedasalargegroupinthe

samecallandresponsemanner.Studentswerealsogivenmini-lessonsinvolvinghowto

properlyreadgraphicnovels,includinghowtoaccuratelyfollowdialogueboxesastheyare

presentedinthecomicbookformat,aswellaslookingatthepicturesforvisualcluesof

whatishappeninginthestory.Studentsworkedasalargecollaborativegroupto

completethesamegraphicorganizeraftereachgraphicnovelchapter,andthenusedthat

organizertocomposetheirownwrittenretell.UponreachingChapters11-18,thechapters

werenolongerreadasalargegroup,andthegraphicorganizerwasnotcompletedusing

callandresponse.Instead,Chapters11-18becamethepointofdatacollection,andthe


32

sameorganizerwasusedbystudentsindependentlyasstudentsbegantheprocessof

reading,fillingoutthepersonalgraphicorganizers,andcomposingtheirownwritten

retellsusingthesegraphicorganizersontheirown.

Inordertodeterminepossibledifferencesinreadingcomprehensionlevelsbetween

theuseofgraphicnovelsandtheuseoftraditionalnovels,studentswererequiredto

completeapost-readingwrittenretellforchapters11-18;retellsforchapters12,13,16,

and17werecompletedusingthetext-onlytraditionalnovel,andretellsforchapters11,14,

15and18werecompletedusingthegraphicnovel.Theseretellswereusedtoelicitmain

ideas,summaries,orstudentwordedrestatementsofthereadinginquestion,whichcan

effectivelyshowastudent’soverallcomprehensionofthereading(Reed&Vaughn,2012).

Evenwhencomparedtoothermethodsofdeducingcomprehensionofatext,suchas

illustrations,retellshaveproventobeahighlyeffectivegaugeofstudentcomprehension,

andis,asGambrell,PfeifferandWilson(1985)state“ahighlypotent,generativelearning

strategywhichhasdirect,beneficialconsequencesonchildren’sprocessingoftextual

information”(ascitedbyKuldanek,1998,p.15).

Asstated,thestudentretelldatatobeanalyzedoccurredinwrittenformat.Inan

attempttooffsetanylanguagedifficultiesthatmightoccurwithlanguagelearnersin

regardstoawrittenretell,studentswereabletoarrangetheirideasinwritingfirstthrough

aheavilyscaffoldedretellorganizerandusedthisorganizationtohelpwiththeirretell(see

AppendixC).Thissameorganizerwasusedregardlessofwhetherthechapterbeingread

wasingraphicnovelortraditionalformat,soastomaintainconsistencybetweenthedata

whencompared.

DataCollectionTechnique2:MemoryRecallChapterCheck-In


33

Uponcompletionofthestudentretells,studentsmovedontoadifferentand

unrelatedlessonuntiltheirnormaldismissalfromclassforthedayinordertocreatea24-

hourwindowbetweenstudentrecollectionofeventsinthechapter.Beforecontinuingon

tothenextchapterinthetextthefollowingday,studentsweregiventheirmultiplechoice

recallassessmentonthepreviousday’schapter.Recallquestionsaskedaboutimportant

eventsorcharacteractionsofthechapterinquestion,withthe5Wcuewords(who,what,

where,when,andwhy)provided.Withthesecuesprovided,studentswereaskedto

completethemultiple-choicequestionsgiven.Resultsweregradedonastandard

percentagebasis.

Materials.

Readingselection.ThereadingselectionforthisstudywasthenovelCityofEmber

byJeanneDuPrauandCityofEmber:TheGraphicNoveladaptedbyDallasMiddaugh.In

ordertoprovidestudentswithanappropriatetextdifficultyfortheirlevel,themeasures

createdbyTheLexileFrameworkforReadingwereused.Thesemeasuresareanumeric

representationofthepredictedreadingabilityrequiredtosuccessfullyreadthenovel,and

arebasedonwordfrequencyandsentencelength(Cohen,Krustedt,&May,2009).The

lexilemeasureofthetraditionalnovelCityofEmberis680L(MetaMetrics,2016).While

lexilemeasuresarenotgradespecific,astherewillbeawiderangeoflexilespresent

withinaclassroom,alexilemeasureof680showsthatwhenlookingatthemiddle50%of

readermeasures,thisnumberistypicalforstudentsfromgradesthreethroughsix

(MetaMetrics,2016).Boththetraditionalbookandgraphicnoveladaptationare

recommendedforgradelevelsthreethroughsix,fromageseighttotwelveaccordingtothe

LexileFrameworkforReadingwebsite(MetaMetrics,2016).Thepaperbacknovelis270


34

pages,withthegraphicnoveladaptationbeingshortenedto144pageslong.Thetext

foundinthegraphicnovelformatconsistsofword-for-wordreproductionsofthetext-only

format,howeveragreatdealofdescriptiveinformationisleftoutandreplacedbypictorial

representationsofthesameinformation.

Writtenretellgraphicorganizer. Languagelearnerscanhavedifficultyexpressing

themselvesinwritingduetosuchfactorsas lackofproductive language,anxietyorhigh-

affectivefilter,difficultiesoccurringduetoL1interference,andmanymore(Ortega,2008).

In order to combat many of these difficulties ESL students face, EL teachers employ

scaffolding strategies in the form of such scaffolds as sentence starters and graphic

organizers.Inordertohelpstudentsproducetheirbestwork,andgarnerthebestresults

forthisstudy,agraphicorganizerwasprovidedforstudentstoaidintheirformulationofa

storyretell(seeAppendixC).Thisaidwasalloweduseinassistingintheirwrittenretell.

The graphic organizer included a visual depiction of “TheRetellingHand” that our class

uses to make sure we include all-important information in a retell. The organizer also

assisted thewriting by the organizer’s inclusion of key retell vocabularywords such as

characters, setting, events, problem, and resolution. Thesewordswill act as thought or

sentence starters for studentwriting. In addition, all desks had a chart of the academic

vocabulary transitionwords (seeAppendixD) of chronology that places thewords first,

next,last,andfinallyinsentenceinitialpositions,leavingstudentstofillintherest.These

scaffoldsprovidedassistance tostudentssolely in termsof thesententialconstructionof

theirretells,butdidnotaideincontributingtothecontentofastudent’sownretellitself,

as this information was reliant wholly on a student’s own recall of information,

organization,andtransformationofknowledgefromthestory(Klingner,2004).


35

Writtenretellrubric.Inordertomoreefficientlyscorestudentoralandwritten

retell,aretell-scoringrubricwasused(seeAppendixA).WhileFreyandFisher(2011)

suggestthereisanumberofpre-maderubricsforretellsonline,forthepurposeofthis

researchIoptedtocreatemyownrubric.Thisrubricwasdesignedinordertofocussolely

onstudentabilitytodeliverinformationrelatedtotheircomprehensionofthestory

holistically;itemphasizedthestudentconstructionofmeaninginregardstotheirabilityto

retellthestoryratherthangradingonanythingsententialorsub-sententialsuchas

constructionofclauses,spelling,orpunctuation,therebyeliminatingpossiblelossofpoints

duetolanguagetransfererrors.Manypre-maderubricsincludeaspectsthatgradedonthe

useofcompletesentences,vocabulary,andevenprosody.Duetothelanguagebarriers

thatexistforlanguagelearners,andmydesiretofocusoncomprehensionofplotelements,

featuressuchastheuseofcompletesentences,aswellasvocabularyandlanguageusage

werenotincludedintherubricoraffectscoreinanyway,inanattempttoremoveany

interferencefromastudent’sproductivelanguageability,asReedandVaughn(2012)

foundthisdependenceasapossibledrawbacktothevalidityofretells.AsELLscanvaryin

theirproductivelanguageability,itwasimportanttocreatearubricthatremovesthis

possiblebiaswhilestillcheckingforcomprehensionofmainideas,summarizingofchapter

content,andtheassimilationandreconstructionoftheinformationpresentedtothem.

(Trabasso&vandenBroek;1985;vandenBroek,1989;vandenBroek&Kremer,2000).

Emphasisonsequenceofeventsofthereading,aswellassaliencyofthecharacters,

problems,andresolution,werescored.

Postchapterrecallassessment.Onthedayfollowingtheindependentreadingofa

chapter,andbeforebeginningthenextchapter,studentsweregivenamultiplechoice


36

recallassessmentonthepreviousday’sreadinginordertodetermineanyeffectgraphic

novelshaveonmemoryrecallofthestory(seeAppendixB).Theassessmentsgiven

containedinformationspecifictothepreviouschapterread,andwassimilarinformat

regardlessofthetextmediumthatwasusedpreviously.Itincludedcuewordstoguide

studentstowardgivingspecificretellinformationofimportanteventsfromthechapterin

question.Forexample,therecallquestion“WhyaretheitemsinLizzie’ssackimportant?”

servedtoguidestudentsincomprehendingthe“who”andthe“what”throughuseofthe

words“Lizzie”and“importantitems,”butstudentswerestillrequiredtorecallontheir

ownthe“why”fromthechapter.

DataAnalysis

Analyzingretells.Theparticipants’writtenretellswerescoredbytheresearcher

usinganadaptedretellrubricfocusingonchronologyofimportantevents,characters,and

problemresolution(seeAppendixA).Thescoringrubricsheetwasusedforeachseparate

writtenretell.

Analyzingrecalls.Scoringforthememoryrecallassessmentswassimilartoany

standardizedquizduetotheirmultiple-choiceformat.Studentswrotetheirnamesontheir

work,andcompletedthemultiple-choicequestionsindependentlyofoneanotherinaquiet

testingatmosphere.Uponcompletion,studentswereaskedtoturninthesheettothebin

andworkquietlyuntilallstudentshadcompletedtheassessment.Thedatawerethen

gradedusingthestandardpercentagevaluebasisinordertodetermineanyincreaseor

decreaseinscoresbetweentraditionalnovelusageandgraphicnovelusageforthesepost-

chaptermemoryrecallassessments.

VerificationofData


37

Inordertoensureinternalvalidityofthedata,anumberofstrategieswere

employedinordertostrengthenthedata.Thisincludedtheuseofcontentvaliditythrough

themeansofemployingvalidassessmentstoexaminethemaininterestofthestudy,thatof

thepotentialusefulnessofgraphicnovelsintermsofhigherreadingcomprehensionand

memoryretention.Duetothisfact,thereadingretellsweredesignedtogatherdataon

comprehensionalone,anddiscardedanyfacetsrelatingtolanguageorvocabulary

(Merriam,2009).Tomaintaininternalvalidity,thesameinstructorandinstruction

methodswereemployeddailyduringthemodelingandguidedpracticeportionofthe

study.Afterscoringwascompleted,studentswereaskedtofindtheirscoredwrittenretell

workthefollowingdayandwritetheirnameonitfordatatracking.Studentswereaware

theirscoresdidnotaffecttheirclassroomgrades.

Ethics

Studentsparticipatinginwrittenretellsofthestudywererequiredtoturnintheir

writingsinordertobemoreformallyreviewedlater.This,initself,mayhavecausedsome

potentialstressinthesamemannerturninginanywritingwithinaclassroommay.To

minimizethisanxiety,thewrittenretellwritingtimetookplaceintheirprivatetraditional

classroom.Furthermore,nonameswereusedinitially;insteadallsheetsweregivena

randomlyassignednumberduringthegradingprocessuntiltheywerehandedbackfor

studentstoclaim.Allwrittenretellswerefiledandlockedonthepremisesatalltimesthey

werenotbeingused.Allparticipantparents/guardiansweresenthomeanapprovedletter

ofintentexplainingthestudyindetailandrequestingparent/guardianpermisionfortheir

childtoparticipate(seeAppendixG).TheletterwasalsotranslatedintoSpanishfornative

Spanishspeakers(seeAppendixH).


38

Thebenefitsofthisstudyfaroutwieighedtheminimalpotentialrisk.Thesebenefits

includedthepotentialdevelopmentofnewreadingstrategies,increasedcomprehensionof

storyelements,increasedpracticeinwriting,andgreaterindependencestemmingfrom

students’ownindependentworktime.Thescaffoldingprovidedbytheintroductionofa

potentialnewmediumofgraphicnovelscouldallowstudentstoaccessamoredifficulttext

andexperiencesuccess.Growthinanyoftheseareascouldleadtoanincreasedconfidence

intheirreadingorwriting,aswellasthepotentialtodeterminetheirownstrengthsasa

morevisuallearner,oramorelinguisticbasedlearner.

Furthermore,potentialbenefitstosocietyandtheeducationalsystemarepresent

aswell.Englishlanguagelearnersareacontinuallygrowingdemographicintheworldof

education,andteachersneedtobeequippedtoteachtheselearners.Theuseofgraphic

organizer,charts,andothervisualshasbeenaninvaluabletoolthroughouttheyears.

However,anachievementgapstillexistsbetweenELLsandnon-ELLsandweneedto

continuallylookforpotentialwaystoclosethisgap.Somepotentialbenefitsofthis

researchcouldincludedeterminingtheeffectivenessoftheuseofgraphicnovelsfor

languagelearners.Anyeffectivenessfoundcouldleadtotheintroductionofthegraphic

novelasavisual-literacytoolintothemainstreamasviablescaffoldingforlanguage

learners.Itcouldshedlightonthepotentialbenefitsofgraphicnovelsasatoolforlow-

levelreaders,studentswithspecialneeds,orlanguagelearnerstoaccessthestory

elementsofwhatmayotherwisebeadifficulttext.Itmayallowforamoreinclusive

environmentfortheselearnersinthetraditionalclassroomduetoitsbenefits,aswellasa

mainstayintheELLteacher'stoolkit.


39

Thisstudyincludedtheuseofthefollowingsafeguardstoprotectparticipants’

rights:

1.Allresearchobjectiveshavebeensharedwithstudentparticipantsandwiththeparents

ofstudentparticipantsinboththefamilies’L1andL2inletterformat.Abilingualfamily

liaisonwaslistedasacontactforanyadditionalquestions.

2.Writtenpermissionofstudentparticipationinthestudyhasbeenobtainedthroughan

informedparentalconsentformforallstudentparticipants,aswellasinformedconsent

fromtheschoolandschooldistrict.

3.Allparticipants’nameshavebeenchangedforthisresearch.

4.Allnecessarystepsweretakentoofficiallyapprovethestudyatmyuniversity.

5.ThestudyisconductedunderthesupervisionofacapstonecommitteethroughHamline

University.

6.Allhardcopiesofstudentwork,transcriptions,andmaterialrelatedtothestudywillbe

storedinalockedfilecabinetwithinalockedclassroom.Anydataandfindingsmayonly

beusedforthispaperoranyfuturepresentationsorpublicationsrelatedtothiswork.

Conclusion

Inthischapter,IhavedescribedthemethodsIwillusetocollectandanalyzemy

data.Iplantoassigngraphicnovelandtraditionalnovelreadingstomypull-out

specializedELLinstructionclassroominanarrangementthatmaintainsequalWIDA

compositescoreswithintheclassroom.Eachstudentwillreadthesamechapterintheir

respectivetexts,onedayreadingachapterusingthetraditionaltextandtheotherday

readingthenextchapterusingthegraphicnoveladaptation.Afterreading,thestudents

willberequiredtowritearetelloftheinformationpresentedinthechapterusinga


40

providedscaffoldedretellgraphicorganizer.Writtenretellswillbegradedatalatertime

usingtheprovidedscoringrubric.Totestformemoryrecall,thefollowingdaystudents

willbetestedontheirmemoryrecallofthechapter’seventsusingacuedrecallassessment.

Thesememoryrecallassessmentswillbegradedandassignedastandardpercentagevalue

scoreinordertocomparescoresfrommemoryrecallassessmentsoftraditionalnovel

chapterstoscoresfrommemoryrecallassessmentsgraphicnovelchapters.Thefollowing

chapterpresentsthefindingsofthisstudy.


41

CHAPTERFOUR:RESULTS

Thischapterwillexplaintheresultsoftheresearch,andmorespecificallyhowthe

collecteddatarelatestotheanswerstothefollowingquestions:

1) Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,asshown

byincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddleschoolEnglish

LanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatextonlynovel?

2) Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedbytheuseofa

graphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltextformat?

Thefirstpresentationofresultswillbethegroup’sresultsontheirwrittenretellsas

gradedbytheteacher-producedrubric,whichwillservetoanswerquestiononeby

determiningtheoverallimpactgraphicnovelshadontheproficiencyofstudentreading

comprehension.Thesecondpresentationofresultswillbethegroup’sresultsontheir

multiplechoicememoryrecallassessments,thatweregradedthefollowingdayto

determinetheanswertoresearchquestionnumbertwoandarguehowmemoryrecallcan

beaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptation.

Results

StudentWrittenRetells.Basedontheresultsofthisstudy,theuseofgraphicnovels

appearedtocontributetohigheroverallscoresonstudentproducedwrittenchapter

retells.Althoughsomeincreaseswereminimal,suchasa.5-pointdifferencefromand

averageof12.25outof18whenusingtraditionalnovels,to12.75outof18whenusing

graphicnovels,otherstudentsincreasedtheirscoresbyupto4.25pointswhen

interpretinggraphicnovelversionsofthechapterinplaceofthetraditionalnovels.

Despitethedifferencesthatexistinscoreincreasesbetweenindividualparticipants,itis


42

significanttonotethatallstudentsdidincreasetosomedegree,withanaverageincreaseof

2.64pointswhenlookingatallstudentincreasedata.

Studentaveragescoreswerenoticeablyhigherafterstudentscompletedreadingthe

chapterusingthegraphicnovelincomparisonwiththetraditionalnovel.Allseven

participantsincreasedintheiraveragescores.Thesevenstudentparticipantsweregraded

onfourdifferentwrittenretellsofchaptersfromthetraditionalnovelusingarubricthat

consistedof18pointsoverall.

Asthetablebelowdescribes,theoverallaveragescoresforthewrittenretellsfor

chaptersfromthetraditionalnovelsourcerangesfrom8.5to16.75outof18.Whilesome

studentsexperiencedanincreaseinscoresastheyprogressedfromchaptertochapter,

therewereseveralcaseswherescoresdecreasedorremainedrelativelyconsistent.

Approximatelythreequartersofstudents’scoresontheirwrittenretellswereabovethe

50%mark,andapproximately1/5wereabove75%.Allstudentnameshavebeenchanged

forthepurposeofanonymity.

Table1AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters

TotalScoreTraditional

NovelChapter12


NovelChapter13


NovelChapter16


NovelChapter17

Averagetotalscore

Eleanor* 6/18

10/18

11/18

13/18 10/18

Jackson 10/18

08/18

13/18

03/18 8.5/18


43

Anthony* 13/18

8/18

11/18

06/18 9.5/18

Angelo 18/18

12/18

12/18

06/18 12/18

Jordan* 12/18

14/18

12/18

11/18

12.25/18

Julian 13/18

13/18

10/18

08/18 11/18

Paulina 18/18

17/18

15/18

17/18 16.75/18

*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)**Assessmentisoutof18

Whenyoucomparethesefourretellscoresfromthetraditionalnovelstothe

fourwrittenretellsofchapterswhenusingthegraphicnovel,24outofthe28written

retellshadthesamescoreorhigherwhenthegraphicnovelwasused.Thesamerubric

thatconsistedof18pointsoverallwasused.

WhenlookingattheoverallaveragesfoundinthelastcolumnofTable2,theoverall

averagescoresforthewrittenretellsforchaptersfromthegraphicnovelsourcehasa

rangeof12.75to17.25outof18.Whencomparingthetwotables,thereshowsagross

differencebetweentheminimumaveragetotalscoreof8.5forretellsbasedonthe

traditionalnovel,andtheminimumaveragetotalscoreof12.75forretellsbasedonthe

graphicnovel.Studenttotalscoresalsoremainedrelativelyconsistentthroughoutthe

processwhenusinggraphicnovels,thatis,thescorestendedtohaveasmallerrange


44

betweenthemwhenwritingretellsonthegraphicnovels,andlargerrangeswhenwriting

retellsontraditionalnovels.Touseaspecificexample,thestudent“Jackson”hadarange

of10whencomparinghislowestandhighestwrittenretellscorefortraditionalnovels.

However,whenlookingatthetablebelow,wecansee“Jackson”hadarangeof5when

comparinghislowestandhighestwrittenretellscoreforgraphicnovels.Thissamepattern

occursforanumberofstudentswhencomparingthetwotables.

Table2

AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters

TotalScoreGraphicNovel

Chapter11


Chapter14


Chapter15


Chapter18

Averagetotalscore

Eleanor* 16/18

14/18

12/18

14/18 14/18

Jackson 14/18

15/18

12/18

10/18 12.75/18

Anthony* 15/18

14/18

12/18

13/18 13.5/18

Angelo 17/18

14/18

12/18

13/18 14/18

Jordan* 15/18

14/18

9/18

13/18

12.75/18

Julian 16/18

15/18

10/18

16/18 14.25/18

Paulina 17/18

17/18

18/18

17/18 17.25/18

*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)**Assessmentisoutof18 Whencomparingtheaveragescoresofallwrittenretellsbetweenastudentreading

thetraditionalnovelandtheaveragescoresofallwrittenretellsofastudentreadingthe


45

graphicnovel,theaveragescoresareconsistentlyhigherwhenstudentswrotetheirretell

directlyafterreadingthegraphicnovelformat,incomparisontothescoresoftheretells

writtendirectlyafterreadingthetraditionalnovelformat.Infact,allsevenoftheseven

studentparticipants’averagesshowahigheraveragescoreforwrittenretellsofgraphic

novelchaptersascomparedtowrittenretellsofthetraditionalnovelchapters.SeeFigure

1below.

Figure1

CombinedChapterAverageScoresofWrittenRetellsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel

*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)**Assessmentisoutof18

Theaveragedifferenceinscorewhenusingthegraphicnovelcomparedtoa

traditionalnovelwasanincreaseof2.64points.Themaximumdifferenceinaveragescore

was4.25andminimumdifferenceinaveragescorewasanincreaseof.5.Whenlookingat

thecomparisonresults,theyproposeananswertomyfirstresearchquestionbyshowing


46

anincreaseintheperformanceofretellingwhenstudentshadreadthegraphicnovel

formatofthechapter.

Inaddition,allthreestudentsinthestudythatweredualidentifiedasELLsandin

needofanindividualizededucationplanshowedgenerallyincreasedperformancewhen

usingthegraphicnovelaswell,incontrastwiththetraditionalnovel.

Thesefindingsshownotonlythatlanguagelearnerscanshowanincreaseinthe

performanceofretellingwhenstudentshadreadthegraphicnovelformatofthechapter

show,butgivesanadditionaldepthinansweringmyfirstresearchquestionbyshowing

that,inthiscase,studentswithIEPsandlearningdisabilitiesarenotanexceptiontothis

increasedperformance,astheytooshowhowtheycanbenefitfromtheuseofgraphic

novelsaswellthroughtheirprovenincreasedcomprehension.SeeFigures3-5below.

Figure2Eleanor’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel


47

Figure3Jordan’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel

Figure4Anthony’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel

StudentMemoryRecallAssessments

Inadditiontocompletingwrittenretellsofchapterevents,studentsweregivena

shortthreetofourquestionquizthefollowingdaytoattempttogaugethestudent’sability


48

torecalltheeventsfromthechapterbeforeinanattempttoanswerhowmemoryrecallof

achapter’seventsareaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththe

traditionaltextformat.

Thescoresweretotaledandgivenapercentagepointtypicalofformative

assessmentssuchasquizzesforeaseofscoring,aswellasaveragedtocreateastudent

personalaverageonthefourtraditionalnovelchapters.

Basedontheresultsofthememoryrecallquizzesfoundinthetablesbelow,all

participantshadhigherpercentagescoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelchapters.The

scoresontheserecallassessmentsvaried,notonlyamongststudents,butalsoinregardto

anindividualstudent’sscoresfromchaptertochapterandfrommediumtomedium.

Whenlookingatthescoresasawholeclass,theaveragedclassresultsofthe

memoryrecallassessmentsofthetraditionalnovelchapters12,13,and16scoresall

resultedinafailinggrade(57.1%,33.3%,and42.9%respectively).Themaximumstudent

averagewhenlookingatallscoresonchaptersfromthetraditionalnovelwas69.2%or

9/13correct.However,whenlookingattheclass’averagescoreonmemoryrecall

assessmentsforgraphicnovelsperchapter,theaveragedclassresultsforthegraphicnovel

chapters11,15,and18scoresallresultedinapassinggrade(85.7%,60.7%,and76.2%

respectively).Furthermore,themaximumstudentaveragewhencombiningscoresforall

chaptersshowedagreatincreaseat93.3%or14/15correcttotal.SeeTables3and4

below.

Table3

PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters


49

Student

MemoryRecall

Chapter12Novel

MemoryRecall

Chapter13Novel

MemoryRecall

Chapter16Novel

MemoryRecall

Chapter17Novel

StudentAverageMemory

RecallNovelscore

Paulina 50.00%2/4 33.30%1/3 66.60%2/3 100.00%3/3 61.5%8/13

Anthony* 25.00%1/4 0.00%0/3 33.30%1/3 66.60%2/3 30.8%4/13

Jackson 75.00%3/4 66.60%2/3 66.60%2/3 33.30%1/3 61.5%8/13

Julian 75.00%3/4 66.60%2/3 33.30%1/3 100.00%3/3 69.2%9/13

Angelo 100.00%4/4 33.30%1/3 33.30%1/3 100.00%3/3 69.2%9/13

Eleanor* 25.00%1/4 33.30%1/3 33.30%1/3 100.00%3/3 46.1%6/13

Jordan* 50.00%2/4 0.00%0/3 33.30%1/3 33.30%1/3 30.8%4/13

Averagescoreperchapter

57.1%16/28

33.3%7/21

42.9%9/21

76.2%16/21

*IndicatesstudentisonIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)Table4PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters

StudentMemoryRecallChapter11GraphicNovel

MemoryRecallChapter14GraphicNovel



StudentAverage

MemoryRecallGraphicNovel

Paulina 75%¾ 75%3/4 50%2/4 66.6%2/3 66.7%10/15

Anthony* 75%3/4 25%1/4 25%1/4 66.6%2/3 46.7%7/15

Jackson 75%3/4 0%0/4 100%4/4 100%3/3 66.7%10/15


50

Julian 100%4/4 100%4/4 50%2/4 66.6%2/3 80%12/15

Angelo 100%4/4 100%4/4 100%4/4 66.6%2/3 93.3%14/15

Eleanor* 100%4/4 50%2/4 75%3/4 100%3/3 80%12/15

Jordan* 75%¾ 50%2/4 25%1/4 66.6%2/3 53.3%8/15

Averagescoreperchapter 85.7%24/28 57.1%16/28 60.7%17/28 76.2%16/21

*IndicatesstudentisonIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)

Inlinewithmysecondresearchquestion,thetablebelowshowsthatinthis

particularstudy,whenaveragingtheallchaptermemoryrecallscoresandcomparingthe

averagesbetweenthetraditionalnovelandgraphicnovel,scoresonthememoryrecall

assessmentwerehigherwhenstudentshadreadthechapterusingthegraphicnovel

format(seeTable5).

Table5

StudentAveragePercentMemoryRecallScoreIncreaseforGraphicNovels

TraditionalNovelChaptersAveragePercentScore

GraphicNovelChaptersAveragePercentScore

AveragePercentagescoreincreaseforGraphicNovels

Paulina 61.5% 66.7% +5.2%

Anthony* 30.8% 46.7% +15.9%

Jackson 61.5% 66.7% +5.2%

Julian 69.2% 80% +10.8%

Angelo 69.2% 93.3% +24.1%

Eleanor* 46.1% 80% +33.9%

Jordan* 30.8% 53.3% +22.5%*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)


51

Theaveragepercentagescoreonmemoryrecallassessmentswerehigherwhen

studentshadreadgraphicnovelchapterswithallsevenofthesevenparticipants.When

directlycomparingtheaveragepercentagescoresofmemoryrecallassessmentsscoresfor

traditionalnovelchaptersandthememoryrecallassessmentsscoresforgraphicnovel

chaptersbystudent,thereshowsapatternofhigherpercentagescoresforthechapters

studentsreadinthegraphicnovelformat,withseveralaveragesincreasingbyup20%or

more.SeeFigure5below.

Figure5

AveragePercentageScoreonMemoryRecallAssessmentsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphic

Novel


52

*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP) The largest percentage score difference for a student participant between their

memory recall assessments for graphic novels and traditional novels was a 33.9%

difference.Thestudent’sscoredifferedfrom46.1%onthetraditionalnovelmemoryrecall

assessment, to 80% on the graphic novel memory recall assessment. The combined

average percentage score difference among participants as a group was a difference of

16.8%fromthetraditionalnovelpercentagescoretothegraphicnovelpercentagescore,

with the graphic novel as the higher score. These results, when looking at my second

researchquestion, show that scoresonmemory recall assessmentsof a chapter’s events

areconsistentlyhigherwhenstudentshavereadthegraphicnovelformatofachapter.


53

CHAPTERFIVE:CONCLUSIONS

InthischapterIbeginbyaddressingthemajorfindingsanddiscussingthoseresults.

Iwillthendeterminethelimitationsthatexistedthroughoutthisstudy.Iwillthenaddress

theimplicationstheseresultsmayhaveonteachersandlanguagelearners.Finally,Iwill

makesomesuggestionsregardinganyfurtherandfutureresearchIwouldbeinterestedin

pursuingonthismatter.

Manyresearchershavearguedthatreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecallin

learnerscanbeinincreasedthroughtheuseofvisuals.Burke(2012),Paivo(2006),and

Liu(2004)allresearchedandarguedthispointintheirownway.Thissectionwillattempt

toconnectmyresearchresultswiththeresearchquestions,aswellasdiscusswhatthis

means.Thefirstquestionis:Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreading

comprehension,asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle

schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatextonlynovel?Usingtheresults

ofrubricgradedwrittenretellsofchaptersfromboththetraditionalnovelandgraphic

novel,theresultsshowthatstudentsperformedhigherwhenwritingaboutachapterfrom

thegraphicnovelformat.

Thesecondresearchquestionis:Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’s

eventsbeaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditional

textformat?Usingmemoryrecallassessmentsgiventhedayafterreadingachapter,the

resultsshowthatstudentsperformedhigheronmemoryrecallassessmentswhenthey

weredrawingfromchaptersreadusingthegraphicnovelformat.

DiscussionofResults

Readingretells.Whenlookingattheoverallrubricscoresofthewrittenretells


54

producedfrominterpretingthetraditionalnovelcomparedtothewrittenretellsproduced

frominterpretingthegraphicnovel,allstudents’scoresincreased,lendingcredencetothe

ideathattheparticipantswerebetterabletocomprehendtheplotelementsofachapter

wheninterpretingthegraphicnovelversionratherthanthetraditionalnovelversion.

ThisseemstocorroboratethethoughtsofBruce(2011)whenhearguesthatvisuals

canserveasscaffoldswithintextstoaidinterpretation.Withstudentsconsistentlyscoring

higherinregardstotheirabilitytoretellwhattheyhadreadwhentheyusedgraphic

novels,itishardtoignorethatthisverywellmayhavebeenadirectresultsofthevisual

aspectofgraphicnovelsthemselvesaidingintheirunderstanding.

Inmuchthesamevein,itishardtoignoreLiu’s(2004)conceptofinterpretation,

andMcCloud’s(1993)similarthoughtsonvisualsmakingtheabstractmoreconcretewhen

interpretingthisdata.Potentially,theoverallincreaseinscorescouldveryeasilyhave

beenaresultoftheseconcepts,asthevisualnatureofthegraphicnovelformatcouldhave

servedtoreduceanyconfusionorabstractionscreatedbythewrittenword,andalloweda

moreconcreteanduniversallyrecognizedinputtofillintheblanksthroughvisuals.

Memoryrecall.Basedontheresultsofthememoryrecallquizzes,allparticipants

hadhigherpercentagescoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelchapters,indicatingthatthe

participantswerebetterabletoremembereventsafterusingthegraphicnovelformat.

ThisincreaseduringtheuseofgraphicnovelsaffirmsBurke’sargumentthatvisuals

accountforbettermemoryretention,inthatthevisualscanreducethecognitiveloadthat

mayexistwhenreading(2012).Scoresindicatetheuseofgraphicnovelsallowedstudents

betterretentionoftheimportantstoryelements,bothshorttermforthewrittenretells,as

wellaslongertermforthememoryrecallassessmentsgiventhefollowing24hours.This


55

abilitytobetterrecallinformationstemsfromthesameconceptsLiupresentedtous

earlier,inthatvisualsprovidestudentsreinforcementofthetext,additionalorganizationof

thetext,moreconcreteinformation,andabetterformatforstoringinformation(2004).

Thepairingofwordswithpicturesthatexistsintheuseofgraphicnovelsisdirectly

relatedtoPaivio’sDualCodingTheory,and,heargues,sinceinformationisstored

separatelyaswordsandimages,itistheseconnectionsthatallowforbettermemoryrecall

andretention(2006).Thisclaimisperfectlyexemplifiedwiththememoryrecallresults

foundinthisresearch.Withouttheimagestopairwritteninformationwith,itseems,the

studentsscoredloweronboththeirwrittenretellsandmemoryrecallassessments.

However,justasPaivio’stheorysuggests,whenwordswerepairedwithpicturesasinthe

graphicnovel,inasimilarfashiontothepictorialflashcardsofearlylanguagelearningthat

hadwordspairedwithpictures,thestudentswereabletobetterreadandunderstandthe

text,asshownbytheirsuperiorscoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelformats.Overall,the

memoryrecallresultsthisresearchprovidedseemtodirectlycoincidewithPaivio’sown

argumentsonthebrain’suseofvisualsinmemoryretention(2006).

Limitations

Uponreflectionofthisstudy,therearemanythingsIwouldalteroravoidifIwere

todoitagain,allreactionstothevariouslimitationsthatpresentedthemselvesthroughout

theprocess.Onelimitationwasthelackofinter-raterreliabilityusedinthegradingofthe

writtenretells.Tobegin,duetomybeingtheonly5thgradeELLteacherinthebuilding,as

wellastheonlyonewhoreadthechaptersofthenoveltothepointofhavingaset

knowledgeoftheeventsofeachchapterthatwastobeassigned,Iactedasthesolegrader

ofthewrittenretells.WhileIattemptedtokeepthewrittenretellgradingasuniformas


56

possiblethroughtheuseofarubricwithspecificgradingpointsreflectedtherein,Iwasstill

facedwiththeknowledgethatwhenitcomestogradingwritingoneteachercanbe

completelydifferentfromanother.Theuseofarubrichelpscurbthistosomedegree,but

itishardtobelievemultipleteacherswouldinterprettherubricthesameway;

determiningwhetherastudentisbeing“whollyinaccurate”,“non-specific”or“accurate

butvague”iscertainlyafineline.Moreaccuratefindingsmayhaveresultedfrommultiple

gradersusingthesamerubric,andusingacombinedaverageofthosescores.

Furthermore,Ifeelsomeofthelanguagewithintherubricitselfisrathersubjective

andopenforinterpretation.Touseoneexample,accordingtotherubric,studentswould

receiveascoreof2insteadofaperfect3ifdescriptionofthesettingwas“…accuratebut

vagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.”However,duringandaftergradingIhadtocontinually

askmyself,whatexactlyconstitutes“vague”?Iftheydescribethesettingingeneral,butdo

notuseanameorexplicitlystateit,isthatstillconsidered“vague”ornot?WhileI

attemptedtoanswerthesequestionsastheycame,andremainconsistentthroughout,it

certainlygavemeinsightastopotentiallimitingfactorsthatmayhaveinfluencedscores.

AnotherfactorthatIfeelcouldhavelimitedtheresultswasthepossibleoccurrence

ofchaptersthatweresimplylessdifficultthatothers.Chapterdifficultycouldhave

influencedstudentscoresontheirwrittenretells,withsomechaptershavingfarmore

importanteventstobeincludedina“good”retellthanotherchapters.Somechapters

couldbeverycomplicatedorinvolved,withmultiplescenes,characters,events,and

settings,whileotherchapterssimplyservedtomovetheplotforwardandincludedone

maincharacterandonesetting.


57

Asanylanguageteachermayknow,astudent’scomfortwithhisorherownwriting,

aswellastheiroverallability,isnotsomethingthatcanbefixedorimproveduponina

shorttime,andcertainlynotintheshortperiodof20daysduringthisstudy.Thisleadsme

toquestionthelimitingfactorofstudentproducedwritinginitself.WhileIattemptedto

counteranyconfusioninregardstowhattowritebyincludingteachermodeling,group

practice,andtheuseofthesamegraphicorganizerforthefirst10chaptersbefore

requiringindependentworkonChapters11-18,Istillfeeluponreflectionthatstudent

writingisnotthemostaccuratereflectionofcomprehensionasseenbythevariedscores.

Ibelievethetransferenceoftheircomprehensionofthechaptertoamediummanymay

havehadlittlecomfortwith(writing)failedtoaccuratelyportraythemostaccurateresults.

It’salsopossiblethatastheprocessbecamehabitual,studentshadbecomeboredor

tiredoftherepetitiveprocessofreadingsilently,completingascaffoldedgraphic

organizer,andwritingaretell.Fatigue,motivationandstressareallfactorsthatmayhave

influencedresults.Thelengthandcompletenessofsomeretellswerenoticeablyaffected

bythestudent’sparticularmoodandinvestmentontheparticularday.

Implications

Ibelievetheresultsofthisstudyconfirmtheimportanceofvisualsforlanguage

learnersastheyprogresstowardsthelanguagelevelsoftheirnativespeakingpeers.

However,whiletheuseofvisualsmaybecommonknowledge,theresultsofthisstudy

stronglysuggesttheusefulnessofgraphicnovelsasanaidincomprehensionforlanguage

learners.Inorderforthesestudentstoaccesscontentthatisabovetheirlanguagelevel,

teachersneedtodotheirparttousewhatevertoolsandscaffoldstheycan,andthisstudy

arguesthatinregardstoretellsandcomprehensionofplotelementsofastory,graphic


58

novelscouldbeaviableoptionasascaffold.Languagelearnersseemtonotonlybebetter

abletoreproducethemainplotelementsofastoryafterreadinggraphicnovels,butitis

alsoreadilyapparentthattheyarenotlosingcomprehensionofthestorywhenswitching

fromtraditionalnoveltographicnovel.Furthermore,thisstudyproveslanguagelearners

willalsorememberthepreviousday’sreadingbetterusingthegraphicnovelformat,

allowingthemtobettermaintaintheirunderstandingastheyprogressthroughoutthe

storyandpossiblyfeelmoreconfidentandwillingtoparticipateinclassdiscussionsand

reviews.

FurtherResearch

Throughoutmyresearch,thereweremanyquestionsthatcametomeinregardsto

futureworkorstudyonthistopic.OnereoccurringquestionIhadwastowhatdegreeis

studentmotivationaffectingtheresults?Therehavebeennumerousstudiesonmeasuring

increasedstudentmotivationthroughtheuseofgraphicnovels.Whilethiswasnotafocus

ofmyparticularstudy,Ioftenwonderedtowhatdegreethismotivationaffectedtheir

results.Manypersonalstudentcommentsseemedtoreflectanincreasedmotivationwhen

usingthegraphicnovels,includingsuchquotesas,“Ifeellikepicturesmakeiteasier,”and

“Ireallylikeit[thegraphicnovel],ithelpsmeremember.”Manystudentsmadesimilar

commentsthroughouttheprocess,andcontinuallyshowedreluctanceordismaywhenit

wasa“traditionalnovel”dayincomparisontogeneraleaseorevenjoywhenitwasa

“graphicnovel”day.Furtherresearchmightincludeapreandpostsurveytodetermine

studentfeelingsandattitudesinanattempttogarnersomeunderstandingofstudent

motivationinregardstographicnovels.


59

Conclusion

Languagelearnersareauniqueandever-increasingstudentpopulationthat,despite

beingnon-nativespeakersofEnglish,areoftenrequiredtoperformdifficultgradelevel

tasksthatrequirenative-levelcomprehension.Contentteachersneedavariedsetoftools

andstrategiestohelpourlanguagelearnersdeveloptheirlanguagelevelsandexperience

success.Mystudentsuggeststhattheuseofgraphicnovelsasatoolorscaffoldcanhelp

languagelearnersfromthestartbygivingthemaformatthatallowsbettermemory

retentionandcomprehension.Graphicnovelscouldbeusedasareplacementforthe

traditionalnovel,pre-taughtbeforeattemptingthemoredifficulttext,orusedasa

supplement.Aslanguagelearnersusethesetoolsandsteppingstonestoreachthelevelof

understandingoftheirnativespeakingpeers,theywillbemorewillingandconfidentto

speak,participate,andtakerisksintheirlearning.Whiletheuseofvisualshasalwaysbeen

ahallmarkofgoodlanguageteaching,thisstudyhasopenedmyeyestotheuseofanoften-

overlookedformatwhenitcomestoreadingcomprehensionandretentionforlanguage

learners.Itismyhopeitwillhelpotherteacherscontinuallysupporttheirlanguage

learnersaswell.


60

Appendix A : Written Retell Rubric


61

IdeaUnit VerbalPromptsUsed 0 1 2 3

Keyideaofchapter’sevent

Whatimportanteventstookplaceduringthischapter?

Whollyinaccurateornotincluded

Doesnotrecallmanykeyideasorinaccuratelyexpressesevents

Accuratelyexpressessomekey,althoughincomplete,events.

Accuratelyexpressesallkeyeventsinthechaptertocompleteness.

Sequenceofevents

Howdoesthischapterbegin?Whatwastheorderoftheevents?


Statessomeeventsinorder,butwithsomeinaccuracies.

Statesmanyeventsinorder,butwithsomeinaccuracies

Accuratelystateseventsincorrectorder.

Problem Whatwasoneimportantprobleminthischapter?


Includeschapternon-specific,vague,orunrelatedproblem.

Chapter’sproblemdescriptionisaccuratebutvagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.

Accuratelystateschapter’sproblem.

Resolution Howdoesthechapterend?Isaproblemsolved?


Stateschapternon-specificorunrelatedresolution.

Chapter’sresolutiondescriptionisaccuratebutvagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.

Accuratelystateschapter’sresolution.

Characters Whoweretheimportantormaincharactersinthischapter?


Stateschapternon-specificorunrelatedcharacterdescriptionsorincludesunimportantcharacters.

Chapter’scharacterdescriptionisaccuratebutvagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.

Accuratelystateschapter’smaincharacters.

Setting Whereandwhendoesthischaptertakeplace?


Stateschapternon-specificorunrelatedchaptersetting.

Chapter’ssettingisaccuratebutvagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.

Accuratelystateschapter’ssetting.


62

Appendix B: Chapter Recall Assessments


63

CityofEmberChapter11ReviewWhatdoesLizziehaveinhersack?a) coloredpencilsb) cannedfruitc) lightbulbsd) amap

WhyaretheitemsinLizzie’ssackimportant?a) theitemsareveryrareb) theitemswillhelpsolvethepuzzlec) theitemsbelongtothemayord) theitemsareexpensive

Whoisthestoreroomworkerwhofindstheseitems?a) Mrs.Murdob) Lizziec) Looperd) Lina

WhydoesthestoreroomworkergiveLizzietheitems?a) sheaskedtheworkernicelyb) theworkerlikesLizziec) themayorsaidsod) Lizzieisroyalty


64

CityofEmberChapter12ReviewWhatdoesDoonfindbehindthelockeddoor?a) aroomfulloflightbulbsandelectronicsb) aroomfulloffood,clothes,boxesandcansc) aroomfullofbooksd) ajanitor’scloset

WhodoesDoonfindintheroombehindthelockeddoor?a) Linab) Looperc) TheMayord) Doon’sfather

LinaandDoondecidetotellsomeoneabouttheroom.Whodotheyplantotell?a) theirfamilyb) theMayorc) theguardsd) theirteachers

WhatinformationdoesLinaalsotellDoon?a) shelikeshimb) shefoundcoloredpencilsc) hergrandmotherdiedd) herfavoritesong


65

CityofEmberChapter13ReviewWhatdoes“Egress”mean?a) aneagleb) ariverc) asecretgroupd) anexit

Whendothechildrendecidetoannouncetothecityabouttheinstructions?a) aftertheyescapeb) during“thesinging”c) aftertheytalktothemayord) assoonaspossible

Whatisthelettermarkedstonetheyneedtosearchfor?a) ab) ec) id) o


66

CityofEmberChapter14ReviewWhywasthePipeworksclosed?a) closedforrepairb) thepowerwasoffc) rehearsalsfor“thesinging”d) itwasflooded

WhatdidLinaandDoonfindatthebottomofthemysteryladder?a) asteelpaneldoorb) asteelfryingpanc) abroomclosetd) themayor’soffice

WhatisinsideeachoftheboxesLinaandDoonfind?a) foodandclothesb) batteriesandwirec) candlesandmatchesd) mapsandpencils

WhatdoLinaandDoonfindintheroomtheyenter?a) booksb) foodc) aboatd) treasure


67

CityofEmberChapter15ReviewWhileLinaandDoonaresearchingthehiddenroom,thefindanotherdoorthatleadstoanotherroom.Whatdotheyfindinside?a) hundredsofboatsb) hundredsofboxesc) aroomoftreasured) anotherdoor

WhatdidDoonputinhispillowcasetravelingpack?a) candlesandhiskeyb) pencilsandamapc) clothesd) hisbugbookWhathappenedwithDoon’sgreenwormbeforeheleft?a) itdiedandheburieditb) hegaveittohisDadc) itseemedtosaygoodbyed) itgrewintoamothandhesetitfree

WhoislookingforDoonandLina?a) theirparentsb) theMayor’sguardsc) theirbossesd) theentirevillage


68

CityofEmberChapter16Review LinaandDoondecidetoescape.Howdotheyplantotelleveryone?a) sendanemaillaterb) shoutitoutloudastheyescapec) writeanddeliveranoted) theydon’tplantotell

AfterLinagetscaptured,howwassheabletoescapefromtheMayorandhisguards?a) shefightsthemoffb) sherunsawaywhenthelightsturnoffc) shetellsthemariddled) Doonhelpsherbreakout

WhatdoesLinaseeninthecrowdofpeoplethattellsherDoonisok?a) hiscandleb) aflagc) themothd) Doonwavesather


69

CityofEmberChapter17ReviewWherewasLinasupposedtomeetDoon?a) theschoolb) theMayor’sofficec) thepipeworksd) herhouse

WhywasLinalatemeetingDoon?a) shehadtobringfoodb) shestoppedtogethercoloredpencilsc) shestoppedtogetPoppyd) shegotlost

HowdoLina,Doon,andPoppyescapetheCityofEmber?a) walkingalongapathb) byboatthroughariverc) crawlingthroughacaved) climbingdownaladder


70

CityofEmberChapter18ReviewWhatdoLinaandDoonfindwhentheriverstopsandtheygetout?a) amountainb) apathc) ahoused) food

WhatdidLinaforgettodobeforesheleft?a) bringfoodb) deliverthemessageabouttheirplanc) checkthemapd) hidetheinstructions

HowcanLinaandDoonreturntotheCityofEmber?a) byplaneb) byclimbingamountainc) theycan’treturnd) bycallingforhelp


71

Appendix C: Retell Organizer Scaffold


72

1. 

Thum

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ain

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)

____

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2. 

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____

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3. 

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! 

Prob

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____

____

____

____

____

____

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4. 

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ts:

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____

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5. 

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____

____

____

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____

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1"

2"

3"

4"

"5"

Author’s"Message"

" _____________"

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The R

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and


73

Appendix D: Academic Vocabulary Transition Words


75

Appendix E: Sample Traditional Novel Text


76


77


78


79

Appendix F: Sample Graphic Novel Text


80


81


82


83

Appendix G: Parent Permission Letter


84

CapstoneStudyConsentLetter

January6th,2016DearParentorGuardian,

Iamyourchild’sEnglishLanguageteacherandagraduatestudentworkingonanadvanceddegreeineducation.Aspartofmygraduatework,IplantoconductresearchinmyclassroomfromApril11-June10,2016.Thepurposeofthisletteristoaskyourpermissionforyourchildtotakepartinmyresearch.TheresearchIdowillbecatalogedinmyuniversitiesDigitalCommons,andis,therefore,searchableontheInternet.Itmayalsobepublishedinfutureeducationaljournalsorusedinotherways.However,itisimportantforyoutoknowthatnostudentnamesorindividualizedidentificationofthestudentinanymannerwillbeincludedintheresearch.

Inmyresearch,Iwanttostudyhowusinggraphicnovelsintheclassroomcanaffectastudent’sreadingcomprehensionofapassage.Ihaveusedgraphicnovelsintheclassroomforthreeyearsandwanttocollectfurtherinformationabouttheirpossiblebenefitsformystudy.Iplantohaveareadinggroupreadastory,withonedaydevotedtoreadingachapterinatraditionalbookformatandthenextdayreadingthenextchapteringraphicnovelformatofthesamebook.Next,studentswillbeaskedto“retell”theparticularsectionofthestory,inwrittenformat.Eachstudentwillreceiveascoreindicatingtheirabilitytoaccuratelyretelltheimportanteventsinthestory,andinformationlikewhatimportanteventswereleftout,whatunnecessaryeventswereincluded,andwhethertheeventswererememberedinthecorrectorderwillbereviewed.

Thereislittletonoriskforyourchildtoparticipate.Allresultswillbeconfidentialandanonymous.Iwillnotrecordinformationaboutindividualstudents,suchastheirnames,norreportidentifyinginformationorcharacteristicsinthestudy.Participationisvoluntaryandyoumaydecideatanytimeandwithoutnegativeconsequencesthatyoudonotwantyourchildtobeapartofthestudy.

IhavereceivedapprovalformystudyfromHamlineUniversity,aswellasfromISD197districtcurriculumsupervisor.Thecapstonewillbekeptinmyuniversity’sDigitalCommons,asearchableelectroniclibrary.Myresultsmightalsobeincludedinfuturepublishedarticlesorprofessionaljournals.Inallcases,yourchild'sidentityandparticipationinthisstudywillbeconfidential.Ifyouagreethatyourchildmayparticipate,keepthispage.FillouttheduplicateagreementtoparticipateonpagetwoandreturntomenolaterthanApril11th.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleaseemailorcontactmeatschool.Sincerely,[email protected]


85

InformedConsenttoParticipateinQualitativeStudy

Keepthisfullpageforyourrecords.Ihavereceivedyourletteraboutthestudyyouplantoconductinwhichyouwillbeobservingstudents’abilitiestoretellastoryingroups.Iunderstandthereislittletonoriskinvolvedformychild,thathis/herconfidentialitywillbeprotected,andthatImaywithdrawormychildmaywithdrawfromtheprojectatanytime.___________________________________ _________________Parent/GuardianSignature Date

Participantcopy

InformedConsenttoParticipateinQualitativeInterviewReturnthisportiontoMr.StephenMeueratHeritageMiddleSchool

Ihavereceivedyourletteraboutthestudyyouplantoconductinwhichyouwillbeobservingstudents’abilitiestoretellastoryingroups.Iunderstandthereislittletonoriskinvolvedformychild,thathis/herconfidentialitywillbeprotected,andthatImaywithdrawormychildmaywithdrawfromtheprojectatanytime.___________________________________ _________________Parent/GuardianSignature Date


86

Researchercopy

CapstoneEstudioConsentimientoCarta

Estimadopadreotutor,SoyprofesordeInglésdesuhijoyunestudiantegraduadoquetrabajaenungrado

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