Graphic composition of an image, like shape, perspective, size, scale, dimension, arrangement, framing, color, light, contrast, direction, motion, balance, labelling, visual/text relationship, foreground, background, and editing. Combined with visual semantics, visual syntax enables successful comprehension of different meanings of visual images.
Published in Chapter:
Visual Literacy for Young Language Learners: Multimodal Texts in Content-Based Instruction
Vera Savić (University of Kragujevac, Serbia)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 24
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2722-1.ch009
Abstract
Acquiring literacy skills for the 21st century requires learners to move beyond the traditional print literacy skills and to develop strategies for effective communication in predominantly visual environments. The chapter explores how teachers of young language learners may scaffold children's development of visual literacy in Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and thus prepare them both for comprehending and producing visual images and multimodal texts. The chapter first provides a framework for understanding visual literacy and then describes pedagogical strategies language teachers may apply to promote visual literacy in a young learner classroom. Finally, it highlights the role of visual images in CBI and gives examples of classroom activities that foster simultaneous development of visual literacy and foreign/second language (L2) communication skills for young learners.