Using authentic picture books and illustrated books to improve L2 writing among 11-year-olds

Abstract

The case study investigates what impact extensive reading of authentic picture books/ illustrated books had on the learners' writing skills in a Norwegian EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom of 11-year-olds. Furthermore, the study also looks into the importance the pictures/illustrations had for the learners and what type of picturetext interaction they favoured. The case study was designed to allow the learners the freedom to choose for themselves, from a list provided, which books to read. The learners were asked to read as many books as possible from a selection of 70 picture books/illustrated books, though a minimum of three, in the course of four weeks. Both qualitative and quantitative methods and procedures were employed through log books, a questionnaire, individual interviews and learners' written texts before and after the reading project. The study reveals that the project improved learners' motivation to read and led to improvement in their writing skills. It raises questions about the current practice of heavy reliance on course books, but further research is needed to support the findings. IntroductionThis article discusses how a class of Norwegian 11-year-olds' L2 writing skills were affected by extensive reading of authentic picture books/illustrated books in English, when they were given the freedom to choose for themselves, from a list provided, which books to read. The research topic has emerged through many years of experience as teacher trainers in English as a foreign language and through many hours of observation of classroom activities of the teaching of English in Norwegian primary schools where teaching strategies tend to rely heavily on course books. This has led us to examine how their own assessment of their progress compares with an objective measurement of it, focusing on a few aspects of their written texts such as the learners' use of adjectives and adverbials and story-building skills. Furthermore, the study discusses how learners' motivation and engagement were affected by self-selection of books from a list provided and choice in follow-up activities.

The Motivational Impact of Enhancing Reading Comprehension through Pictorial Fictions on the Involvement of Iranian EFL Students in Writing Activities

“…According to the results presented in Table II analysis of covariance (pre-test), and Table III analysis of covariance (post-test), the hypothesis of this study was rejected. The findings of current study support some previous researches such as Zainal and Husin (2011), Lo and Hyland (2007), Kirin (2010), Al-Mansour andAl-Shorman (2014), Gupta andWoldemariam (2011), Al-Shourafa (2012), Lam and Law (2006), Hamidun et al (2012), Salehi et al (2015), and Birketveit and Rimmereide (2013).…”

“…Hence, the students need to be more active in educational communities. Furthermore, Birketveit and Rimmereide (2013) investigated "the impact of extensive reading through authentic picture books on the learners' writing skills." The study showed that the picture books improved learners' motivation to read and make progress in their writing performance.…”

“…Conventionally, literacy is the ability to read and write written texts, yet, today due to the great influence of visual stimuli in different societies, literacy has also come to include the ability to read images and pictures as well Johnson (1995). In general, "seeing is an active process of meaning-making and is not considered as a passive reception of stimuli" (Birketveit and Rimmereide, 2013). Birketveit (2013) says "most of the children and young adults today read and produce a variety of texts in their free times."…”

Google Cards as a Tool to Improve Writing Skills among EFL Young Children with Learning Disabilities

“…Though, writing is often difficult for beginning writers (Camacho, & Alves, 2017), there is numerous educational intervention to improve the writing skills of children in primary school. Birketveit & Rimmereide, (2017) examined effects of general reading of dependable illustrated books/picture books had on the students' writing abilities in 11-year-olds EFL classroom. Limpo & Alves, (2017) investigated the mediating effect of pauses and bursts on the relation between text quality or writing fluency and transcription abilities.…”

Using Children’s Literature to Teach the 4Cs of CLIL: A Systematic Review of EFL Studies

“…The included studies address the development of language in vocabulary (Al Darwish, 2015;Albaladejo Albaladejo et al, 2018;Birketveit & Rimmereide, 2017;Freire & Filho, 2015;Larragueta & Ceballos-Viro, 2018;Lin, 2014), reading (Al Darwish, 2015), and writing (Al Darwish, 2015;Birketveit & Rimmereide, 2017;Yeom, 2018). Vocabulary has received the most attention in terms of language skills developed by children's literature in the EFL classroom.…”