Visual Art as a Tool to Learn About Literature

Clara Ling Boon Ing; Che Aleha Ladin; Lim Jia Wei

doi:10.32890/mjli2024.21.2.13

Authors

Clara Ling Boon Ing Department of Educational Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Education University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Che Aleha Ladin Department of Educational Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Education University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lim Jia Wei Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.2.13

Keywords:

Arts-based method, EFL learners, learning literature, visual art integration, literature learning tools

Abstract

Purpose - Art forms such as music and drama are among some recognised tools used by educators. This has sparked interest in how art can be used in education, making it a fertile field for educational research. However, there is a missing connection in how drawing can be used as a tool for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students to learn about literature.

Methodology - This paper will incorporate an Arts-Based Research (ABR) method to determine how visual art, particularly drawing, can be used as a tool to advance EFL students’ understanding of a selected literary text, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” (2015) This qualitative study, viewed through the lens of Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML), involved 10 EFL participants and revealed strategies for integrating drawing that are absent in traditional approaches. Additionally, Hameed’s (2022) elements of art, Yenawine’s (2014) Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), and Showalter’s (2003) concepts of literature learning will be included to ground the framework of the intervention.

Findings - This study can be regarded as a method to liberate traditional teaching practices into contemporary approaches, serving as a tool to merge cultural knowledge while improving confidence, higher-order thinking skills, and expression. It also allows educators to be flexible and provoke more reflection and participation. The data discusses three main strategies in exploring how integrating drawing can help EFL students learn about literature: mining to trigger thoughts, engaging with the senses, and giving permission to wonder. Visual art allows individuals to create their responses by exploring new ideas and representing emotions, confirming plans, and comprehending the deeper level of literary texts.

Significance – The study will offer insight and work as an alternate strategy for educators and learners alike to utilise visual art as a tool in teaching and learning literature. The findings will also ease the alarming condition where literature teaching and learning are stereotyped as daunting.

References

Akimova, E. (2020, September 27). What is editorial illustration? (And how to get into it). Envatotuts+. https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-is-editorialillustration-how-to-get-into-it--cms-35776

Arnheim, R. (1974). Art and visual perception: A psychology of the visual eye. University of California Press.

Baker, S. J. (2016). Teacher perception of student engagement in an arts-integrated classroom [Doctoral dissertation, Lindenwood University]. Lindenwood University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Becker, P. A. (2020). Teaching language and literacy through the visual arts: An interdisciplinary, literature-based approach. Teaching Exceptional Children, 52(3), 166-179.

Benfares, R. (2023). Rethinking the teaching of English literature (The Case of Moroccan universities). The International Journal of Applied Language Studies and Culture, 6(1), 1-12.

Dawson, K., & Lee, B. K. (2018). Drama-based pedagogy: Activating learning across the curriculum. Intellect Books.

Dunn, J., & Jones, A. (2022) Dramatic approaches in the English classroom: Embodied, agentic and aesthetic learning. The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education (pp. 310-323). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003000914-33

Eisner, E. W. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. Yale University Press.

Fagan, L. M. (2015). Elementary school teachers’ perception of art integration to improve student learning (Doctoral dissertation, WaldenUniversity].https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/ dissertations/1191

Hameed, U. (2022). Elements and principles of art and design [PowerPoint slides]. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/ RG.2.2.29128.60161

Ingraham, N., & Nuttall, S. (2016). The story of an arts integration school on English-language-learner development: A qualitative study of collaboration, integrity, and confidence. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 17(28), 1-17. http://www.ijea. org/v17n28/

Jäntti, P. (2019). Arts-integrated EFL teaching in Finland - from the teachers’ point of view [Bachelor’s thesis, University of Jyväskylä]. h t t p s : / / j y x. j y u. f i / b i t s t r e a m / handle/123456789/66959/1/URN%3ANBN%3Afi%3Ajyu201912195434.pdf

Leavy, P. (2022). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford Publications.

Mayer, R. E. (2020). Multimedia learning. Cambridge University Press.

Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. Wiley.

Mertler, C. A. (2019). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (5th ed.). Sage Publications.

Moerman, P. (2020). Letting art teach aesthetics, math and language. In C. Yackel, E. Torrence, K. Fenyvesi, R. Bosch, & C. S. Kaplan (Eds.), Bridges 2020: Mathematics | Art | Music | Architecture | Education | Culture Conference Proceedings (pp. 313-320). The Bridges Archives.

O’Toole, J., & Dunn, J. (2020). Stand up for literature: Dramatic approaches in the secondary English classroom. Currency Press.

Poe, Poe, E. A. (2015). The Tell-Tale Heart. Penguin UK. (Originally published in 1843).

Rosario-Regan, M. (2018). A case study for a broadened definition of arts integration in instructional methods [Doctoral dissertation, Kennesaw State University]. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw. edu/educleaddoc_etd/10

Salim, M. T. H. (2023). Restoring language to literature pedagogy: Towards an interactive approach. Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies, 9(1), 1-11.

Showalter, E. (2003). Teaching literature. Wiley-Blackwell.

Schraw, G., & Richmond, A. S. (2022). Using visual displays to improve classroom thinking. Educational Research: Theory and Practice, 33(2), 80-102.

Sorden, S. D. (2012). The cognitive theory of multimedia learning.

Handbook of Educational Theories, 1(2012), 1-22.

Telfer-Radzat, K., & Brouillette, L. (2021). Arts-embedded education: Experiential learning in a Waldorf first-grade classroom. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.21977/ D917157963

Van Duinen, D. V., & Mawdsley Sherwood, B. (2019). Co-equal arts integration: Lessons learned in using visual arts to respond to literature. Art Education, 72(3), 20-27.

Wang, Q., Coemans, S., Siegesmund, R., & Hannes, K. (2017). Arts-based methods in socially engaged research practice: A classification framework. Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 2(2), 5-39. https://doi.org/10.18432/ R26G8P

Yenawine, P. (2014). Visual thinking strategies: Using art to deepen learning across school disciplines. Harvard Education Press.

Zhang, Q. (2022). Arts Integration for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: A Three Paper Dissertation [Doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas].