Incorporating Children's Literature and Multimodal Pedagogy in EFL Instruction

Abstract

This study was aimed at filling the gap between theory and practice in EFL instruction in Taiwan by teaching children's literature and using multimodal pedagogy. Two research questions were addressed: (1) How did the classroom participants respond to the texts of children's literature used in the classroom? (2) How did the classroom participants respond to the application of multimodal pedagogy in a literature-based classroom? Participants were twenty-two non-English majors and a female university employee in a literature-oriented class drawing on multimodal pedagogy. Data resources included a questionnaire, instructor's teaching entries, students' reflection papers, and interviews with nine participants. The results show that most students displayed a positive attitude toward the instruction in the class, and that a literature-oriented classroom based on multimodal pedagogy actively engaged students in various activities which made use of different types of communication. Also, findings show that classroom activities helped students raise their awareness of social issues concerning their lives and society. Teaching children's literature through different modes of expression can lead to critical media literacy, which helps students not only develop their language skills but also better understand themselves in relation to the society in which they live.