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Reading the German graphic novel : understanding learners’ readings of multimodal literary comics
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Abstract:
This dissertation considers the reading process among collegiate German language learners interacting with related texts in the target language: short prose texts by Bertolt Brecht (Brecht, 1967) and their adaptations in comics form by Ulf K. (Brecht & K., 2014). This comparison aims to understand the second language (L2) reading process of multimodal texts and to establish an instructional model for teaching them. The study addresses three primary research questions: (1) How do comics compare to prose texts regarding L2 reading comprehension? (2) How does genre-specific background knowledge of comics in terms of form, plot, and theme affect reading comprehension? (3) Do students enjoy comics, do they consider them literature, and how do these views affect reading comprehension? The dissertation provides applied linguists and scholars of literature, visual studies, and multimodality with systematic insights into the instructional use of graphic novels and multimodal texts. L2 reading research emerged over 30 years ago from L1 work and has since developed new insights into L2 reading. Beginning in the 1990s, theoretical approaches related to new literacies and multiple literacies have provided scholars new methods for understanding and defining L2 reading comprehension. Recent work on multimodality, focused on meaning-making beyond the written word, has worked to expand the definition of reading material, allowing researchers to consider a wider range of texts. The German graphic novel is well suited for the exploration of these issues in research on L2 literary reading at the university level. Scholars are increasingly investigating these works as material for L2 learners. Much work is needed to connect comics theory to L2 literary reading and reader-oriented literary-theoretical approaches. The dissertation’s study measures the L2 reading of comics and prose texts through Immediate Recall protocols (IRPs), modeled after Bernhardt (1983), rated according to a set of Rubrics for Assessing Reading Across Modalities (RARAM) and idea units, as well as pre- and postquestionnaires. The IRPs allow the researcher to see what participants comprehend from a text and how they understand it. The prequestionnaire determines the participants’ familiarity with comics to measure background knowledge and their affective views of the medium. The postquestionnaire elicits shifts in the participants’ views of comics as literature and language learning material ; Germanic Studies
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Keyword:
Applied linguistics; Comics studies; Cultural studies; German graphic novels; German language learners; German studies; Graphic novels; Instructional use of graphic novels; L2 reading; Multimodal texts; Second language graphic novels; Second language reading comprehension; Second language reading process; Student views of graphic novels; Visual studies
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URL: https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/2991
https://hdl.handle.net/2152/75889
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