Vindication

[owlectomy]

My Master's paper is going to be on librarians' attitudes towards comic books.

There isn't actually any research on that, so my reading for my literature review is ranging far and wide, concentrating principally on the question of whether comic books (and other pop culture reading materials) are bad for you.

I have been told enough times that I won't learn anything by reading manga, that I'm quite pleased--though not exactly surprised--to learn that all the empirical research is on my side!

(In particular, they found that free voluntary reading--including comics--had a far more significant effect on second language proficiency than direct instruction. Makes sense to me.)

Comments

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Great topic! You already have Secret Origins of Good Readers, right? I gotta re-read it now that who some of these people are, frex Stephen Krashen, who's kind of the dominant voice in TESOL theory for the last 20 years. If you happen to run into more TESOL/second-language-teaching-related comic book stuff, would you please pass it on to me? I have half a mind to do something manga-related for my master's project next year.

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

Oh, I actually haven't seen that one--thanks for mentioning it! (This is a really cursory literature review, since I had only about two weeks to get it done).

Have you seen "Comic book culture and second language learners," in Critical Pedagogies and Language Learning? It's specifically about ESL learners reading Archie comics.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Nope! Thanks, I'll try to dig it up.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Coolness1! Another written work of yours I'll have to read.

(Just realised that I still haven't read the shapeshifter one. Argh. WIll remedy that one soon, yes.)

[(Anonymous)]

Stephen Krashen will be important for you, I'm sure. I like how adamant he is about how comic books are good for early reading development. He's kinda nutty. Also, I work with a librarian who goes so far as to say that even IM'ing is good for kids reading. There are certainly those out there who love comic books, because they get kids to practice reading, and practicing makes them better at it. Comic books also help kids understand that reading can be fun, and they give kids a chance to make their own self-directed reading choices, sometimes for the first time in their lives. I do fundraising for a library system, and the enjoyment of reading link to practicing and developing literacy skills is the primary basis of our fundraising for summer reading and other programs. Best of luck! Lb