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School of Education Student Capstones and
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School of Education
Summer 8-9-2016
How Graphic Novels Affect Reading
Comprehension and Memory Recall of Story
Elements for Language Learners
Stephen Jerome Meuer
Hamline University, [email protected]
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HOW GRAPHIC NOVELS AFFECT READING
COMPREHENSION AND MEMORY RECALL OF STORY
ELEMENTS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS
by Stephen Meuer
A Capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Masters of Arts in English as a Second Language
Hamline University
Saint Paul, Minnesota
July 2016
Committee:
Jennifer Ouellette-Schramm, Primary Advisor
Debbie Hadas, Secondary Advisor
Eric Vernon, Peer Reader
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to thank my committee members for your saintly patience.
Thank you to those students that make my life so fulfilling and rewarding.
Thank you to those who gifted me a love of comic books and a rich imagination from a young
age, including Stan Lee, Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Frank
Miller, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, and Joss Whedon. And to Aaron Rice, who is the sole reason
I know who those people are.
To my parents, who always supported me in in everything I did. Thank you for sharing your love
of reading with me, and for always encouraging me to pursue a field of study in it. I am the
person I am today because of your continued guidance.
Finally, thank you to my wife and best friend, Courtney. Thank you for always being a
supportive ear, a helping hand and a loving heart. You have always kept me above water.
How Graphic Novels Affect Reading Comprehension and Memory Recall of Story Elements for
Language Learners.
i
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------1
Retells and Memory Recall in Reading Comprehension--------------------2
Graphic Novels in the Classroom----------------------------------------------3
Role/BackgroundoftheResearcher----------------------------------------3
GuidingQuestions---------------------------------------------------------------5
ChapterOverviews--------------------------------------------------------------5
Chapter 2: Literature Review------------------------------------------------------------7
Visuals,ComicBooks,andGraphicNovelsintheClassroom-----------7
ABriefHistoryofComicBooksandGraphicNovels------------------7
TheLinkBetweenVisualsandGraphicNovels------------------------9
ReadingComprehension,Retell,andRecall------------------------------12
ReadingComprehension---------------------------------------------------12
MeasuringReadingComprehension-------------------------------------14
Retell---------------------------------------------------------------------------15
MemoryRecall---------------------------------------------------------------17
SupportingReadingComprehensionwithGraphicNovels------------17
Representation--------------------------------------------------------------18
Organization------------------------------------------------------------------20
Interpretation----------------------------------------------------------------21
Transformation--------------------------------------------------------------22
NeedforResearch--------------------------------------------------------------24
Summary-------------------------------------------------------------------------24
Chapter 3 : Methodology ----------------------------------------------------------------26
Overview of the Chapter--------------------------------------------------------27
Mixed Methods Research Paradigm-------------------------------------------27
Data Collection-------------------------------------------------------------------29
ii
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Participants--------------------------------------------------------------------29
Location------------------------------------------------------------------------30
Data Collection Technique 1: Written Retells--------------------------------30
Data Collection Technique 2: Memory Recall Chapter Check-In----------32
Materials----------------------------------------------------------------------------33
Reading Selection--------------------------------------------------------------33
Written Retell Graphic Organizer--------------------------------------------34
Written Retell Rubric----------------------------------------------------------35
Post Chapter Recall Assessment---------------------------------------------35
Data Analysis-----------------------------------------------------------------------36
Analyzing Retells---------------------------------------------------------------36
Analyzing Recalls---------------------------------------------------------------36
Verification of Data----------------------------------------------------------------36
Ethics---------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------39
Chapter 4: Results --------------------------------------------------------------------------41
Results-------------------------------------------------------------------------------41
Student Written Retells--------------------------------------------------------41
Student Memory Recall Assessments----------------------------------------47
Chapter 5: Conclusions ---------------------------------------------------------------------53
Discussion of Results---------------------------------------------------------------53
Reading Retells------------------------------------------------------------------53
Memory Recall------------------------------------------------------------------54
Limitations---------------------------------------------------------------------------55
Implications--------------------------------------------------------------------------57
Further Research---------------------------------------------------------------------58
Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------59
iii
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendices ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------61
Appendix A: Written Retell Rubric-----------------------------------------------61
Appendix B: Chapter Recall Assessments---------------------------------------63
Appendix C: Retell Organizer Scaffold-------------------------------------------72
Appendix D: Academic Vocabulary Transition Words-------------------------74
Appendix E: Sample Traditional Novel Text-------------------------------------76
Appendix F: Sample Graphic Novel Text-----------------------------------------80
Appendix G: Parent Permission Letter---------------------------------------------84
References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------88
iv
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
List of Figures:
Figure1CombinedChapterAverageScoresofWrittenRetellsforTraditionalNovelvs
GraphicNovel--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------45
Figure2Eleanor’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel---46
Figure3Jordan’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel-----46
Figure4Anthony’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel---47 Figure5AveragePercentageScoreonMemoryRecallAssessmentsforTraditionalNovelvs
GraphicNovel---------------------------------------------------------------------------51
v
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
List of Tables:
Table1AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforTraditionalNovel
Chapters------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------42
Table2AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------44
Table3StudentAveragePercentMemoryRecallScoreIncreaseforGraphicNovels--48
Table4PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforTraditionalNovel
Chapters-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------49
Table5PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforGraphicNovel
Chapters-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------50
vi
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
1
CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION
EversinceIcanremember,Ihavelovedreading.Afreereadingbookcouldalways
befoundnestledsafelywithinmybackpackfromelementaryschoolon;stayinguppastmy
bedtimewithaflashlightunderthecoverswasacommonschoolnightoccurrence.This
ledtocourseloadingofliteraturerelatedcoursesinhighschool;ItookHonorsEnglish,
CreativeWriting,DramaticLiterature,anythingthathadtodowithreading.Incollege,I
naturallystudiedEnglishLiteratureandeventually,afterlivingandteachingabroad,
decidedthatIwantedpassonthejoysofreadingtoothersasacareer.
AsateacherofEnglishLanguageLearnersinamiddleschool,Iseethemyriadof
challengesmystudentsfacewhenitcomestoreading,manymorechallengesthanIever
faced.Someproblemsaredifficulttocounteract,andstemfromastudent’sextreme
povertyandlackofaccesstoreadingresources,parentswhothemselvesarenotliterate,or
sheerlackoffreetimeduetovariousfamilyresponsibilities.Otherequallydifficult
problemsinreadingandreadingcomprehensioncanstemfrominterruptedschooling,
nativelanguageinterference,andanoveralllackoralproficiencyinEnglishtobeginwith.
Despitemyenthusiasmandfeelingsofhighregardtowardsreadingintheclassroom,my
attempttochooseculturallyrelevantandinterestingstoriesformystudents,andmy
providinganextensiveclassroomlibrary,Icontinuedtohavetroublegettingstudentsto
read.Furthermore,whentheydidread,Iwashavingtroublegettingstudentstoexplain
whattheyread.Ibegantosearchforpossiblescaffoldsasasolutionandrememberedthat
itwasnotGoosebumpsorEncyclopediaBrownthatgotmestartedwithreading,itwasThe
X-Men,Batman,TheAdventuresofTintin,andSwampThingthathadmereadingonadaily
basis,andmoreimportantly,talkingatgreatlengthstomyparentsaboutwhatIhadjust
read,andatayoungageaswell.Comicbooksweremyentrywaytotheworldofliterature.
IthenwonderedifcomicbookscouldbeusedforEnglishLanguageLearnersinthesame
manner.
Eversincethesequestionscreptintomymind,Ihavedonemybesttoinfusemy
classroomlibrarywithgraphicnoveladaptationsofclassicliterature;student-friendly
comicbookssitinatrayonmydeskforstudentstotakeandreadattheirleisure.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
2
PostersofBatmanreadinginhisBatcaveandgraphicnoveldepictionsofPercyJacksonline
thewallsofmyclassroom.Iftherewasanovelthatwasrequiredreadingaccordingtothe
curriculum,Isearchedforagraphicnoveladaptationthatcouldbeusedintandemtohelp
fostermeaningandunderstanding.Eventually,Ibegantonoticethatthevibrantart
containedwithinthesebooksnotonlycreatedinterestinthestories(asseenbythesheer
amountofclassroomlibrarycheck-outs,)but,moreimportantly,hadstudentstalkingabout
thestoriesandgivingmini-synopsestotheirpeerstoencourageordiscouragecheckingthe
bookout.Studentshadtheirfavorites,manyrereadingthegraphicnovelsseveraltimes
over.Incontrastwiththetraditionaltextofyearsbefore,itwasnotashardformeto
imaginesomeofthesestudentsreadingthesegraphicnovelsundertheircovers,flashlight
inhand,farpasttheirbedtime.
IknewIwasontosomething,butIwantedtoknowmore.Iwantedtodiscoverjust
howmuchmoregraphicnovelscouldbeused,notonlyinmyshelteredlanguagelearner
classroom,butalsoincontentclassroomsaswell.Visuals,afterall,arecommonlyusedto
helplanguagelearnerswithintheclassroom…andwhataregraphicnovelsbutsimply
literaturewithaddedvisualaids?Iwantedtoknowifgraphicnovelscouldworkasa
bridgebetweenpicturebooksandtraditionalliteratures.Iaskedbegantoponderif
graphicnovelswereanuntappedresourceintheworldofELLeducation,andiftheycould
haveanyeffectsonreadingcomprehension.Wouldstudentshaveabetterunderstanding
ofthecontentofastorywhenreadingagraphicnovel?Wouldtheirunderstandingbeas
goodasiftheyreadusingthetraditionalnovel?Iquestionedifstudentswouldstillbeable
tograsptheimportantplotelementsofthestory,orifreadingthegraphicnovelversion
wouldnotallowforasdeepofanunderstandingofthestory.Itwastheseinitialquestions,
aswellasmyownvariousclassroomadaptationsthatresultedfromthem,thatservedas
thecatalystformyinitialresearchandeventuallymytworesearchquestions.
RetellsandMemoryRecallinReadingComprehension
Asalanguageinstructorinapublicschool,helpingELstudentsgrowintheir
readinglevelisahugepartofmyjob.Unfortunately,readingisoftenanincredible
challengeformanystudentsasitisverydependentoneachstudent’sproductivelanguage
abilitiesinboththeirfirstlanguage(L1)aswellastheiracquisitionoftheirtargetlanguage
ofEnglish.Addtothatthealreadydifficultnatureofmeasuringreadingcomprehensionin
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
3
generalanditiseasytoseehowcomplextheissuereallyis.ItisforthisreasonIsoughtto
findanappropriatewaytobestmeasuremystudents’responsestotheirreadings.Oral
explanationsstruckmeastoodemandingandpossiblystressfulforstudentstoaccurately
retelltheeventsofachapter.Ifinallysettledontheuseofawrittenretellforstudents,a
formatIfeelcanprovidetheappropriatescaffoldsneededforlanguagelearners,andalso
allowthemagreatdealofindependenceandtimetoproducegoodwork.Forthepurpose
ofmyownstudy,Iwilluseretelltodescribethereadingcomprehensiontaskofwritten
expressionitself,andrecallormemoryrecalltodescribetheaspectofmemoryusage
requiredtocompletethetask.Inmystudy,Iwillspecificallyfocusonhowthesoletaskof
retell,inthebroadswathofvariousreadingcomprehensionmeasures,isaffectedbythe
useofagraphicnovelformat.Ihopetodetermineifstudentswillbeabletoretellto
completenesstheimportantstoryelementsofthechapter.Iwillalsolookattheeffectsthe
mediumhasonmemoryrecall.
GraphicNovelsintheClassroom
Whatisagraphicnovel?Ifyouweretoaskalibrarianorbookstoreclerkthis
question,youmightbesurprisedbythevarietyofdefinitionsyoureceive.
“Itisabigcomicbook.“
“Itisacollectionofthosestoriescontainingguyswithcapesandmasks.“
“Theycanbefoundnexttothechildrensection.”
ThesearesomerealanswersIreceivedfromrealpeoplewhenpositingthequestion
thatstartedthissection.Intruth,therealdefinitionisfarmorecomplex,andsadly,the
answersIreceivedcontributetowhatIfeelisthecontinuedmisunderstandingofauseful
scaffoldanduntappedresourceforstrugglingreaders,ELLornot.Itistheseexact
continuedmisunderstandingsthatpushedmetopursuestudyinthepotentialofcomics
andgraphicnovels.Ioftenwonderedhowsomeformsofartwerevaluedoverothers,and
howwhenitcametoeducation,shouldn’tthevaluebebasedsolelyonresultsandnot
personalopinionsorpossiblemisconceptions?
InChapter2,Iwillcontinuetodelvedeeperintothevarioustheoriesthatexist
regardingtheuseofgraphicnovelsineducation,toshowhowgraphicnovelsmaybenefit
ELLsinandoutoftheELLclassroomandarguefortheirimplementationasascaffold.
Role/BackgroundoftheResearcher
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
4
AsmybackgroundasamiddleschoolELLteachershouldmakeevident,Iworkto
notonlyteachstudentstheintricaciesoftheEnglishlanguageanditsusage,butalsoto
teachstudentshowtosuccessfullyusethatlanguageinthevariousacademicsettings,such
asthemainstreamandcontentclassestheyfindthemselvesinthroughouttheschoolday.
Furthermore,myworkincludestrainingcontentteacherstousespecificstrategies,
scaffolding,anddifferentiationintheirclassroomsinordertobestfacilitateELLstudent
success.ManyofmycolleaguesthatinstructsuchcontentcoursesasEnglish,socialstudies
andscienceexpressconcernforELLsuccessintheirclassrooms,mostoftenasadirect
resultoflow-readinglevelsandlimitedreadingcomprehension.ItisthisfocusonmyELL
teacherroleofprovidingtoolstoothereducators,coupledwiththeconcernforlowreading
comprehensionthathasledmetomystudyongraphicnovelsasapotentialtoolforELLs.
Inaddition,itisimportantformeasaresearchertorecognizethevariouspossible
benefitsofthisstudyforthestudentsthemselves.Studentinteresthasagreateffectonthe
motivationofstudents,dictatinghowmuchstudentsarewillingtoreadintheirfreetime
orcontinuepastaparticularlychallengingexcerpt.Casualobservationofstudentreading
habitsinmyclassroom,aswellasthenumberofgraphicnovelscheckedoutofthe
classroomandschoollibrariesbymyELLstudentshaveshownahighamountofstudent
interestalreadypresentinregardstographicnovels.
Myroleasaresearcherinthisstudywastoseeifgraphicnovelscanpositivelyaffect
students’readingcomprehensionofapassageand,therefore,becomeatoolthatcanbe
usedinvariousEnglish,SocialStudies,andevenScienceclassestoassistreading
comprehension.SincethestudentsparticipatinginthisstudyweremembersofmypulloutELLclassroom,Iactedasabotharesearcherandparticipant.
Ibeganthisresearchwithinitialassumptionsandbiasesregardingthe
plausibleoutcomes.Ibelieved,firstofall,thatcomicbooksandgraphicnovelshadan
addedvisualaspectthatwouldnaturallylenditselftoincreasedunderstandingofthe
contentforELLstudents.Ialsomadeassumptionsthatamajorityofstudentswould
benefitfromthisprovidedscaffold,asshownthroughimprovedretellsincomparisonto
thereadingofthetraditionalnovelformat.Finally,Iassumedthatduetothe
aforementionedvisualnatureofgraphicnovels,studentswhoreadthegraphicnovel
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
5
formatwouldbeabletobetterrecallvitalinformationaftersometimehaspassedin
contrasttothosestudentswhoreadthetext-onlynovelformat.
GuidingQuestions
Withthisresearch,Ifocusedonthepossibleeffectofthemediumofgraphicnovels
onreadingcomprehensionforELLstudentsincontrasttotraditionaltext.Ichosethis
becauseIwantedtofindouthowgraphicnovelscanaffectELLreadingcomprehensionin
ordertodeterminepossibledifferentiation,scaffolding,andadaptivestrategiesthatcanbe
madetobeinclusiveofELLstudentswhoarelowreadersorhavedifficultywithreading
comprehension.Graphicnovelsandcomicbooksserveasanaturalmid-pointbetween
picturebooksandtraditionalliterature,andthereforestoodoutasanunder-utilized
resourceofELLuseintheclassroom.Duetothis,Iaminterestedincomparing
performanceofthereadingcomprehensiontaskofretellingbetweentraditionalliterature
andgraphicnoveladaptationsofthesamepieceofliterature.
Inthisstudy,Ihopetofindinsightonthefollowingquestions:
1.
Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,
asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle
schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?
Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby
theuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltext
format?
ChapterOverviews
Inthischapter,Idiscussedmyinterestinlookingathowgraphicnovelsmaybeable
toassistELLstudentswithinboththeELLclassroomandcontentclassroom.Iintroduced
mypersonalconnectionwithreadingaswellasmybackgroundasanELLteacherina
middleschoolsetting.IconnectedthistomydesiretohelpmyELLstudentsovercomethe
manyfactorsthatinfluencepoorreadingandreadingcomprehension.Iwentontoexplain
readingcomprehensionfromanELLlens,andhowretellisconnectedtodetermining
readingcomprehension.Ifurtherdescribedtheconnectionthatexistsbetweentheusesof
visualsintheELLclassroom,andconnectedthisconceptoftheuseofvisualstothe
mediumofgraphicnovels.Finally,Iintroducedthestudy,myroleintheprocessthrough
analyzingthestudentretells,andthebiasesandassumptionsthatexist.InChapterTwo,I
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
6
provideareviewoftheliteraturerelevanttoreadingcomprehension,retell,recall,theuse
ofvisualsintheELLclassroom,andgraphicnovels.ChapterThreeincludesadescriptionof
theresearchdesignandmethodologyofthestudy.ChapterFourpresentstheresultsof
thisstudy.InChapterFiveIreflectonthedatacollectedanddiscussthesefindingsthrough
thelensofpossiblelimitationsthatexistandimplicationsforfutureuseandpossible
furtherresearch.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
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CHAPTERTWO:LITERATUREREVIEW
Thepurposeofthisstudyistodeterminethepotentialeffectsgraphicnovelscan
haveonreadingcomprehensionintheformofretells,aswellasanypotentialeffectsonthe
recallofinformation.Thestudywillattempttoanswer
1.
Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,
asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle
schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?
2.
Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby
theuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltext
format?
Thischapterpresentsanoverviewofreadingcomprehensionand,morespecifically,
howretellandmemoryrecallrelatetoandmeasurereadingcomprehension.Itthen
furtherdiscussesthemediumofgraphicnovels,aswellasthepotentialbenefitsoftheuse
ofgraphicnovelsandvisualsintheclassroom,includingresearchonexistinglinksbetween
visualsandreadingcomprehensionandbetweenverbalandnon-verbalsystemsknownas
theDualCodingTheory.
Visuals,ComicBooks,andGraphicNovelsintheClassroom
ABriefHistoryofComicBooksandGraphicNovels.Inhisgraphicnovelentitled
UnderstandingComics,ScottMcCloudcitesWillEisner,illustratorandrecognized
“grandfatherofthegraphicnovel,”andgivesEisner’sdefinitionofcomicsas“sequential
art”(McCloud,1993,p5).McClouddoesnotstophere,however,addinghisownworking
definitionofcomicsas“juxtaposedpictorialandotherimagesindeliberatesequence.”
(1993).Thatis,accordingtoMcCloud,comicsarearrangementsofpicturesandwords
arrangedside-byside(insteadofarrangedinrapidsuccessiontodepictone“moving”
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
8
imageasseeninthemediumofanimation)asanartorstoryformat.So,hereweseehow
graphicnovelsareinthesamefamily,butstillauniquelydifferentmediumfromother
sequencedillustrationslikecartoonanimation,however,differencesdoexistbetween
graphicnovelsandcomicbooksaswell.
Onesimplisticexplanationofagraphicnovelisthatofalarge,full-lengthworkof
comicstyleartthatalsoincludesnarrativewithabeginning,middleandend(Fisher&
Frey,2011).Theyareapopularandever-growingmedium.Thetermgraphicnovelisin
thesamefamilyascomicbooks,butdidnotmakeanappearanceinthevernacularuntil
around1978withWillEisner’spublicationofAContractwithGod(Arnold,2003).The
bookwasseriousinnature,andwaspublishedasanoriginaltradepaperback,thereby
disconnectinganytiesthatmayhaveexistedwiththetraditionalserializedcomicpanelor
comicbook.Thedefinitionofagraphicnovel,therefore,sharesthatofthecomicbookin
termsofitspictorialandtextualstoryformat,butdiffersslightlyinitsaddeddimensionof
thecomicsbeingcollectedandarrangedinabookformatoranthology.Thisgivesgraphic
novelsafeelingofcompleteness;theentirestoryispresentfromstarttofinishandcan
standalone,unlikethenewspapercomicserialshortsormonthlyissuesofcomicbooks.
Forthepurposeofthisresearch,however,itiseasytoseehowthesedefinitionsare
relativelyinterchangeable.Whendiscussingthevisualbenefitsofacomicbook,for
example,itcanbeassumedthesamebenefitsexistusingagraphicnovel,asthedefinitions
areundifferentiatedinregardstothefactthattheybothincludethepictorialandtextual
storyformat.
Todate,therearegraphicnovelsforjustabouteverysubjectorliterarygenre.
Originalworkscandealwitharangeofrelevantandimportantthemes.Withworkslike
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
9
ArtSpeigelman’sMaus,whichisanartisticrevisitingofSpiegelman’sfather’spersonal
experienceduringtheHolocaust,orBrianK.Vaughan’sPrideofBaghdad,whichactsasan
analogyofthewarinBaghdad,andwhichonereviewerdescribedas“….anintense,sad
storythatisintelligent,relevant,andsuperblydrawn.”itiseasytoseehowfarremoved
fromredtightsandevilhenchmansomeofthesetextsreallyare(Traeger,2007,para.12).
Inadditiontotheseoriginalliteraryworks,thereisagrowingmarketofdirectgraphic
noveladaptationsoftraditionaltextnovels,withsuchgraphicnoveladaptationsof
Frankenstein,PortraitofDorianGray,CityofEmber,AWrinkleinTime,PercyJackson,and
manymore.Withthesamethought-provokingthemesasthosepresentintheoriginal
novelandtheaddedscaffoldofvisuals,itiseasytoseethedemonstratedworthofgraphic
novelsandpossibleliterarycapabilitiesoftheiruse;graphicnovelshavethepotentialto
providesupportforstrugglingreaderswhilestillworkingthroughdifficultthemesand
complicatedstoriesbyprovidinglearnerstheaddedscaffoldofvisualsdepictingthestory.
TheLinkBetweenVisualsandGraphicNovels.Therehasbeensomeresearch
thatcanbelinkedtographicnovelstoargueforsupportthemedium’suseinthe
classroom.Visuals,forexample,havelongbeenhailedaspowerfulaidsinassisting
studentsintheirreadingcomprehensionormemoryrecall(eg.,Levie&Lentz,1982;Levin,
Anglin,&Carney,1987).Oneproponentoftheuseofvisualsgoessofarastocategorize
thefivewaysvisualscanaidareader,citingthemas:
(1)Representation:Visualscanactasawaytorepeat,reinforce,oroverlapwiththe
textitself.
(2)Organization:Visualsaddtotheorganizationtomakethetextmorecoherent.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
10
(3)Interpretation:Visualsacttoprovidethereadermoreconcreteinformation
withinthereadingitselfinordertoaidinterpretationofinferencesmadebythe
author.
(4)Transformation:Visualsallowreaderstofocusonthemorecriticalinformation
andstoreitinamorememorable(i.e.visual)format.
(5)Decoration:Visualscanbeusedasanaestheticchoicetoaddinterest(Liu,
2004).
Itisrelevantthatingraphicnovels,avisualaccompanieseachindividualizedpiece
oftext,beitanarrator’sdescriptionofthesetting,aninnermonologue,orcharacter
speech.Therefore,eachandeveryoneofthefunctionslistedaboveareever-present
withinthecontextofgraphicnovels,constantlyaddingtothefacilitationofreading
comprehensionfortheentiretyofthereading.Itseemsonlynaturalthat,using(3)Interpretation,forinstance,anyconfusionwiththeinterpretationofthesettingasdefined
inthetext,willhaveamoreconcreteprovisionintheaccompanyingvisualrepresentation
ofthesetting.Whenlookingat(4)Transformation,wecanevenciteaveryimportantand
relevanttheoryregardingvisualsandreadingcomprehension:thedualcodingtheoryof
cognition(Paivio,1971,1986;Sadoski&Paivio,2001).
Thedualcodingtheorydiscussestwoseparatesystemsofcognition,thelanguage
systemsandtheimagerysystem(Paivio,1971).InmuchthesamewaythatLiuargues
thatvisualsallowreaderstofocusonandstoreinformationbetter,Paivioargueswithhis
dualcodingtheorythatwebetterunderstandandrememberthewrittenwordwhenit
comesintandemwithvisuals.Thesearesomeofthebetter-knownargumentsforthe
beneficialusesofvisualsintheclassroom.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
11
Thevariousexamplesgivenofthemeritsofvisualsintheclassroomcaneasily
translatetothevisualaspectofcomicbooksandgraphicnovels.SetfootinanyELL
classroomandtherewillbevarietyofvisualspresent,frompicturedictionaries,word
walls,andgraphicorganizers,tostorycharts,mindmapsandsimilarvisualscaffolding.
Visualscaffoldssuchasgraphicorganizersorstoryboardshelpserveadualpurposeof
makinginputmorecomprehensiblethroughcreatingvisualizeddepictionsofthetextas
wellashowitcanbearrangedwithinourthoughtprocesses,whichcansimultaneously
removesomedegreeofaffectivefilterthatmaybepresentbyallowingstudentstograsp
conceptsthatmayhavebeentoodifficultintext-onlyformat(Bruce,2011).Inessence,
studentswhomayotherwisehavelaggedduetolanguagebarriers,arenowprovidedwith
atoolthatcanallowthemtoworkattheleveloftheirnativespeakingpeers,andthen
challengethemintheirZoneofProximalDevelopment(Vgotsky,1978).Takinginto
accountthevisualsprovidedintextfromsuchmediaascomicbooksandgraphicnovels,it
isnaturaltocometotheconclusionthatgraphicnovelsaresimplyanotherformofvisual
scaffolding.Manyhavelongarguedthemeritsofcomics,citingthemedium’suniqueability
todisplaytherelationshipbetweenwordsandvisualimagessimultaneously,allowing
readersaneasierpathtoimaginewhattheyreadwhichisafundamentalkeytofacilitating
comprehension(Eisner,1998).Infact,thispathEisnerwastalkingaboutseemsto
naturallyassiststudentswiththeuseofthevisualizationreadingstrategy,astrategyof
formingmentalpicturesinstudentminds,whichhelpsstudentstoessentiallylivethestory
intheirmindsastheyread(Roe,Smith&Burns,2005).Roe,SmithandBurns(2005)go
ontoarguethatbydoingthistheywillnotonlyenjoythestorymore,butalsounderstand
itonadeeperlevel.Manyresearchersagreewiththisideaofpicturesfacilitating
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
12
comprehension,positingthatthevisualaspectofcomicscanreducethecognitiveloadof
whatwouldotherwisebedensetextormoresophisticatedconcepts(Burke,2012).Thatis,
studentswhonormallymayhavebeenoverwhelmedbydensetext,excessdetailorflowery
andmetaphoriclanguagewillhaveareducedchanceofbeingoverloadedthroughtheuse
ofvisualsactingasascaffoldthatallowsanadditionalvisualchannelforcomprehension,
therebyimprovingprocessing.
Thephrases“easierpath”or“reducingload”mightleadsometobelievecomic
booksorgraphicnovelsaredesignatedaseasyorlow-levelreaders.Thisisnotthecase.
Infact,manycanofferthesamereadinglevelasTIMEMagazine,butsimplycontaintext
featureswithinthatcanhelpfosterincreasedcomprehension(Snowball,2005).Ifteachers
areawareofthealreadydiscussedincrediblecognitivedemandreadingrequires,forELLs
especially,thenextlogicalstepwouldbeforprofessionalstopursueascaffoldingoption
that,throughvisuals,canincreasestudentcomprehensionwhilesimultaneously
demystifyingdifficulttext(Burke,2012;Cary2004).Thefollowingaresomestudiesand
theoriesthatshowhowthisvisualscaffolding,beitthroughcomicbooks,graphicnovels,or
visualimages,canbeusedtosupportELLreadingcomprehension.
ReadingComprehension,Retell,andRecall
Readingcomprehension.Thetopicofreadingcomprehensioninthefieldof
educationisacomplexandbroadone.Theactualprocessofmeasuringreading
comprehensionlevels,however,isevenmoremulti-facetedandinvolved.Infact,Fletcher
(2006)states,“measurementissuesarecomplicated,reflectingthecomplex,
multidimensionalnatureofreadingcomprehension”(p.323).Itseemsthattherearea
myriadofwaysforateachertomeasureastudent’sreadingcomprehension;however,
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
13
manyofthesemethodshavetheaddedbaneofbeingratherinformal.These
measurementsincludeteacherobservation,anecdotalrecords,studentwrittenresponse,
groupdiscussions,retelling,andtextcomprehensionquestions;noindividualmethodcan
servetoevaluateastudent’stextunderstandinginwhole,asarguedbyresearchersParis&
Stahl(2005)with,“Readingcomprehensionismultifacetedandcannotbeadequately
measuredbyanysingleapproach,process,ortest”(ascitedinCohen,Krustedt&May,
2009,p.106). Reading,therefore,isnotsimplyapassiveact,butratheracomplex,involved,
andongoingprocessrequiringconsistentparticipationfromthereader(Kucer,2005).Itis
muchmorethansimplylookingatthewordsonthepage;instead,itrequiresreader
participationtomakemeaningofthoseworks.Themakingmeaningprocessiswhen
readingcomprehensiontakesplace.Tofullyreadandcomprehendatextisaprocessthat
involvesagreatdealofdifferentfactorstotakeplace,includingnotonlyphonemic,phonic,
andvocabularyrecognition,butalsomoreinvolvedprocessessuchasfluency,decoding,
interpreting,makingconnections,memoryrecall,andhigherlevelthinking(Moore&
Smith,2014).Inessence,readingisamulti-levelprocessthatnotonlyincludesthe
extractionofmeaningfromthewordsandcontext,butthesimultaneousconstructionof
meaningfromthisextraction(SnowandSweet,2003).
Researchingthecomplexprocessofreadingandcomprehensioncanshedsome
lightonwherepotentialdifficultiesforstudentsmaylieregardingreading.Readingisa
highlyactiveandinvolvedprocess,requiringagreatdealofbackgroundknowledge,
strategies,andprocessingcomponentsfromtheparticipants(Kintsch&Kintsch,2005).
Thisprocess,therefore,cannotbesimplytaught,andinterventionscannotbeintheformof
simplesolutions.Inordertohelpourownparticularbrandofparticipants(i.e.middle
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
14
schoollanguagelearners),teachersknowtheywillneedtocombatreadingcomprehension
problemsinmultipleways,usinganextensivearsenalofinterventionsincludingsuch
conceptsasincreasedmotivation,pre-teachingofreadingstrategies,incorporatingstudent
priorknowledgetobuildlinks,andtheuseofdiversetexts.
Whenconsideringtheever-growingcategoryofstudentslabeledELLs,theprocess
ofimprovingreadingcomprehensionbecomesevenmoredifficult,drawinguponanumber
ofadditionalfactorsandchallengesthisparticularsub-setoflearnersface.These
challengesmayinclude,butarenotlimitedto,thelevelofphonologicalandphonemic
awarenessthestudenthasmasteredintheirnativelanguage(L1),theabilitytotransfer
theirskillsfromL1totheirtargetlanguage(L2),theuniquenatureofstudent’sL1
includingthepresenceofadifferentalphabet,interruptedschooling,andnonliterate
parents(Ford,2005).Readingandreadingcomprehensioncanbeincrediblydifficultfor
ELLs,and,duetothesepossibleadditionalproblemsresultingfromthatoflanguage
acquisition,possiblesolutionswillrequirefactorsindependentfromthewrittenlanguage
itself.
Measuringreadingcomprehension.Wehaveexaminedhowreading
comprehensionisacomplexandinvolvedprocess,soitonlymakessensethattheactof
accuratelymeasuringanddeterminingastudent’sreadingcomprehensionisequally
complexandinvolved.Therearemanywaystomeasureastudent’scomprehensionofa
text,suchasinformalclassdiscussions,smallgroupactivitiesrelatedtothereading,and
evenwrittenresponsestoquestionnaires,eachonewithitsownmeritsandfaultsintheir
abilitytoassessdifferentcomponentsorskillareasastheyarerelatedtoreading
comprehension(Westerveld,2009).Stillsomeothermethodsofmeasuring
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
15
comprehensioninreadingresearchincludetheuseofopen-endedquestionsafter
completionofareadaloud,theuseofmultiplechoicetextcomprehensionquestions,a
clozetypeprocedurereferencingthetext,studentthink-alouds,freerecalls,andstudent
oralorwrittenretells(Westerveld,2009;Gromley&Azevedo,2006).Despitethemany
differentwaystogoaboutmeasuringstudentcomprehension,itisimportanttonotethat
theyarealluniqueinhowtheygoaboutgettingresults.Someofthesemethodsmight
heavilyemphasizewordrecognitionordecodingoverlanguagecomprehension;some
mightdoagoodjobincorporatingbothwordrecognitionandlisteningcomprehensionbut
relytooheavilyontest-takingstrategiestodisplayunderstanding,whileotherssuchas
classdiscussioncannotadequatelymeasureallinvolved.Withlanguagelearnersin
particular,thereareanumberofhurdlesthatexistbetweenthestepsofreading,
comprehending,anddisplayingcomprehensiontotheinstructor.Itiswiththesepotential
pitfallsinmindthatthemeasurementtoolchosenwasthatofastudentproducedwritten
retell.
Retell.InmultiplestudiesonreadingcomprehensionlikethosebyGambrell
Kapinus,andKoskinen,aswellasinmyownpersonalpractice,therehasbeenone
frequentlyusedmethodofdeterminingastudent’sreadingcomprehension,theretell
(1991).Aretellisaprocessthatoccursafterthereadingofpassage,chapter,orentire
story.Theprocessitselfrequiresstudentstoconsidertheinformationtheyread,and
summarize(eitherorallyorinwriting)whattheyunderstand(Fisher&Frey,2011).While
thisdefinitionsoundssimpleenough,manyresearchershavefoundtheactactually
includesanumberofhigherorderthinkingskillsincludingschematicprocessing
(organizingyourframeworkofthoughttohelpprocessfurtherunderstanding),theability
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
16
toprocessandfiltertextualinformation,theabilitytosequenceevents,andtheabilityto
determinetherelativeimportanceofevents(Fisher&Frey,2011).Furthermore,uponthe
student’sownproduction,thestudentrequirestheabilitytothenrecallthisimportant
information,aswellastheabilitytoorganizeitinanunderstandableandmeaningfulway
(Klingner,2004).Essentially,inaretell,whileitistruethattheendresultwillhopefully
beaclearviewofastudent’sunderstandingofaparticularsceneorchapterthrougha
summary,theprocessoftheassessmentitselfrequiresthestudenttotaketheinformation
theyjustread,internalizeandreconstructthatinformation,andfinallyrecallthe
informationinordertoretellit,eitherorallyorthroughawrittenformat(Cohen,Krustedt
&May,2009).Itisthroughthishigher-orderthinkingprocessthatresearchers,myself
included,hopetogainanaccurateportrayaloftruecomprehensionofareading.
Theretellisaclearlyresearchedandisanoften-usedassessmentofreading
comprehensionduetoitshigher-orderthinkingprocessesrequired,asitcanbefoundina
numberofresearchstudiesonstudentreadingcomprehension(Fletcher,2009;Shaw,
2005;Brown&Cambourned,1987;Gambrell,Pfeiffer,&Wilson,1985;Irwin&Mitchell,
1983).Infact,ithasbeenarguedthatretellingscanbemoreeffectiveincheckingfor
understandingthandirectquestioning(Gambrell,Koskinen,&Kapinus,1991).
Researchersfeeltheactofretellinginformsusaboutareader’sassimilationand
reconstructionofthetextinformation,and,therefore,reflectscomprehension(Cohen,
Krustedt&May,2009).Beingableto“retell”or“recall”couldbeusedtoelicitmainideas,
givesummariesofthecontentofthestoryorchapter,orprovideastudent-friendly
restatementofthepassageinquestion(Reed&Vaughn,2012).Theprocessitselfrequires
agreatdealofthoughtfulreflection;thestudentneedstorecallorrememberthe
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
17
informationread,then,reorganizethisinformationtopresentitintheirownwords,and
finallyworkthroughthoseideastodrawtheirownconclusionsonwhattheyread
(Klingner,2004).Inessence,retellingstrategieshavebeenarguedtobeagoodmeasureof
comprehension,andcanservetohelpstudentsbetterrememberandunderstandwhat
theyreadandwould,therefore,beagoodchoiceasatoolformeasuringreading
comprehension(Shaw,2005).
MemoryRecall.Memoryrecall(sometimescalledfreerecallorrecall)isalsoa
factortobeconsideredwhendiscussingmeasuringreadingcomprehension.Memory
recalldescribestheprocessofrememberingcertainaspectsofthereadinginquestionand,
therefore,takesplacebeforetheperformanceofsuchtasksasretellsandthink-alouds
(Reed&Vaughn,2012).Theabilitytoaccuratelyretellanyaspectofastorywilldependto
somedegreeonthereader’sabilitytorememberorrecalltheinformationread(Klingner,
2004).Essentially,astudent’smemoryprocesswillundoubtedlyaffecttheirresultson
anyretellassessment,sothisprocesscannotbeoverlookedwhendiscussingaretell.
SupportingReadingComprehensionwithGraphicNovels
Therearevariousstudiesthatcaneasilybelinkedtosupporttheuseofvisualsin
theformofcomicbooksandgraphicnovelswithintheclassroom.Aspreviouslymentioned
inhisreport,TheEffectsofComicStripsinL2Learners’ReadingComprehension,JunLiu
(2004)liststhevariouswaysinwhichmanyresearchers(e.g.Levie&Lentz,1982;Levin,
Anglin&Carney,1987)havedescribedhowvisualsinreadingcanserveavarietyof
functionstoaidreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall.Liucompilesthisinformation
intofivedistinctcategories:
(1)Representation:Visualsrepeat,reinforce,oroverlapwiththetext.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
18
(2)Organization:Visualsaddorganizationtothetext,makingitmorecoherent.
(3)Interpretation:Visualsprovideconcreteinformationforinterpretation.
(4)Transformation:Visualsaidinfocusingoncriticalinformationandallowingincreased
memoryretentionthroughavisualformat.
(5)Decoration:Visualsareaestheticallypleasingandcanaddinterest(2004).
Whatfollowswillprovidemorespecificevidenceofadditionalresearch,theories,
andstudiesthatcanrelatedirectlybacktothesecategoriesand,morespecifically,the
effectivenessofvisualsintermsofsupportingreadingcomprehensionandrecall.Dueto
thisstudy’sfocusonvisualsasaidsinrelationtoreadingcomprehensionandrecallrather
thanstudentinterestormotivation,onlycategoriesonethroughfourwillbediscussedin
detail.
Representation.Theconceptofrepresentationcanbeexpressedastheuseof
visualsasreinforcementofthetext,anoft-researchedtopic.Lookingattheworldaround
us,itiseasytoseehowwordsandimagesingeneralservetosupplementorreinforceeach
otherinordertofosterbettercommunication(Cook,2013).Thisisseeninthecombined
useofwordsandimagesthroughoutourdailylives.Itisevidentinourculture’s
magazines,periodicals,andonline;weevenseeitinourstreetsignsandproduct
advertising.Combiningwordsandimageshavebeenprovenhighlyeffectiveinourday-todayworld,butwhataboutineducation?Whataboutgraphicnovelsasvisuals?
Interestinglyenough,thequestionaboutwhethercomicbooksandtheirvisual
naturecanaideineducationwasdiscussedasearlyas1959(morethantwentyyears
beforethetermgraphicnovelwascoinedbyWillEisner),whenresearchersbegantolook
athowtheU.S.militaryusedcomicbooksinordertoeducatetheirsoldierswhowere
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
19
nonliterateornon-nativeEnglishspeakers(Vacca,1959).Inhisresearchwithstudentsin
hisSpanishclasses,Vaccareportedthathisstudentsclaimedsomeofthecomicbooksread
wereableto“offeraclearerunderstanding,adeeperinsightintonature,science,
geography,biography,history,andpatriotism”(1959,p.291).Healsoreportedhow
sometimestheincreasedreadingcomprehensionandtheclearerunderstandingofferedby
comicbooksledsomestudentstoreadtheoriginaltextafterwards.Theoverlappingof
comicadaptationandtraditionaltext-onlyliteraturebecameanaturalresultofstudents
feelingmoreconfidentintheirunderstandingasaresultoftheirabilitytodecipheramore
difficulttextafterspendingsometimewiththevisualsintheadaptedcomicbooks.
AnotherstudybyMoss,Lapp&O’Sheafurtheraccentuatesthewayvisualscan
reinforcethetraditionaltext.Inthestudy,theuseofgraphicadaptationsofShakespeare’s
playRomeoandJulietservedtoprovidereinforcementofthetextforstudentsparticipating
inthestudy,andcanpreparethemfortheoriginaltext(2011).Theresearchersarguethat
thevisualspresentinthegraphicnoveladaptationserveasa“tieredtext”orbuildingblock
thatallowsstudentspracticewithaneasierandmorescaffoldedversionofthetextthat
thenpreparesthemforfuturereadingofthemoredifficulttraditionalShakespeareanplay
(Moss,Lapp&O’Shea,2011).Inthisway,thevisualsenablethetraditionaltexttobecome
moreaccessibletostudents,reinforcingthepotentiallydifficultpassagesofShakespeare’s
EarlyModernEnglishbysimultaneouslypairingitwiththemoreconcreteformatofvisual
literacy.
Theusefulnessofvisualsintheframeofrepresentationisnotexclusiveto
secondarystudents.InastudybyJunLiu(2004)ofadultESLlearners,thesamepositive
scaffoldingeffectsofreinforcementofdifficulttextcanbefound,butwithaninteresting
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
20
twist.UsingtwodifferentgroupsofadultESLlearners,onelow-levelproficiencyandone
moreproficient,Liuhadstudentsreadlow-levelandhigh-leveltexts,bothwithand
withouttheaccompanyingvisualsofcomicsprovided.Theoverallanalysisfoundthatthe
useofcomicstripsdidhelpreinforcestudentperformanceonimmediaterecallprotocols
(IRP)withonecaveat:itwasonlyshowntohelpthelow-levelstudentswith
comprehensionofthemostdifficulttext,whilethehigh-levelstudents’memoryrecallwas
relativelyundifferentiated(Liu,2004).Theseresultshelparguefortheideaofthevisual
aidfunctionofrepresentation,asitshowsvisualsinthelightoftheirabilitytoreinforce
textwhenneeded.Inthecaseofthehigh-proficiencystudentswithbothtexts,thestudents
didnotrequireanyreinforcementorrepetition;thesameholdsforthelow-proficiency
studentswiththelow-leveltext.Onlywhendifficultyintextcomprehensionexisted(i.e.
low-proficiencystudentswithhigh-leveltext)didthevisualsactasananchorfor
comprehensionandservetheirpurposeofreinforcingadifficulttextbyaddingadditional
clues(Liu,2004).
Organization.Anotherwayvisualscanaidreadingcomprehensionandmemory
recallistoaddtotheorganizationinordertomakethetextmorecoherent(Levie&Lentz,
1982;Levin,Anglin,&Carney,1987;Liu,2004).Visualsnaturallyallowforamore
universalunderstandingofaconcept,thisisthereasondepictionsoftentsonroadside
signsindicatenearbycamping,orhowofstickfiguresinpantsorskirtswillaccompany
bathroomsigns--visualsarenotaffectedbyanylanguagebarrier;theyareconcreteand
cannotbesoeasilymisinterpretedasabstractwords.ScottMcClouddescribesthisideaas
relatedtosimplifiedcartoonsincomicsas“amplificationthroughsimplification,”(1993,
p.30).Asimplifiedcartoonallowsreaderstofocusonspecificthings,suchasa
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
21
visualizationofacharacter’sactions,ratherthanbeoverwhelmedbyeverydetailsuchasa
poetic,verbaldescriptionofacharacter,whathelookslike,andwhatheisdoing.This
“amplificationthroughsimplification”,aconceptthatcanalsodescribehowavisual,when
pairedwithtext,canhelpthereaderfocustheirattentiononwhatismostimportantand
eliminateanyunnecessaryandpotentiallyconfusingaspectsofthetext.
Whenappliedtotheclassroom,itcanbeseenthatthevisualsfoundwithingraphic
novelscontributetowardsmakingcomplextextualinformationmoreunderstandableto
students(Fisher&Frey,2011).FisherandFrey(2011),infact,describethevisualsin
termsofservingas“anexcellentwaytoprovidestudentswithanoverviewofatopic
beforedivingintothedetails,”(p.4).Again,itcanbeseenhowthevisualnatureofcomics
orgraphicnovelscanaidincoherencywithinamoredetailedpiece.
Interpretation.Visualscangivethereadermoreconcreteinformationwithinthe
readingitself.Evenourfavoriteauthorscanstrayfromtheconcrete.Theycangetabit
verbose,sometimespepperingtheirwritingwithwordsthatrequireadustingoffofyour
thesaurus;someauthorscanmakesomepiecestooabstractanddependentoninference,
orassumeabackgroundknowledgestudentsstilllack.Thiscanmakeitverydifficultfor
students,especiallylanguagelearnersnotyetfluentintheirL2,tofullygrasptheauthor’s
meaning.However,showavisualofasmilingfacetoastudentandaskthatsamestudent
howthatparticularcharacterisfeelingandthesimplifiedimageallowslittleroomfor
interpretation(McCloud,1993).Thisisbecausewordsaresimplyabstractstand-insto
representsomethingelse;theyare,asScottMcCloud(1993)argues,“theultimate
abstraction,”whileimagesaremoreconcreteintheirunderstanding(p.47).
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
22
Transformation.Thefunctionoftransformationisdiscussedmoreinregardsto
howvisualsaffectthebrainbyallowingreaderstofocusonthemorecriticalinformation
andstoreitinaformatthatiseasiertoremember…avisualone.Transformationallowsfor
thediscussionoforiginaltheoriesoflearningandhowthebrainworks,andevenhowthe
brainremembers.Perhapsthegreatestargumentfortheexistenceofavisual’sfunctionof
transformationasLiudescribesitisPaivio’s(1991)dualcodingtheory,whichdiscusses
theprocessourbrainundergoesduringreading.
TheDualCodingTheoryarguesthatalllearnerslearntoreadorwriteinasimilar
butspecificwaythatrequirestwoseparatesystemsofcognition.Thesesystemsarecalled
thelanguagesystem,consistingoftheverbalsuchaswords,sequence,speech,andwriting;
andtheimagerysystem,consistingofthenon-verbalsuchasimagesandvisualizations.
Whilereading,studentsaremakingconnectionsbetweenthesetwodifferentsystems,and
itistheseconnectionsbetweenthetwodifferentsystemsthatallowforbetter
understandingandrecall.Paivio’s(1991)theoryarguesfortheimportanceofvisualsin
comprehension,lendingcredencetothetransformationfunctionaspectofvisualswhenhe
states,“Dualcodingtheoryanditseducationalimplicationsparallelthehistoricalemphasis
onconcretizationofknowledgethroughimageryandpictures”(p.3).Helaterdirectly
appliesthisconcretizationofknowledgethroughimagerybydirectlystatingthatbeginning
readerslearntoreadconcretewordsmuchfasterwhenthewordsarepairedwiththeir
pictures,ratherthanwiththeirpronunciations(Clark&Paivio,1991).Itisobviousthe
non-verbalaspectofvisualsisintegraltothedualcodingtheoryanditsabilitytoallowfor
bettercomprehension,afactthatwillhopefullyhighlightandencouragetheuseofvisual
medialikecomicbooksandgraphicnovelswithintheclassroom.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
23
Thetheorygoesontoarguehownotonlycomprehensionisinfluencedbydual
codingofverbalandnon-verbalsystemsofcognition,butalsohowitaffectsmemoryrecall.
Paiviostates,“Thememorybenefitsofdualcodinghasbeenconfirmedinnumerous
experiments,whichalsosuggestthatthenonverbalcodeismnemonicallystronger[…]
thantheverbalcode”(2006,p.4).Essentially,Paiviopostulatesthatinformation,aswe
understandit,isstoredbothverballyandnon-verballyaswordsandimagesseparately,
anditisduetothisformatthatonecanrecallinformationtoagreaterdegree.Heeven
goesastepfurthertostresstheimportanceofvisualsinthisdualsystem,whenheargues
thenon-verbalportionofthesystemofthedualcodingisevenstrongerwhenitcomesto
ourmemoryrecall.
Manystudiesseemtosupportthisconnectionbetweenvisualsandmemoryrecall,
suchasthatofWaddillandMcDaniel’s(1992).Intheirstudy,twodifferentgroupswere
givenreadingstoperform,withonegroupusingatextonlyexcerpt,andasecondgroup
usingatextwithpictorials.Uponcompletionofthereadingoftheexcerpts,participants
wereinstructedtowriteasmuchastheycouldrecallonthesubject.Itwasfoundthat
thosefromthegroupwiththeaddedpictorialsupportwereabletorecallmoreinformation
(Waddill&McDaniel,1992).AsimilarstudyconductedbyOmaggio(1979)usednative
Englishspeakerstoreaddifferenttexts,onetextinEnglishwithnopictures,oneinEnglish
withpictures,oneintheirL2Frenchwithnopictures,oneintheirL2Frenchwithpictures,
andonethatconsistedofpicturesonly.Afterconductingacomprehensiontestpostreading,hefoundthatwhilethevisualshadnoeffectonreadingcomprehensioninEnglish,
thevisualsdidhaveapositiveeffectonreadingcomprehensionandrecallinregardsto
theirFrenchL2reading(Omaggio,1979).Inaddition,itwasalsofoundthatthosewho
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
24
readthetextthatconsistedofpicturesonlywereunabletorecallanumberofcorrect
detailsregardingthetext,afindingthatfurtheraccentuateswhatPaivioarguesisathe
needforthestorageinformationbothverballyandnon-verballyforincreasedmemory
recall(Omaggio,1979).
NeedforResearch
Asthischapterhaspresented,thereisanolackofcomplexityinregardstoconcepts
likereadingcomprehension,assessingreadingcomprehension,memoryrecall,andELL
consideration.
Myinterestforthisstudystemsfromtheoverlapthatcouldexistbetweenthe
usefulnessofvisualsinreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall,andthepotentially
untappedscaffoldingthatcouldbeprovidedfromthevisualresourcethatexistsingraphic
novels,andmorespecifically,howthiscouldaffectELLs.Whenstudentsstruggleproviding
retellsofastory,isitduetotheabstractnatureoftext?Couldtheconcretenessofimagesin
graphicnoveldepictionsaidtheminthisstruggle?Orisitadifficultywithmemoryrecall?
Istheproblemaninterlanguageissue?Myresearchfocusedonthefollowingspecific
questionstoattempttoparseouttheseideas:(1)Howcangraphicnovelsaffectthe
proficiencyofreadingcomprehension,asshownbyperformanceonthetaskofretelling,
formiddleschoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?(2)In
whatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedbytheuseofagraphic
noveladaptationincontrastwiththetraditionaltextformat?
Summary
Thischapterhaspresentedresearchinregardstotheuseofvisualandpictorial
supportsintheclassroom,researchthatpositivelysupportstheirusefulnessintermsof
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
25
readingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall,aswellasmanystudiesanddissectionsof
graphicnovelsandcomicbooksperformingasthatvisualaidinregardstoreading
comprehension.
Inthischapter,Ihaveprovidedanoverviewofthebasisformystudy.Ihave
definedtermsandexplainedthecomplexities,difficultiesandfactorsthatexistinthemultilevelprocessofreadingcomprehension.Iidentifiedtheadditionalproblemsthatexistfor
theELLpopulationinregardstoreadingcomprehension.Theconceptofgraphicnovels
wasexplainedandtheirpotentialusefulnessasvisualsintheclassroomwaspresented
usingvarioustextsandresearchincludingLiu’s(2004)presentationofthefivedifferent
functionsthatdescribehowvisualscanaidreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecall.
Whiletherehavebeenmanystudiesandtheoriesontheuseofvisualsintheclassroom,
thereismuchworktobedoneinregardstobringingthespecificmediumofgraphicnovels
intothespotlightasagreatexampleofvisualstosupportandscaffoldtext,mostnotably
forELLs.ItisimportantforELandcontentteachersaliketobeprovidedwithandversed
oneverypossibleformofdifferentiationorscaffoldingthatisdeemedbeneficialtoELLs,
andmystudyaimstoexploreifgraphicnovelsareaviablescaffoldforreading
comprehensionandrecall.Inthefollowingchapter,IwilldescribethemethodologiesI
usedinmystudytodeterminethis.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
26
CHAPTERTHREE:METHODOLOGY
Thisstudywasdesignedtoresearchtheuseofgraphicnovelscomparedto
traditionalnovelswithELLs.Morespecifically,Iwasinterestedinexploringtheeffect
graphicnovelshaveonreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecallincomparisonto
traditionalliterature,theresultsofwhichmayhelpdetermineifgraphicnovelscanprovide
scaffoldinginESLandcontentclassroomsalike.Myresearchquestionswerethe
following:
(1)
Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,
asshownbyperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddleschool
EnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatext-onlynovel?
(2)
Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedby
theuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltext
format?
InthefifthgradeESLprogramintheschoolwhereIteach,Iguidedasmallgroupof
intermediateESLstudentsthroughchapterreadingsofaclassnovel.Thedaysalternated
regardingwhetherwewerereadingachapterfromthetraditionaltext-onlynovel,orthe
graphicnoveladaptationofthechapter.Uponcompletionofspecificchapters,Imeasured
theseparatemediaeffectsoncomprehensionthatoccurredthroughscaffoldedstudent
writtenretellandmemoryrecallassessments.Thiswasdoneinordertohelptodetermine
anypossibleeffectonemediummayhaveovertheotherinregardstoreading
comprehension.Icreatedaretellrubrictomeasurestudents’writtenretellresponses
usingpreviousresearchonformativeassessment,aswellasstudiessimilartomyownin
theiruseofwrittenretells(Frey&Fisher,2011;Reed&Vaughn,2012;Kuldanek,1998).
Retellsallowresearcherstolookatstudentinteractionwithandcomprehensionofthetext
itself,ratherthanaddinganotherdimensionofreadingcomprehensionbyintroducing
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
27
multiplechoiceoropenendedtestquestionsthatthemselvesrelyonastudent’sabilityto
decodeandinterpretthem.Furthermore,takingintoconsiderationanypossiblelanguage
acquisitiondifficultiesorinterferenceoccurrencesbetweenanESLstudent’sL1andL2,a
storyretellhastheabilitytoremovemanyofthesepossibledifficultiesbyallowingthe
studenttoanswerintheirownwords,attheirownabilitylevel,andusingtheirL1orL2.
ItiswiththeseconsiderationsthatIwilluseretellasthemainmeasureofreading
comprehensionforthisstudy.
Similarly,achapterspecificrecallassessmentintheformofquestionsonachapter’s
importanteventsofthechapterreadwasadministeredonfollowingdayofachapterread
inordertotestaspecificmedium’spotentialeffectsonmemoryrecall.Thisassessment
wasgradedasaquiz,usingthestandardpercentagebasis.
Ihopethefindingsofresearchwillgiveinsighttographicnovelsandwhetherthey
offeranypotentialasscaffoldsthatmaybenefitlanguagelearners,ELLteachers,and
contentteachersalike.
OverviewoftheChapter
Thischapterdescribesthemethodologiesusedinthisstudy.First,themixed
methodsresearchparadigmisdescribed.Second,theprotocolsfordatacollectionare
presented,includingadescriptionofparticipants,setting,anddatacollectiontechniques
used.Third,adescriptionofthedatacollectionprocessisprovided.Fourth,themethods
usedfordataanalysisinthisresearcharedescribed.Finally,anypertinentethical
considerationsnecessaryforthisqualitativeresearchareconsidered.
MixedMethodsResearchParadigm
Thisstudyusedamixedmethodsresearchparadigm;thestudyemployedaspectsof
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
28
boththequalitativeresearchparadigmaswellasaspectsfromquantitativeresearchin
ordertobetterunderstandtheeffectgraphicnovelsmighthaveasascaffoldforreading
comprehensionandmemoryrecall.Themixedmethodsapproachallowedtheresearcher
tousebothdescriptivedataintheformofobservationsandinterpretationofstudent
producedworkaswellasamorenumber-drivendataassessmentallowedbyquantitative
methodsofresearch(Dornyei,2007).
Thequantitativeparadigmusedinthisstudyisidentifiedthroughthemannerin
whichtheresearcherscoresthestudentwritingbasedonawrittenretellrubric(see
AppendixA).Studentworksamplesintheformofwrittenretellswereanalyzedforthe
inclusionofthechapter’sspecificplotcontentincludingkeyideas,sequence,problem,
resolution,charactersandsetting.Thesedifferentareasweregivenanumericalscoreof03accordingtoarubric(seeAppendixA).Ascoreof0indicatedthefeaturewasnonexistentintheretell,whileascoreof3indicatedthetextfeaturewaspresentandaccurate
intheretell.Theretellscoresonthetext-onlychapterswerecomparedwiththescoreson
thegraphicnovelchapters.Furthermore,theresearchercollectedqualitativedata
throughobservationduringgroupdiscussions,independentreading,andwrittenretell
worktime.
Thequantitativeparadigmwasusedinthisstudyinordertomoredirectlyquantify
thedifferencesbetweenstudents’scoresonwrittenretellassessments,aswellasthe
variousresearcherdevelopedcuedrecallassessment.Thesechapterrecallassessments
(seeAppendixB)wereadministeredonachapter-by-chapterbasisonthefollowingday
afterreadingthechapter,thereforeallowingalookatthe24-hourretentioncapabilitiesof
eachmedium.The24-hourwaitwaschosenasagoodindicatorofmemory,asaccording
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
29
totheMichiganStateUniversityCollegeofOsteopathicMedicine(2014),somethingthat
youcanrecallaftera24-hourperiodisconsideredalong-termmemory.These
assessmentsrequiredanumericalapproachinordertoallowforamorequantifiableand
reproducibleexaminationofhowthegroups’resultsdiffered.
DataCollection
Participants.Theparticipantsofthisstudywerefifthgrademaleandfemale
students,allofwhomwerelabeledasLimitedEnglishProficiency(LEP)and,therefore,
receivedESLservices.,Thissmallsampleofstudentsallsharedsimilarcharacteristicsdue
totheirbeingplacedinthisclassinthefirstplace.Allstudentshadcharacteristicssuchas
thefollowing:(1)thestudentswereallrankedaslow-intermediatelanguagelearners
ranging2.8to3.9accordingtotheWorldClassInstructionalDesignandAssessment
(WIDA)levelsusedbyEnglishLanguageLearnerprograms,(2)thestudentswereall
placedinapull-outspecializedEnglishinstructionsettingforoneclassperioddailydueto
theseWIDAlevelsand(3)thestudentsallfellbelowgradelevelinreadinginstruction.
Thegroupofstudentssimultaneouslyreceivingthisformofdeliveryinaclassroom
settingconsistedofsevenstudentsincludingfiveboysandtwogirls.Threeofparticipants,
alongwithbeingdesignatedEnglishlanguagelearners,wereonanIndividualized
EducationPlan(IEP)throughourspecialeducationprogram.Allparticipantsspoke
SpanishastheirL1,althoughthiswashappenstanceandnotcriteriaforinclusioninthe
study.AllparticipantshadbeenintheU.S.fortwoyearsormoreandhadreceivedformal
schoolingeitherintheU.S.orintheircountryoforigin.Allstudentswithinthegroupwere
includedineveryaspectofthestudy
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
30
Allstudentsinthisclasswereinvitedtoparticipateintheresearchbymeansofa
permissionletterthatwassenthomeforparentstobesigned.Duetoalloftheparticipants
sharingthesameL1ofSpanish,theletterwaswritteninbothEnglishandSpanish,withthe
school’sSpanishspeakingfamilyliaisonservingtodouble-checktheSpanishletter.The
letterexplainedthestudyandwhyIwasconductingit,andwentontoreassurefamilies
thattheresultswouldnotaffectthestudents’gradesandthattheirinformationwouldnot
beshared.Bothmycontactinformation,aswellastheSpanishfamilyliaison’scontact
informationwerelistedincaseanyfamilieshadquestionsorconcernsregardingthe
research.TheSpanishliaisoncontactedthesefamiliesdirectlybyphonetodouble-checkif
therewereanyconcerns.Oftheeightstudentsinmyclassroom,sevenstudentsreturned
theirparentpermissionletterssignedanditwastheseseventhatparticipatedinmy
research.
Location.Thesettingofthedatacollectiontookplaceinanurbanmiddleschoolin
apull-outsettingduringtheschoolday.Thismeansthestudentswerereceivingtheir
Englishlessonsduringthisparticularperiodofclasstimefromme,theEnglishLanguage
instructor,inplaceofatraditionalLanguageArtsclassroom.Thestudentstookpartinthe
reading,readingcomprehensionchecks,andoralinterviewsintheESLclassroomduring
eachclass’s58-minuteclassperiod.Myparticipantswereinafamiliarclassroomsetting
withtheirregularinstructorandclassmatesforthedurationofstudy.
DataCollectionTechnique1:WrittenRetells
Inordertogetstudentsfamiliarwiththeprocessofcomposingtheirownwritten
retells,severalchaptersofthetraditionalnovelwerereadaloudasalargegrouptheendof
eachclassperiodaftertheday’slesson.Thiswasdonepriortocollectingactualdatafor
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
31
thestudyinordertogarnerinterestinthestoryitselfandkeepstudentsengagedand
intriguedbythestoryforwhentheywouldberequiredtoreadchaptersindependently.As
theclassprogressedthroughthefirsteightchaptersasareadaloud,mini-lessonswere
introducedtohelpstudentsunderstandhowtousetheteacher-providedgraphicorganizer
toproperlyformatawrittenretellaftereachchapter.Writtenretellsofthesechapters
werepracticedforboththetext-onlyandgraphicnovelformatbeforetheindividualized
workonthechaptersusedinthisstudybegan.Thisprocessoccurredthroughlargegroup
readingsdesignedtogetstudentstothinkaboutanswerstoateacherdesignedgraphic
organizer’smainpointsforretell:(a)characters,(b)setting,(c)problem,(d)mainevents,
and(e)solution.Thegraphicorganizer(seeAppendixC)wasfilledoutonthePromethean
boardbymeansofstudentresponsestoteacherprompts.Gradualreleaseofthisprocess
wasusedtogivestudentsanunderstandingofwhatwouldlaterbesomethingtheywere
requiredtocompleteindependentlywhendatacollectionbegan.Thefollowingthree
chapterswerethenreadinthegraphicnovelformatasawholegrouptocontinuemodeling
andguidingtheprocess,andthegraphicorganizerwascompletedasalargegroupinthe
samecallandresponsemanner.Studentswerealsogivenmini-lessonsinvolvinghowto
properlyreadgraphicnovels,includinghowtoaccuratelyfollowdialogueboxesastheyare
presentedinthecomicbookformat,aswellaslookingatthepicturesforvisualcluesof
whatishappeninginthestory.Studentsworkedasalargecollaborativegroupto
completethesamegraphicorganizeraftereachgraphicnovelchapter,andthenusedthat
organizertocomposetheirownwrittenretell.UponreachingChapters11-18,thechapters
werenolongerreadasalargegroup,andthegraphicorganizerwasnotcompletedusing
callandresponse.Instead,Chapters11-18becamethepointofdatacollection,andthe
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
32
sameorganizerwasusedbystudentsindependentlyasstudentsbegantheprocessof
reading,fillingoutthepersonalgraphicorganizers,andcomposingtheirownwritten
retellsusingthesegraphicorganizersontheirown.
Inordertodeterminepossibledifferencesinreadingcomprehensionlevelsbetween
theuseofgraphicnovelsandtheuseoftraditionalnovels,studentswererequiredto
completeapost-readingwrittenretellforchapters11-18;retellsforchapters12,13,16,
and17werecompletedusingthetext-onlytraditionalnovel,andretellsforchapters11,14,
15and18werecompletedusingthegraphicnovel.Theseretellswereusedtoelicitmain
ideas,summaries,orstudentwordedrestatementsofthereadinginquestion,whichcan
effectivelyshowastudent’soverallcomprehensionofthereading(Reed&Vaughn,2012).
Evenwhencomparedtoothermethodsofdeducingcomprehensionofatext,suchas
illustrations,retellshaveproventobeahighlyeffectivegaugeofstudentcomprehension,
andis,asGambrell,PfeifferandWilson(1985)state“ahighlypotent,generativelearning
strategywhichhasdirect,beneficialconsequencesonchildren’sprocessingoftextual
information”(ascitedbyKuldanek,1998,p.15).
Asstated,thestudentretelldatatobeanalyzedoccurredinwrittenformat.Inan
attempttooffsetanylanguagedifficultiesthatmightoccurwithlanguagelearnersin
regardstoawrittenretell,studentswereabletoarrangetheirideasinwritingfirstthrough
aheavilyscaffoldedretellorganizerandusedthisorganizationtohelpwiththeirretell(see
AppendixC).Thissameorganizerwasusedregardlessofwhetherthechapterbeingread
wasingraphicnovelortraditionalformat,soastomaintainconsistencybetweenthedata
whencompared.
DataCollectionTechnique2:MemoryRecallChapterCheck-In
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
33
Uponcompletionofthestudentretells,studentsmovedontoadifferentand
unrelatedlessonuntiltheirnormaldismissalfromclassforthedayinordertocreatea24hourwindowbetweenstudentrecollectionofeventsinthechapter.Beforecontinuingon
tothenextchapterinthetextthefollowingday,studentsweregiventheirmultiplechoice
recallassessmentonthepreviousday’schapter.Recallquestionsaskedaboutimportant
eventsorcharacteractionsofthechapterinquestion,withthe5Wcuewords(who,what,
where,when,andwhy)provided.Withthesecuesprovided,studentswereaskedto
completethemultiple-choicequestionsgiven.Resultsweregradedonastandard
percentagebasis.
Materials.
Readingselection.ThereadingselectionforthisstudywasthenovelCityofEmber
byJeanneDuPrauandCityofEmber:TheGraphicNoveladaptedbyDallasMiddaugh.In
ordertoprovidestudentswithanappropriatetextdifficultyfortheirlevel,themeasures
createdbyTheLexileFrameworkforReadingwereused.Thesemeasuresareanumeric
representationofthepredictedreadingabilityrequiredtosuccessfullyreadthenovel,and
arebasedonwordfrequencyandsentencelength(Cohen,Krustedt,&May,2009).The
lexilemeasureofthetraditionalnovelCityofEmberis680L(MetaMetrics,2016).While
lexilemeasuresarenotgradespecific,astherewillbeawiderangeoflexilespresent
withinaclassroom,alexilemeasureof680showsthatwhenlookingatthemiddle50%of
readermeasures,thisnumberistypicalforstudentsfromgradesthreethroughsix
(MetaMetrics,2016).Boththetraditionalbookandgraphicnoveladaptationare
recommendedforgradelevelsthreethroughsix,fromageseighttotwelveaccordingtothe
LexileFrameworkforReadingwebsite(MetaMetrics,2016).Thepaperbacknovelis270
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
34
pages,withthegraphicnoveladaptationbeingshortenedto144pageslong.Thetext
foundinthegraphicnovelformatconsistsofword-for-wordreproductionsofthetext-only
format,howeveragreatdealofdescriptiveinformationisleftoutandreplacedbypictorial
representationsofthesameinformation.
Writtenretellgraphicorganizer.Languagelearnerscanhavedifficultyexpressing
themselvesinwritingduetosuchfactorsaslackofproductivelanguage,anxietyorhighaffectivefilter,difficultiesoccurringduetoL1interference,andmanymore(Ortega,2008).
In order to combat many of these difficulties ESL students face, EL teachers employ
scaffolding strategies in the form of such scaffolds as sentence starters and graphic
organizers.Inordertohelpstudentsproducetheirbestwork,andgarnerthebestresults
forthisstudy,agraphicorganizerwasprovidedforstudentstoaidintheirformulationofa
storyretell(seeAppendixC).Thisaidwasalloweduseinassistingintheirwrittenretell.
The graphic organizer included a visual depiction of “The Retelling Hand” that our class
uses to make sure we include all-important information in a retell. The organizer also
assisted the writing by the organizer’s inclusion of key retell vocabulary words such as
characters, setting, events, problem, and resolution. These words will act as thought or
sentence starters for student writing. In addition, all desks had a chart of the academic
vocabulary transition words (see Appendix D) of chronology that places the words first,
next,last,andfinallyinsentenceinitialpositions,leavingstudentstofillintherest.These
scaffolds provided assistance to students solely in terms of the sentential construction of
theirretells,butdidnotaideincontributingtothecontentofastudent’sownretellitself,
as this information was reliant wholly on a student’s own recall of information,
organization,andtransformationofknowledgefromthestory(Klingner,2004).
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
35
Writtenretellrubric.Inordertomoreefficientlyscorestudentoralandwritten
retell,aretell-scoringrubricwasused(seeAppendixA).WhileFreyandFisher(2011)
suggestthereisanumberofpre-maderubricsforretellsonline,forthepurposeofthis
researchIoptedtocreatemyownrubric.Thisrubricwasdesignedinordertofocussolely
onstudentabilitytodeliverinformationrelatedtotheircomprehensionofthestory
holistically;itemphasizedthestudentconstructionofmeaninginregardstotheirabilityto
retellthestoryratherthangradingonanythingsententialorsub-sententialsuchas
constructionofclauses,spelling,orpunctuation,therebyeliminatingpossiblelossofpoints
duetolanguagetransfererrors.Manypre-maderubricsincludeaspectsthatgradedonthe
useofcompletesentences,vocabulary,andevenprosody.Duetothelanguagebarriers
thatexistforlanguagelearners,andmydesiretofocusoncomprehensionofplotelements,
featuressuchastheuseofcompletesentences,aswellasvocabularyandlanguageusage
werenotincludedintherubricoraffectscoreinanyway,inanattempttoremoveany
interferencefromastudent’sproductivelanguageability,asReedandVaughn(2012)
foundthisdependenceasapossibledrawbacktothevalidityofretells.AsELLscanvaryin
theirproductivelanguageability,itwasimportanttocreatearubricthatremovesthis
possiblebiaswhilestillcheckingforcomprehensionofmainideas,summarizingofchapter
content,andtheassimilationandreconstructionoftheinformationpresentedtothem.
(Trabasso&vandenBroek;1985;vandenBroek,1989;vandenBroek&Kremer,2000).
Emphasisonsequenceofeventsofthereading,aswellassaliencyofthecharacters,
problems,andresolution,werescored.
Postchapterrecallassessment.Onthedayfollowingtheindependentreadingofa
chapter,andbeforebeginningthenextchapter,studentsweregivenamultiplechoice
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
36
recallassessmentonthepreviousday’sreadinginordertodetermineanyeffectgraphic
novelshaveonmemoryrecallofthestory(seeAppendixB).Theassessmentsgiven
containedinformationspecifictothepreviouschapterread,andwassimilarinformat
regardlessofthetextmediumthatwasusedpreviously.Itincludedcuewordstoguide
studentstowardgivingspecificretellinformationofimportanteventsfromthechapterin
question.Forexample,therecallquestion“WhyaretheitemsinLizzie’ssackimportant?”
servedtoguidestudentsincomprehendingthe“who”andthe“what”throughuseofthe
words“Lizzie”and“importantitems,”butstudentswerestillrequiredtorecallontheir
ownthe“why”fromthechapter.
DataAnalysis
Analyzingretells.Theparticipants’writtenretellswerescoredbytheresearcher
usinganadaptedretellrubricfocusingonchronologyofimportantevents,characters,and
problemresolution(seeAppendixA).Thescoringrubricsheetwasusedforeachseparate
writtenretell.
Analyzingrecalls.Scoringforthememoryrecallassessmentswassimilartoany
standardizedquizduetotheirmultiple-choiceformat.Studentswrotetheirnamesontheir
work,andcompletedthemultiple-choicequestionsindependentlyofoneanotherinaquiet
testingatmosphere.Uponcompletion,studentswereaskedtoturninthesheettothebin
andworkquietlyuntilallstudentshadcompletedtheassessment.Thedatawerethen
gradedusingthestandardpercentagevaluebasisinordertodetermineanyincreaseor
decreaseinscoresbetweentraditionalnovelusageandgraphicnovelusageforthesepostchaptermemoryrecallassessments.
VerificationofData
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
37
Inordertoensureinternalvalidityofthedata,anumberofstrategieswere
employedinordertostrengthenthedata.Thisincludedtheuseofcontentvaliditythrough
themeansofemployingvalidassessmentstoexaminethemaininterestofthestudy,thatof
thepotentialusefulnessofgraphicnovelsintermsofhigherreadingcomprehensionand
memoryretention.Duetothisfact,thereadingretellsweredesignedtogatherdataon
comprehensionalone,anddiscardedanyfacetsrelatingtolanguageorvocabulary
(Merriam,2009).Tomaintaininternalvalidity,thesameinstructorandinstruction
methodswereemployeddailyduringthemodelingandguidedpracticeportionofthe
study.Afterscoringwascompleted,studentswereaskedtofindtheirscoredwrittenretell
workthefollowingdayandwritetheirnameonitfordatatracking.Studentswereaware
theirscoresdidnotaffecttheirclassroomgrades.
Ethics
Studentsparticipatinginwrittenretellsofthestudywererequiredtoturnintheir
writingsinordertobemoreformallyreviewedlater.This,initself,mayhavecausedsome
potentialstressinthesamemannerturninginanywritingwithinaclassroommay.To
minimizethisanxiety,thewrittenretellwritingtimetookplaceintheirprivatetraditional
classroom.Furthermore,nonameswereusedinitially;insteadallsheetsweregivena
randomlyassignednumberduringthegradingprocessuntiltheywerehandedbackfor
studentstoclaim.Allwrittenretellswerefiledandlockedonthepremisesatalltimesthey
werenotbeingused.Allparticipantparents/guardiansweresenthomeanapprovedletter
ofintentexplainingthestudyindetailandrequestingparent/guardianpermisionfortheir
childtoparticipate(seeAppendixG).TheletterwasalsotranslatedintoSpanishfornative
Spanishspeakers(seeAppendixH).
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
38
Thebenefitsofthisstudyfaroutwieighedtheminimalpotentialrisk.Thesebenefits
includedthepotentialdevelopmentofnewreadingstrategies,increasedcomprehensionof
storyelements,increasedpracticeinwriting,andgreaterindependencestemmingfrom
students’ownindependentworktime.Thescaffoldingprovidedbytheintroductionofa
potentialnewmediumofgraphicnovelscouldallowstudentstoaccessamoredifficulttext
andexperiencesuccess.Growthinanyoftheseareascouldleadtoanincreasedconfidence
intheirreadingorwriting,aswellasthepotentialtodeterminetheirownstrengthsasa
morevisuallearner,oramorelinguisticbasedlearner. Furthermore,potentialbenefitstosocietyandtheeducationalsystemarepresent
aswell.Englishlanguagelearnersareacontinuallygrowingdemographicintheworldof
education,andteachersneedtobeequippedtoteachtheselearners.Theuseofgraphic
organizer,charts,andothervisualshasbeenaninvaluabletoolthroughouttheyears.
However,anachievementgapstillexistsbetweenELLsandnon-ELLsandweneedto
continuallylookforpotentialwaystoclosethisgap.Somepotentialbenefitsofthis
researchcouldincludedeterminingtheeffectivenessoftheuseofgraphicnovelsfor
languagelearners.Anyeffectivenessfoundcouldleadtotheintroductionofthegraphic
novelasavisual-literacytoolintothemainstreamasviablescaffoldingforlanguage
learners.Itcouldshedlightonthepotentialbenefitsofgraphicnovelsasatoolforlowlevelreaders,studentswithspecialneeds,orlanguagelearnerstoaccessthestory
elementsofwhatmayotherwisebeadifficulttext.Itmayallowforamoreinclusive
environmentfortheselearnersinthetraditionalclassroomduetoitsbenefits,aswellasa
mainstayintheELLteacher'stoolkit.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
39
Thisstudyincludedtheuseofthefollowingsafeguardstoprotectparticipants’
rights:
1.Allresearchobjectiveshavebeensharedwithstudentparticipantsandwiththeparents
ofstudentparticipantsinboththefamilies’L1andL2inletterformat.Abilingualfamily
liaisonwaslistedasacontactforanyadditionalquestions.
2.Writtenpermissionofstudentparticipationinthestudyhasbeenobtainedthroughan
informedparentalconsentformforallstudentparticipants,aswellasinformedconsent
fromtheschoolandschooldistrict.
3.Allparticipants’nameshavebeenchangedforthisresearch.
4.Allnecessarystepsweretakentoofficiallyapprovethestudyatmyuniversity.
5.ThestudyisconductedunderthesupervisionofacapstonecommitteethroughHamline
University.
6.Allhardcopiesofstudentwork,transcriptions,andmaterialrelatedtothestudywillbe
storedinalockedfilecabinetwithinalockedclassroom.Anydataandfindingsmayonly
beusedforthispaperoranyfuturepresentationsorpublicationsrelatedtothiswork.
Conclusion
Inthischapter,IhavedescribedthemethodsIwillusetocollectandanalyzemy
data.Iplantoassigngraphicnovelandtraditionalnovelreadingstomypull-out
specializedELLinstructionclassroominanarrangementthatmaintainsequalWIDA
compositescoreswithintheclassroom.Eachstudentwillreadthesamechapterintheir
respectivetexts,onedayreadingachapterusingthetraditionaltextandtheotherday
readingthenextchapterusingthegraphicnoveladaptation.Afterreading,thestudents
willberequiredtowritearetelloftheinformationpresentedinthechapterusinga
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
40
providedscaffoldedretellgraphicorganizer.Writtenretellswillbegradedatalatertime
usingtheprovidedscoringrubric.Totestformemoryrecall,thefollowingdaystudents
willbetestedontheirmemoryrecallofthechapter’seventsusingacuedrecallassessment.
Thesememoryrecallassessmentswillbegradedandassignedastandardpercentagevalue
scoreinordertocomparescoresfrommemoryrecallassessmentsoftraditionalnovel
chapterstoscoresfrommemoryrecallassessmentsgraphicnovelchapters.Thefollowing
chapterpresentsthefindingsofthisstudy.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
41
CHAPTERFOUR:RESULTS
Thischapterwillexplaintheresultsoftheresearch,andmorespecificallyhowthe
collecteddatarelatestotheanswerstothefollowingquestions:
1) Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreadingcomprehension,asshown
byincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddleschoolEnglish
LanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatextonlynovel?
2) Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’seventsbeaffectedbytheuseofa
graphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditionaltextformat?
Thefirstpresentationofresultswillbethegroup’sresultsontheirwrittenretellsas
gradedbytheteacher-producedrubric,whichwillservetoanswerquestiononeby
determiningtheoverallimpactgraphicnovelshadontheproficiencyofstudentreading
comprehension.Thesecondpresentationofresultswillbethegroup’sresultsontheir
multiplechoicememoryrecallassessments,thatweregradedthefollowingdayto
determinetheanswertoresearchquestionnumbertwoandarguehowmemoryrecallcan
beaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptation.
Results
StudentWrittenRetells.Basedontheresultsofthisstudy,theuseofgraphicnovels
appearedtocontributetohigheroverallscoresonstudentproducedwrittenchapter
retells.Althoughsomeincreaseswereminimal,suchasa.5-pointdifferencefromand
averageof12.25outof18whenusingtraditionalnovels,to12.75outof18whenusing
graphicnovels,otherstudentsincreasedtheirscoresbyupto4.25pointswhen
interpretinggraphicnovelversionsofthechapterinplaceofthetraditionalnovels.
Despitethedifferencesthatexistinscoreincreasesbetweenindividualparticipants,itis
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
42
significanttonotethatallstudentsdidincreasetosomedegree,withanaverageincreaseof
2.64pointswhenlookingatallstudentincreasedata.
Studentaveragescoreswerenoticeablyhigherafterstudentscompletedreadingthe
chapterusingthegraphicnovelincomparisonwiththetraditionalnovel.Allseven
participantsincreasedintheiraveragescores.Thesevenstudentparticipantsweregraded
onfourdifferentwrittenretellsofchaptersfromthetraditionalnovelusingarubricthat
consistedof18pointsoverall.
Asthetablebelowdescribes,theoverallaveragescoresforthewrittenretellsfor
chaptersfromthetraditionalnovelsourcerangesfrom8.5to16.75outof18.Whilesome
studentsexperiencedanincreaseinscoresastheyprogressedfromchaptertochapter,
therewereseveralcaseswherescoresdecreasedorremainedrelativelyconsistent.
Approximatelythreequartersofstudents’scoresontheirwrittenretellswereabovethe
50%mark,andapproximately1/5wereabove75%.Allstudentnameshavebeenchanged
forthepurposeofanonymity.
Table1
AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters
TotalScore
Traditional
NovelChapter
12
TotalScore
Traditional
NovelChapter
13
TotalScore
Traditional
NovelChapter
16
TotalScore
Traditional
NovelChapter
17
Averagetotal
score
Eleanor*
6/18
10/18
11/18
13/18
10/18
10/18
08/18
13/18
03/18
8.5/18
Jackson
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Anthony*
8/18
11/18
06/18
9.5/18
18/18
12/18
12/18
06/18
12/18
12/18
14/18
12/18
11/18
12.25/18
13/18
13/18
10/18
08/18
11/18
Jordan*
Julian
43
13/18
Angelo
Paulina
18/18
17/18
15/18
17/18
16.75/18
*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
**Assessmentisoutof18
Whenyoucomparethesefourretellscoresfromthetraditionalnovelstothe
fourwrittenretellsofchapterswhenusingthegraphicnovel,24outofthe28written
retellshadthesamescoreorhigherwhenthegraphicnovelwasused.Thesamerubric
thatconsistedof18pointsoverallwasused.
WhenlookingattheoverallaveragesfoundinthelastcolumnofTable2,theoverall
averagescoresforthewrittenretellsforchaptersfromthegraphicnovelsourcehasa
rangeof12.75to17.25outof18.Whencomparingthetwotables,thereshowsagross
differencebetweentheminimumaveragetotalscoreof8.5forretellsbasedonthe
traditionalnovel,andtheminimumaveragetotalscoreof12.75forretellsbasedonthe
graphicnovel.Studenttotalscoresalsoremainedrelativelyconsistentthroughoutthe
processwhenusinggraphicnovels,thatis,thescorestendedtohaveasmallerrange
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
44
betweenthemwhenwritingretellsonthegraphicnovels,andlargerrangeswhenwriting
retellsontraditionalnovels.Touseaspecificexample,thestudent“Jackson”hadarange
of10whencomparinghislowestandhighestwrittenretellscorefortraditionalnovels.
However,whenlookingatthetablebelow,wecansee“Jackson”hadarangeof5when
comparinghislowestandhighestwrittenretellscoreforgraphicnovels.Thissamepattern
occursforanumberofstudentswhencomparingthetwotables.
Table2
AverageRubricScoresofWrittenRetellsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters
TotalScore
Graphic
Novel
Chapter11
TotalScore
Graphic
Novel
Chapter14
TotalScore
Graphic
Novel
Chapter15
TotalScore
Graphic
Novel
Chapter18
Averagetotal
score
Eleanor*
16/18
14/18
12/18
14/18
14/18
12/18
10/18
12.75/18
Jackson
14/18
15/18
Anthony*
15/18
14/18
12/18
13/18
13.5/18
17/18
14/18
12/18
13/18
14/18
12.75/18
14.25/18
Angelo
Jordan*
15/18
14/18
9/18
13/18
16/18
15/18
10/18
16/18
Julian
Paulina
17/18
17/18
18/18
17/18
17.25/18
*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
**Assessmentisoutof18
Whencomparingtheaveragescoresofallwrittenretellsbetweenastudentreading
thetraditionalnovelandtheaveragescoresofallwrittenretellsofastudentreadingthe
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
45
graphicnovel,theaveragescoresareconsistentlyhigherwhenstudentswrotetheirretell
directlyafterreadingthegraphicnovelformat,incomparisontothescoresoftheretells
writtendirectlyafterreadingthetraditionalnovelformat.Infact,allsevenoftheseven
studentparticipants’averagesshowahigheraveragescoreforwrittenretellsofgraphic
novelchaptersascomparedtowrittenretellsofthetraditionalnovelchapters.SeeFigure
1below.
Figure1
CombinedChapterAverageScoresofWrittenRetellsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel
*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
**Assessmentisoutof18
Theaveragedifferenceinscorewhenusingthegraphicnovelcomparedtoa
traditionalnovelwasanincreaseof2.64points.Themaximumdifferenceinaveragescore
was4.25andminimumdifferenceinaveragescorewasanincreaseof.5.Whenlookingat
thecomparisonresults,theyproposeananswertomyfirstresearchquestionbyshowing
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
46
anincreaseintheperformanceofretellingwhenstudentshadreadthegraphicnovel
formatofthechapter.
Inaddition,allthreestudentsinthestudythatweredualidentifiedasELLsandin
needofanindividualizededucationplanshowedgenerallyincreasedperformancewhen
usingthegraphicnovelaswell,incontrastwiththetraditionalnovel.
Thesefindingsshownotonlythatlanguagelearnerscanshowanincreaseinthe
performanceofretellingwhenstudentshadreadthegraphicnovelformatofthechapter
show,butgivesanadditionaldepthinansweringmyfirstresearchquestionbyshowing
that,inthiscase,studentswithIEPsandlearningdisabilitiesarenotanexceptiontothis
increasedperformance,astheytooshowhowtheycanbenefitfromtheuseofgraphic
novelsaswellthroughtheirprovenincreasedcomprehension.SeeFigures3-5below.
Figure2Eleanor’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
47
Figure3Jordan’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel Figure4Anthony’sWrittenRetellScoresforTraditionalNovelvsGraphicNovel
StudentMemoryRecallAssessments
Inadditiontocompletingwrittenretellsofchapterevents,studentsweregivena
shortthreetofourquestionquizthefollowingdaytoattempttogaugethestudent’sability
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
48
torecalltheeventsfromthechapterbeforeinanattempttoanswerhowmemoryrecallof
achapter’seventsareaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththe
traditionaltextformat.
Thescoresweretotaledandgivenapercentagepointtypicalofformative
assessmentssuchasquizzesforeaseofscoring,aswellasaveragedtocreateastudent
personalaverageonthefourtraditionalnovelchapters.
Basedontheresultsofthememoryrecallquizzesfoundinthetablesbelow,all
participantshadhigherpercentagescoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelchapters.The
scoresontheserecallassessmentsvaried,notonlyamongststudents,butalsoinregardto
anindividualstudent’sscoresfromchaptertochapterandfrommediumtomedium.
Whenlookingatthescoresasawholeclass,theaveragedclassresultsofthe
memoryrecallassessmentsofthetraditionalnovelchapters12,13,and16scoresall
resultedinafailinggrade(57.1%,33.3%,and42.9%respectively).Themaximumstudent
averagewhenlookingatallscoresonchaptersfromthetraditionalnovelwas69.2%or
9/13correct.However,whenlookingattheclass’averagescoreonmemoryrecall
assessmentsforgraphicnovelsperchapter,theaveragedclassresultsforthegraphicnovel
chapters11,15,and18scoresallresultedinapassinggrade(85.7%,60.7%,and76.2%
respectively).Furthermore,themaximumstudentaveragewhencombiningscoresforall
chaptersshowedagreatincreaseat93.3%or14/15correcttotal.SeeTables3and4
below.
Table3
PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforTraditionalNovelChapters
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Student
Memory
Recall
Chapter12
Novel
Memory
Recall
Chapter13
Novel
Memory
Recall
Chapter16
Novel
49
Memory
Recall
Chapter17
Novel
Student
Average
Memory
RecallNovel
score
61.5%8/13
Paulina
50.00%2/4 33.30%1/3 66.60%2/3
100.00%
3/3
Anthony*
25.00%1/4 0.00%0/3 33.30%1/3
66.60%
30.8%4/13
2/3
Jackson
75.00%3/4 66.60%2/3 66.60%2/3
33.30%
61.5%8/13
1/3
Julian
75.00%3/4 66.60%2/3 33.30%1/3
100.00%
69.2%9/13
3/3
Angelo
100.00%4/4 33.30%1/3 33.30%1/3
100.00%
69.2%9/13
3/3
Eleanor*
25.00%1/4 33.30%1/3 33.30%1/3
100.00%
46.1%6/13
3/3
Jordan*
50.00%2/4 0.00%0/3 33.30%1/3
33.30%
30.8%4/13
1/3
Averagescore
57.1%
33.3%
42.9%
76.2%
perchapter
16/28
7/21
9/21
16/21
*IndicatesstudentisonIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
Table4
PercentageScoresofMemoryRecallAssessmentsbyStudentforGraphicNovelChapters
Student
Student
MemoryRecall MemoryRecall MemoryRecall MemoryRecall
Average
Chapter11
Chapter14
Chapter15
Chapter18
MemoryRecall
GraphicNovel GraphicNovel GraphicNovel GraphicNovel
GraphicNovel
Paulina
75%¾
75%3/4
50%2/4
66.6%2/3
66.7%10/15
Anthony*
75%3/4
25%1/4
25%1/4
66.6%2/3
46.7%7/15
Jackson
75%3/4
0%0/4
100%4/4
100%3/3
66.7%10/15
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
50
Julian
100%4/4
100%4/4
50%2/4
66.6%2/3
80%12/15
Angelo
100%4/4
100%4/4
100%4/4
66.6%2/3 93.3%14/15
Eleanor*
100%4/4
50%2/4
75%3/4
100%3/3
80%12/15
Jordan*
75%¾
50%2/4
25%1/4
66.6%2/3
53.3%8/15
Averagescore
85.7%24/28 57.1%16/28 60.7%17/28 76.2%16/21
perchapter
*IndicatesstudentisonIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
Inlinewithmysecondresearchquestion,thetablebelowshowsthatinthis
particularstudy,whenaveragingtheallchaptermemoryrecallscoresandcomparingthe
averagesbetweenthetraditionalnovelandgraphicnovel,scoresonthememoryrecall
assessmentwerehigherwhenstudentshadreadthechapterusingthegraphicnovel
format(seeTable5).
Table5
StudentAveragePercentMemoryRecallScoreIncreaseforGraphicNovels
Paulina
TraditionalNovel
ChaptersAverage
PercentScore
61.5%
GraphicNovel
ChaptersAverage
PercentScore
66.7%
AveragePercentage
scoreincreasefor
GraphicNovels
+5.2%
Anthony*
30.8%
46.7%
+15.9%
Jackson
61.5%
66.7%
+5.2%
Julian
69.2%
80%
+10.8%
Angelo
69.2%
93.3%
+24.1%
Eleanor*
46.1%
80%
+33.9%
Jordan*
30.8%
53.3%
*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
+22.5%
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
51
Theaveragepercentagescoreonmemoryrecallassessmentswerehigherwhen
studentshadreadgraphicnovelchapterswithallsevenofthesevenparticipants.When
directlycomparingtheaveragepercentagescoresofmemoryrecallassessmentsscoresfor
traditionalnovelchaptersandthememoryrecallassessmentsscoresforgraphicnovel
chaptersbystudent,thereshowsapatternofhigherpercentagescoresforthechapters
studentsreadinthegraphicnovelformat,withseveralaveragesincreasingbyup20%or
more.SeeFigure5below.
Figure5
AveragePercentageScoreonMemoryRecallAssessmentsforTraditionalNovelvsGraphic
Novel
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
52
*IndicatesastudentonanIndividualEducationPlan(IEP)
The largest percentage score difference for a student participant between their
memory recall assessments for graphic novels and traditional novels was a 33.9%
difference.Thestudent’sscoredifferedfrom46.1%onthetraditionalnovelmemoryrecall
assessment, to 80% on the graphic novel memory recall assessment. The combined
average percentage score difference among participants as a group was a difference of
16.8%fromthetraditionalnovelpercentagescoretothegraphicnovelpercentagescore,
with the graphic novel as the higher score. These results, when looking at my second
research question, show that scores on memory recall assessments of a chapter’s events
areconsistentlyhigherwhenstudentshavereadthegraphicnovelformatofachapter.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
53
CHAPTERFIVE:CONCLUSIONS
InthischapterIbeginbyaddressingthemajorfindingsanddiscussingthoseresults.
Iwillthendeterminethelimitationsthatexistedthroughoutthisstudy.Iwillthenaddress
theimplicationstheseresultsmayhaveonteachersandlanguagelearners.Finally,Iwill
makesomesuggestionsregardinganyfurtherandfutureresearchIwouldbeinterestedin
pursuingonthismatter.
Manyresearchershavearguedthatreadingcomprehensionandmemoryrecallin
learnerscanbeinincreasedthroughtheuseofvisuals.Burke(2012),Paivo(2006),and
Liu(2004)allresearchedandarguedthispointintheirownway.Thissectionwillattempt
toconnectmyresearchresultswiththeresearchquestions,aswellasdiscusswhatthis
means.Thefirstquestionis:Howcangraphicnovelsaffecttheproficiencyofreading
comprehension,asshownbyincreasedperformanceonthetaskofretelling,formiddle
schoolEnglishLanguageLearnersincomparisonwithatextonlynovel?Usingtheresults
ofrubricgradedwrittenretellsofchaptersfromboththetraditionalnovelandgraphic
novel,theresultsshowthatstudentsperformedhigherwhenwritingaboutachapterfrom
thegraphicnovelformat.
Thesecondresearchquestionis:Inwhatwayscanthememoryrecallofachapter’s
eventsbeaffectedbytheuseofagraphicnoveladaptionincontrastwiththetraditional
textformat?Usingmemoryrecallassessmentsgiventhedayafterreadingachapter,the
resultsshowthatstudentsperformedhigheronmemoryrecallassessmentswhenthey
weredrawingfromchaptersreadusingthegraphicnovelformat.
DiscussionofResults
Readingretells.Whenlookingattheoverallrubricscoresofthewrittenretells
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
54
producedfrominterpretingthetraditionalnovelcomparedtothewrittenretellsproduced
frominterpretingthegraphicnovel,allstudents’scoresincreased,lendingcredencetothe
ideathattheparticipantswerebetterabletocomprehendtheplotelementsofachapter
wheninterpretingthegraphicnovelversionratherthanthetraditionalnovelversion.
ThisseemstocorroboratethethoughtsofBruce(2011)whenhearguesthatvisuals
canserveasscaffoldswithintextstoaidinterpretation.Withstudentsconsistentlyscoring
higherinregardstotheirabilitytoretellwhattheyhadreadwhentheyusedgraphic
novels,itishardtoignorethatthisverywellmayhavebeenadirectresultsofthevisual
aspectofgraphicnovelsthemselvesaidingintheirunderstanding.
Inmuchthesamevein,itishardtoignoreLiu’s(2004)conceptofinterpretation,
andMcCloud’s(1993)similarthoughtsonvisualsmakingtheabstractmoreconcretewhen
interpretingthisdata.Potentially,theoverallincreaseinscorescouldveryeasilyhave
beenaresultoftheseconcepts,asthevisualnatureofthegraphicnovelformatcouldhave
servedtoreduceanyconfusionorabstractionscreatedbythewrittenword,andalloweda
moreconcreteanduniversallyrecognizedinputtofillintheblanksthroughvisuals.
Memoryrecall.Basedontheresultsofthememoryrecallquizzes,allparticipants
hadhigherpercentagescoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelchapters,indicatingthatthe
participantswerebetterabletoremembereventsafterusingthegraphicnovelformat.
ThisincreaseduringtheuseofgraphicnovelsaffirmsBurke’sargumentthatvisuals
accountforbettermemoryretention,inthatthevisualscanreducethecognitiveloadthat
mayexistwhenreading(2012).Scoresindicatetheuseofgraphicnovelsallowedstudents
betterretentionoftheimportantstoryelements,bothshorttermforthewrittenretells,as
wellaslongertermforthememoryrecallassessmentsgiventhefollowing24hours.This
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
55
abilitytobetterrecallinformationstemsfromthesameconceptsLiupresentedtous
earlier,inthatvisualsprovidestudentsreinforcementofthetext,additionalorganizationof
thetext,moreconcreteinformation,andabetterformatforstoringinformation(2004).
Thepairingofwordswithpicturesthatexistsintheuseofgraphicnovelsisdirectly
relatedtoPaivio’sDualCodingTheory,and,heargues,sinceinformationisstored
separatelyaswordsandimages,itistheseconnectionsthatallowforbettermemoryrecall
andretention(2006).Thisclaimisperfectlyexemplifiedwiththememoryrecallresults
foundinthisresearch.Withouttheimagestopairwritteninformationwith,itseems,the
studentsscoredloweronboththeirwrittenretellsandmemoryrecallassessments.
However,justasPaivio’stheorysuggests,whenwordswerepairedwithpicturesasinthe
graphicnovel,inasimilarfashiontothepictorialflashcardsofearlylanguagelearningthat
hadwordspairedwithpictures,thestudentswereabletobetterreadandunderstandthe
text,asshownbytheirsuperiorscoresafterreadingthegraphicnovelformats.Overall,the
memoryrecallresultsthisresearchprovidedseemtodirectlycoincidewithPaivio’sown
argumentsonthebrain’suseofvisualsinmemoryretention(2006).
Limitations
Uponreflectionofthisstudy,therearemanythingsIwouldalteroravoidifIwere
todoitagain,allreactionstothevariouslimitationsthatpresentedthemselvesthroughout
theprocess.Onelimitationwasthelackofinter-raterreliabilityusedinthegradingofthe
writtenretells.Tobegin,duetomybeingtheonly5thgradeELLteacherinthebuilding,as
wellastheonlyonewhoreadthechaptersofthenoveltothepointofhavingaset
knowledgeoftheeventsofeachchapterthatwastobeassigned,Iactedasthesolegrader
ofthewrittenretells.WhileIattemptedtokeepthewrittenretellgradingasuniformas
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
56
possiblethroughtheuseofarubricwithspecificgradingpointsreflectedtherein,Iwasstill
facedwiththeknowledgethatwhenitcomestogradingwritingoneteachercanbe
completelydifferentfromanother.Theuseofarubrichelpscurbthistosomedegree,but
itishardtobelievemultipleteacherswouldinterprettherubricthesameway;
determiningwhetherastudentisbeing“whollyinaccurate”,“non-specific”or“accurate
butvague”iscertainlyafineline.Moreaccuratefindingsmayhaveresultedfrommultiple
gradersusingthesamerubric,andusingacombinedaverageofthosescores.
Furthermore,Ifeelsomeofthelanguagewithintherubricitselfisrathersubjective
andopenforinterpretation.Touseoneexample,accordingtotherubric,studentswould
receiveascoreof2insteadofaperfect3ifdescriptionofthesettingwas“…accuratebut
vagueorwithsomeinaccuracies.”However,duringandaftergradingIhadtocontinually
askmyself,whatexactlyconstitutes“vague”?Iftheydescribethesettingingeneral,butdo
notuseanameorexplicitlystateit,isthatstillconsidered“vague”ornot?WhileI
attemptedtoanswerthesequestionsastheycame,andremainconsistentthroughout,it
certainlygavemeinsightastopotentiallimitingfactorsthatmayhaveinfluencedscores.
AnotherfactorthatIfeelcouldhavelimitedtheresultswasthepossibleoccurrence
ofchaptersthatweresimplylessdifficultthatothers.Chapterdifficultycouldhave
influencedstudentscoresontheirwrittenretells,withsomechaptershavingfarmore
importanteventstobeincludedina“good”retellthanotherchapters.Somechapters
couldbeverycomplicatedorinvolved,withmultiplescenes,characters,events,and
settings,whileotherchapterssimplyservedtomovetheplotforwardandincludedone
maincharacterandonesetting.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
57
Asanylanguageteachermayknow,astudent’scomfortwithhisorherownwriting,
aswellastheiroverallability,isnotsomethingthatcanbefixedorimproveduponina
shorttime,andcertainlynotintheshortperiodof20daysduringthisstudy.Thisleadsme
toquestionthelimitingfactorofstudentproducedwritinginitself.WhileIattemptedto
counteranyconfusioninregardstowhattowritebyincludingteachermodeling,group
practice,andtheuseofthesamegraphicorganizerforthefirst10chaptersbefore
requiringindependentworkonChapters11-18,Istillfeeluponreflectionthatstudent
writingisnotthemostaccuratereflectionofcomprehensionasseenbythevariedscores.
Ibelievethetransferenceoftheircomprehensionofthechaptertoamediummanymay
havehadlittlecomfortwith(writing)failedtoaccuratelyportraythemostaccurateresults.
It’salsopossiblethatastheprocessbecamehabitual,studentshadbecomeboredor
tiredoftherepetitiveprocessofreadingsilently,completingascaffoldedgraphic
organizer,andwritingaretell.Fatigue,motivationandstressareallfactorsthatmayhave
influencedresults.Thelengthandcompletenessofsomeretellswerenoticeablyaffected
bythestudent’sparticularmoodandinvestmentontheparticularday.
Implications
Ibelievetheresultsofthisstudyconfirmtheimportanceofvisualsforlanguage
learnersastheyprogresstowardsthelanguagelevelsoftheirnativespeakingpeers.
However,whiletheuseofvisualsmaybecommonknowledge,theresultsofthisstudy
stronglysuggesttheusefulnessofgraphicnovelsasanaidincomprehensionforlanguage
learners.Inorderforthesestudentstoaccesscontentthatisabovetheirlanguagelevel,
teachersneedtodotheirparttousewhatevertoolsandscaffoldstheycan,andthisstudy
arguesthatinregardstoretellsandcomprehensionofplotelementsofastory,graphic
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
58
novelscouldbeaviableoptionasascaffold.Languagelearnersseemtonotonlybebetter
abletoreproducethemainplotelementsofastoryafterreadinggraphicnovels,butitis
alsoreadilyapparentthattheyarenotlosingcomprehensionofthestorywhenswitching
fromtraditionalnoveltographicnovel.Furthermore,thisstudyproveslanguagelearners
willalsorememberthepreviousday’sreadingbetterusingthegraphicnovelformat,
allowingthemtobettermaintaintheirunderstandingastheyprogressthroughoutthe
storyandpossiblyfeelmoreconfidentandwillingtoparticipateinclassdiscussionsand
reviews.
FurtherResearch
Throughoutmyresearch,thereweremanyquestionsthatcametomeinregardsto
futureworkorstudyonthistopic.OnereoccurringquestionIhadwastowhatdegreeis
studentmotivationaffectingtheresults?Therehavebeennumerousstudiesonmeasuring
increasedstudentmotivationthroughtheuseofgraphicnovels.Whilethiswasnotafocus
ofmyparticularstudy,Ioftenwonderedtowhatdegreethismotivationaffectedtheir
results.Manypersonalstudentcommentsseemedtoreflectanincreasedmotivationwhen
usingthegraphicnovels,includingsuchquotesas,“Ifeellikepicturesmakeiteasier,”and
“Ireallylikeit[thegraphicnovel],ithelpsmeremember.”Manystudentsmadesimilar
commentsthroughouttheprocess,andcontinuallyshowedreluctanceordismaywhenit
wasa“traditionalnovel”dayincomparisontogeneraleaseorevenjoywhenitwasa
“graphicnovel”day.Furtherresearchmightincludeapreandpostsurveytodetermine
studentfeelingsandattitudesinanattempttogarnersomeunderstandingofstudent
motivationinregardstographicnovels.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
59
Conclusion
Languagelearnersareauniqueandever-increasingstudentpopulationthat,despite
beingnon-nativespeakersofEnglish,areoftenrequiredtoperformdifficultgradelevel
tasksthatrequirenative-levelcomprehension.Contentteachersneedavariedsetoftools
andstrategiestohelpourlanguagelearnersdeveloptheirlanguagelevelsandexperience
success.Mystudentsuggeststhattheuseofgraphicnovelsasatoolorscaffoldcanhelp
languagelearnersfromthestartbygivingthemaformatthatallowsbettermemory
retentionandcomprehension.Graphicnovelscouldbeusedasareplacementforthe
traditionalnovel,pre-taughtbeforeattemptingthemoredifficulttext,orusedasa
supplement.Aslanguagelearnersusethesetoolsandsteppingstonestoreachthelevelof
understandingoftheirnativespeakingpeers,theywillbemorewillingandconfidentto
speak,participate,andtakerisksintheirlearning.Whiletheuseofvisualshasalwaysbeen
ahallmarkofgoodlanguageteaching,thisstudyhasopenedmyeyestotheuseofanoftenoverlookedformatwhenitcomestoreadingcomprehensionandretentionforlanguage
learners.Itismyhopeitwillhelpotherteacherscontinuallysupporttheirlanguage
learnersaswell.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix A : Written Retell Rubric
60
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
IdeaUnit
VerbalPromptsUsed
0 1
2
61
3
Keyideaof
chapter’s
event
Whatimportantevents
tookplaceduringthis
chapter?
Wholly
Doesnotrecall
inaccurateornot manykey
ideasor
included
inaccurately
expresses
events
Accurately
expresses
somekey,
although
incomplete,
events.
Accurately
expressesall
keyeventsin
thechapterto
completeness.
Sequenceof
events
Howdoesthischapter
begin?Whatwasthe
orderoftheevents?
Wholly
Statessome
inaccurateornot eventsin
order,butwith
included
some
inaccuracies.
Statesmany
eventsin
order,but
withsome
inaccuracies
Accurately
stateseventsin
correctorder.
Includes
Whatwasoneimportant Wholly
chapternoninaccurateornot
probleminthischapter?
Chapter’s
problem
descriptionis
accuratebut
vagueorwith
some
inaccuracies.
Accurately
stateschapter’s
problem.
Resolution
Howdoesthechapter
end?Isaproblem
solved?
Chapter’s
resolution
descriptionis
accuratebut
vagueorwith
some
inaccuracies.
Accurately
stateschapter’s
resolution.
Characters
Whoweretheimportant Wholly
inaccurateornot
ormaincharactersin
included
thischapter?
Chapter’s
character
descriptionis
accuratebut
vagueorwith
some
inaccuracies.
Accurately
stateschapter’s
main
characters.
Whereandwhendoes
thischaptertakeplace?
Chapter’s
settingis
accuratebut
vagueorwith
some
inaccuracies.
Accurately
stateschapter’s
setting.
Problem
included
Setting
specific,vague,
orunrelated
problem.
Wholly
Stateschapter
inaccurateornot non-specificor
unrelated
included
resolution.
Stateschapter
non-specificor
unrelated
character
descriptionsor
includes
unimportant
characters.
Wholly
Stateschapter
inaccurateornot non-specificor
unrelated
included
chapter
setting.
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix B: Chapter Recall Assessments
62
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
CityofEmberChapter11Review
WhatdoesLizziehaveinhersack?
a) coloredpencils
b) cannedfruit
c) lightbulbs
d) amap
WhyaretheitemsinLizzie’ssackimportant?
a) theitemsareveryrare
b) theitemswillhelpsolvethepuzzle
c) theitemsbelongtothemayor
d) theitemsareexpensive
Whoisthestoreroomworkerwhofindstheseitems?
a) Mrs.Murdo
b) Lizzie
c) Looper
d) Lina
WhydoesthestoreroomworkergiveLizzietheitems?
a) sheaskedtheworkernicely
b) theworkerlikesLizzie
c) themayorsaidso
d) Lizzieisroyalty
63
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
64
CityofEmberChapter12Review
WhatdoesDoonfindbehindthelockeddoor?
a) aroomfulloflightbulbsandelectronics
b) aroomfulloffood,clothes,boxesandcans
c) aroomfullofbooks
d) ajanitor’scloset
WhodoesDoonfindintheroombehindthelockeddoor?
a) Lina
b) Looper
c) TheMayor
d) Doon’sfather
LinaandDoondecidetotellsomeoneabouttheroom.Whodothey
plantotell?
a) theirfamily
b) theMayor
c) theguards
d) theirteachers
WhatinformationdoesLinaalsotellDoon?
a) shelikeshim
b) shefoundcoloredpencils
c) hergrandmotherdied
d) herfavoritesong
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
CityofEmberChapter13Review
Whatdoes“Egress”mean?
a) aneagle
b) ariver
c) asecretgroup
d) anexit
Whendothechildrendecidetoannouncetothecityaboutthe
instructions?
a) aftertheyescape
b) during“thesinging”
c) aftertheytalktothemayor
d) assoonaspossible
Whatisthelettermarkedstonetheyneedtosearchfor?
a) a
b) e
c) i
d) o
65
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
CityofEmberChapter14Review
WhywasthePipeworksclosed?
a) closedforrepair
b) thepowerwasoff
c) rehearsalsfor“thesinging”
d) itwasflooded
WhatdidLinaandDoonfindatthebottomofthemysteryladder?
a) asteelpaneldoor
b) asteelfryingpan
c) abroomcloset
d) themayor’soffice
WhatisinsideeachoftheboxesLinaandDoonfind?
a) foodandclothes
b) batteriesandwire
c) candlesandmatches
d) mapsandpencils
WhatdoLinaandDoonfindintheroomtheyenter?
a) books
b) food
c) aboat
d) treasure
66
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
67
CityofEmberChapter15Review
WhileLinaandDoonaresearchingthehiddenroom,thefind
anotherdoorthatleadstoanotherroom.Whatdotheyfindinside?
a) hundredsofboats
b) hundredsofboxes
c) aroomoftreasure
d) anotherdoor
WhatdidDoonputinhispillowcasetravelingpack?
a) candlesandhiskey
b) pencilsandamap
c) clothes
d) hisbugbook
WhathappenedwithDoon’sgreenwormbeforeheleft?
a) itdiedandheburiedit
b) hegaveittohisDad
c) itseemedtosaygoodbye
d) itgrewintoamothandhesetitfree
WhoislookingforDoonandLina?
a) theirparents
b) theMayor’sguards
c) theirbosses
d) theentirevillage
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
68
CityofEmberChapter16Review LinaandDoondecidetoescape.Howdotheyplantotelleveryone?
a) sendanemaillater
b) shoutitoutloudastheyescape
c) writeanddeliveranote
d) theydon’tplantotell
AfterLinagetscaptured,howwassheabletoescapefromtheMayor
andhisguards?
a) shefightsthemoff
b) sherunsawaywhenthelightsturnoff
c) shetellsthemariddle
d) Doonhelpsherbreakout
WhatdoesLinaseeninthecrowdofpeoplethattellsherDoonis
ok?
a) hiscandle
b) aflag
c) themoth
d) Doonwavesather
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
CityofEmberChapter17Review
WherewasLinasupposedtomeetDoon?
a) theschool
b) theMayor’soffice
c) thepipeworks
d) herhouse
WhywasLinalatemeetingDoon?
a) shehadtobringfood
b) shestoppedtogethercoloredpencils
c) shestoppedtogetPoppy
d) shegotlost
HowdoLina,Doon,andPoppyescapetheCityofEmber?
a) walkingalongapath
b) byboatthroughariver
c) crawlingthroughacave
d) climbingdownaladder
69
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
70
CityofEmberChapter18Review
WhatdoLinaandDoonfindwhentheriverstopsandtheygetout?
a) amountain
b) apath
c) ahouse
d) food
WhatdidLinaforgettodobeforesheleft?
a) bringfood
b) deliverthemessageabouttheirplan
c) checkthemap
d) hidetheinstructions
HowcanLinaandDoonreturntotheCityofEmber?
a) byplane
b) byclimbingamountain
c) theycan’treturn
d) bycallingforhelp
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix C: Retell Organizer Scaffold
71
"5"
__________________________
____________________________
4.  Ring finger
!  Events: name at least three
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
3"
3.  Middle finger
!  Problem: the problem in the story
____________________________
4"
2"
__________________________
2.  1st finger
!  Setting: where and when the
story takes place
__________________________
5.  Pinky
!  Solution to the problem
"
_____________"
"
_____________"
Author’s"Message"
1"
____________________________
____________________________
1.  Thumb
!  Main character (s)
The Retelling Hand
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
72
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix D: Academic Vocabulary Transition Words
73
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Fiction Stories
using ordinal words
Name
First
next
then
last
©"JD’s"Rockin’"Readers"
74
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix E: Sample Traditional Novel Text
75
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
76
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
77
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
78
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix F: Sample Graphic Novel Text
79
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
80
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
81
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
82
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Appendix G: Parent Permission Letter
83
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
84
CapstoneStudyConsentLetter
January6th,2016
DearParentorGuardian,
Iamyourchild’sEnglishLanguageteacherandagraduatestudentworkingonan
advanceddegreeineducation.Aspartofmygraduatework,Iplantoconductresearchin
myclassroomfromApril11-June10,2016.Thepurposeofthisletteristoaskyour
permissionforyourchildtotakepartinmyresearch.TheresearchIdowillbecatalogedin
myuniversitiesDigitalCommons,andis,therefore,searchableontheInternet.Itmayalso
bepublishedinfutureeducationaljournalsorusedinotherways.However,itisimportant
foryoutoknowthatnostudentnamesorindividualizedidentificationofthestudentinany
mannerwillbeincludedintheresearch.
Inmyresearch,Iwanttostudyhowusinggraphicnovelsintheclassroomcanaffect
astudent’sreadingcomprehensionofapassage.Ihaveusedgraphicnovelsinthe
classroomforthreeyearsandwanttocollectfurtherinformationabouttheirpossible
benefitsformystudy.Iplantohaveareadinggroupreadastory,withonedaydevotedto
readingachapterinatraditionalbookformatandthenextdayreadingthenextchapterin
graphicnovelformatofthesamebook.Next,studentswillbeaskedto“retell”the
particularsectionofthestory,inwrittenformat.Eachstudentwillreceiveascore
indicatingtheirabilitytoaccuratelyretelltheimportanteventsinthestory,and
informationlikewhatimportanteventswereleftout,whatunnecessaryeventswere
included,andwhethertheeventswererememberedinthecorrectorderwillbereviewed.
Thereislittletonoriskforyourchildtoparticipate.Allresultswillbeconfidential
andanonymous.Iwillnotrecordinformationaboutindividualstudents,suchastheir
names,norreportidentifyinginformationorcharacteristicsinthestudy.Participationis
voluntaryandyoumaydecideatanytimeandwithoutnegativeconsequencesthatyoudo
notwantyourchildtobeapartofthestudy.
IhavereceivedapprovalformystudyfromHamlineUniversity,aswellasfromISD
197districtcurriculumsupervisor.Thecapstonewillbekeptinmyuniversity’sDigital
Commons,asearchableelectroniclibrary.Myresultsmightalsobeincludedinfuture
publishedarticlesorprofessionaljournals.Inallcases,yourchild'sidentityand
participationinthisstudywillbeconfidential.Ifyouagreethatyourchildmayparticipate,
keepthispage.Fillouttheduplicateagreementtoparticipateonpagetwoandreturntome
nolaterthanApril11th.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleaseemailorcontactmeatschool.
Sincerely,
StephenMeuer
HeritageMiddleSchool
[email protected]
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
InformedConsenttoParticipateinQualitativeStudy
Keepthisfullpageforyourrecords.
85
Ihavereceivedyourletteraboutthestudyyouplantoconductinwhichyouwillbe
observingstudents’abilitiestoretellastoryingroups.Iunderstandthereislittletonorisk
involvedformychild,thathis/herconfidentialitywillbeprotected,andthatImay
withdrawormychildmaywithdrawfromtheprojectatanytime.
___________________________________
_________________
Parent/GuardianSignature
Date
Participantcopy
InformedConsenttoParticipateinQualitativeInterview
ReturnthisportiontoMr.StephenMeueratHeritageMiddleSchool
Ihavereceivedyourletteraboutthestudyyouplantoconductinwhichyouwillbe
observingstudents’abilitiestoretellastoryingroups.Iunderstandthereislittletonorisk
involvedformychild,thathis/herconfidentialitywillbeprotected,andthatImay
withdrawormychildmaywithdrawfromtheprojectatanytime.
___________________________________
_________________
Parent/GuardianSignature
Date
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
Researchercopy
CapstoneEstudioConsentimientoCarta
86
Estimadopadreotutor,
SoyprofesordeInglésdesuhijoyunestudiantegraduadoquetrabajaenungrado
avanzadoeneducación.Comopartedemitrabajodegraduación,tengolaintenciónde
llevaracabolainvestigaciónenmisalóndeclasesapartirdel10demayo..Elpropósitode
estacartaessolicitarsupermisoparaquesuhijoparticipeenmiinvestigación.La
investigaciónquehagoserácatalogadoenmisuniversidadesDigitalCommons,yes,porlo
tanto,realizarbúsquedasenInternet.Tambiénpuedeserpublicadooutilizadodeotra
manera.Sinembargo,esimportantequeustedsepaquenohaynombresdelosestudiantes
odeidentificaciónindividualizadadelestudiantedecualquiermaneraseránincluidosenla
investigación.
Enmiinvestigación,yoquieroestudiarcómoelusodelasnovelasgráficasenel
aulapuedeafectarlacomprensióndelecturadeunestudiantedeunpasaje.Heutilizadolas
novelasgráficasenelsalóndeclasesdurantetresañosyquiererecogermásinformación
sobresusposiblesbeneficiosparamiestudio.Planeotenerungrupodelecturaleeruna
historia,conundíadedicadoalalecturadeuncapítuloenunformatodelibrotradicionaly
aldíasiguientedeleerelsiguientecapítuloenformatonovelagráficadelmismolibro..A
continuación,selespediráalosestudiantesa"contar"lasecciónparticulardelahistoria,a
vecesporvíaoraly,aveces,enformatoescrito.Cadaestudianterecibiráunapuntuación
queindicasucapacidaddevolveracontarconprecisiónlosacontecimientosimportantes
enlahistoria,ylainformacióncomoloqueeventosimportantesquedaronfuera,qué
eventosinnecesariosfueronincluidos,ysiloshechosfueronrecordadosenelorden
correctoserevisado.
Haypocooningúnriesgodequesuhijoparticipe.Todoslosresultadosserán
confidencialesyanónimas.Novoyaregistrarlainformaciónacercadelosestudiantes
individuales,comosusnombres,niinformacióndeidentificacióninformeocaracterísticas
enelestudio.Laparticipaciónesvoluntariayustedpuededecidirencualquiermomentoy
sin
consecuenciasnegativasqueustednoquierequesuhijoseaunapartedelestudio.
Herecibidolaaprobaciónparamiestudiodemiescueladeestudios,asícomode
ISD197supervisordecurrículodeldistrito.EltoquefinalsemantendráenlosComunes
Digitalesdemiuniversidad,unabibliotecaelectrónicadebúsqueda.Misresultados
tambiénpodríanincluirseenfuturaspublicadoartículosorevistasprofesionales.Entodos
loscasos,laidentidaddesuhijoylaparticipaciónenesteestudioseránconfidenciales.Si
estádeacuerdoquesuhijopuedeparticipar,mantenerestapágina.Relleneelacuerdo
duplicadoparaparticiparenlasegundapáginayvuelveamínomástardedel11deenero.
Siustedtienealgunapregunta,envíeuncorreoelectrónicoopóngaseencontactoconmigo
enlaescuela.
Sinceramente,
StephenMeuer
YolandaBeltran
HeritageMiddleSchool
deEnlaceFamiliar
[email protected]
[email protected]
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
ConsentimientoinformadoparaparticiparenelEstudioCualitativo
Guardeestapáginacompletaparasusarchivos.
Herecibidosucartasobreelestudioquevaarealizarenelqueseleobservando
habilidadesdelosestudiantesparavolveracontarunahistoriaengrupos.Entiendoque
haypocooningúnriesgoqueimplicaparamihijo,quesu/suconfidencialidadserá
protegida,yquepuedoretirarominiñopuederetirarsedelproyectoencualquier
momento.
____________________________________________________
Padre/GuardiánFecha
CopiaParticipante
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Consentimientoinformadoparaparticiparenlaentrevistacualitativa
DevuelvaestaporciónalSr.StephenMeuerenHeritageMiddleSchool
Herecibidosucartasobreelestudioquevaarealizarenelqueseleobservando
habilidadesdelosestudiantesparavolveracontarunahistoriaengrupos.Entiendoque
haypocooningúnriesgoqueimplicaparamihijo,quesu/suconfidencialidadserá
protegida,yquepuedoretirarominiñopuederetirarsedelproyectoencualquier
momento.
____________________________________________________
Padre/GuardiánFecha
CopiaInvestigador
87
GRAPHICNOVELS’AFFECTSONREADINGANDMEMORYRECALL
88
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