Does art have a place in language learning? I believe it does. Children are naturally creative.

They respond to visual images and have most active imaginations. Isn't creating images what art is all about? Art can assist a teacher with many aspects of teaching English. You don't have to be an artist. If you have artistic talents, then you likely already know the value art can have in the language classroom. If not, here are some ideas for you. Use art when you are teaching the names of colors: Primary: White, Black, Red, Blue, Yellow Secondary: Green, Pink, Orange, Brown, Purple, Gray What about sky blue, teal, magenta, lilac, scarlet, azure, chartreuse, burgundy, crimson, apple green, lemon or canary yellow, burnt orange, dusty pink, forest green, battleship gray, chocolate brown, mahogany, tan, ivory, off-white, etc. A color wheel can help you to demonstrate these. Pick up some car brochures from local dealers and see how they describe the colors of their vehicles. These can augment a lesson on using more descriptive adjectives. In one lesson, I first show my class a black and white illustration of a typical office situation with several people engaged in various routines. The students describe what people are doing. Then, I show the students a color version and have them elaborate on their description. Color makes a big difference. You can use art to teach shapes, simple tools artists use (including tools students use every day such as pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, etc. A book with different styles of paintings makes a great vocabulary building reference tool. Every painting can be a topic for discussion. Even just reading the various descriptions in the book can be a worthwhile language activity. I had a two-CD set of 'Great Museums of the World'. You could use your computer mouse to navigate through each museum on the screen, enter different rooms and zoom in on a specific painting - even a section of the painting - which would prompt a pop-up description of what the artist had done. Aside from its artistic merit, what a great teaching tool! Unfortunately, it remained at a former school. I must look for it again. Drawing programs such as Paint, Corel Draw, ZBrush, Smart Draw, ArtRage and Twisted Brush can be useful if you have artistically inclined learners. Pick a program and open the tutorial section. Students can greatly improve their vocabulary as they learn to use the program. There is a whole world of digital art and digital artists who use these programs to create images for cartoons, animated films and book covers. Creatures that you see in films were more often than not created on a computer. There are special digital art magazines (quite pricey!) and regular art magazines (not so pricey). Any one of these should start our creative and artistic ESL juices flowing. Check out the magazine section of a major bookseller in your

area. I have used one of these in an English Conversation class to talk about the images in the magazine. If, like me, you are teaching in a different culture, students can be invited to bring in a piece of art and 'show and tell'. This is a wonderful speaking opportunity. Think of possible related research and writing assignments you could apply as well. Local artists? Local museums or art galleries? Exhibitions? Art schools? Painting clubs? Any of these may have someone who would be willing to come in to talk to your class about what they do - maybe even put on a short demonstration. Finally, students can use their artistic talents to illustrate their writing efforts - essays, short stories, descriptions of homes, friends, family, vacation, and other such typical ESL topics. I have had students make Japanese scroll stories where they have six or so panels on which to write and illustrate a short story. They then tape the panels together to form a scroll, tying the finished product with a ribbon. In the next class, students untie their scrolls and read their stories to the class. Art can add another dimension to teaching English and is another way you can take advantage of local resources to support your efforts. Through the Internet, you have the whole artistic world at your beck and call. If you use art in your class, I'd be interested in hearing from you. Taken from: http://www.eslbase.com/articles/art

Cartoons vs. Comics Who doesnt love cartoons and comics? Okay, so Im no fan of the Simpsons, but even I enjoy Felix the Cat, the Pink Panther and a host of other Saturday morning offerings. If the cartoon network came on in English where I live, Id record it for use in my English as a foreign language (EFL) classes (and a little personal humor and enjoyment). There are two venues which actually can be used in teaching English as a foreign language or in foreign language teaching and learning; cartoons and comics. Whats the difference? The Differences Whats the difference between a cartoon and a comic? Simply that a cartoon is an animated visual format with sound and a comic is a written, printed format in black and white or color. Some characters appear in multiple formats, having an animated series on TV, movie or comic strip. Characters from Peanuts, cats Felix and Garfield, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and a host of Walt Disney and Walter Lantz characters are some examples. Other characters may appear in only one format such as in many video games which is yet another venue.

Who Do You Love? Why dont you try asking your English or foreign language learners; "Whos your favorite cartoon or comic character?" "Why?" Learners could then elaborate on their favorite character in addition to: describing the character's personality acting out a scene from a cartoon or comic white out dialogue bubbles and write in their own lines of dialogue

Adapting Comics and Cartoons for Classroom Teaching How can these different formats be adapted for use in an EFL or foreign language learning classroom setting? Well, youve hit the jackpot here. Because the language in comics and cartoons is usually very simple, it can be used in a variety of ways, such as: to demonstrate high-frequency vocabulary in context to illustrate idioms and expressions to teach verbs and other parts of speech as examples of connected speech to simulate dialogues to inject humor into class sessions to provide a basis for oral discourse and writing activities to illustrate culture and values

Other Related Activity Possibilities Numerous other related activity possibilities exist, which may be applied with just a bit of imagination. For example, have your English or foreign language learners relate: who the author or creator of the comic / cartoon series is a biography of the author with photos describe the setting and theme of the comic or cartoon series show examples of cartoons, comics and characters in class, then compare them If youd like even more focus, you could show a cartoon or comic strip series in class to familiarize everyone with the character(s). Then might discuss the characters personality and other elements and ask, Why is this cartoon or comic funny?

Be sure to let the learners interact about their favorite comic strips and cartoon characters. Take a Survey Remember to take a survey of who the most popular cartoon and comic strip characters are among the learners. Better yet, have the learners design and conduct the survey themselves, presenting the results and reasons afterwards. By all means, do let Felix the Cat, the Pink Panther, the Simpsons, Garfield, the Power Puff Girls, Hagar the Horrible, the Wizard of Id, Peanuts and a generous host of English language cartoon and comic strip characters lend fun, flavor, magic and a whole new dimension to your English as a foreign language or foreign language learning classes.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Taken from: http://www.eslbase.com/articles/comics