Incorporating Visual Aids into ESL Classroom - Research Proposal Example

? Incorporating Visual Aids Into ESL room: An Innovation To Enhance Reading Comprehension Lecturer: The study on the use of visual aids in the ESL classroom has become an effective and innovative approach for enhancing reading comprehension. The study analysed the way visual aids are helpful in facilitating effective teaching and learning of diverse text materials, thus creating a clear understanding of diverse subjects in the classroom. In the introduction part, the researcher provided the brief background information revealing the significance of incorporating visual aids into ESL classroom. The statement of the research problem revealed the significance of using visual aids in the classroom. This is vital because it will enhance comprehensive reading and facilitate effective learning in the ESL classroom. Under the literature review, varied sub-topics were included that revealed the way previous researchers had argued on the issue of incorporating visual aids into ESL classroom. One of the aspects focused on in this part was the significance of incorporating visual aids into ESL classroom. The use of visual aids in the ESL classroom involved contribution of varied aspects including effective understandings of textual language, creating meaning of textual and concepts as well as allowing greater cognitive mapping. Another aspect included in the literature was the effect of visual aids on the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities. In this case, the researcher provided an analysis of the way previous researcher had argued on the significance of using visual aids such as pictures, graphics and images in enhancing comprehensive reading. The last part that literature focused on is the extent to which graphic novel makes learning easy, thus enabling students to achieve their academic goals effectively. Introduction Teaching using visual aids has become tremendously significant in the contemporary ESL classroom. This is because this method introduces students to real life examples and offers them something tangible to utilise when studying grammar and vocabulary. The use of visual aids in teaching also breaks the monotony of depending only on textbooks. The integration of technology in the ESL classroom has become significant because it helps teachers create successful visual aids for teaching. The education approach of incorporating visual aids using technology into ESL has contributed to greater learning abilities, and this approach offers a greater opportunity for equity among students studying a second language. A great deal of research evidence has made significant attempts of revealing the way incorporation of visual aids is beneficial to ESL students (Kim et al., 2004; Candy & Kaiti, 2008). The study on visual aids has been carried out by varied researchers, and this has contributed to diverse guidelines of helping educators to make use of visual aids in ESL classroom. Therefore, visual aids are helpful in facilitating effective teaching and learning of diverse text materials, thus creating a clear understanding of varied subjects in the classroom. Statement of the Problem Educators have been studying the use of visual aids and the roles it plays in the classroom for many decades. However, this research aims to lay more emphasis on the significance of using visual aids in ESL classroom as an innovative approach towards enhancing reading comprehension. The study of enhancing reading compression by incorporating visual aids has become the key concerning area of study in research field. This is because of the current issues arising in varied learning environment where many students find it difficult to learn English as the second language effectively. Many of students with learning disabilities face diverse challenges because of the poor education approaches employed in the learning environment; thus, there is the need for creating awareness on the significance of incorporating visual aids in the ESL classroom. Research Questions 1. What are the effects of visual aids on the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities? 2. How does the use of visual aids in the ESL classroom enhance reading comprehension? 3. What are the advantages of incorporating visual aids in ESL classroom? Research Objectives To examine the significance of incorporating visual aids into ESL classroom. To examine the effect of visual aids on the reading understanding of students with studying incapacities. To reveal the extent to which graphic novel makes learning easy, thus enabling students to achieve their academic goals effectively. Statement of the Novelty of the Proposed Work The novelty of the proposed research is the use of descriptive analysis in order to determine the way incorporating visual aids in ESL classroom is of great significance. Descriptive research approach will be employed in order to obtain information on the contemporary status of the phenomenon. The research will make use of authentic materials in order to provide effective information on the way the use of visual aids in ESL classroom contributes to better learning objectives. The study will establish the significance of incorporating visual aids in ESL classroom. The study will offer the new knowledge on the way this research study adds value by providing answers to the research questions, thus finding the solutions to the statement of the problem. Significance of the Study This study is significant because it attempts to create or raise awareness on the need to incorporate visual aids into ESL classroom. It helps instructors understand the significance of using visual aids in the ESL classroom because visual aid makes instructions more meaningful to students. The research will help educators develop an effective education plan vital for enabling achieving their intended objectives; for instance, the use of clear pictures or graphs will increase the understanding level of students. This is because they can reinforce the message being communicated and create interest as well as clarify points effectively. This will enable students to learn effectively, thus improving their academic performance level. Moreover, the research study is significant because it helps educators understand the importance of incorporating visual aids in the ESL classroom. This involves engaging the learner with effective learning practices and creating better understandings of diverse subjects. The study helps the educators realise the significance of incorporating visual aids in the ESL classroom. This is because they play a great role in creating textual meaning and also offering better cognitive mapping. Literature Review Varied literatures have attempted to reveal the way incorporation of visual aids into ESL classroom is significant. This chapter will examine the way the previous researchers have argued or focused on the topic under study. Significance of Incorporating Visual Aids into ESL Classroom Visual aids connect learners in efficient learning practices, which generates a change in the teaching system in one activity to a different one such as from audible range to observing and even touching. This is significant because it creates an appeal to more than one sense at a time, thereby increasing the ability to understand effectively. According to Janzen (2008), the use of visual aids such as drawings, posters, graphics and other visuals contributes to better understandings in the ESL classroom. This is because the concepts or ideas expressed in terms of visual aids are no longer simply words but words and images, which are understood properly. Peercy (2011) argues that visual aids appear to play significant roles in the meaning-making of texts that ESL learner encounters in their classrooms. The images or graphics used play vital roles of expressing the clear textual meanings. Varied researchers have attempted to examine the way language learners encounter different aspects in learning linguistic and non-linguistic elements that operate in order to generate textual meaning. The research analysis was carried out on ESL images, and it was found out that books with pictures are helpful to ESL learners (Perez, 2000). Another piece of research carried out attempted to reveal the significance of using visual aids in creating textual meaning. The author explored the way students interact effectively with images in text creation and found out that images played significant roles of enabling students to understand textual meaning effectively. The images also acted as a catalyst for greater achievements of improving vocabulary and writing capacity of students. Visual aids contribute to better cognitive mapping and piloting in the learning atmosphere. The visual aids are significant tools because they guide the students towards creating textual meaning of language by using their own knowledge (Ponech & Hardy-Vallee, 2007). The use of visual mode is a medium of communicating employed in passing information, feelings or ideas. The use of visual aids is vital because it offers to students personal experience by exposing them to the stimuli presented, thus enabling them to improve their language. Nesbit and Adesope (2006) argue that visual aids are effective in teaching; thus, they should be incorporated into ESL classroom. This is because they not only increase cognitive mapping but also permit strategies for organising knowledge into semantic clusters. Moreover, the visual images incorporated in ESL classroom contribute to better learning of the subjects, especially when they are combined with texts. Peercy (2011) argues that incorporating technology when teaching English as a second language can create significant change. This is because technology is effective when using visual aids, hence enhancing the efficiency of the lesson. Thus, the flourishing incorporation of technology is extremely noteworthy to the effective technology-improved instructions in the bilingualism or ESL classroom. The research study interview carried out in order to determine the way student experiences the impact of visualising technologies revealed that incorporating technologies in ESL classroom is vital. This is because the use of technology stimulates the writing styles, clarifies vocabulary and also motivates students. The researchers connect visualising technologies creating visual language with other learning methodologies to diverse students. This is crucial because it contributes to better understanding and increases the capacity for students to improve their language, thus improving their learning performance. The Effects Of Visual Aids On The Reading Comprehension Of Students With Learning Disabilities Visual aids are useful in facilitating effective teaching and learning of diverse text materials in the classroom. Kim, Vaughn, Wanzek and Wei (2004) argue that the use of visual aids helps in facilitating effective and clear understandings of the text through visual depictions of the main terms or concepts. This is crucial because it enables the learner to develop familiarity with diverse key texts and concepts being studied in the classroom. Although providing all students with effective reading comprehension is vital, making such improvements is especially demanding and more significant when dealing with students with learning disabilities. For instance, students with learning disabilities encounter varied challenges when learning a second language, but the use of visual aids is crucial because it will enable them to achieve their educational goals effectively. Researchers have argued that students with learning disabilities perform better when visual aids in their learning are incorporated; thus, visual information display such as graphic organisers may help in enhancing their reading comprehension (Kim et al., 2004; Perez, 2000). Visual aids create real learning opportunities, thereby creating the potential meaning and facilitating presumably achievement for English language learners effectively. Human beings have diverse distinct intelligences, and any significant achievements involve the amalgamation of intelligences. Therefore, amalgamation or blending is helpful because diverse intelligences are valued to varying degrees across the learning environment. This means that in education environment, use of visual aids makes the learning task or situation appear genuine and prompts the learners to find ways of learning language efficiently. Therefore, the use of visual aids can make students bring the outside world into the classroom, thereby turning the situation into real life example. This is crucial because it contributes to a better use of appropriate associated language, hence contributing to effective learning. Pflueger-Pieczynska (2011) points out that the use of graphics, maps or pictures in ESL classroom is crucial. Reading comprehension is the root cause for effective performance of learners in diverse learning subjects. The use of graphics or pictures in the vocabulary lesson enhances effective learning to students with learning disabilities. It helps students sort, make meaning and determine the relationship of vocabulary words, as well as manage data effectively (Hoffman, 2007). Students can also be able to exhibit connections between concepts and ideas, hence advancing in text comprehension. The use of images is the efficient approach of enhancing better understandings to students with learning disabilities. This is because use of visual aids will capture the attention of students and encourage them to associate with the learning of new words or vocabularies. The consistent use of graphics or images will offer ESL students a better and memorable experience in the learning environment. The Extent to Which Graphic Novel Makes Learning Easy, thus Enabling Students to Achieve Their Academic Goals Effectively To a larger extent, graphic novel can make learning easy in ESL classroom, and this is crucial because it improves the learning abilities of students. Many researchers have recently paid more attention to graphic novels and the significant roles they play in the ESL classroom. The use of visual aids such as graphs, pictures and images play crucial roles of passing information across cultures. The growing popularity of using visual aspects in varied cultures is a result of social and technological changes in the recent years. The graphic novel is one of the aspects that took significant changes due to technology revolution using visual aids to produce narrative. The use of visual narration is vital because it becomes easier for students to learn reading skills effectively (Andrews, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, & University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2010). It is crucial for teachers to teach English curriculum using graphic novel because they result in better and easy understandings of diverse vocabularies. Brice, Miller and Brice (2006) argue that the use of graphic novel and story maps play significant roles of providing the key information in narrative text. This is crucial because it enables students to easily recognise narrative elements and offer room for documentation of the information. The use of graphic narrative and story maps can elicit prior knowledge and experience on the subject, as well as facilitate effective recording of relevant information about the subject. For instance, the use of story maps enables learners to record vital information effectively. This becomes easier for students to explore the content effectively because the use of story maps serves as a review after reading, thus facilitating easier understanding. Conclusion The researcher analysed the way visual aids are useful in facilitating effective teaching and learning of diverse text materials, thus creating a clear understanding of varied subjects in the classroom. Visual aids are significant, especially when dealing with varied students including students with learning disabilities and ESL learners. This is because it will enable the educator to meet the needs of each student effectively. In the literature review, the research revealed the way incorporation of visual aids have been determined as the effective methods of facilitating effective understanding and learning in the ESL classroom. This was through analysing the previous work done by researchers on the research topic; however, from the research study analysis, it is evident that there is a need for more research study to include the potential impacts that may arise in the future when incorporating visual aids into ESL classroom. References Andrews, H., University of North Carolina at Charlotte.,& University of North Carolina at Charlotte. (2010). A case study of Hispanic middle school students in an ESL classroom: Discourses in academic reading instruction. (Dissertation Abstracts International, 72-3.) Brice, A., Miller, K., & Brice, R. (January 01, 2006). Language in the English as a Second Language and General Education Classrooms. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 27( 4), 240-247. Candy, L. &Kaiti, T. (2008).Making better readers in the ESL/EFL classroom. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.1, 134. Hoffman, W. B. (2007). The benefits of computers in a classroom and how they can affect ESL students. Janzen, J. (January 01, 2008). Teaching English Language Learners in the Content Areas. Review of Educational Research, 78(4), 1010-1038. Kim, A.-H., Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., & Wei, S. (March 01, 2004). Graphic Organizers and Their Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with LD: A Synthesis of Research.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(2), 105-118. Nesbit, J. C., &Adesope, O. O. (January 01, 2006). Learning With Concept and Knowledge Maps: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 76(3), 413-448. Peercy, M. M. (January 01, 2011). Preparing English Language Learners for the Mainstream: Academic Language and Literacy Practices in Two Junior High School ESL Classrooms. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 27(4), 324-362. Perez, S. A. (2000). Effective Approaches for Improving the Reading Comprehension of Problem Readers.Reading Horizons, 22(1), 59-65. Pflueger-Pieczynska, M. (2011).The graphic novel: A frontier literary form edges toward the English classroom. Birmingham, Ala: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Graduate School. Ponech, T. (Supervisor), & Hardy-Vallee, M. (2007). Where do the pictures fit in the overall picture? : graphic novels as literature. McGill University. Read More