EXAMINING THE PEDAGOGICAL VALUE OF
IMAGES IN ELI CLASS MATERIALS
Simon Bannister
Kanda University of International Studies
ABSTRACTThis paper focused on the pedagogical value of images usedwithin originally created English Language Institute (ELI)
materials for the Freshman English course at Kanda University ofInternational Studies. A theoretical framework was used which
establishes four distinct categories of how images are used, andit was found that an overwhelming majority of images inteacher-designed materials have a strong pedagogical purpose invarious linguistic contexts. There are areas for future
development by increasing the number of images used inmaterials within each course folder.
INTRODUCTION
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words; a cursory glance at animage has a plethora of purposes for its intended audience such as creating
appeal, gaining attention, and establishing context. People are constantly
exposed to images in various contexts with a multitude of purposes, andregardless of whether we are consciously aware of it, they can have a
profound effect. Given the vast range of English as a foreign language (EFL)
coursebooks, ranging from low to high-level learners, young to old etc.,
images have a range of pedagogical purposes that can assist learners of allages and abilities and facilitate language acquisition.
For this research, materials were scrutinized in various sections of the
English Language Institute’s (ELI) shared materials folder at Kanda
University of International Studies (KUIS) in order to assess the types ofimages used and their pedagogical value in facilitating language acquisition.
LITERATURE REVIEWAn image has been defined by the online Merriam-Webster dictionary as “avisual representation of something”. This can be through a digital copy of aphotograph or a hand-drawn cartoon, and there are various ways in which
3
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

images have pedagogical value. Canning-Wilson (1999) states that visuals
enable strategies “to organize knowledge into semantic or associate clusters”(p. 2), and states that images can make situations “more real” (p. 4).
Harmer (2001) explains how images can help provide linguistic context,
especially for young learners. In addition to this, Harmer states that images
have the pedagogical use of “ornamentation” in that they “enhance the text,
giving readers (or students) an extra visual dimension to what they arereading” (pp. 178-179) and claims that this will enable more visuallyoriented learners to become more engaged. Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006)
proposed a “grammar of visual design” whereby images can convey meaning
independently from written grammar via consistent patterns which are
understood by their intended audience.
Jolly and Bolitho (2011) describe the cultural impact and significance ofimages and how this can be beneficial to pedagogy. They explain how locally
produced textbooks can utilize materials which conform to a culture’s
conceptual view of the world and what the needs and expectations are of its
learners. Thus, “the further away the author is from the learners, the lesseffective the material is likely to be” (p. 128) which has been supported byvarious studies (Elmiana, 2019; Kiss & Weninger, 2017). However, Hill
(2003) bemoans the lack of pedagogical value of images when textbook
design is entrusted to an editing department which may not be mindful of
how these images can promote language acquisition.
Much of the existing research on this issue has focused on analyzing EFL
textbooks. Research by Tahirian and Sadri (2013) found that images in
Iranian textbooks had pedagogical value but were not utilized to their fullpotential as they were found to reinforce gender stereotypes and used
outdated imagery to represent various objects and ideas. A study by Hill
(2003) found that a majority of images used in selected textbooks were
decorative and had little to no relevance to the linguistic activities presented
on the page. These findings were echoed by Romney and Bell (2012) who
found that only 27% of images in a larger selection of textbooks had any
instructional use. Conversely, Romney (2018) found that 82% of images
within their selected textbooks fulfilled at least one pedagogical function.
This was mirrored by Roohani and Sharifi (2015) who found that only 5% ofimages were purely decorative and that a vast majority of images had somepedagogical value.
Such pedagogical functions were outlined by Levin (1981) who proposed an
8-point typology list of the role images have in pedagogical materials: 1.
4
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

decoration, 2. remuneration, 3. motivation, 4. reiteration, 5. representation,
6. organization, 7. interpretation, and 8. transformation.
Romney (2018) tweaked the above criteria to provide a more succinct, albeit
broader, categorization: “decorative”, “weakly supportive”, “strongly
supportive” and “instructional”. Based on these broader sub-categories,
Romney’s research found that only 0.8% of images were “decorative” (zeropedagogical value) and 82% were considered “strongly supportive” and“instructional” (there are instructions for learners to acknowledge theimage). The difference between “weakly” and “strongly supportive” issomewhat ambiguous, so this research has added extra clarity todifferentiate the two categories.
METHODOLOGY
There are various English courses taught in the ELI at KUIS, and theFreshman English course folder was chosen as this focuses on all four of themain language skills and is a more neutral space for assessing the value ofimages. Conversely, other courses were not chosen as they focus on specificskills such as academic reading and writing, as well as presentation andspeaking skills.
Typically, in a semester at KUIS, 3 units on various topics are taught in the
Freshman course which span from four to six weeks. Within the Freshman
English folder, there are 12 units from which ELI lecturers will usually choose
six. These units include Animal, Environment, Film, Games, Global Issues,
Happiness, Japan, Music, Orientation, Travel, UN, and World Englishes. Each
unit has materials that have been specifically designed for use at KUIS andwhich all lecturers can access.
For this study, an “image” consists of a still picture, hand-drawn image, or
cartoon which visually represents something tangible. Video images were
not considered for this research. The materials selected for this research
include only those that have been specifically made for learners within the
Freshman English course at KUIS, although this did not include answer
sheets or copies specifically for teachers.
The materials considered included documents and worksheets for learners toeither complete or refer to, as well as slide presentations. Slide
presentations with multiple slides were considered as only one material.
Other materials such as weekly outlines and instructional notes not intended
5
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

for learners were not analyzed, and any materials taken from another sourceon the internet were not considered as the material editing and design were
the responsibility of external creators. These included worksheets andnewspaper articles, unless the article itself was used as an image within thematerial. The pedagogical value of all images was considered except for QR
codes linking materials with external sources, and images which appear
multiple times on the same material on different pages such as those used
as a page header, unless they had differing pedagogical purposes.
The theoretical framework for this research is based on the categorization by
Romney (2018) who presented 4 categories: “decorative”; “weakly
supportive”; “supportive”; and “instructional”. Decorative images serve nopedagogical value, and instructional images have direct instructions forlearners. The difference, however, between “weakly supportive” and“strongly supportive” is somewhat vague and is predicated on whether animage directly or indirectly supports learning.
For this analysis, the above framework has been slightly modified. The newframework has four categories: “decorative”, “facilitative”, “contextually
supportive”, and “integrated”. “Decorative” images have no relation,
contextually nor semantically, to the material and are used purely for gaining
attention through appeal or to make the material look more presentable.
“Facilitative” images can be related to the same semantic field as thematerial, for example a picture of a baseball bat on a material about sports.
This is not directly linked to a specific topic but is generally related.
“Contextually supportive” is a level higher than “facilitative” in that theimage is directly related to the item or concept being discussed, for example
an image of Abraham Lincoln appearing on a material about, or at least amaterial section or question relating to, Abraham Lincoln specifically. Finally,“integrated” pertains to images which are directly linked to the material andlearners are instructed to look at or consider the image in some way. For
example, extrapolating information from graphs and data, or interpreting
various kinds of meaning from a relevant image.
RESULTSA total of 376 images from 242 eligible materials in 12 Freshman ELI course
folders were analyzed and the overall findings for the four sub-categories arepresented in Table 1. The findings show that only 7 (1.6%) images were“decorative”, 89 (23.6%) were “facilitative”, 163 (43.3%) were “contextually
supportive”, and 113 (30%) were “integrated”.
6
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

Table 1
Decorative

Facilitative

Contextually
Supportive

Integrated

6

89

163

113

The different types of images found in each unit are displayed in Table 2.
Only seven “decorative” images were found in the entire Freshman English
course materials. In the Environment unit, a picture of KUIS campus wasused at the top of a document about a climate action project which had nopedagogical connection to the theme of the material. Likewise, in the Filmunit, a clip art image of a stack of books was used as a header to a group
discussion section on a material about favorite films. Other images included
a lightbulb in a grammar section in the World Englishes unit, a clipart imageof a clipboard and checklist on a material about the world’s happiest placesin the Global Issues unit, and a stickman figure doing martial arts in the
Orientation syllabus. None of these images have any pedagogical value
directly related to the topic task on the material and were used only fordecoration.
89 facilitative images were found and were fairly evenly distributed with thebulk of them appearing in the Environment unit (16). These included various
images of the sun and earth on materials to facilitate the emphasis on
considering the effects on the planet, as well as images conveying abstract
concepts such as relationships through a couple holding hands. Various
facilitative images were also found in the Travel unit such as suitcases,
passports, and planes which fall within a related semantic field to support
the context of the material. Likewise, various facilitative images were used in
the Music unit which included various symbols such as instruments andmusical notes.
The majority of images analyzed were contextually supportive and the bulkof these were found in the Japan and Film units. In the Japan unit, 55
contextually supportive images were used for a circumlocution activity inwhich students should describe a variety of Japanese cultural items so that
other students can guess the answers. Small cards were designed with anaccompanying image related to the cultural item in order to help thestudents if they are either unfamiliar with the item or if they do notrecognize the item written in English lettering.
7
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

Table 2
Unit

Decorative

Facilitative

Contextually
Supportive

Integrated

Animal (63materials)

0

1

20

25

Environment (14materials)

1

16

5

11

Film (9materials)

2

7

35

0

Games unit (9materials)

0

1

0

0

Global Issues(34 materials)

1

14

6

0

Happiness (17materials)

0

6

3

13

Japan (12materials)

0

6

58

2

Music (19materials)

0

12

5

1

Orientation (24materials)

1

3

23

0

Travel (bothcombined 21
mat)

0

12

1

43

UN (8 materials)

0

3

2

0

World Englishes(13 materials)

3

6

6

17

In the film unit, 35 contextually supportive images were used as examples ofmovie storyboards and to demonstrate different camera angles. The Animal
unit, too, had a sizeable number of 20 contextually supportive images.
These included accompanying images of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians,
and reptiles in order to explain five different animal types, as well as
individual images of various animals being discussed such as a Bengal tiger
and an echidna. The Orientation unit contained materials on how to make amovie using iMovie, as well as how to use Google Classroom, and both had
8Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

contextually supportive images showing the relevant icons for different
features and how they are used.
Finally, a total of 113 integrated images were found in the Freshman ELI
materials. The majority of these were used in the Travel unit for an activityof matching vocabulary items such as “passport” and “airport” with theircorresponding picture. In the Animal unit, 25 integrated images were foundwhich included learners having to circle animals which fell into categories ofmammals, amphibians, birds, fish, and reptiles. Various units made use ofdata sets such as graphs, particularly in the Happiness and World Englishes
units, and instructed learners to refer to and analyze the data. Both theJapan and Music units made use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
chart and instructed students to look at the chart and identify certain sounds
in order to complete linguistic tasks.
Table 3 outlines how 65% of materials contained one or more images, and
35% contained none at all. Google slides materials were counted as only one
material despite having multiple slides, and some presentations had morethan 10 slides with no accompanying images.
Table 3
Number of Materials

Containing Images

Without Images

242

157 (65%)

85 (35%)DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
With regards to the quantity of different types of images used, the results
were not overly surprising as previous research (Romney, 2018) following asimilar framework also found a comparably low number of decorative images
and a higher number of both contextually supportive and integrated images.
What is encouraging from this research is that lecturers within the ELI are
seemingly aware of the pedagogical value of images by incorporating a highnumber of contextually supportive and integrated images in materials. Thisin turn strengthens the pedagogical value of materials and potentially
increases the chances of language acquisition.
As this research focused on only one ELI course folder, future research could
include a comparative analysis of various course folders and establish
9
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

whether they have a similar degree of pedagogical value. In addition to this,research could be conducted on the extent to which images facilitate
language acquisition for vocabulary items such as adjectives or nouns.
LIMITATIONSThis analysis was conducted during April-May of 2022. However, the ELI
course folder is often updated with ongoing course development. Some of
the course folders analyzed could potentially look very different in the
coming months and many of the materials altered in a variety of ways.
Despite this ongoing development, it is encouraging to note that there isalready a sizeable number of pedagogically useful images being used in ELI
course materials.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Based on the theoretical framework, an overwhelming majority of images
used in the Freshman ELI materials have pedagogical value and serve tosupport language acquisition in various ways. A distinct minority of images
were purely decorative with no pedagogical function, although they still havethe function of, as Harmer (2001) claims, enabling visually oriented learners
to become more engaged. The use of facilitative images related to thesemantic field of a topic supports Canning-Wilson’s (1999) claim about
learners organizing knowledge “into semantic or associate clusters” (p.2).
The vast preponderance of contextually supportive images ensure thatlearners can more broadly conceptualize a topic and deepen theirunderstanding. Such images also provide linguistic context which supports
Harmer’s (2001) claim and give a multi-faceted conception of a given topic.
The use of contextually supportive images in the Japan unit supports what
Jolly and Bolitho (2011) state about the cultural impact of images. Finally,
the sizeable number of integrated images shows that many images have a
direct pedagogical purpose in that they are directly related to the linguistic
context and facilitate learning and language acquisition.
For future development of ELI materials, 35% of materials contained noimagery at all. Given the various pedagogical uses outlined above, it is worth
considering an increased use of imagery on materials in order to engage
visually oriented learners and to make materials more appealing. This would
enable materials to have broader scope to facilitate language acquisition andstrengthen the efficacy of English teaching at KUIS.
10
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

REFERENCES
Canning-Wilson, C. (1999). Using pictures in EFL and ESL classrooms.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED445526
Elmiana, D. S. (2019). Pedagogical representation of visual images in EFL
textbooks: a multimodal perspective. Pedagogy, Culture & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2019.1569550
Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
https://doi.org/10.1177/003368820103200109
Hill, D. (2003). The Visual Elements in EFL Coursebooks. In Tomlinson, B.
(Ed.) Developing Materials for Language Teaching, 157–167. Bloomsbury.
Jolly, D., & Bolitho, R. (2011). A framework for materials writing. In
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching, 107–135.
Cambridge University Press.
Kiss, T., & Weninger, C. (2017). Culture learning in the EFL classroom: therole of visuals. ELT Journal, 71(2), 186–195.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccw072
Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The grammar ofvisual design (2nd edition). Rutledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203619728
Levin, J. R. (1981). On functions of pictures in prose. In F. J. Pirozzolo, & M.
C. Wittrock (Eds.), Neuropsychological and Cognitive Processes in Reading.
Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-185030-2.50013-5
Merriam-Webster.com. (n.d.) Image. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary.
Retrieved July 7, 2022, fromhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/image
Romney, C. (2018). The purpose of images in ELT textbooks re-examined. In
Roy, D. & Blake, J. (Eds.) The 2018 PanSig Journal. JALT.
Romney, C., & Bell, L. (2012). The role of graphics in business English
11
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.

textbooks. In Bradford-Watts, K., Chartrand, R., & Skier, E. (Eds.). The 2011
Pan-SIG Conference Proceedings. JALT.
Roohani, A., & Sharifi, M. (2015). Evaluating Visual Elements in two EFL
textbooks. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 68–76.
https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v4i2.684
Tahirian, M. H., & Sadri, E. (2013). Analysis of images in Iranian high school
EFL course books. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 137–160.

12
Bannister, S. (2023). Examining the pedagogical value of images. Literacies andLanguage Education: Research and Practice, Spring 2023, 3-12. English Language
Institute, KUIS.