Using Picture Books To Teach English

by Eskil Løkke

When teaching English it may seem difficult to find books that are appropriate to the proficiency of the students. If the students are just starting to learn English it might be even more difficult. This is where picture books come in as the knight in shining armor. Picture books are ideal for new English learners because they make it so that the learners don't have to rely solely on the words to understand the content.

Gorilla by Anthony Browne Cover

In books such as Gorilla by Anthony Browne the readers can look at the pictures to associate the words with what the story is trying to convey. The visual reference can help learners understand words quicker because they can visually see what the words mean. For example, in the previously mentioned book, it says "The gorilla took Hannah to see the orang-utan, and a chimpanzee. She thought they were beautiful. But sad" (Gorilla by Anthony Browne, p.17). Beginner English learners probably don't know a few of these words, which is why it is convenient for them that they can look at the photos on the page to understand more. If the learners didn't know what the word sad meant, they could look at the photos and see pictures of sad animals. If the learners didn't know what a orang-utan or a chimpanzee is, then they could look at the photos and see exactly that. The point which this part is trying to make is that learners can get direct references to the things they don't understand so that they have an easier time making connections between the word and its meaning.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick Cover

Even though picture books are perfect for English learners, there is a tiny little drawback.

Many English learners find picture books to be for small children and are therefore not suitable for them. This is almost expected because picture books are usually written for children, and picture books are also the type of books parents use to teach their children language. Given this problem there is a simple fix. The way to remove the stereotype that picture books are for children, is to introduce them to more adult picture books. Some good titles in the picture book genre is Wonderstruck, The Lost Thing, The Wolves in the Wall, etc. Something many people don't know is that there are picture books for all ages. Gorilla by Anthony Browne might be slightly too childish for older English learners, which is where titles such as Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick come in. Wonderstruck is a picture book that has two converging stories, one told in pictures and one told in text. This adds a new layer of complexity to the text, which makes it perfect for an older audience. With picture books like this one, the stereotype of them being childish is almost immediately broken, thus removing one of the only problems that teachers and learners seem to have with picture books. According to Anna Birktveit, picture books have the merits of authentic texts but not their drawbacks (Literature for the English Classroom by Anna Birketveit and Gweno Williams, p. 17).

To sum up, picture books have examples for all ages making it easy for teachers to select works that are appropriate for their students. Also picture books make it easier to understand individual words and complete sentences in English because they have the pictures to clarify or explain them. Picture books should therefore, based on the things that have been mentioned here, be actively used as a tool for teaching English in schools and in other learning environments.