ABSTRACT
A graphic novel has been described as ‘an extended comic book that treats nonfictional as well as fictional plots and themes with the depth and subtlety that we have come to expect of traditional novels and extended nonfictional texts’ (Tabachnick, 2009: 2). In Asia and in the United States, this combined representation of visual, linguistic and spatial modes is currently experiencing ‘a burgeoning Golden Age in education’ (Carter, 2007: 1). In contrast, this heyday of graphic novels cannot be found in German education contexts, as the outcomes of an informal questionnaire study with 20 foreign language teachers attending a three-hour workshop on graphic novels that preceded the larger study described in this chapter revealed. The majority of teachers explained that they had never read or used a graphic novel in any of their classrooms, which raises the question of why German language educators disregard the educational potential of graphic novels for (foreign language) literacy development. In this chapter, this potential will be elaborated on with a focus on second and foreign language teaching and learning. It will also discuss the results of a research study exploring German English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ views on graphic novels with the aim of understanding their hesitation to integrate graphic novels into their teaching.
