Images have always played an important role in media, society and indeed the language-teaching classroom. Different species have been communicating through visual means for as long as time has existed. These images present messages, signals and instruction. Cave paintings were able to capture historical information in order to inform countless generations to come of the customs and wisdom of their cultures. Those primitive etchings on a wall were the beginning of what has now become a visually dependent world. Brand power is everywhere and the amount of semiotics used to communicate meaning has grown exponentially.

The power of the image can not be underestimated and as the proverb goes ‘a picture paints a thousand words’. Those people in the text camp may also chirp that ‘a single word can paint a thousand images’, such as ‘death’. Text is important but in my opinion, no less so than images and indeed society has embraced both forms of media. Walker and White (2013) highlight research conducted by Wood and Hastings (2009) that shows the average person is bombarded with 100,000 words per day and the majority of this verbal input is accompanied by visuals of some kind.

Alan Fletcher (as cited in Goldstein, 2008) said, “Although words and pictures can signify the same thing, the effect they produce can be quite different….”. If we take my ‘death’ example from above, the two mediums potentially have stark differences. To write that someone is dead and for that to be presented visually in some way may evoke contrasting emotional responses.

“Images are ever more powerful and echo in our minds more than a quotation ever could”.

(Goldstein, 2008)

It could be argued that the modern world and technology has created billions of journalists, all capturing significant moments via digital photographs and film; snapping iconic images before a professional can get near. Goldstein (2008) considers that we may have become immune to the power of the image because we have realised how easy it is to do it ourselves both literally and metaphorically.

Mirzoeff (1999) makes the following point:

“Visual culture does not depend on pictures themselves, but the modern tendency to picture or visualise experience…while such visualising has been common throughout the modern period, it has now become all but compulsory.”

It has been claimed that this ‘bombardment’ of information is having a negative impact on societies’ cognitive processes, for example, reading and memory (Walker and White, 2013). Meanwhile the use, and in some ways reliance on images has also led to an understanding of a different form of literacy. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) point to a visual literacy i.e. a means of analysing images and of uncovering the messages that they convey. Our daily lives are dominated by visual information, nowhere more so than through the colossal dissemination of images through digital technology and online media, and this form of literacy needs to be taken seriously.  The pace of information flow in the modern world means it is quicker and easier to communicate a message with an image, be it an emoticon, a digital photo, or a GPS map on a navigation system. There are social network sites that use images as their primary sharing function such as Instagram, or even the emoji only network Emojli. Today’s tech savvy population are on a digitalised diet of images within real and virtual worlds and are experts at accessing, sharing, transforming and communicating images through a variety of mediums (Goldstein, 2008).

This is not limited to technology and social networking. We recognise one another through an array of visual codes, graffiti tags, logos, tattoos and other symbols (Goldstein, 2008). Taking into account all these images, it becomes clear that visual literacy is increasingly important in order to encode and decode the many messages and ideas being communicated. From cave paintings to emoji-only networks in a few thousand years, the only difference being the cave walls can now be seen anywhere in the world on a computer, a phone or even Google glasses.

Take for example this tweet from: https://twitter.com/emojibama. I can understand about 50% of what is trying to say. Does this make me a visual illiterate? John Berger (as cited in Goldstein, 2008) highlights an important point to consider:

“The art of the past no longer exists as it once did. Its authority is lost. In its place there is a language of image. What matters now is who uses that language for what purpose”.

The above image is using a fun medium to express important political messages. It is also using a series of images in a syntactic structure to convey precise semantic translation. If one cannot decode that information then it might as well be a second language script. This highlights an important point about using images in the ELT materials context. An image may well be worth a thousand words, but it is worth a thousand words in hundreds of different languages. It is a fantastic way to aid comprehension, but not necessarily a sure-fire way to language acquisition and learning. There needs to a balance between images for learning and those for contextualisation. Too many images may be distracting or confusing.

It is nearly impossible to imagine learning environments (in particular language ones) from compulsory education to teacher training that does not make use of flash cards, wall charts, coursebook images, photos, time lines, board drawings, learner-produced artwork and so on (Goldstein, 2008). Walker and White (2013) suggest the following reasons for images to be used to support learning:

• Images and video meet learners’ expectations. We now live in a highly visual culture, in which images are a major vehicle for conveying meaning.
• Images and video give information that can only be provided visually.
• Images and video allow learners to see a context, body language, facial expressions and artefacts. Provides an opportunity to learn about other cultures a ‘hook into’ global culture.
• Images and video bring the real world into the classroom.
• Images and video and provide a quick and economical means of conveying a message.
• Visual materials have an emotional impact
• Visual materials fill the void for language learning between gaps in language knowledge.

These provide concrete assertions for the power of images in learning. However, are images being used in the right way bearing in the mind my comment above about balance?  An insightful paper written by David Hill (in Tomlinson, 2013) looks at the use of images in ELT coursebooks. Hill makes comparisons across a series of books and looked at those images that have pedagogical value and those that don’t (AKA “decoration”). Overall, it noted two things: the first is that over recent years there has been a shift from the majority of coursebooks using more illustrated images to using more photographic ones, and that around half of those images are used for decoration. Goldstein (2008) suggests that this might have been brought about by the shift toward a more authentic/semi-authentic communicative approach to ELT. Photos are seen as a useful tool for developing inter-cultural awareness and offer interesting relevant input. However, this attempt to be contemporary in topic and outlook may fail due to the decisions made by others such as designers or publishers, and not the author. Using images in materials is a difficult task because not all images, photographic or illustrated, will be culturally relevant or contextually appropriate. A materials creator or adaptor needs to think about their images carefully. The student needs to come first along with the pedagogical benefits of using an image. What is the right balance?  Are decorative images just a space-filling design issue?  Harmer (as cited in Hill, 2013) challenges negative perceptions of decorative images by stating that ornamental images (decoration) appeal to certain students and have the power to engage. They are part of the expectations about a coursebook, making them a norm and a comfort to some, and this translates into a learning benefit.This argument makes the debate about decorative images in coursebooks moot.

Hill (2013) makes an interesting distinction between ‘functional’ and ‘stimulate’ images. The former aims to make comprehension of the target language easier, and are explicitly used for teaching lexi or grammar points to facilitate a task. The latter is used to stimulate a mental response, thus creating an interactive situation where students are using their own language and knowledge. Similarly distinctions between images were made by Pit Coder (in Hill, 2013); he divides it into students talking about a picture or talking with a picture and was the first to coin these terms and to acknowledge the difference. Talking about a picture is when you are constrained to what you can see, whereas talking about a picture can lead into a discussion in which learners use language to communicate their own experiences and realities prompted by what is presented in the image.

One way to explore the relationship between image and text is to look at how both are arranged within an overall composition. Kress and Leeuwen (2006) stipulate that images can be read in a similar way to texts; in other words, images not only have meaning in themselves, but they accrue added meaning according to the way they are laid out in relation to other elements, both visual and textual, on the page. This again places a high value on the visual elements of materials and signifies the need for a certain level of visual literacy.

As a materials designer, I must be able to recognise the importance of composition and the relationship between the different textual and visual elements. Composition can be analysed according to these principles:

1. Information value
2. Salience
3. Framing

The first principle defines the various zones within the overall image: left, right, top or bottom, centre, margins. The second is the placement of elements: foreground, background, size, focus, tone etc. The final principle is how certain elements of the image are framed, either implicitly or explicitly. Such an approach can help when considering multi-modal texts such as websites or the pages of a textbook. Asking questions about composition may help to formulate decisions about layout, the semiotic relationship between text and images and their role of conveying a message.

In the seminar on images, my peers and I looked at some coursebooks and materials. We examined the pedagogical and ornamental spread of images that they possessed. The general view in the room was one of support for Hill’s perspective: a large amount of images were photographic, the materials were lacking in white space and were instead filled with decorative images. As Goldstein (2008) rightly proposed, images, in the main, are still being used to support texts that are the main focus of the activity. The pedagogical value of the visual element is under-explored. Image and text should work alongside each other.

There are also the issues surrounding copyright and use of other peoples’ pictures, mainly from the internet. There is not really enough space and time to cover everything that needs to be addressed for this point, suffice to say that there is a lot to be considered when selecting images for your own materials. This is not for the faint-hearted or those pushed for time! There are some excellent resources out there that are free to use and share due to creative commons (CC) licensing legislation.  If it is something that concerns you I would suggest looking for images from sources that are supported by CC.

To summarise, images and visual literacy are a key component when considering materials for language learning. Images cannot be under-estimated in their power to aid comprehension, engage learning, and communicate messages. However, there mustn’t be an over-reliance on images to do the work for you and your materials. The reading for this topic has been invaluable to my understanding and consideration of images as pedagogical tools. An image is a perfect means of encoding and decoding language. What excites me most about images is that they can be a very student-centred method of creating materials. Mobile phones and internet access mean that the opportunity to communicate complex and abstract ideas through this medium is a lot easier. This will enable more explorative language and functions, and promote a more constructivist perspective. The personalised aspect would also aid the quality of acquisition and retention.

References

Goldstein, B. (2008) Working with images, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Hill, D. A. (2013) The visual element in EFL coursebooks. In: Tomlinson, B., Editor of Compilation. (2013) Developing materials for language teaching, London, Bloomsbury Academic.

Kress, G. & Leeuwen, T. V. (2006) Reading images: the grammar of visual design, Abingdon, Routledge.

Mirzoeff, N. (1999) An introduction to visual culture, New York; London, Routledge.

Walker, A. A. & White, G. A. (2013) Technology enhanced language learning: connecting theory and practice, Oxford, Oxford University Press.