New approaches: Learning English through Drawing

When learning a foreign language, it can be difficult to express yourself in words, because  learning and memorizing new vocabulary is a challenging task for students learning English as a second language (ESL). Drawing could be an effective tool that helps students to associate new information to their existing knowledge.
Today third-year-students specialty “Phylology” took  a break from ordinary lessons and organized workshop for an opportunity to express students’ English through drawing. We tried to image compound words with the help of funny pictures and bright ideas. By providing students with the examples and teaching them to create their own drawings, they became actively involved with their own learning, instead of being dissociated from it. Also, they were learning a strategy to apply to other areas of learning--formal as well as informal.
There was really only one major worry or complaint that I heard from students: “I can’t draw!” I’m not great at drawing either. In fact, my students have spent many happy moments laughing at my drawings, and they started drawing their own pictures with fun. The result exceeded my expectations! Students memorized new compound words with the help of creative and joyful comical pictures!

Oksana Ivanova, Associate Professor