‘Are They Merely Pictures?’: Delineating The Images Represented in Acrostic Poems of a Primary School Level EFL Textbook

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31764/ijeca.v4i3.5834

Keywords:

Acrostic Poem, EFL Textbook, Grammar of Visual Design, Image-Text Relation, Logico-Semantics, Multimodal Analysis.

Abstract

A picture is considered to have a significant role in facilitating the students' English learning. Thus, understanding the picture represented in an EFL textbook considered one of the sources through which the students learn the English materials is crucial. Nevertheless, to the best of the writers' knowledge, few studies investigating the interrelations between visual and verbal text focusing on the learning material of acrostic poems were found. Thereby, this study aimed to scrutinise the interrelations of the visual-verbal text concerning acrostic poems. To that end, a qualitative research method using Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) was employed to investigate the analysis units, i.e., the acrostic poems included the images of a primary level EFL textbook. Besides, analysis units were investigated based on the relative status and logico-semantics relations and grammar of visual design deriving from systemic functional linguistics. The findings revealed that the visual image could be construed through ideational, interpersonal, and textual/compositional meanings. Besides, there are some interrelations in a certain extent and fashions between the pictures and the verbal text, indicated by the relative status and logico-semantics comprising independent and complimentary equal status with exposition, exemplification, and extension. In summary, the trinocular meanings, i.e. ideational, interpersonal, and compositional meanings, along with the interactions between the visual image and verbal texts, the pictures are considered to have significant roles in assisting the readers/viewers in understanding the poems due to such an interaction built by the images and verbal texts exist.

Author Biographies

Ahmad Sugianto, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

English Education Study Program

Marisa Azka Prastika, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

English Education Study Program

References

Ayu, M., & Indrawati, R. (2018). EFL textbook evaluation: The analysis of tasks presented in English textbook. Teknosastik, 16(1), 21–25. https://doi.org/10.33365/ts.v16i1.87

Barthes, R. (1977). Image, music, text. Fontana Press.

BatteleforKids. (2019). Framework for 21st century learning definitions. Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 9.

Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2010). Changing text: A social semiotic analysis of textbooks. Designs for Learning, 3(1–2), 10–29. https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.26

Buckingham, L. R., & Litzler, M. F. (2020). Literacy development in EFL textbooks in Madrid’s primary schools. Revista Nebrija de Lingüística Aplicada, 27, 129–144. https://doi.org/10.26378/rnlael

Curwood, J. S. (2012). Cultural shifts, multimodal representations, and assessment practices: A case study. E-Learning and Digital Media, 9(2), 232–244. https://doi.org/10.2304/elea.2012.9.2.232

Dougherty, P. (2011). Creative writing and vocabulary acquisition: A study of Emirati college students. 57–69. http://marifa.hct.ac.ae/files/2011/07/Creative-Writing-and-Vocabulary-Acquisition-A-Study-of-Emirati-College-Students.pdf

Guba, E. G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries. Educational Communication and Technology, 29(2), 75–91.

Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. Doubleday. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-6870(70)90049-9

Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthienssen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar (4th ed.). Routledge.

Hermawan, B., & Sukyadi, D. (2020). Analisis multimodal pada buku teks Sains. UPI Press.

Jewitt, C., Bezemer, J., & O’Halloran, K. (2016). Introducing multimodality. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638027

Khoii, R., & Amin, E. (2016). Which helps to become a better EFL writer: Creative tasks or communicative tasks? Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal, 6(2), 2295–2302. https://doi.org/10.20533/licej.2040.2589.2016.0303

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2002). Colour as a semiotic mode: Notes for a grammar of colour. Visual Communication, 1(3), 343–368.

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Kusuma, H. A., & Apriyanto, S. (2018). Strategy on developing English learning material for specific purposes. IJECA (International Journal of Education and Curriculum Application), 1(3), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.31764/ijeca.v1i3.2144

Martinec, R., & Salway, A. (2005). A system for image–text relations in new (and old) media. Visual Communication, 4(3), 337–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357205055928

Marzban, A., & Zokaeieh, S. (2017). Local evaluation of an EFL textbook: ‘Mosaic 1: Listening and speaking.’ Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(10), 874–882. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0710.08

O’Halloran, K. L., & Smith, B. A. (2011). Multimodal studies. In K. L. O’Halloran & B. A. Smith (Eds.), Multimodal studies: Exploring issues and domains (pp. 1–13). Routledge.

Puchta, H., Gerngross, G., & Lewis-Jones, P. (2017). Super minds: Student’s book (Special ed). Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. C. (2001). The role of textbooks in a language program.

Sa’aleek, R. A. (2018). A content analysis of the colors in the EFL textbook of Action Pack. British Journal of Education, Learning and Development Pyschology, 1(1), 57–65.

Sugianto, A., Andriyani, D., & Prasetyo, I. A. (2021). The visual-verbal text interrelation: Lessons from the ideational meanings of a phonics material in a primary level EFL textbook. EnJourMe (English Journal of Merdeka) : Culture, Language, and Teaching of English, 6(1).

Sugianto, A., Denarti, R., & Agung, I. (2021). Uncovering the anti-Islamic sentiment in The New Yorker cover issued on July 21 , 2008: A semiotic analysis. International Journal of English Linguistics, Literature, and Education (IJELLE), 3(1), 44–54. https://doi.org/doi :10.32585/ijelle.v3i1.1450

Sugianto, A., & Wirza, Y. (2021). Cultural contents of an EFL textbook: How is the potential for students ’ intercultural communicative competence development during the COVID-19 outbreak ? Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2020), 546, 1–6.

Sukyadi, D., Hermawan, B., & Rakhmawati, S. S. (2018). Multimodalitas dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris. UPI Press.

Torres, G. (2015). ‘Reading’ World Link: A visual social semiotic analysis of an EFL textbook. International Journal of English Language Education, 3(1), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijele.v3i1.7200

Published

2021-12-05

Issue

Section

Articles