Wordless picturebooks - in practice and theory

Abstract: In the year of 2015, 35.000 refugee children arrived to Sweden. In Sweden education is a matter of right, every child has the right to attend school no matter if s/he is a citizen or a refugee. According to the Swedish Curriculum for Compulsory school, all teaching should be adapted to the individual student’s circumstances and needs. The aim of this degree project is to investigate how wordless picturebooks (Silent Books) could be used as a language learning tool in order to promote language acquisition among newly arrived children in Sweden. Firstly, this paper provides an overview of background knowledge, theories and concepts about wordless picturebooks and second language learning. The literature review indicates that the content of the books and the social context is important while learning a language. It also shows that picturebooks can be used in order to grow a cultural understanding among young learners with different cultural backgrounds. In the empirical study we employed semi-structured interviews with people from Sweden, Italy and England. We also carried out field research on Lampedusa, Italy, which included observations and interviews. The major conclusions of this study are that Silent Books is one tool of many, which could be used while learning a language. Silent Books is particular good since it lets the student base her/his language learning in one’s earlier knowledge and experiences as well as language level. The pictures are the starting point, and the learning process starts with what you see in the picture.