It was more than half a century ago, in 1966, when the linguist Pit Corder made the distinction between “talking about images” (the focus is on the simple description) and “talking with images” (responding personally to visual input). Since then, there has been much research in how to promote the critical and creative use of images in language classes by helping students to delve deeper into the universe that the image provides while exploiting this opportunity to understand their own feelings and personal reactions to the visual elements.

Education in the 21^st century

In the 21^st century, it has been made obvious that one of the educational priorities should be to teach the students to be active viewers in a world full of powerful images that bombard them daily. Although the power of images to stimulate ideas and meaningful conversations is undeniable, little use has been made of this medium in traditional coursebooks. The majority of them, unfortunately, haven’t yet been able to provide a wide range of visual input for the students and many of the photos have a merely decorative role.

Multiliteracies pedagogy and visual literacy

Images could be used as an educational tool to cultivate visual literacy and should be exploited as multimodal texts paving the way for teachers to focus on “multiliteracies pedagogy”. According to recent scientific research, literacy should be approached not as isolated sets of skills but as a web of contexts and technology. Using the competencies of visual literacy (the term was coined by J. Debes in 1969), people are able to interpret the objects, actions and symbols in their environment. Through the creative use of these skills, we are able to communicate with others. We not only acquire the abilities to understand (read) and to use (write) images, but also we learn to think in terms of images.

A shift in the traditional skills

In some countries the traditional set of skills of reading-writing-listening-speaking has been enriched with the addition of two new skills, those of “viewing” and “visually representing”. On the one hand, “viewing” requires students to construct meaning by interpreting the images and everything they incorporate (symbols, conventions, contexts). In this way they learn to “decode” the image and on top of that they get an insight into the methods the creator or artist has employed to promote their viewpoint. On the other hand, “representing” enables learners to communicate their ideas visually using a variety of media at their disposal.

Where can we find images for the lessons?

A number of sources can be used to find images appropriate for language classes of all ages and levels. Social media tools like Pinterest and Instagram, memes, advertisements, paintings, classic works of art, photos of current issues or general social topics and many more can be harnessed to enhance language learning.

Related activities

We can start with the spontaneous contact with the image. We present the visual input to the students asking them a set of questions to help them investigate the image and the related text if there is any. Quotation cards and memes are good examples of text-image combinations. The aim is to cultivate their critical thinking by examining the multiple dimensions and points of view of the image. The basic stages go from the simple observation questions (Who? What? Where? When? Why do you say this?) to the more complex ones that will help the learners understand their feelings and reactions by making comparisons and drawing conclusions.

I usually follow the line of questions below, especially if we are using a combination of text and images (you can download a pdf of these questions here). The value of these activities is that there are no right or wrong answers, students should be strongly encouraged to express their ideas freely with no fear of judgement.

First look at the image and try to answer : Who is pictured here ? What are they doing ? Where are they? When is this happening?

What makes you say that?

How does this make you feel? Do you understand why? What personal associations do you have?

Do you like the image and why?

What methods has the creator used to get their message across?

Have these methods been successful?

What would you like to tell the creator or to do differently?

Now read the text (quote or meme or something different maybe) and try to answer:

Are there any words you don’t know?

Can you tell us in your own words what you think this means?

Why do you think that? What are the elements that you used to reach this conclusion?

Do you agree with the idea expressed by the author? Why?

How does this make you feel? What personal connections do you have with the idea presented here?

What methods has the writer used to convey the message? Were they successful?

Do you find any connections between the written text and the image?

Would you like to add anything else?

Post lesson activities

Writing stories, dialogues, poems and letters in response to visual works of art is a practice adopted by many language educators around the globe. The storytelling capacity of images has been well discussed and scientifically proven. We could ask the students to elaborate on the ideas expressed in class or write a text based on a character, a different perspective or the feelings that the image has managed to ignite. Luckily, there is a large range of material available to appeal to all ages and kinds of students. Images are differentiated and engaging material that help students grow as they see, analyze and evaluate visual texts. The more we use images in the language lessons, the richer the experience for everyone involved.

The Ruthless Teacher, Charisi Giolanta