Analyzing verbal visual interactions in the if you give picture storybook by laura numeroff

The picture books are “If You Give ...” series, presented in color pictures and verbal texts in English by Laura Joffe Numeroff.. Keywords: multimodal discourse analysis, text-image rela

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VO HOANG NGUYEN

ANALYZING VERBAL-VISUAL INTERACTIONS IN THE

“IF YOU GIVE…” PICTURE STORYBOOK

BY LAURA NUMEROFF

MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8220201

MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

BINH DUONG PROVINCE – 2021

VO HOANG NGUYEN

ANALYZING VERBAL-VISUAL INTERACTIONS IN THE

“IF YOU GIVE…” PICTURE STORYBOOK

BY LAURA NUMEROFF

MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8220201

MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SUPERVISED BY PHAM THI HUONG, PH D

BINH DUONG PROVINCE – 2021

First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to the most important person,

my supervisor, Dr Pham Thi Huong, for her professional instruction and constant encouragement My thesis was finally accomplished thanks to her excellent academic and hearted guidance from the first day of my journey to the last chapter

of this thesis, her detailed feedback on every piece of my paper

I gratefully acknowledge Thu Dau Mot University in general, Postgraduate Department and Foreign Languages Department at Thu Dau Mot University in particular for allowing me to pursue this thesis I also thank to Dr Tran Thanh Du and other teachers and professors for their encouragement and lectures while I was taking the Master of Arts course at Thu Dau Mot University I also thank to my classmates in the Master of Arts course in the academic years 2017-2019 for their friendship and support throughout the years

My profound thanks are also reserved for the principal boards, the English lecturers, who gave me the best possible conditions to conduct the study

And last, but by no means least, I have enormously appreciated the endless love of my family who is always by my side I will never forget the day and night support of my parents, my brothers, to overcome all my life challenges

To all these significant people, I hope that the achievement of this thesis would make them feel pleased and satisfied enough

Except where reference is made, this thesis does not contain materials published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person's works are used without due acknowledgment in the main text of this thesis

This thesis has not been submitted to award any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Binh Duong, September 27th, 2021

VO HOANG NGUYEN

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

ABSTRACT xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Significance of the study 3

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Research questions 5

1.6 Structure of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Picture books 7

2.1.1 History of development ……… 7

2.1.2 Definition 9

2.1.3 Characteristics 10

2.1.4 Functions 11

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2.1.7 Multimodality 23

2.1.8 Text-image relationships 25

2.1.8.1 Definition of text-image relationships 25

2.1.8.2 The meaning of the text-image relationships 26

2.1.8.3 The nature of the text-image relationships 28

2.1.8.4 The framework of the text-image relationships 28

2.2 The overview of related studies 31

2.2.1 The relevant studies in Vietnam 31

2.2.2 The relevant studies around the world 33

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 44

3.1 Research design 44

3.2 Research questions 44

3.3 Materials 45

3.4 Summary of the author and selected stories 46

3.4.1 Laura Joffe Numeroff (the author) 46

3.4.2 Summaries of the series “If You Give …” 47

3.4.2.1 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985) 47

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3.5 Data analysis 50

3.6 Ethical considerations 52

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 53

4.1 Message of these selected stories 53

4.2 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 54

4.3 If You Give a Moose a Muffin 62

4.4 If You Give a Pig a Pancake 69

4.5 If You Give a Cat a Cupcake 77

4.6 If You Give a Dog a Donut 84

4.7 Findings 90

4.8 Discussion of results 92

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 97

5.1 Conclusions 97

5.2 Implications 99

5.3 Limitations of the study 103

5.4 Recommendation for further study 104

REFERENCES 107

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SFG Systemic Functional Grammar

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Occurrence frequencies of text-image relationships 56

Table 4.2 The frequencies of sub-types in Complementarity 57

Table 4.3 The frequencies of sub-types in Concurrence 58

Table 4.4 The frequencies of sub-types in Enhancement 60

Table 4.5 Occurrence frequencies of text-image relationships 63

Table 4.6 The frequencies of sub-types in Complementarity 64

Table 4.7 The frequencies of sub-types in Concurrence 66

Table 4.8 The frequencies of sub-types in Enhancement 68

Table 4.9 Occurrence frequencies of text-image relationships 70

Table 4.10 The frequencies of sub-types in Complementarity 72

Table 4.11 The frequencies of sub-types in Concurrence 73

Table 4.12 The frequencies of sub-types in Enhancement 75

Table 4.13 Occurrence frequencies of text-image relationships 78

Table 4.14 The frequencies of sub-types in Complementarity 79

Table 4.15 The frequencies of sub-types in Concurrence 80

Table 4.16 The frequencies of sub-types in Enhancement 82

Table 4.17 Occurrence frequencies of text-image relationships 85

Table 4.18 The frequencies of sub-types in Complementarity 86

Table 4.19 The frequencies of sub-types in Concurrence 87

Table 4.20 The frequencies of sub-types in Enhancement 89

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2 Framework of text-image relationships (Unsworth, 2006) 30

Figure 4.1 Sample of numbered full pages 55

Figure 4.2 Projection of wording 56

Figure 4.3 Text extends image 57

Figure 4.4 Image extends text 57

Figure 4.5 Text-image relationships exemplification 59

Figure 4.6 Text-image relationships as clarification below for the further information………60

Figure 4.7 Text enhances image temporally 61

Figure 4.8 Text enhances image casually 62

Figure 4.9 Sample of numbered full pages 62

Figure 4.10 Projection of wording 64

Figure 4.11 Text extends image 65

Figure 4.12 Image extends text 65

Figure 4.13 Text-image relationships exemplification 66

Figure 4.14 Text-image relationships as clarification below for the further information 67

Figure 4.15 Text enhances image temporally 68

Figure 4.16 Text enhances image casually 69

Figure 4.17 Sample of numbered full pages 69

Figure 4.18 Projection of wording 71

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Figure 4.19 Text extends image 72

Figure 4.20 Image extends text 72

Figure 4.21 Text-image relationships exemplification 74

Figure 4.22 Text-image relationships as clarification below for the further information 74

Figure 4.23 Text enhances image temporally 75

Figure 4.24 Text enhances image casually 75

Figure 4.25 Sample of numbered full pages 77

Figure 4.26 Projection of wording 78

Figure 4.27 Text extends image 79

Figure 4.28 Image extends text 79

Figure 4.29 Text-image relationships exemplification 81

Figure 4.30 Text-image relationships as clarification below for the further information 81

Figure 4.31 Text enhances image temporally 83

Figure 4.32 Text enhances image casually 83

Figure 4.33 Sample of numbered full pages 84

Figure 4.34 Projection of wording 85

Figure 4.35 Text extends image 86

Figure 4.36 Image extends text 86

Figure 4.37 Text-image relationships exemplification 88

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Figure 4.38 Text-image relationships as clarification below for the further

information 88

Figure 4.39 Text enhances image temporally 89

Figure 4.40 Text enhances image casually 90

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ABSTRACT

Both written and illustrative elements are indispensable for reading materials, especially in those targeted at children Incorporating distinctive meanings, languages, and images can unfold new-founded meanings in texts A functional geometric theory

on the interaction between the visual and scripted devices to create meaning can provide a text language

This study addresses the field of multimodal discourse analysis that looks at the multiple modes of communication, namely the interaction between text and image by investigating selected children’s picture storybooks It examined how the meanings in picture storybooks for children are built both verbally and visually The picture books are “If You Give ” series, presented in color pictures and verbal texts in English by Laura Joffe Numeroff The analysis explores the interaction of text and pictures in the formulation of idea content by using Unsworth’s (2006) framework The results indicate that these picture storybooks show both text and images relationships with different frequencies of appearance From there, the readers will see the good effects

of learning the English language through picture books Theoretically, the positive effects of learning English through picture books contribute to the materials used in teaching and learning English These effects also have a practical meaning in improving the method of teaching and learning English today, contributing to improving the level and logic of language thinking of learners As such, this study, contributing to the literature on young learners' multimodal texts, provides practical meaningful ramification in the context of teaching English as a second language, exploiting accessible multimodal resources to captivate young learners in the subject

of literary works and English proficiency advancement

Keywords: multimodal discourse analysis, text-image relationships, picture

storybooks, picture book, “If You Give…”, teaching and learning English

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Picture books are of highly aesthetic genres that tell stories via combining written and illustrated contents, therefrom interpretations of these books can be derived These interpretations express through verbal-visual interactions

In picture books, verbal-visual interactions encourage readers to create imaginative constructs corresponding to everyone Picture books define an array of classic characters and reflect societal behaviors, thus, provide readers with perspectives on possible roles and different worlds Picture books can help readers visualize what is related to the world around them Therefore, picture books can help readers develop logical thinking and linguistic thinking based on the way readers visualize through picture books

1.1 Background to the study

There is a wide range of approaches to picture books among the existing studies on children’s literature These narratives have been analyzed in connection with developmental psychology, in relation to their therapeutic effects on children and their thematic and stylistic diversity In most of these studies, the visual aspects have been considered as secondary, and their relationship to the verbal text has been practically ignored In the past 25 years, however, several critics have analyzed how these two forms of communication, the verbal and the visual, work together to create meaning in picture books They all seem to agree that the possible relationships between verbal and visual components range from those in which images simply illustrate or translate what is related in the words, to more complex and sophisticated forms of interaction Thus, the understanding of meaning not only requires the analysis of language in text, but also the study of other semiotic resources, such as images, gestures or sounds (Guijarro & Jesus, 2014)

This study analyses the relationship between visual and verbal modes in “If You Give…”, a series of picture storybooks written by Laura Joffe Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond for children Laura Joffe Numeroff is a New York Times bestselling author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Raising a Hero, and What Mommies/ Daddies Do Best “If You Give…” book series by Laura Joffe Numeroff with illustration by Felicia Bond is a suitable series book for parents and teachers who share an interest in assisting children to develop new languages The stories are described in simplified language, with a repetitive cause-and-effect structure that enables children to speculate on the narrative progression of these books; these are also the reasons why the researcher chooses this series to study Besides, each work

in the series is presented in very different ways, bringing meaningful lessons to readers as follows

The series “If You Give…” is for readers of varying ages with a diversity of underlying messages and has proven itself to be a must-have for parents and nursery

or kindergarten teachers These stories are introduced equally through all the cute animals for children following to different backgrounds and upbringing With the series being one of the long-lasting and beloved children's books since its publication, the conceptualization of the text-image relationships in these books in the series would be of great benefit to potential children's book authors in the future

1.2 Aims of the study

This study explores the verbal-visual interactions in the picture book series

"If You Give…." with the aim of discovering the meanings delivered within the language and images and how these modes intercorrelate with each other during the meaning-making process Using the "If You Give…" storybooks by Laura Numeroff, this study was undertaken to add to the field of multimodality analysis vis-a-vis identifying verbal and visual interactions The multimodal study of the pictures and words in picture books is expected to unpack meanings in this form of

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text which takes into consideration the complementary functions of both the verbal and visual modes

1.3 Significance of the study

This study can contribute to teaching and learning English in the Vietnamese context by exploring the multimodality of picture books The insights in the analysis

of the texts and images interactions further assist the reading of and for particularly children The knowledge can be used to facilitate the understanding of the message

to young readers and capture their attention throughout the story Children’s books are very diverse and creative, which can be easily seen in the bookstores, including not only Vietnamese books but also English books, given the increased popularity in the movement of letting children access English language from early ages The children themselves have to still depend on their parents and teachers in selecting the books to read, and still have limited knowledge of the English language and experiences with written texts They try to interpret the meaning of the stories by actively responding to the questions around their understanding of the text and images, their feelings towards looking at them, and making comments and repeating the reading way of their parents and teachers, through which the children can comprehend the texts through spoken interaction

The research findings are expected to lead to an understanding of meaning configuration in texts of the picture books plus the use of these texts during a reading process for children The meaning of the picture books is constructed from a complex interplay of the verbal and visual resources It means that this form of texts has a particular potential in providing rich literacy experiences when it is utilized by parents, teachers, caregivers, and any adults who have relationship with children from their early reading stages As such, the study explores how instances of picture book reading indicate a shared context of experience for a teacher or a parent and a child to explore both the meanings in and outside of the texts, as well as to discover

the use of language and images in the texts Above all, the role of the teacher or parent, in general an adult in mediating the experiences of reading practices will be crucial for assisting the children’ use of the language and the picture book texts in English language

Reading materials of children in both English and Vietnamese language are diverse as well The research findings of this study can be somehow important for the similar picture books in Vietnamese language, although this area must be investigated further in future studies due to the difference between the children learning Vietnamese as a native language and the English as the foreign language However, it is essential to have such background research like this one to expand additional similar studies In any case, the research findings are very meaningful for

a number of stakeholders involved in the reading process for children such as teachers, parents, educators, children, and the book publishers as well For the teachers and parents, they will have a better understanding towards their choice of the books for children Meanwhile, the book publishers and educators can determine their range of selection of which kind of books should better target the children at which age

1.4 Scope of the study

It is one of the best-selling series on The New York Times List Vivid illustrations, combined with the phrase "If then " are easy to make children's readers feel excited Besides, this study attempts to find the verbal and visual interactions within the five picture books by Laura Numeroff

1) If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 2) If You Give a Moose a Muffin 3) If You Give a Pig a Pancake 4) If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

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5) If You Give a Dog a Donut These five works are also the scope of study on the effectiveness of using picture books for teaching and learning the English language compared with conventional texts

1.5 Research questions

To address the research objectives, a key research question was formulated:

How are verbal-visual interactions expressed in the "If You Give…" picture books

series to show the meaning of the stories?

Considering the significance of the topic regarding visual storybooks in pedagogy, further follow-up question can help explore the topic further with regards

to the aim of the study: How would visual storybooks benefit ESL teachers in engaging very young learners, priming their interest and encouraging attention to the subject being taught?

These questions will be approached in the discussions following any findings

on the analysis of “If You Give .” series of picture books in the context of their meanings and application in pedagogy

1.6 Structure of the study

Apart from the abstracts and the references, the organization of current research is designed as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter entails background to the study, aims, and significance of the study, and the scope of the study, altogether with research questions as well as and the structure outline of this paper

Chapter 2: Literature review

This chapter presents a brief overview of some theoretical basics as the foundation for the theory applied to conduct current research as well as the literature review on relevant studies

Chapter 3: Methodology

This chapter describes the methodology used to conduct the research It also presents the sources from which the researcher collected data, the data collection procedure, data analysis process Besides, the reliability and validity of the research are also mentioned in this chapter

Chapter 4: Results and discussions

This chapter emphasizes an array of findings to satisfy the research questions mentioned in the first chapter This underscores the most significant characteristics

of the English language used in the "If You give…" picture storybooks The results

of the data analysis are then presented and described This chapter also includes further discussion and interpretation

Chapter 5: Conclusions and implications

This chapter summarizes the outcomes of the research, which has been discussed and described in detail in the preceding chapter, as the answers to the research questions Some conclusions drawn from the discussion are also presented

in this concluding chapter Based on the conclusion, the study suggests some implications followed by some discussion of the limitations of the research The chapter ends with some recommendations for further analysis

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter one provides an overview of the research Chapter two presents a brief overview of some theoretical basics as the foundation for the theory applied to conduct current research as well as the literature review on relevant studies

2.1 Picture books 2.1.1 History of development

Picture book attracts audience from a wide range of age, ranging from kindergarten children to old comics fans However, the history of comic book development is not yet a well-understood subject when considering its relative origin from prehistoric drawings and hieroglyphs If a picture book is defined as storytelling with pictures, then the images meticulously hand-drawn on the cave walls over 35,000 years ago can be acknowledged as picture books While picture books are an amalgamation of narrative pictures in combination with written components, ancient Egyptian murals can be recognized as the oldest comics For a very long time, pictures have been employed as instruments of vast potency to manifest religious themes and convey their message to their beholders The prime example is the Holy Scripture, being a compilation of anecdotes illustrated with brilliancy It's about the history of the appearance of picture books in human society

Regarding the history of the appearance of picture books in literature, this type of book gained acceptance in 1937 when The Caldecott Medal was created to honor the artist creating images in the most distinguished picture book of that year Maria Popova, a writer at the Atlantic and an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow and the creator/author of the online newsletter Brain Pickings Popova explain in her article named “A Brief History of Children’s Pictures Books and the Art of Visual Storytelling” as follows: “Though pictorial storytelling dates back to the earliest cave wall paintings, the true picture book harks back to a mere 130 years ago, when artist and illustrator Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) first began to elevate the

image into a storytelling vehicle rather than a mere decoration for the text”

(Popova, 2012) Another author, Maurice Sendak, who wrote Where the Wild Things Are in 1963 also mentioned Caldecott’s legacy as such: “Caldecott’s work heralds

the beginning of the modern He devised an ingenious juxtaposition of picture and word, a counterpoint that never happened before Words are left out—but the picture says it Pictures are left out—but the words say it In short, it is the invention of the picture book”

Until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when new developments in printing technology evolved and changing attitudes toward childhood emerged, the picture book becomes popular Notably, the picture book was also propelled into the modern culture by a pool of new exceptional artists During the 1950s, there was an interesting cultural shift that made the line between artist and author begin to blur and a wider appeal in the genre also started to grow A wave of authors and illustrators emerged on the scene, writing and illustrating picture books using vibrant paint and color in combination with book illustration This new breed of artist – author-illustrator created an influence on educators and scholars, as well as

on young learners and children (Weeks, 2013)

In the modern society of the past few years, as a new trend in enjoying and reading books, picture books have been more interested by Vietnamese readers than other books Not only readers, but also picture books are currently one of the most popular realms of publications by publishers because of very few words and expressing the content by visual and vivid pictures; but still exuding the intended and meaningful story However, picture books and comics are completely different

in concept as well as presentation The picture book is a type of book with literary content and illustrated with pictures, even real paintings (Pham, 2020) Meanwhile, comics have simple drawings showing the actions of the character (Pham, 2020) Comics are a form of visual storytelling with pictures and dialogue appearing at the

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same time (Pham, 2020) According to Pham Thu Thuy - the author of many picture books, this series of books tends to freeze time and capture the moment when the character is in the best pose, expressing the most emotions (Pham, 2020) Unlike stories with illustrations, words in picture books must always be accompanied by images and are very condensed and can even become maxims (Pham, 2020) Nowadays, picture books are currently being developed for different audiences, from children to the elderly, with diverse topics Especially suitable for children to get used to reading for the first time, the attraction from pictures helps them discover the story in their way

2.1.2 Definition

There are different definitions of picture books According to Seplocha and Strasser (2007), a picture book is to be distinguished from a children's book that contains only illustrations Within a picture book, both graphic and written elements are of equivalent paramountcy They must simultaneously fulfill three following criteria: what is told with words, what is told through the pictures, and what is conveyed from the combination thereof A picture book is considered a highly aesthetic genre, which together weaves words and pictures to tell a story Meanings

in picture books are inextricably constructed by art and text The differentiation between picture books and traditional storybooks is that traditional storybooks use pictures to supplement a text, therefore, they can be understood without reference to them Although illustrations are without doubt able to explain the story to the readers, some storybooks can still be understood without them (Wu, 2014) Nevertheless, words and pictures in the genre of picture books enable the readers to create literal realities in the world to correspond with them In general, in terms of the similarity between two authors Seplocha & Strasser (2007) and author Wu (2014) in the definition of picture books as picture books that will represent and

interpret textual content to help readers visualize the sequence of stories or what's relevant from the real world around

However, there are some other definitions as well Specially, Barbara (1976) also showed that the interdependence of pictures and words in a picture book should

be viewed as an experience of the children In picture books, authors define the range of canonical characters, reflecting our behavior modes, and therefore, providing a map of potential roles and worlds The type of picture books helps contribute to the formation and re-formation in our children of the cultural imagination, a network of patterns and templates through which human experience can be articulated and illustrated Interestingly, picture books bring children the shape of their identity as individuals and as members of socially symbolic reality In terms of differences in the definition of picture books, picture books encompass the social semiotic perspective with relation to cultural context and context of the situation

As a result, regardless of the definition, it can be seen that one epitome of utilizing the visuality in books without using much verbal instrument is comics They exploit the creativity of artists and story writers, where the medium can well transcend the writer’s thought It is a combination of visual arts and literature Nevertheless, literature is not always expedient, because sequential series of paintings without captions still enable viewers to understand the story's story and the characters' actions Moreover, comics are not merely entertaining; it also conveys abstract concepts beyond wordy description

2.1.3 Characteristics

Children's picture books could also be deemed as necessary things for literacy, literature, and social values While it is intuitive that the pictures would constitute most of the space in the books, it is reasonable to suppose that the books'

Lawrence Sipe (1998), “visual texts are on an equal footing with verbal texts […] It seems necessary, in the society, to make this point” (Sipe, 1998) Two kinds of

visual and verbal interactions were defined including congruency (which are elaboration, alternation, amplification, and extension) and deviation (which are opposition and counterpoint) (Schwarcz, 1982) More recently, researchers have also

specified that existing studies “do not recognize or explore …the wide array and diversity of the dynamics (i.e., image-text relations) that picture books embody”

(Nikolajeva & Scott, 2000) As the result, the relationship between picture and text has raised increased academic concerns in children book’s literature, but theoretic studies of image-text interactions in picture books for children are still a gap in the literature (Wu, 2014)

2.1.4 Functions

Debbie Ridpath Ohi (2013) advocates for the importance of picture books by listing several reasons, as following: (i) Picture books familiarize children with the concept of reading, even if they are yet illiterate; (ii) Picture books incentivize conversations amongst young and older readers; (iii) Visual thinking skills can be strengthened by picture books; (iv) Picture books help children connect what they observe with how they reason, linking concepts with words; (v) Picture books enhance children’s interest in art, in a way that merely taking a child to an art gallery

fails to achieve; (vi) Critical thinking of children can also be greatly benefited via picture books; (vii) Picture books give young readers a sense of control and help build self-confidence; (viii) Picture books introduce complex concepts without establishing too hazardous and hostile environments; (ix) Picture books help children discover themselves and the world; and lastly, (x) Picture books are enjoyable, and the key relies on inciting reading experience to be desired upon Without any doubt, picture books’ functions in enticing young children to read and interact with the text as an effective tool to stimulate and promote children’s creativity cannot be denied and have been the center of research in many studies (Weeks, 2013)

2.1.5 Benefits of visual storybooks 2.1.5.1 Visual storybooks from learners’ perspective

Making assumptions on the learners’ state of mind and state of knowledge regarding certain topics may be a discouraged practice However, it is important that teachers have an idea about where the learners stand regarding the purpose of having the selected topic in the curriculum In early-years education, making assumptions is both unavoidable and practical, about the very young learners’ level of memory capability, cognitive abilities, and logical thinking (Unsworth & Cléirigh, 2009) These assumptions set the baseline for developing a standard curriculum framework

in which more advanced measures can be added to account for individual learner’s learning progress The perspective of learners in general can be simply developed by asking the learners to describe on their own how they arrive at what they think they have learned However, for very young learners, the account of each child’s own descriptions about learning process must be further complemented with educator’s observation and analysis so that the learning perspective could be complete The problem with this complementary practice is that the differences between a child’s descriptions and the elaborate narration of a teacher make a poor combination for

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further analysis What the educator, as an adult, knows and feels about the study materials – which they took the time to analyze and prepare for the study session, may be at quite a distance from the perspective of the very young learners who may get to look at these pictures for the first time Recognizing the importance of analyzing the very young learners’ perspective on visual storybooks would be the first step to approaching the visual method critically in early-years pedagogy

A picture is regarded as worthy as a thousand words Educators have constantly been searching for effective ways to increase the literacy levels of their students The aspiration for engaging learners in reading activities at the nursery and

kindergarten level is strong, “more and more, the texts that students are being asked

to understand and interpret are not simply words; they are words and pictures”

(Danko-McGhee & Slutsky, 2011) A picture book is considered a unique art form,

with every meaningful aspect As Moreillon indicated, “in a true picture book, the illustrations are integral to the reader’s experience of the book, and the story would

be diminished or confusing without the illustrations” (Moreillon, 2017) The very

first reading experiences of many young children often relate to the use of picture books The literature review on children has well suited to the young learner because

it motivates reading while enabling the young child to luxuriate in the picture magic when unfolding the layers of the story

It has been widely agreed among researchers that pictures themselves are a language rather than being considered an addition to the verbal language In this sense, pictures are a language to both native English speakers and ESL learners, in

accordance with Beth Olshansky, the author of The Power of Pictures: Creating Pathways to Literacy Through Art who observes that, “as a visual language that runs parallel to our own verbal language, it is possible to teach the very same literary elements through the language of pictures as through the language of words” (Olshansky, 2008)

Pictures help promote the creativity of the readers well Picture books remind the audience that art is another way to communicate and learn about the world It is explained that when children explore illustrations and develop the ability to read images, they will gain a deeper understanding of literature The message of the images, if understood separately from the words will bring great value to the audience (Weeks, 2013) It is agreed that learners should learn the ways that images communicate social value so that they are able to identify visual stereotypes Through both text and imagery of the picture books, social messages that teachers need to teach and pupils, including the children need to learn will be expressed (Eubanks, 2015) This will result in an awareness of the usage of visual images in the learners’ own creative processes Following Soundy and Qiu, it is believed that

“picture books have the potential to not only secure a set of technical skills but also

to imagine, to think outside the box of conventions and to move into the powerful area where true meaning and aesthetic creation reside” (Soundy & Drucker, 2010)

Pictures assist readers to understand language nuances and improve knowledge As the picture books are composed of morphological and functional features, which combine written and illustrated languages, design skills, metaphors, and visions of the world, energies that together contribute to the production of a physical object, pictures also support emerging readers to understand certain language nuances, such as metaphor, humor or emotion (Bianquin & Sacchi, 2017) From the first classic tales, the children can understand the language of art and illustration through the juxtaposition of basic shapes and limited colors, then they go through the story, again and again, to be able to turn information of all types into pictures, thus learning to navigate back and forth from the visual to the verbal Through reading, the children go through a process of understanding the art language as they turn information of all types into pictures which help communicate information, thus learning to navigate from the visual to the verbal back and forth

According to Lori (2010), picture books play an important role in children's development because of the following 10 important things:

1) Picture books have fun pictures, and it is important to always make the reading experience enjoyable and a time to look forward to Reading is never considered a chore If you make reading a chore early in your child's development, they may become discouraged from reading Children who don't naturally progress from picture books to chapter books may turn reading into working - more specifically, working without a lot of fun

2) Picture books allow a completely different because it is more interactive communication between parents and children Picture books allow parents to spend time talking with their children about stories, pictures, and words This interaction builds reading comprehension The picture book allows you to talk

about what you see on each page, so be sure to talk about what happened in the story, ask about the characters, their feelings, and events that took place 3) Picture books help develop a sense of the story Children learn the beginning, middle, and end of a story and can often relate age-appropriate issues and conflicts presented in a picture book

4) Picture books can be a useful tool to teach the concept of cause and effect Before reading the picture book to your child, let your child listen to keywords such as because, so, if then, as a result of, etc These types of words can often be found in a story of cause-and-effect relationships

5) Picture books are multi-sensory books, which support children's developing brains and stimulate their imagination They not only listen to the story but also see the illustrations, smell, and touch the pages

6) The repetition in many picture books allows the child to take part in the story Young readers get excited when they can anticipate an upcoming line and the kids learn skills like phonetic recognition, phonetic understanding, and fluency

7) Language: Picture books allow children to practice the sounds of language Under the parent's role, we have a responsibility to introduce new and interesting words wherever we are The rhythms and rhymes in many picture books create great reading ability, and children learn words more easily when they hear them speak often

8) Children love art Why do you think they spend so much time coloring, drawing, and crafting? Regardless of the reason, children are attracted to a book It is a means of getting them to read

9) Picture book illustrations help children understand what they are reading and allow young readers to analyze the stories When the children have

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difficulty, the illustrations can help them figure out the meaning of what they are reading Illustrations are also an effective way to help English learners understand the story

10) Chapter books are not necessarily more complicated than picture books Their vocabulary and sentence structure can be considered simplistic when compared to picture books at an earlier level Many picture books are written

at a higher reading level, used surprisingly complex vocabularies, and come

up with interesting content stories

In general, using picture books is beneficial to young readers Picture books,

as mentioned above, are considered a unique art form that evokes the meaning of a story Not only that, but it also contributes to facilitating the expansion of literacy through pictures Besides, picture books are considered as literary elements that reflect the context and characters in each story It helps children develop the ability

to read pictures and will deepen their understanding of literature In addition, it also conveys social messages and enhances creativity, sparking a rich imagination Pictures also help readers understand the nuances of the language and improve their knowledge of the world around them, as well as convey more messages to the reader Picture books also help children develop many other areas, such as mathematical thinking In addition, picture books play an important role in children's development such as forming reading habits from a young age, encouraging interaction between parents and children, developing emotions, teaching children meaningful lessons, supporting the development of the brain and senses, developing language skills and a love of the arts, as well as analytical ability However, parents should encourage the children to get to work on everything they can, including picture books, comics, and even kid-friendly websites They should not focus on one thing As long as parents need to teach the kids how to learn to love books In the future, they will be the kids who grow up to be good readers

2.1.5.2 Visual storybooks from educators’ perspective

For educators to decide on picture books that will work best for their young readers, it was advised to shift from focusing on the text to focus on the images in a picture book The readers are recommended to concentrate on the pictures, as opposed to looking at the writing for its literary elements Particularly, illustrations can tell readers about the setting, the characters, the problem, and the solution in the most informative way (Olshansky, 2008) Illustrations can also set the mood in a picture book They are effective in teaching about theme or plot and may even provide different viewpoints to explore Sometimes illustrations imply a rather different or even contradictory story than the text intentional or unintentionally The author also described the interweaving of the language of pictures and the language

of words, which can aid to communicate more than language could ever convey on its own (Fang, 1996)

The above studies have partly proved that reading stories is the most effective language learning method for children Stories have a great influence not only on linguistic thinking but also on children's understanding and emotional capacity Thus, there are six benefits of learning and teaching English through picture books

as follows:

1) Children should learn English through stories, which is the most natural way to break down the barrier of unknowing English and thinking afraid of English in children

Stories of all kinds bring special interests to young children An interesting story will help children remove the thought that learning English is difficult Beautiful images in the story help children feel excited when reading stories, accurately understand the content of the story, thereby enhancing children's reading comprehension and language development

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When children are interested in the content of the stories, it also means that children are interested in the words and sentences are written in that story Because of that, the words will naturally enter the child's head without restraint And when children like a certain story, they often read it over and over again, which makes it difficult for children to forget the vocabulary they have learned through stories

2) Improve vocabulary for children The amount of vocabulary in the story is diverse and rich on many different topics, providing children with large and necessary vocabularies, which is an important foundation for children to understand and use English flexibly and correctly

3) Developing grammar skills Children read stories and get acquainted with many characters in the story, and the characters go through many different situations, so that children can learn sentence structures and how to use communication sentences appropriate to each context

4) Training the eyes The fact that children love to read picture books can make some parents worried because it will lead to myopia in the long run The truth is that this only happens when reading stories in low light for too long

When reading picture books, your baby's eyes need to move continuously to absorb the story through each page Children's eyes are continuously directed

to receive the words, the dialogue boxes of each character, the arrangement of images, the layout of the content If this reflex is done regularly, the child's vision will be better trained, with increased sensitivity and observation ability

5) Increasing the ability to think and reason Picture books express content with images, so many parents believe that this makes children lose the ability to reason and express This view goes against the true nature of picture books, which is a harmonious combination of images and words If you choose quality picture books, you will help your child improve this skill

Children can develop the ability to associate when reading each line and then guessing the meaning of the image and vice versa Besides, picture books that have a context related to real-life are easier for children to understand the things around them At a higher reading level, you can find picture books where the words and narration are not meant to explain the image, but rather guide the story forward This helps children understand the cause-effect relationship, which is necessary for logical reasoning in later learning

6) The beginning of a love of reading The habit of reading can be something you want to instill in your children from a young age For children who do not know all the words (primary school), or lazy to read, or more especially have symptoms of dyslexia, reading picture books will be a great way to create this habit

Colorful images are the first attraction of children to the page Next, children read the words to understand the whole story If children read comic books regularly, children can prepare their vocabulary to be ready to read text stories Next, increase the number of words you read with illustrated books By the time your child can read books completely, help them maintain this habit because it will help their learning and thinking

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2.1.6 Guidelines for using picture books

1) It is recommended to use familiar characters and beautiful images

- Characters in picture books should use familiar images in life to help children develop speaking and language skills in everyday situations

- We should pay attention to the beautiful images in the story to help children feel excited when reading the story and understand exactly the content of the story From there, we can enhance children's reading comprehension and language development The series “If You Give ” uses vivid and extremely beautiful images, including 2 types: cartoon pictures, drawing pictures

2) Story-based lesson system Story-based lessons are lessons that use a story to teach children important language skills such as Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing If it is delivered to the lesson plans, English teachers should consider the following points:

- The knowledge and skills that need to be introduced to the child have to be arranged scientifically, under the child's ability to concentrate and absorb

- Children can learn knowledge and directly apply the content they have just learned through the process of learning and reading stories

- Children are more interested in the lesson because the lesson content is combined with comic books to avoid boredom

- Language activities are deployed more diverse than traditional teaching methods

- Children can understand English grammar and usage of grammar while writing and speaking English

- Children can understand how to use English vocabulary when writing

- Children can understand vocabulary and skills to analyze texts/situations to predict the meaning of new words

- Children can use single words, phrases, and sentences flexibly

- Children can develop intensive reading comprehension skills: understand the story's content, grasp the vocabulary and sentence structure in the story; Synthesize learned knowledge and compare it with newly learned content

- The teacher should classify vocabulary by word type and by topic

3) Promoting the role of a leader

At first, children will have to depend on reading and parent/teacher interaction

As children's reading skills increase, the role of a leader decreases, children can become independent in reading During this time, the leaders need to manage their children's experiences with picture books, promptly correct inappropriate thinking for children as well as support when children have difficulties in reading Over time, as the child gets used to the book, the leaders will interact less with the child and until new picture books are introduced The cycle needs

to be repeated The language which the leaders use when sharing with the child about picture books should be appropriate for the child's age and level of English

During the first sharing for a new book, the leader should keep the following in mind:

- Make sure your children are close enough to see your pronunciation, eye contact, face, and body language This is a condition that helps children feel excited and have a lot of emotions with the content of the story

- Let children observe the pictures when parents read the content, to help children get information by pictures, facilitate more understanding

- Regularly interrupt daily conversations with children with a phrase or two from picture books to help children remember and deepen what they have learned

2.1.7 Multimodality

In many different works, authors often use multimodality to convey content

to readers in order to diversify content to avoid boredom for readers Multimodality means using a variety of sentences, but often brief and clear, or a combination of images and examples to illustrate the accompanying text Van Leeuwen (2005) stated that multimodality refers to the diversity of modes used for representation It can be derived from linguistic, prismatic, imagery, structural, paternal, or typeface origin The multimodal explanation of spoken or written language considers all information that is being conveyed, regardless of forms and presentations, especially when different modes of communication are invoked in conjunction with each other to impart meanings

According to Adami (2016), the multimodality field has significantly grown

in relation to the study of language, text, and society For over two decades, multimodality has been introduced and developed as different resources used in communication to express meaning From the aspect of being a phenomenon of communication, multimodality defines the combination of different semiotic

resources, or modes, in texts and communicative events, such as “still and moving

image, speech, writing, layout, gesture, and/or proxemics” (Adami, E 2016)

From the aspect of a field of inquiry, research in multimodality concerns the development of theories, analytical tools, and descriptions that approach the research about representation and communication considering modes as an organizing principle As a communication phenomenon, the term “Multimodality”

is not only used by multimodal analysts, but also by works concerned with texts and meaning, such as linguistics and communication studies, focusing on language analytically (Adami, E 2016) Meanwhile, as a field of research, multimodality conceives representation and communication relying on a multiplicity of modes, all of which have been socially developed as resources to make meaning (Adami,

E 2016) For instance, modes such as gesture, sound, image, color, or layout are thought of as a set of organized resources that societies have developed – each to a greater or lesser level of articulation in different social groups – to make meaning and to express and shape values, ideologies, and power relations When in combination with speech and/or writing, they are not a mere accompaniment of, or support to verbal language, as labels such as para-/extra-linguistic or non-verbal might suggest Instead, each concurs with a specific functional load to the meaning made by the overall text For such reason, multimodality really deserves attention Multimodal research on picture books has contributed to the reading process conceptualization as a meaning-making activity The analysis has displayed how the verbal text and the visual images, as well as the integration of both semiotic modes, can contribute to meanings that are generated in the texts In another word, the texts

in picture books are configured by meaning-making devices of the combined written and visual resources Thus, learning to read, like learning a language, should cover learning the operation modes both verbally and visually in the context of use within

a text (Chu, 2011)

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In terms of expression, approaches underlying multimodality to propose communication and representation to be not only about language but also the full range of communication forms people use such as image, gesture, gaze, and posture,

as well as the relationships between them To put it simply, language is only one of the semiotic systems accounted for in a multimodal perspective As communication and representation of meaning more often than not involve more than the exchange

of words, this approach takes into consideration the other modes that play a part in any meaning-making transaction It is this attention afforded to the multiplicity of modes that is fundamental to this study, especially in considering the compositional modes of children’s picture books According to Royce (2007), the theoretical basis underpinning the multimodal approach is based on the framework of Inter-semiotic Complementarity developed as the analytical tool used in the study In terms of assumptions, following Jewitt (2016), four theoretical assumptions in relation to a multimodal perspective are proposed as such: first of all, language is part of a multimodal ensemble; secondly, each mode in a multimodal ensemble is understood

as realizing different communicative work; thirdly, meaning is orchestrated through people’s selection and configuration of modes; and fourthly, meanings of signs are social (Chu, 2011)

2.1.8 Text-image relationships

2.1.8.1 Definition of text-image relationships

Text is among the general terms that are mostly assumed to require no special definition One of the problems here is whether to tackle text as a linguistic (thus a further diminishing written) coherent whole/system or to expand the notion according to the works of the Tartu-Moscow school, as a basic unit of a certain culture, a bearer of compact meaning and function The expansion of the term, starting in the second half of the 1960s, into various fields (e.g., images, films, and music are also regarded as readable texts) has made it rather vague and obscure On

the one hand, the text is indeed a tempting opportunity to signify the realizations of, for example, various arts or different media with a common denominator, stressing their common features and, at the same time, is the manifestation of a linguistic paradigm In general usage, the text is connected with verbal expression and, if we want to expand the term, we have to find something new to create a narrower meaning The following distinguishes between text in its narrower and wider senses Text in the narrower sense is an intentional message expressed in a natural language Text in the wider sense — hereafter denoted as text — is an intentional, coherent, and compact carrier of the meaning, which can rely on homogeneous, as well as on heterogeneous, semiotic systems A more detailed restriction of text in each case is inevitably intuitive and cannot be fully formalized (Sarapik, 2009)

When combining text and images, it will create a unique feature for the text

On the relationship between written text and images, Kress (2003) identified two kinds of logic behind each of these modes Text is dictated by the sense of time or temporal sequence with its meaning inferred from the chronological composition Visual image is governed by the rules of spatiality, organized arrangements, and simultaneity, with its meaning compiled from interpreting the relationship and interplay of the presented visual components (Kress &van Leeuwen, 1996)

2.1.8.2 The meaning of the text-image relationships

Text-image relationships of a multimodal text may be studied from their relative contribution of each model to the construction of meaning in the text or the distribution of semiotic modes For example, Text-image relationships in terms of their equal/unequal contributions to meaning were classified as below (McCloud,

1993, p 10):

1) word specific, where pictures illustrate but do not significantly add to a largely complete text;