Development of Multimodal Literacy Through Wordless Albums for Learners in Primary Education Teacher Training

Abstract

In 2023, the Primary Education curriculum points out the need to create learning situations that include multimodal texts. The picture book, as multimodal reading, is a resource for this stage and requires decoding skills that include understanding the image and its relationship with the written text. The general objective of the study is to analyse the usefulness of a didactic sequence based on the writing of an accompanying text for the wordless album, Suzy Lee's Wave, in teacher training for the Primary Education Teacher Training Degree. A total of 114 students participated during the 2022-23 academic year, answering two validated questionnaires made up of seventeen items on topics related to the importance of the semiotic analysis of the album, with measurements before and after the intervention. In addition, data are collected after the didactic intervention on eight items related to learning from the sequence. The quantitative analysis shows statistically significant differences (p < .01) that are qualified by the effect size. These differences are more evident in the general questions on visual literacy, with a high effect on the items on semiotic analysis. In addition, the results of the didactic sequence do not show significant differences and consolidate the importance of this practice in reading education. We conclude by highlighting the didactic potential of the wordless album in the learning and analysis of the visual code of these multimodal productions.