Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Language, Literacy, ED.D., Exceptional Education, and Physical Education

Major Professor

Elizabeth B. Hadley, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jenifer J. Schneider, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Alexandra Panos, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jarod Roselló, Ph.D.

Keywords

comics, graphic novels, literacy, reading, upper elementary, vocabulary

Abstract

Recreational reading is in a decline for upper elementary aged readers, and along with this decline comes consequent declines in students’ ability to make meaning from what they read and their acquisition of different language forms, including the acquisition of new vocabulary words. However, one reading format is increasing in popularity: graphic novels. As graphic novels, along with other texts with both textual and visual elements, become an increasingly prevalent way of reading in the 21st century, it is important to look at the possibilities multimodal texts have for foundational literacy skills, such as vocabulary acquisition. To date, however, the fields of graphic novels and vocabulary acquisition have yet to intersect. To understand the benefits that graphic novels can potentially offer for incidental vocabulary acquisition, we must better understand the words within the graphic novels. This multimodal content analysis explored how challenging words that are likely unknown to readers in third through sixth grade are represented within specific graphic novels. Through the theoretical frameworks of the Lexical Quality Hypothesis, Dual Coding Theory, and Multimodality, this dissertation aimed to inform our understanding of the challenging words’ characteristics, textual and visual elements present with the challenging words, and the supports these elements offered. I analyzed how these textual and visual elements worked independently or in combination with other elements to identify how words are being represented and supported in the graphic novels. The findings highlight the types of challenging words readers encounter in graphic novels and the kinds of textual, visual, and multimodal supports that readers will have for acquiring those words. By analyzing the challenging words, their textual and visual elements, and the level of support provided by each, I hope to provide insight into the possibilities that graphic novels can offer for vocabulary acquisition.

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