Another endorsement of comics
Genevieve Patthey-Chavez (ggpcinla who-is-at ucla.edu)
Thu, 30 Nov 1995 11:37:10 -0800
Well, while we're at it, here's another endorsement of the comics: My
early literacy was in a second language, not my first language, French. In
the end, I never had any formal training in French. What I did as far back
as I can remember is read comics, starting with some classic French comics,
and progressing to several series I read to this day. I really think it
furthered a kind of transfer of my early literacy skills to French, though
I cannot write anything close to academic prose in French. (In fact, using
Gee's terms, I've got all kinds of literacies that reflect the
idiosyncracies of my education--tree & bird vocabulary in one language,
great swearing abilities in another, high-powered technical mumbo-jumbo in
another...) I don't think the comics are going to jump-start Hong Kong
kids into lawyer-speak, but I do think my positive experience with them is
pretty run-of-the-mill.
Genevieve