33 / Visual Discourse Analysis

Understanding how a picture communicates to us is a valuable skill in the 21st century and it can be taught. This course focusses on discussing images verbally and uses techniques that could be applied to a range of teaching situations and age groups. It would suit teachers who are either looking for new ideas for lessons or are simply looking to practice their conversational English in an intellectually engaging environment. We will discover a range of methods for analysing how images affect us, and apply them to photographs taken from a number of different sources. We will evaluate opinions on what the images mean through detailed discussion and comparison. Some reading of theoretical sources will be necessary. These will mostly be supplied in English. By the end of the course, participants will have had the opportunity to converse in English using vocabulary specific to the analysis of imagery. Participants will become confident in discussing the aesthetic and ethical aspects of our contemporary visual culture. They will have discovered ways of increasing the 'Reflexionskompetenzen' of their own students through such collaborative communicative activities, as well as refreshed their own discursive skills (coherent argumentation, interactional competence, etc.). In gathering ideas for how to potentially use image analysis skills in the classroom, participants will be able to transfer these into other language settings and to link the repertoire of skills to other subject areas such as 'Bildnerisches Gestalten', 'Natur, Mensch, Gesellschaft' at primary level, or 'Geschichte', 'Religionskunde und Ethik' and 'Pädagogik' at secondary level.

Z 3, FLP E, GG, LK, BG, NMG

Participants should bring a laptop for small reading and research exercises.