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I am currently working on my draft essay and the following are a few paragraphs taken from this. While completing this task l found a few errors so it was useful to undergo this review process in order to make corrections.Essay draft fragments upload: A few paragraphs from my essay: not in order)Evans (1998, p.81) acknowledges the value of wordless picturebooks as a solid basis upon which to learn English as they can be interpreted on a personal level by readers. Louie and Sierschynski (2015) suggest that being wordless, picturebooks don’t confuse English language learners thought they still provide as much as books with words because must tell a story; they also state that oral discussion forms the basis of literacy development, so literacy practices should make use of wordless picturebooks which aid discussion (p. 104). Looking specifically at learners of English as a second language, Louie and Sierschynski explore ways in which the classroom setting encourages language development by using wordless narratives. When broken down into small groups or pairs of learners, children are given opportunities to vocalise individual perceptions of images, given time to stop, think, self-correct and construct descriptive sentences. Citing others they argue: self- correction as opposed to teacher correction should be pursued to offer learners opportunities to creatively explore language which aids constructive discussion and learning (Beck & McKeown, 2001, p.104); it is essential that learners of English spend time engaged in meaningful conversation rather than just answering teacher’s questions, in order to achieve academic literacy (Fisher, Frey, & Rothenberg, 2008, p.104); and revisiting images assists in learning basic image sequencing and literacy conventions before progressing onto more sophisticated meaning construction (Cohn,2014, p.107) . Louie and Sierschynski suggest that new learners begin to label objects or actions of characters in the book, and then learn to tell the story in sentences using more complex language structure (p.107). Coultard (2003, in Arizpe & Styles, pp. 164-189) also stresses that culture, personal experiences and ways in which images [and text] have been approached previously, all influence how immigrant children interpret wordless narratives. Images are a vital source of cultural learning for those arriving in a new country with no knowledge about its language and customs (Arizpe, 2009, p. 134).

Often themes covered by this genre of books can be described as challenging or controversial, and Evans (2015, p.11) points out themes such as depression [The Red Tree, Tan, S., 2015, fig. 16, 17, 18], death [Granpa, Burningham, J., 1984], violence, drugs [Bird, Elliot, Z., & Strickland, S., 2008], war [Why? Popov, N.,1996, fig. 12 &13], and bullying, although often considered unsuitable for children, are nothing new. She goes on to explain the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson stories were full of disturbing subject matter such as incest, child cruelty and murder. Traditional fairy tales such as Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel based on such subjects have been heavily diluted for modern audiences, possibly affected by growing political correctness: the sanitisation of fairy tales began in the nineteenth century due to regulation seeking to protect children from having ‘improper thoughts and ideas’ (Zipes, 2013, p.16). Zipes claims that folk tales have a solid foundation in culture and values while representing certain points in history (in Merriam, 2015). For this reason they change so much over the centuries and, cross culturally, around the world. They must be relevant and provide recipients with material they can identify with. 

According to Doonan (1993, p.11) the act of searching for meaning in imagery engages us emotionally as well as cognitively; and provokes emotional responses (p.51); thus providing potential for emotional growth. Although picturebooks are gradually being recognised for their contribution to visual literacy and learning, they are largely ignored when it comes to promoting emotional development (Nicolajeva, 2013, p.249). However, the ability for children to feel and perceive thoughts, feelings and intentions of others is becoming more important in schools as social awareness about issues such as bullying (Slee & Mohya, 2007, in Lysaker, 2011, p.521) and multi-culturalism increase in importance. In reading development, the ability to construct inferences, and imagining more than what is literally on the page, vital in learning to read and becoming fully engaged with the text (Duke, Presley & Hilden, 2004; Sweet & Snow, 2002, in Lysaker, 2011, pp. 520-521). Empathy is one of the most important social skills to learn, and due to limited emotional experiences, picturebooks play a key role in aiding the development of this emotion (Nikolajeva, 2013, p.249-50).

Lewis Carroll, Ruy Vidal and Maurice Sendak didn’t produce books only for children (Beckett, 2012, p.3-5) and they cross generational boundaries while also standing the test of time. Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (first published 1964) is one of the best selling picturebooks ever. Clearly his approach in refusing to lie to children (in Brockes, 2011) and not being scared to tackle difficult subjects paid off. 

 References:

Arizpe, E., 2009, Sharing visual experiences of a new culture: Immigrant children in Scotland respond to picturebooks and other visual texts. In J. Evans (Ed.), Talking beyond the page: Reading and responding to picture books. Oxon, UK : Routledge (pp. 134-151). Beck, I.L., & McKeown, M.G., 2001, Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read aloud experiences for young children, The Reading Teacher, Vol: 55, Issue: 1, pp. 10-20. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' language development using wordless picture books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p 104. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]Beckett, S.L., 2012, Crossover Picturebooks: A Genre for all Ages [online] Available at: http://www.earlyliteracyinfo.org/documents/pdf/doc_89.pdf [Accessed 3 August 2016]Burningham, J., 2003, Granpa. London: Red Fox Books.
Cohn, N., 2014, The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: The interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics . Frontiers in Psychology , Vol: 5 Issue: 1, pp 1-9. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p 107. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016] Coultard, 2003, K., 2003, Chapter 8: “The words to say it”: Young bilingual learners responding to visual texts. In E. Arizpe & M. Styles (Eds.), Children reading pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts. New York, NY : RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 196-189. Doonan, J., 1993, Looking at Pictures in Picture Books. Exeter, UK: The Thimble Press.
Duke, N., Presley, M., & Hilden, K., 2004, Difficulties with reading comprehension. In C.A. Stone, E.R. Silliman, & K. Apel (Eds), Handbook of Language and Literacy: Development and disorders. New York: Guilford Press. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, pp. 520-521. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Elliot, Z., & Strickland, S., 2008, Bird. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc.
Evans, J., 1998, What’s in the Picture? Responding to Illustrations in Picturebooks. London: SAGE.
Evans, J., 2015, Challenging and Controversial Picturebooks: Creative and Critical Responses to Visual Texts. Oxon, UK: Routledge / Taylor and Francis Group.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Rothenberg, C., 2008, Content-area conversations: How to plan discussion-based lessons for diverse language learners . Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. In Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, pp 103-111. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Louie, B., & Sierschynski, J., 2015, Enhancing English Learners' Language Development Using Wordless Picture Books [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 69, issue 1, July / August 2015, p. 110. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=103383521&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]Nikolajeva, M., 2013, Picturebooks and Emotional Literacy [online]. The Reading Teacher, Vol: 67, Issue 4, December 2013 / January 2014, pp. 249-254. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/10.1002/trtr.1229/epdf [Accessed 8 August 2016]Sendak, M., 2011, Maurice Sendak: I refuse to lie to children [interview online]. In Brockes, E., 2011, in theguardian.com. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/02/maurice-sendak-interview [Accessed 4 August 2016]Sendak, M., 1964, Where the Wild Things Are. London: Red Fox (2000).Slee, P., & Mohya, J., 2007, The Peace Pact: An evaluation of interventions to reduce bullying in four Australian primary schools. Educational Research, Vol: 49, pp. 103-114. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, p. 520-66. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Sweet, P., & Snow, C., 2002, Reconceptualising reading comprehension. In C. Block, L. Gambrell, & M. Pressley (Eds), Improving comprehension Instruction: Rethinking research, theory and classroom practice (pp. 17-53). New York: Jossey Press. In Lysaker, J., 2011, Reading and Social imagination: What Relationally oriented Reading Instruction can do for Children [online]. Reading Psychology, Vol: 32, Issue 6, November 2011, p. 520-521. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67458508&site=ehost-live [Accessed 1 August 2016]
Popov, N., 1996. Why? New York: North South Books Inc.
Tan, S., 2015, The Red Tree. Sydney, Australia: Lothian Children’s Books.
Zipes, J., 2013, Fairy Tale as Myth/ Myth as Fairy Tale. Kentucky, USA: The University Press of Kentucky.