Nowadays, elementary school children in Taiwan have to start learning English at school since grade three. According to the guidelines of the Nine-Year Integrated Curriculum (NYIC) established by the Ministry of Education (MOE), English teaching at the elementary school level in Taiwan should enable children to develop and integrate the four skills, speaking, listening, reading and writing, equip students with learning strategies, and cultivate their cultural knowledge and awareness.
Besides, the development of communicative competence is the top priority and the goal of English education. Nevertheless, for elementary school students, the focus is more on the development of speaking and listening skills. Reading and especially writing instruction is often delayed until junior high. However, the lack of exposure to and experience of written literacy activities in English at the elementary school level might not only cause problems as students make the transition to junior and senior high school, but also influence students’ overall English language and literacy development. With limited opportunities to engage in writing activities at the
elementary school level, students are expected to combine or complete sentences, and even write paragraphs in junior high schools. Such discrepancy between the early learning years and English learning beyond junior high level may lead to students’
low proficiency of English writing, and poor performance in writing assessment, as
often indicated in college entrance exams.
Besides students’ academic performance, the deferral of written literacy instruction deprives students of opportunities to participate in reading and writing activities in early learning years, which are important for overall English language and literacy development. The developments of the four skills are interrelated and equally important. Research on second language literacy has suggested that engaging learners in meaningful literacy activities in both oral and written forms is essential in learners’ overall language and literacy development (Chen & Chen, 2006; Huang, 2006; Pellegrini and Galda, 1993; Graves 1983; Sulzby 1985; Dyson1988). The instruction on the four language skills thus should not be carried out in compartmentalization. According to Hansen (2001),”writing and talk about writing need to be made commonly…early in the children’s career as readers, learners, and writers” (p. 51). Likewise, Curtain and Dahlberg (2004) also claimed that writing should be introduced early in a foreign language environment to accelerate children’s language development. However, nowadays teachers in elementary schools are
uncertain about the effects of systematic writing instruction on students’ English learning due to limited evidence in related research in Taiwan (Lin, 2009). The English education in elementary schools in Taiwan focuses mainly on the development of listening and speaking instead of integrating the four skills (Chen et al, 2002). Many of the teachers share the idea proposed by Hudelson (1989) that language learning should be developed step by step; writing should be de deferred since it is considered the most difficult and challenging. However, this myth has been criticized and rebutted over the years by literacy research of various theoretical underpinnings. One pedagogical belief that is of salient contrast to Hudelson’s (1989) thoughts comes from the advocators of the Whole Language Approach. They propose that language learning should be viewed as a whole and four skills should be developed at the same time through exposing to authentic materials for a meaningful purpose. The same belief is held by many other researchers (Davies & Pearse, 2000;
Paul, 2003). Davies & Pearse (2000) claimed that for second or foreign learners, it is the most appropriate to offer English instruction that integrates four skills since they are reciprocal, as indicated, “it is best to reflect this integration when teaching a second or foreign language” (Davies & Pearse, 2000, p. 99). Paul (2003) further proclaimed that integrated language teaching is more suitable for Asian English learners to make them “read and write in order to speak beyond a basic level” (Paul,
2003, p. 83). Therefore, writing instruction at the elementary school level is not impossible but required more constructive guidance for both teachers and students. In order to provide children with a more guided, practical and friendly writing environment, writing instruction, materials selected, and students’ psychological factors should be paid attention to (Taniguchi, 1990). Previous research has shown that using children’s literature in teaching context can be one of the ways to serve this purpose. In fact, the advantages of using children’s literature to enhance children’s literacy development are many (Burke, 1990; Mckay, 1982; Norton, 1993; Nuba, 1990; Oster, 1989; Sage, 1987; Spack, 1985). First, using literature in class provides a whole language environment and exposes language learners to authentic materials.
Teachers can choose the storybooks which are suitable and interesting to their students. Second, during the storybook reading or in the follow-up activities, the development of oral language, phonological awareness and print awareness can be enhanced. Third, it can help to develop students’ reading habits and emergent literacy in the early stages which will benefit their future learning performance as well. In addition to language development, creativity, imagination, and cultural knowledge are
also developed with the aid of using literature in class.
Among all kinds of children’s literature, wordless picture books are considered one of the most helpful and practical in guiding and promoting writing due to the lack of
written texts in the story (Fields & Spangler, 2000; Norton, 1999). A large number of previous studies done in L1 context have shown that wordless picture books are valuable in enhancing literacy development for learners of different ages and background (Appelt, 1984; Cassady, 1998; Flatley & Rutland, 1986; Perry, 1997;
Rigg, 1977; Sinatra, 1981). Wordless picture books have been successfully used to support the development of vocabulary, creativity, story writing, and higher-order
thinking of learners of different levels and ages.
When employing wordless picture books in classroom teaching, the most interesting and encouraging way is to have students write a story (Morrow, 2004).
Children can write a whole story based on the series of picture prompts in the wordless picture books and pictures can serve as a blueprint for story construction.
Fang (1996) described the main functions the pictures in a storybook could serve.
They can (a) establish setting, (b) determine the mood, (c) define and develop characters, (d) extend or develop plot, (e) provide a different viewpoint, (f) contribute to textual coherence, and (g) reinforce the story. That is, pictures can help writers enrich their content, organizing the events, and have them aware of the story grammar. Moreover, Reese (1996) stated that “through discussion and critical examination of the details of the illustrations, students wrote sentences that effectively complemented the picture.” and “students were able to build their reading and writing
skills and strategies to ultimately produce a unique book” (p. 172–173). In such a learning context, students do not have to worry about making mistakes in creating a story, since the story is constructed based on everyone’s interpretations of the pictures.
Children of different ages, backgrounds, levels of proficiency can interpret and respond to one story differently. That is, “wordless picture books provide a basis on which storytakers and storymakers can construct meaning and build their own
narratives” (Crawford & Hade, 2000, p. 66).
To sum up, wordless picture books can provide L2 writers learning to write with a meaningful, guided and friendly writing environment, and at the same time, give children opportunities to develop literacy skills and higher-order thinking skills in their early years of English learning. Therefore, the present study intends to explore the use of wordless picture books in developing young Taiwanese English language learners’ writing ability.