Supporting Elementary-Age ELs with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education: Literacy Events for Families Using Wordless Books

Strength in storytelling: Peacebuilding via wordless books

“…Instead, when using wordless books, readers become their own narrators, translating the images into stories filled with verbal sounds, expressions, and creative interpretations. Educators have long recognized the value of wordless books in language and literacy learning due to the freedom and flexibility they offer (Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022; Wiesner, 2021). Nonetheless, as students move through the grades in formal schooling, print is often favored over creativity, storytelling, and imagination.…”

“…Thus, the curriculum might push educators, regardless of where they teach, to stop using wordless books and, instead, use text‐based books as the norm for learning (Senokossoff, 2013). However, scholars agree that wordless books can be used by readers of all ages (Arizpe et al, 2014) as they equally support the literacy and emotional development of young children, adolescents, and families/adults (Agosto, 2016; Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022; Iordanaki, 2021; Jalongo et al, 2002), and can also foster positive attitudes toward reading and books in general (Arizpe et al, 2014; Rizqiyani & Azizah, 2019).…”

“…In the ELT field, wordless books have been used as a tool to develop oral language (Lindauer, 1988), print literacy (McAdam & Sinkie, 2013; Peregoy & Boyle, 2017), reading, writing, listening, speaking, creating thinking, and problem‐solving skills (Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022; Martínez‐Alba & Cruzado‐Guerrero, 2015), with little attention being paid to their potential as a tool to support the peacebuilding and social–emotional needs of multilingual learners inside and outside learning spaces. Similarly, keeping in mind that wordless books often include culturally bound signs and symbols imbued with cultural values and representations, using them increases students' capacity for understanding and making meaning of new signs, symbols, and signifiers around them, which give meaning to the human experience and serve important functions in life (Thibault, 2004).…”

Wordless but not silent: Unlocking the power of wordless picture books

“…Despite the variance in nomenclature, one common characteristic is that there is a dependency on illustrations for both meaning and storyline. WPBs implicitly “showcase the art of visual storytelling” (Louie & Sierschynski, 2015, p. 106) with images becoming powerful sources of information, especially for those with limited language or reading proficiency (Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022). For simplicity, we will use the term wordless picture books .…”

“…Each year, a listing of WPBs published that year and recommended for students is published by the School Library Journal (see the appendix for links to the School Library Journal 's recommendations from 2018 to 2022). Although these have increased awareness of WPBs among illustrators, librarians, and preschool teachers, they are still relatively unused in schools (Serafini, 2014), and many people are unaware of the benefits these books can offer language learners (Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022).…”