Teachers’ Reflections on the Visual Resources in English Textbooks for Vietnamese Lower Secondary Schools

Abstract

The prominent role of visual resources in language classrooms has long been advocated, as many argued that images could go beyond providing students with a visual background of the context or arousing motivation (Unsworth & Ngo, 2014). This article explores the roles of the visual resources drawn from an English textbook series used in Vietnamese schools, and the teachers’ reflections on their use of those visuals in practice. A qualitative approach was employed, involving in-depth interviews with teachers, along with an analysis of the visual resources using Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) framework of grammar of visual design. The findings show that the theoretical perspective resonates with the teachers’ reflection in using visual resources in teaching and learning activities. The findings confirmed the importance of visuals in teachers’ practices, but also highlighted the limitations of some images as useful resources for classroom learning. It was suggested that more attention be given to the multimodal nature of the text, and their significant contribution to meaningful learning activities. The selection of images in language textbooks should be more strategically and theoretically driven in order to prepare language-learning students with the ability to negotiate meanings across semiotic modes.

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