Children’s picturebooks and graphic novels are both visual and literary works that contain a great amount of social, political, historical, philosophical and psychological material. Because of their hybridity and the requirement placed on the reader to navigate textual and visual material simultaneously and/or sequentially, they are choice tools to develop, sharpen and perfect literacy at all levels. As objects or props for read-alouds and guess work they also promote oral interaction and creative staging.
The conference “Using English-language Picturebooks and Graphic Novels to Teach and Learn English from Primary to (the end of) Secondary School” seeks to demonstrate the valuable input of graphic novels and picturebooks in the English classroom.
For the sake of relevance and usefulness the demonstration will relate to three curricular themes in the list framing the teaching of English in the French school system.