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Essay / Graphic Novels and the Impact on English Language Learners
English Language Learners have challenged educators and politicians throughout the decades by finding the best method to educate them; however, debate remains over who considers what constitutes “the best” program for ELLs (Crawford, 2004, p. 29). Graphic novels are growing in popularity as understanding of different literacies (critical, visual, etc.) fluctuates. This trend could help educators as more instructional methods are researched to increase the literacy skills of English language learners. Between the hard work of librarians, English teachers, and the popularity of film adaptations of popular graphic novels, this understudied format is gaining respect and teaching time (Carter, 2007). Through various studies, project-based learning using graphic novels has been shown to help students in this effort by creating "strong connections between the arts and retention, self-image, and academic progress », so many positive components that we want to see in learning. English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses (Carter, 2007, p. 4). Students learning to master...