Exploring Anne Frank’s diary comics version: Visual Reading within the Construction of Meanings
Visual reading; Comics; Multimodality; Construction of meanings; Teaching reading.
This research is aimed at investigating the potential benefits of reading non-verbal texts in the active construction of meaning within the context of regular schools. The pedagogical intervention is carried out by means of comics as a tool for the teaching of reading and interpretation. The premise is that a significant number of students face difficulties when engaging in reading comprehension, a fact evidenced by national and international surveys. This reinforces the need for more meaningful pedagogical practice aligned with cotemporary demands. This study has as its basis the view of reading as na active, interactive and multimodal process, involving the articulation between verbal and non-verbal input. The corpus of the research consists of the book “O diário de Anne Frank” in its comics version. This choice is justified by its historic, literary and pedagogic relevance as well as its potential to engage the youth. The objectives include the analysis of comics as a multimodal discourse genre; the investigation of the possible contributions of visual reading in the construction of meaning; and the proposition of a pedagogical intervention directed to elementary school students. This qualitative research was developed with students of the 7th grade in a public school. The data was obtained by means of classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and the analysis of the answers given to the activities proposed in class. The results are expected to contribute to the reflection upon and the development of reading practice within the school context in favor of reading competence, especially in relation to the interpretation of multimodal texts and the promotion of critical and reflective readers.