The Role of Visual Representation in EFL Textbooks in Enhancing Pupils’ Vocabulary Learning The Case of ‘My Book of English’ For First Year Middle School Pupils in Algeria

Abstract

The present dissertation is concerned with the role of the visual representation in EFL textbooks in enhancing pupils’ vocabulary learning. It takes as a case study the newly designed textbook My Book of English for first year middle school pupils. The work examines the visual resources included within this instructional material focusing on their impact on the enhancement of pupils’ lexical knowledge. It also investigates the teachers’ views about the efficiency and sufficiency of these visual aids for helping pupils building up strong vocabulary knowledge. The data relevant for this study were gathered throughout a mixed method research using a questionnaire that is administered to middle school teachers; as well as, an adapted checklist. A social semiotic multimodal approach to textbook analysis is adopted to evaluate the visual representation in My Book of English.. The research findings were analysed through both a content analysis of the text information data and a statistical analysis of the numerical data of the close-ended questions of the questionnaire. This small scale study reveals that My Book of English contains a wide range of visual resources (images, pictures, colours, tables, diagrams, and drawings) that represent the lexical items and their meaning. According to the gathered data, these visuals are effective tools for ameliorating first year pupils’ vocabulary learning and understanding. More importantly, this technique creates and stimulates their enthusiasm and curiosity to learn more. However, for the middle school teachers the visual representation in My Book of English, even though helpful, is not sufficient in a context where English is a foreign language and not used outside the classroom. Teachers then, make use of other techniques and materials other than this textbook to ensure their pupils’ fully retrieval of the lexis. It can be concluded that, the visual representation in My Book of English is helpful for pupils to build up a strong lexicon repertoire, but it should not be relied heavily on, because it does not all fulfil their vocabulary knowledge needs.