By Kayla Landers and Mary Newbegin, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Art to Build Community and Validate Identity

Art-inspired assignments can be utilized and adapted in a myriad of ways in multilingual classes. When properly scaffolded, art can be incorporated in practically any lesson or skillset (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, or listening). Incredibly versatile, art-based assignments can also be adapted for language level and age group, as students are able to critically discuss concepts and identities because artistic interpretations fall outside the domain of “right/wrong, true/false paradigms” (Duke, 2010, p. 272). As such, art opens up a world of possibilities for multilingual students and provides “a significant intersection between language, identity, and culture” (Cloutier et al., 2016, p. 141). As a result, our students have retained more, taken more risks, and engaged more.

As one student noted, “I think everyone cares about different points, so of course, the points that can trigger me may not trigger the others.” Our student’s point emphasizes that art as a pedagogical tool provides a safe and desirable space for students to engage in meaningful dialogue that validates their multicultural identity and voice, creating a community within the class.

This community can be built within the physical classroom or be more experiential, like going to an art gallery either physically or virtually. We firmly believe that community building is the first step towards successful implementation of art-inspired projects and an integral part of developing successful curricula so that students feel empowered to observe, interpret, debate, describe, and write about art with confidence. As such, it is incumbent upon instructors to explain that art is subjective; we may see the same image but will likely interpret it differently. As seen in Figure 1, through modeling and rehearsing visual literacy in the classroom, students will develop confidence in their skills as visual interpreters, building autonomy before embarking on a project.

Figure 1: Students Evaluating Art

To initiate this autonomy, you might set up stations around the classroom with images and chart paper. Invite the students to contribute ideas to the chart paper, allowing them to interact with each other as they move from station to station around the classroom. If students are new to art, encourage them to simply write what they see; those who have some experience could share their judgement and/ or interpretations.

Lesson Preparation and Adaptations

Preparation of lessons requires careful scaffolding and an understanding of what art does for the learner’s language development. Art develops “literacy as a social practice” as well as “visual literacy” (Street, 1995), and helps to facilitate transmediation which is the bridge between what students can see and what meaning they can create in “another sign system” such as art (Harste, 2014). Therefore, art is a vehicle for expression that fosters development of new vocabulary and skills that are contextually appropriate rather than mere memorization. In addition, art provides inspiration for higher-order thinking such as analysis, description, discussion, and even debate. These experiences allow students to become personally invested; thus, enabling instructors “to link students’ words with their world, on the one hand, and their identities, affective investment, and language learning, on the other” (Cloutier et al., 2016, p. 150). As another student aptly stated, “Using art to conduct class is to choose an appropriate way to guide students to be willing to communicate according to different students; situations and different classroom atmospheres.” As seen in this quote, this understanding promotes buy in among students and skeptics alike, something we must acknowledge because art as a vehicle to teach is not always initially understood, which is why the foundational steps (i.e., instructor modeling) in lesson preparation is so crucial.

Laying the foundation ensures that all students are comfortable with expressing opinions about art, starting in small groups. We like to introduce sample art (e.g., photos, paintings) --either online or print--for students to analyze and discuss in class. As a first step, students might be invited to respond to open-ended questions like “What do you see?” or “How does this make you feel?” as seen in Figure 2. Thus, lower level students may simply supply terms like happy or sad, while higher level students may produce terminologies such as apprehensive or melancholy. This is an opportunity to build vocabulary, participate in discussion or writing, all while reiterating the fact that there isn’t one right answer because students may react differently to art. The next step might be to ask students to write a sentence or two to share with a partner. Most importantly, inform students that their interpretations are valuable, and varying interpretations make the class more interesting.

Figure 2: Discussion of Abstract Art

Beyond this, lessons can develop in a variety of ways depending on the objectives and level(s) of the students. “When combined with reading, writing, speaking and listening, art can open doors for high levels of analysis and also challenge students to explore themselves and their surroundings and thus find avenues for sophisticated comprehension and communication” (Farokhi & Hashemi, 2012, p. 923). About writing and art, one of our university students said, “I think we did use art in our classes. One way we did through this is self expression [sic] in our diaries, I felt like that gave me a chance to express myself of how I felt in the moment. It was a pivotal step on reflecting about myself and my overall wellbeing as a student, which would later translate in my class writings.” Table 1 below details a lesson that we have done with our first-year composition students along with suggested adaptations for varying ability. Table 2 illustrates the versatility of art to teach English.

Table 1

Sample Lesson and Leveled Adaptations

Table 2

Examples of Projects and Adaptations

Figure 3: Student Painting with Watercolors

Suggested Resources

As mentioned earlier, instructors can utilize what they have at hand, using online resources to engage students and enhance language learning and development. Now, it is easier than ever to bring an art gallery to your classroom utilizing virtual tours or other online resources.

How exciting is it that you can travel halfway across the world to see extraordinary works of art right in the classroom? Here are some we recommend:

• National Gallery of Art
• Guggenheim
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art

We also suggest collaboration with your school’s art department, supporting or building on an existing project. Other arts such as music, theater, or dance also work. Our students have even created monologues after incorporating interviews and performances from a local theater company. Students have also combined music with a poetry reading.

Conclusion

Using art to teach English is a wonderful way to inspire and engage with students in the multilingual classroom. In our almost six years of collaboration and experience utilizing art to teach English to our multilingual students, we have used art in a variety of ways. The possibilities are endless to create meaningful projects that build confidence, community, and critical thinking.

References

Cloutier, G., Ibrahim, A., & Pratt, D. (2016). Subversive identities at the art museum: An ESL university student’s experience at the National Gallery of Canada. Canadian Review of Art Education, 43(1), 139-152. doi: 10.26443/crae.v43i1.22.

Duke, L. (2010). The museum visit: It’s an experience, not a lesson. Curator the Museum Journal, 53(3), 271-279. doi: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2010.00028.x

Farokhi, M., & Hashemi, M. (2012). The impact/s of using art in English language learning classes. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 923-926. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.170.

Harste, J. (2014). The art of learning to be critically literate. Language Arts, 92(2), 90-102. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24575621

Street, B. (2003). The limits of the local- ‘Autonomous’ or ‘disembedding’? International Journal of Learning, 10, 2825-2830. Retrieved from http://igenlit.pbworks.com/f/street_LimitsOfTheLocal.pdf

Kayla Landers, MA TESOL, teaches undergraduate writing courses, graduate courses, and noncredit intensive English classes at Lehigh University. In addition to using art, her interests include language assessment and technology use in the classroom.

Mary Newbegin, MEd TESOL, teaches at Lehigh University including courses in graduate writing, speaking and listening, first year composition, and in the Intensive English Program. Her interests include multimodal composition, online learning, and innovative approaches to first year composition.