Visual Literacy: Motivation and Critical Thinking in Large Classes

Visual aids in education have been given lots of attention recently. Researchers attempted to discover all relationships existing between the use of visual aid and the learners' acquisition of concepts. Few academic literatures were done in relation to language, even less so in the Arab world. Hence, this study attempts to determine the impact of visual literacy on students' motivation and critical thinking in language classes. The instruments used: Semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers of cycle II in three schools in Beirut, Lebanon, surveys distributed to the students of cycle II in the three target schools, and analysis of documents collected from the teachers that were the students' work. The results showed that the use of visual literacy motivates students, makes the classroom more relaxing, have them love the subject, enhances their critical thinking, and internalize the concepts taught. Further research in that area should be conducted in Lebanon. This study is beneficial to all professionals in the field of elementary education or anyone wanting to know more of the link between visual materials and language learners.