Manga as a form of Literacy: April 2013

The use of Manga in the classroom as an educational form of Literacy.

When translated into English, it means ‘whimsical pictures’. There are many other names it goes by, such as manhwa, comics and graphic novels, however, most people though would commonly refer to it as manga.

Manga is said to date back in Japan as early as the 18^th century, and from then has continued on to being the most popular form of novel in Japan. In 1995 stati stics sh ow manga as accounting for over 40% of sales of all book and magazine sales in Japan. It is well and truly one of the most popular forms of reading material in the world. However, despite these facts manga is yet to be introduced into schools as a way of teaching our young.

Although most of what is published in America is for adults, manga are increasingly popular in America and other countries with children being the majority of the readers. However, schools do not approve of them as they should, even though manga can actually improve your literacy more than a book may.

Why? Children, especially boys, are visual learners, meaning they learn best when they look at images, pictures, colours and maps. Manga and comics are of course is the obvious choice in these scenarios because manga appeals to children, being made up of pictures and bright colours, with very little reading involved.

For boys, manga is quite motivating because the action and excitement happens within a few pages and boys don't generally like to wait for the story to develop. This can result in boys reading longer stories in an attempt to discover more exciting stories.

Studies by a Japanese Psychologist, Jun Nakazawa, shows that generally the older age group of the Year Ones to Year Sixes had an increased understanding with age and expertise. One test was an eye-tracking study comparing the eye movements of an "expert" versus a "non-frequent" manga reader. The "non-expert" hovered more on word balloons than images and had higher reading times. On the other hand, the "expert" reader made "fewer useless eye movements" that were smoother, in addition to a higher rate of skipping over more panels and balloons. However, the expert also had higher story understanding recollection than the non-expert, despite reading quicker and skipping elements.

Another aspect of the study was looking at the role of manga in education. One fascinating find showed that frequent reading of manga related to achievement in language arts (particularly sentence comprehension) and a liking of social sciences, though "not significantly with liking for art class." Several studies on these issues also indicated a higher level comprehension for learning from manga than from pure textual "novelised" writing.

According to Brenda Pennella, a fifth grade teacher from Pennsylvania, manga aligns with reading comprehension skills:

We, as educators . . . have always known that reading is a series of skills: questioning, visualizing, inferring, predicting, connecting, and responding. . . . With graphic novels, the scaffolding necessary to build solid readers is in the architecture of the genre. The illustrations not only support the text; they are a part of the text. Students are given context clues within the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle expressions, symbols, and actions of the characters within the story. Vocabulary is also supported within the illustrations and text. The framework or grid layout of this art form lends itself perfectly to the predicting strategies needed to reach higher-level understanding in reading comprehension.

Of course, not all manga is educational. There are people who believe manga and comics are reading material that should never even come near children, let alone classrooms. This is especially shown through Author Fredric Wertham’s bestseller, Se d uction o f th e Innocent.

Published in 1954, this novel was a cause of alarm for parents with claims warning that comics in America were causing children to become delinquents, and comics became a scapegoat for children who committed a crime similar to one depicted in a comic book, because it was the comic book that “made them do it”. Wertham also accused comics to encourage homosexual thoughts because Robin was always drawn with bare legs, that were often left wide open and he appeared too attached only to Batman. Another claim he made explained that comics gave children the wrong idea about the laws of physics because superman could fly.

Wertham’s anti-comics crusade was the cause of the enforcement of The Comics Code Authority.

Cartoonists were then forced to abide by new (and in my opinion, ridiculous) rules as stated in this code, such as;

-“No unique or unusual methods of concealing weapons shall be shown.”

-“No comics magazine should use the word horror or terror in its title.”

-“All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society.”

-“Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.”

In 1971, the code was revised and relaxed slightly, rewriting a few of the rules to, well, go with the times. For example;

-“Healthy, wholesome lifestyles will be presented as desirable. However, the use and abuse of controlled substances, legal and illicit, are facts of modern existence, and may be portrayed when dramatically appropriate.”

The Comics Code Authority finally ended its 56 year long run in February 2011, when the last two publishing companies using its services finally ended the use of their serviced, despite the fact no one seemed to be using it since as far back as 2009.

Luckily, a few years ago a new group of people had come about promoting manga specifically for use in classrooms; SelfMadeHero.

SelfMadeHero is a self-publishing company that has been around since 2007. They have a range of works; the most popular are the Eye Classics and, of course, M anga Sh akespe are.

Manga Shakespeare is a series of graphic novel adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays.

Overall, although some may not agree, I think manga is literature that deserves to be embraced into society and into our classrooms. Studies have shown its effectiveness on children and parents should not disregard this entertaining and educational medium. Perhaps most important, though, is that children are more likely to continue to read as they grow up if they see reading as enjoyable – and what better than a manga for teaching them that reading is fun? In fact, research shows that boys who read manga are more likely to read other text-based material, and say they enjoy reading more. So rather than rolling your eyes at your child’s choice of reading material, encourage it; after all, if comics lead them to a lifelong love of reading, then that can only be a good thing.

Reference list;

Allen, Kate. Ingulsrud, John E.; Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (May 1, 2003). Retrieved April 26, 2013 from; http://business.highbeam.com/435378/article-1G1-101679714/manga-literacy-popular-culture-and-reading-habits-japanese

Association of Comics Magazine Publishers; The Comics Code Authority. Retrieved on May 5, 2013 from; http://www.comicartville.com/comicscode.htm

Author unknown; Graphic novels in the classroom. Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://www.qrscanner.us/graphic-novels.html

Draper, D. Comprehension Strategies Visualising & Visual Literacy. Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/northernadelaide/files/links/4_VisualisingBooklet.pdf

Nakazawa, Jun. 2002. Applied Developmental Psychology: Theory, Practice, and Research from Japan (HC). Pages 32- 49. Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=L3dmZKStQ8kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Applied+Developmental+Psychology:+Theory,+Practice,+and+Research+from+Japan+%28HC%29+jun+nakazawa&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HHiPUYfLEae9igLe8YAw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA

Natsume, F. Japan’s Manga culture. Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/publish/periodic/jfn/pdf/jfn27_3.pdf

Pennella, B. Graphic Novels: The POW!-er in the classroom! A Teacher’s Perspective. Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://www.graphicnovels.brodart.com/teachers_perspective.html

Shwarz. G. English Journal Volume 95, No. 6, (July 2006). Retrieved on April 26, 2013 from; http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30046629?uid=3738776&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102204307301

Wertham, F. Seduction of the Innocent, chapters 1-8. Retrieved on May 5, 2013 from; http://www.dreadfuldays.net/soti.html

Manga as a form of Literacy

Thursday, 4 April 2013