Graphic novels: a way to broaden the repertoire of English teachers in the grades 4-6

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how graphic novels and comic strips can be used in English education for the grades 4-6. The results of the previous research presented in this study show a wide range of areas, and approaches, where graphic novels and comic strips can be used to further develop several aspects of pupils’ language development. The low participation of this study makes it impossible to make any generalizable conclusions about the use of graphic novels in Swedish schools, but it can give some insight into how individual teachers’ use this resource. The research questions of the study have been answered, based on previous research and the limited group of respondents. The respondents come from different parts of Sweden, and this suggests that the use of graphic novels is not concentrated to a single part of the country but is spread over a large part of it. However, the low participation in this study suggests to me that the use of graphic novels is not so widespread among individual teachers. I believe that the teachers who chose to participate in this study already have a connection to graphic novels. They probably replied because they had a particular interest in this topic, and the teachers who chose not to participate did not find the topic interesting or current for their teaching situation. The fears and prejudice I have raised earlier may be an underlying cause of this, as well as the fact that graphic novels are not specifically mentioned as a way of connecting with literature in the curriculum. What I gather from the previous research and the result of the survey is that graphic novels and comic strips are potentially very useful tools to be used in language development, as a complement to the traditional textbook. The fact that the respondents in my survey have listed several noticed development areas in their pupils, such as vocabulary, reading comprehension, pronunciation, and an increased motivation to read, indicates that graphic novels and comic strips are an excellent tool to use for pupils’ language development. The versatile approaches that can be used to work with graphic novels and comic strips in the language learning classroom points to a broad development possibility.