Solving the Problem of the Language Literacies for a Subject Area Visual Arts - Literature review Example

EDUC 6741 Solving the problem of the language literacies for a subject area visual arts Introduction For so many schools, it is assumed that the only literary skills that one needs on order to advance were in reading and writing. However, this is not entirely true because other abilities also count and are as well important. There is high evidence supporting students who have been able to reach high education heights with no or little literacy abilities[FAd11]. In order for students to be able to attain this, it is important that visual arts literacy is taught in a more systematic manner and with regard to student abilities. One of the ways that this can happen is through brainstorming, conferencing, cooperative learning and experimenting using various visual arts images. According to Adiloglu (2011, pp.23), a student’s failure to cope with the growing demands of reading and writing, is bound to have a negative impact in the student’s self-esteem, attitude, motivation and ability to learn across curriculum. However, some literary statistics have always assumed that by completing primary school education, it openly proves that the student is literate enough. Benson & Lunt (2011, pp. 35), suggests that there is a growing number of students in the developed world who though in secondary schools, still need more re-mediation. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the challenges faced by students and teachers when teaching visual arts literacy. The essay looks at the visual arts literacy in the context of Australian and Saudi Arabia students and how this kind of literacy can be taught in the two types of students[CBe11]. To do this, the essay discusses the skills used by teachers and students in learning, by looking at the nature of literacy, challenges of teaching visual arts literacy and ways in which teachers can help Australian and Saudi Arabia students learn and embrace visual arts literacy[LBo82]. Visual Arts literacy Visual arts literacy refers to the ability of a student to understand and highly think, create or communicate graphically. This means that visual arts literacy student will be able to look at any kind of image critically, carefully and with the eye that describes the intention of the creator[PMo09]. These types of skills are always applied equally to any type of image; for example photographs, drawings, paintings and graphic arts. Some of these images have also been well molded in order to describe political and other social and economic events through cartoons and book illustrations as well. Other areas include books, maps, charts and graphs[MOT12]. All of these images are made in a way that they are able to communicate visual literacy and allow the viewer to collect information and ideas that are contained in the image, be able to place them in a particular context and also determine whether they are valid or not (Brumberge, 2011). The Nature of Literacy According to O'Toole, Burke, &Absalom, (2012), the nature of literacy can be adopted in several situations in order to convey a particular meaning. This is why literacy exists in different fomrs and it is up to the learner to decode the words. In this regard, O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom argues that literacy does not only refer to one way of thinking. It does not only look at the person’s abilityt to read and write, however, literacy can also be presented in different manners that include intercultural, visual, technological, semiotic and media(O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 131-139). These skills are usually classified in different levels; the first knowledge is reading and decoding words and sentences. However, the reading of comprehension is also as important as any other form. This means that teachers need to work more in order to help their students in making sense of what they read apart from only decoding of words[HDa05]. This type of understanding is important and calls for a broad vocabulary, experience with regard to content area and the critical thought. In addition it is important that teachers of visual literacy make use of different approaches and strategies that will help their students to come up with a contextual understanding of what they are reading[SCP11]. With reference to the first level of literacy, the level contains very simple knowledge that consists of basic identification of elements in a photograph, the subject matter, graphic and work of art. All these skills are important in identifying details of images with are included in the chosen discipline. For example, in order to conduct a scientific enquiry, it is important that a careful observation is made [MOT12]. However, in the same sense, as we have stated that an accurate observation in important in this discipline, it is also important that students have a better understanding of what they see and are able to comprehend visual relationships which are also as important(Hetland, Winner, S.Veenema, & Sheridan, 2009). These types of literacy requires one to have critical thinking skills which are always important to any student in any context, so long as there is information being conveyed through visual formats such as maps and charts. These type of understandings are also important for any student who is attempting to make sense of the barrage of images that they may have to face with regard to different texts and resources on the web (O'Neil, 2011, pp. 35). There are so many disciplines where visual literacy skills have been employed[EBr11]. For example when we look at observation, it is defined as being an integral part of any science. For example when we use technology within the classroom setting, the multiliteracies mentioned above need to be highly considered, this will enable students to get an opportunity where they can be engaged and taken care of with regard to their different literacy styles[MOT12]. Critique on the other hand is useful especially when considering what needs to be included in an essay with regard to language arts and it is also a better part of examining and type of visual image. Deconstruction on the other hand if it is employed in a mathematical problem solving with seek the help of images in order to crop and evaluate different elements and different ways in which they relate to one another (Moriarty & D.Kennedy, 2009). When it comes to advertising, there is often the use of bias when it comes to approaching different visual formats that require different visual understanding. There are several media specific techniques with which a teacher can use to assist students with information in various types of image and also be able to analyse that information in the end build their own communication skills[LHe09]. Solutions to the problems of illiteracy in the visual arts in Saudi Arabia and Australia According to Pardieck (2011), there is usually little or no difference with regard to how a child observes and the way he reacts to his or her own surrounding, this means that some of the modes that are used in solving problems of language literacy are able to be developed through social interaction and observation as well for both the Australian and the Saudi Arabia students. However, when we move aside from the achievement of visual literacy, we will discover several gaps in the comprehension and knowledge of students[KEO11]. Also according to O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom (2012), Multiliteracies should refer to the way we intepret and interact with our world on a daily basis. With this regard, In a class of visual arts, one easily focuses on the visual aspects of literacy and may be likely to ignore the other important aspects. This can happen when when the designed resource is made in a way that it can incorporate all the mentioned literary styles and its approach on the topic and quality of what is being taught. At this point one can easily reach a point of literary style even though at some point it will be deemed relevant to make concious effort and decision so as to include such questions and techniques during the planning of a lesson and interpretation of the same in a pedagological context(O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 119-127). With regard to literacy learning, whenever children are introduced to literacy of any kind, they will first learn in through pictures from books. It is in this first place that they learn to associate with the pictures in order to find meaning since they are not able to read at this stage[RSe13]. By use of illustrations or imagery, students are able to be guided though understand and also foster a comprehension with regard to the story being told. Various and illustrators have use of words and pictures so as to enhance the telling of complex meaningful stories to children. According to Benson & Lunt (2011, pp.57), from the very time that a student looks at a picture in a book, one automatically gets the message that is in the book. Also Daniels (2005, pp.34), adds that even when it comes to young new readers, visual arts and visual text are able to play an important role when it comes to reading and writing. It is actually be that there could be hesitation when it comes to teaching visual literacy in the class due to the fact that teacher have the tendency of feeling that they are not well trained in visual literacy strategies(Pardieck, 2011). This is why it is important that different types of reading comprehension strategies like visualizing, text-to-text, questioning and determining the main idea with cha be applied in visual arts so as to teach students on visual literacy in an more close manner that teachers and students will be able to embrace. It is for such a reason that when a teacher teaches young students to read by the help of picture books, one should also provide them with the skills of reading images. When it comes to beginners, there should be ample time provided for them to be able to develop several basic visual literacy skills by the help of pictures in books[RSe13]. To add on this, pictures should be able to also provide important information that can be understood as well as inferred. This kind of knowledge is discovered by use of visual arts literacy skills. And even though one might find intergrating visual images into an existing reading comprehension as being a step in the right direction, the images are used to only address the first have of visual literacy[KEO11]. This is because, reading comprehension instruction will only look at the lowest cognitive function of understanding and remembering. For a student to be literate in text and visuals, there should be the application of high cognitive function being addressed. O’neil (2005, pp.102), adds that visual literacy needs to be included in all school curricula if the teachers will want to adequately prepare their students for a world that shall be surrounded by or driven by images(O'Neil, 2011, pp. 23-27). Understanding According to O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, (2012, pp. 35-54), the purpose of language is not only about communication but also about identity. People are able to identify themselves with certain language, for example the French and their accent, the Indians and the Ephramites in the christian bible. Here language provides a sense of identity to a particular culture. With this regard, it is important that students understand the role of a language, be it in written or visual arts form[LHe09]. The same issue also applies in solving mathematical problems and the use of visual literacy. Available literature in this area focuses mainly on the use of the visual arts with regard to language, literature and social studies as well (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 119-120). According to Seglem& Whitten (2013), when the teacher is preparing students to read certain texts, the main focus by the student is usually on the vocabulary and the words, however very little attention is given on the visual arts that is utilized. The purpose of exploratory study for example, is meant to better understand the student's perception of diagrams and their skills with regard to the way that they interpret these diagrams. In other areas it is also believed that some diagrams that are found in learning texts can be complex repositories of meaning and that students can benefit from instruction on how to unlock these diagrams[RSe13]. With regard to such studies, we find that visual arts can be used to provide an insight from students on how the diagrams function and their purpose and ways in which they can put such diagrams in to use. According to Seglem&Whitte (2013, pp.23-28), interpretation of visual arts is not usually intuitive to students, however, O’neil (2005, pp. 34-35), suggests that the visual arts skills should be impacted in the students so that they are able to interpret science diagrams. They need to integrate this in to existing reading comprehension instruction so that students can better understand and interpret visual arts[MOT12]. Application of visual arts and vocabulary When it comes to language literacy problems, the visual elements of a texts are important in helping students develop vocabulary skills due to the fact that students are able to connect the visual arts elements with words[PMo09]. As the students continue to learn more and more vocabulary, they begin to connect these concepts as well. The connection between shows how visual arts is used at the application level of literacy, however this does not mean that it presents best practice principle with regard to active learning[LHe09]. The extent of visual literacy O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, (2012, pp. 45-47) argues that, by the time that a student reaches the post-secondary level of education, most of them do not have the skills that are considered visually literate/ it is thus assumed that modern students are usually visually literate doe to the fact that they most of them are of the digital age, at times referred to as millennia learners. These are students who are growing surrounded by new technologies like computers, cell phones and video games. According to O’neil (2005), who came up with the name digital native, the continuous exposure to such technologies have come to produce an enhanced thinking skills in several areas some of which are usually visually oriented. With regard to having implicit visual skills, O’neil (2005), supports this theory and goes on to suggest that digital learners have a growing ability to read and interpret visual arts since they have become intuitive visual communicators who have the ability to weave together text, sound and images in a more natural way than before. These type of students are also able to insinuate the fact that they have become more visually literate than the past generation of learners, As a generation, student learning through visual arts, are just like any other group of students, they are mostly bombarded with visual information meaning that they inherently become visual literate[FAd11]. Advocates of such notion may not easily provide empirical evidence or classroom studies that will back up or support such claim. With regard to a full understand of the importance of visual arts and acknowledging the fact that there is a big gap between actual competency and visual arts literacy and the perceived literacy; it is the obligation of each educator to stay updated with the best practice and formally incorporate visual arts literacy skills in to the school curriculum assessment and instruction[SCP11]. At this point, the process behind designing something and the process of learning something all are geared towards achieving the outcome. This means that the manufacturers of visual arts and the educators should work together in order to create a mutual understanding of the visual arts material being delivered[FAd11]. Just like the way a student is able to show his or her work in solving a math problem, not only interpreting the answer, the sketch and the finished work of the designer should be able to have a clear connection. The process of designing may also reveal more that would be the finished work with regard to the thoughtful processes that are used to solve literacy problem (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 149-152). According to a graphic designers by the name Moriarty, P.; D.Kennedy (2009),, design is nothing but a process of seeking and searching. Here the sketch or the rehearsal is meant to reveal the thought process of the creator in a way that a finished work may not be able to do. In this regard, education is also looked at as being a design, it works to create a unique approach to solving problems (Moriarty & D.Kennedy, 2009). This will need different problem solving skills and will challenge the student to think beyond one method and also be able to answer promptly with regard to critical thinking in different level of literacy[LBo82]. This is the kind of critical thinking that the teacher may want to foster in the classroom. What visual arts teachers in Saudi Arabia should do to help saudi students For Visual arts teachers in Saudi Arabia, it will be important to differentiate learners with regard to their first language command. One of the areas that this could be helpful is by introducing visual arts learning as priority areas in learning. This will ensure that all students are able to follow up to the end by implementing visual arts literacy. Visual arts literacy should also be made as natural as possible, for example instead of using such things as social media and other online platforms to educate students[HDa05]. Teachers could use shapes and other physical signs or body language in order to express different issues with regard to the students’ needs at the moment. The other way that a teacher can be able to assist students in Saudi Arabia will be through the practice of critical learning. This could be easy where students are asked to describe or come up with a story out of an image they have seen or places that they have visited with their teachers. With this in mind a teacher will be able to analyze the student’s visual arts skills and be able to understand his or her strengths and weaknesses[CBe11]. Also by providing visual arts assignments that are related to where they natively come from would make it easy for the students to learn and appreciate visual arts literacy more. Visual arts literacy is about conceptualizing what one sees and being able to express it graphically or in other forms of literacy, with this in mind, teachers should always remember that each student has a special learning need and should be treated with this kind of respect[LHe09]. Lastly student literacy issues can also be solved by teachers when they begin to introduce different types of visual literacy in a procedural manner; it is important that the teacher identifies what the learner is special in and builds in nurturing the weaknesses[PMo09]. For Saudi Arabia students, the teacher should insist in using native learning tools. Conclusion The above essay proves that students face different challenges with regard to literacies for a subject in visual arts literacies and the importance in has in education and learning in general. In order for visual arts teachers to assist students in Australia and Saudi Arabia understand visual arts literacy then it is important that the following areas are looked in to; first of all the teacher can integrate visual information written information so that the student will be able to related what is in the picture and the written text. This can also work very well for students in Saudi Arabia since for most of them, English is usually taken as being the second language. The second strategy will be to enable students use their viewing skills and strategies to interpret visual media of all for students so as to add on the, teachers can also provide students with the task of reading a wide range of print and non-print texts, this will enable them grasp the meaning of each visual art and relate it to the subject[RSe13]. Teachers should also prepare their students for and allow them to participate effectively in several collaborations and conversations with different subjects, this will enable them to best utilize their cognitive functions each time a teacher addresses visual arts literacy in the classroom[LBo82]. If visual arts literacy is to be implemented in classrooms and other areas of learning and provide results, then teachers and learners need to implement best practice principles and take their students skills level to an enhanced literacy learning process. Works Cited FAd11: , (Adiloglu, 2011, pp. 24-32), CBe11: , (Benson & Lunt, 2011, pp. 23-31), LBo82: , (Borgia & Owles, 2010), PMo09: , (Moriarty & D.Kennedy, 2009), MOT12: , (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 43-49), HDa05: , (Daniels & M.Bizar, 2005, pp. 35-39), SCP11: , (Pardieck, 2011, pp. 12-15), MOT12: , (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 34-38), EBr11: , (Brumberge, 2011, pp. 19-22), MOT12: , (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 45-51), LHe09: , (Hetland, Winner, S.Veenema, & Sheridan, 2009, pp. 41-46), KEO11: , (O'Neil, 2011, pp. 23-45), RSe13: , (Seglem & Whitte, 2013, pp. 87-89), RSe13: , (Seglem & Whitte, 2013, pp. 55-67), KEO11: , (O'Neil, 2011, pp. 34-41), LHe09: , (Hetland, Winner, S.Veenema, & Sheridan, 2009), RSe13: , (Seglem & Whitte, 2013, pp. 23-37), MOT12: , (O'Toole, Burke, & D.Absalom, 2012, pp. 88-93), PMo09: , (Moriarty & D.Kennedy, 2009, pp. 66-71), LHe09: , (Hetland, Winner, S.Veenema, & Sheridan, 2009, pp. 12-19), FAd11: , (Adiloglu, 2011, pp. 12-47), SCP11: , (Pardieck, 2011, pp. 67-98), FAd11: , (Adiloglu, 2011, pp. 10-19), LBo82: , (Borgia & Owles, 2010, pp. 44-47), HDa05: , (Daniels & M.Bizar, 2005, pp. 15-19), CBe11: , (Benson & Lunt, 2011, pp. 45-67), LHe09: , (Hetland, Winner, S.Veenema, & Sheridan, 2009, pp. 56-70), RSe13: , (Seglem & Whitte, 2013, pp. 34-39), LBo82: , (Borgia & Owles, 2010, pp. 45-89), Read More