Literature review Definition of comics

In one of the sources used in this study, comics are defined as causing or meaning to cause laughter (Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 2001, p, 32). Normally most of the comics are written and printed on paper and text is always incorporated in the images. The most known formats are newspaper strips, magazine format, comic book and larger bound volumes called graphic novels (Saheli, 2012, p. 3462) Hayman and Pratt (2005) defined comics as a sequence of discrete juxtaposed pictures that comprise a narrative, either in their own right or when combined with text. In addition, Kunzle (1973) states that a comic strip is a sequence of separate images with a preponderance of image over text that appears in a mass medium and tells a story which is both moral and topical. Although the preponderance of image over text is not a necessary condition for status as a comic (Meskin, 2007, p.370). Furthermore it is difficult to determine what counts as preponderance but Kunzle characterizes this in terms of what carries a burden of the narrative and what is primary; by strong version of narrative conditions, comic strips must not tell conditions, they must tell moral and topical ones (Meskin, 2007, p. 372). There is also another kind of comic which are known as digital comics, these may be understood as comics that are published on a website. However there are also other terms that refer to digital comics, these include web comics, online comics and internet comics (Saheli, 2012, p. 3462)

History of comics
Saraceni (2003) presents a specific view of the history of comics. He claims that people think comics are a very modern text, but it is possible to see connections between the communication systems of early civilization like the Egyptians with images and hieroglyphics and today with comic strips and comic books which are composed of sequences of pictures, similar to the ancient cultures.

Comics like the ones we know were first created in the last half of the nineteenth century in England. The first comic strip appeared in 1884, the first comic hero, Ally Slooper, appeared in 1890 in Comic Cut (Saraceni, 2003, p. 2). American comic historians attribute The Yellow Kid as the first comic character. These comics were so attractive and successful that the strips started appearing on daily newspapers. In the 1930s different publishers collected all the comics into books, this is how the comic book appeared. The first comic book was New Fun Comic which first came out in 1935, afterwards came out the Mickey Mouse magazine and King Comics which included Popeye, Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician (Saraceni, 2003, p. 3). Finally in 1938 the first costumed character hero was The Phantom, later that same year, Superman, and a decade later Batman (Saraceni, 2003, p. 3) The use of comics for educational purposes, especially in printed form began in the USA in the middle of the twentieth century and this practice expanded into a worldwide trend over the years (as cited in Symeon, 2008). The use of comics in education then has a long history. Since the early 1940s many American educators have carried out studies into the use of comic books in education and have provided data in terms of their usefulness in this respect (Retalis, 2008, p. 5). However not everything was positive. Weltham (1954) argued that comics can be a harmful tool, this led to Senate hearings and censoring. Nonetheless in the 1970s teachers began to use comics again in the classroom. And in the last two decades many projects have been conducted in different countries. Bitz (2004) began an arts-base literacy. The goal of this study was to assist children to write, design and publish their own comics according to their personal experiences in what was called Alternative Pathway to Literacy In 2003 an Italian national project focusing on teaching comic books began in 250 primary schools with the objective to develop language and ICT skills (Retalis, 2008, p.8). These results were presented at a conference in 2004.

Characteristics of comics
In order to implement comics as an approach in the English classroom it is highly important to highlight the following aspects presented by Saraceni (2003): 1. Panels: Each comic is distributed in six or nine panels. These have instant actions also known as stils. 2. Gutter: This is the blank space that contains all that happens between panels. This means the reader must guess missing elements. 3. Balloon: Speech balloons are highly associated with comics. These balloons have a space where the verbal content is placed. Moreover there are two kinds: speech balloon and thought balloon, their main use is to report speech or thoughts. Furthermore a tail is always visible to point out who is speaking. Regarding shape they can be presented in either oval or squared. 4. Caption: It contains linguistic element, unlike balloons, captions are not positioned inside the panel. It provides information. 5. Writing: Most of it is typed and it can look like handwriting. The letters in bold make emphasis and indicate loudness. Regarding comic books as a medium, McCloud (1993) drew attention to sequential art as the definitive characteristic of the book. Varnum and Gibbons (2001) similarly highlighted comics seen as a narrative form consisting in pictures arranged in sequence. In addition, as cited in Kannenberg (2002) described the picture in a comic as the visual narrative and the word as the textual narrative.

Benefits of comics and comic books in education

Many researchers throughout time have researched the effects of comics in education. Comic books served for military purposes as reading material for soldiers and as ballast for ships. These prevented historical content from being boring and meaningless as it is often typical in classrooms (Chilcoat, 1993, p.113). Yang (2003) stated that human beings have a natural tendency towards pictures, hence the ability of comics to attract peoples interest and above all, learners. Young learners in particular have an attraction to comics and by bringing those to the classroom the teacher can take advantage of the power of books (as cited in Haggard, 1973). When students design their own comic book they can develop writing, comprehension and reading skills. Students ought to recognize the impact that this popular approach has on their identities (Morrison, Bryan & Chilcoat, 2002, p.759 ) Most teachers decide to bring more rigorous scholastic endeavors to the classroom and they may resist the idea of implementing something fun with the learners. Lectures may not see that popular culture is integral to the lives of most middle school students; they should become critical consumers and enjoy it (Morrison et al., 2002, p. 761). When producing comic books, students become the authors and representatives of their writing, they expand their linguistic intelligence. Gardner (2000) assures that they also improve their visual-spatial. Furthermore to create the comic they must initially read then rephrase and finally organize the information logically (Morrison et al., 2002, p. 763). . Students illustrate and this represents an intensive version of the proven story-retelling strategy described by Gambrell, Pfiffer and Wilson (1985). However, before creating, learners should gather relevant information, they must examine it and present this information in a visual manner that both informs and entertains. Leaners should also create their topic focus which may be related to a current unit of classroom study. Moreover, information must be located.

Comics to improve writing performance in the English classroom

Reading and writing are two of the most difficult skills to foster in the classroom whether it is L2 or EFL. Children find books unattractive and this might become an obstacle to improve both skills. They are not going to read as much if you give them things they do not understand (Anonimo). Comic life in education (2010) reported that many students read fluently but they find difficult it to write. They have all the ideas that are essential to creating a text but they have trouble at the beginning, following a sequence and getting to a logical conclusion. On the one hand with comics learners can express themselves through art (Bitz, 2004, p. 575) tool comics provide the perfect vehicle for learning and practicing language and it can become an invaluable tool when teaching English in the classroom (Zimmerman, 2008, p. 56). Learners may fall in love with the art of writing. In addition, they can be the authors of their own world this is to say that the dullest occurrence may turn into something dramatic; this is why comics are a wonderfully painless way to get students to understand this principle (Crilley, 2004, p. 29). Comics as the name implies are humorous with an interesting plot and strong ending (Ruurs, 2012, p. ). Consequently if the students are willing to draw they should be willing to write because as Crilley (2004) adds, drawing is easy but writing is more important. Moreover, comic strips are a great way for children to practice new vocabulary words and dialogue in different situations (Zimmerman, 2008, p. 56). On the other hand students can also be taught through creative writing. Hinzpeter (2009) claims that Creative writing is considered by many scholars as an important component of teaching foreign languages. About creative writings definition Hinzpeter explains that :
The word creativity can be traced back to the Latin verb creare which can roughly be translated as to bring something into being, to produce something. It is however hardly possible to find an accurate definition since the term is used in various ways in different fields (p. 2).

But writing in a foreign language goes beyond what most people think. First we need to know that most of the time the right part of the brain where the creation takes places is often neglected. Since creative writing combines planning and organizing, it provides an effective means in training ones long-term memory (Hinzpeter, 2009. p. 2) Creative writing also includes elements such as word formation, cohesion and coherence. Also writing takes places much more slowly than talking so that students have more time to automate those abilities without being under pressure.

References
Bitz. M (2004). The comic book project: forging alternative pathways to literacy. Journal of adolescent and adult literacy, 47(7), 574-586. Crilley, M. (2009). Getting students to write using comics. ProQuest Education Journals, 37, 2831. Gambrell, I., Pfeiffer, W., & Wilson, R., (1985). The Effects of Retelling Upon Reading Comprehension and Recall the Text Information. Journal of Education Research, 78, 216220 Gardner, H. (2000). Intelligence Reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. Basic Books. Hayman, G., & Pratt, H., (2005). What are comics?. A Reader Philosophy of the arts, 40, 424460. Hinzpeter, K. (2009). Creative writing in foreign language teaching: seminar paper digital editions version]. Doi: 10.3239/9783656107859 [Adobe

Kunzle, D. (1973). The history of the Comic Strip: the nineteenth century. University of California Press, 170. De donde sacaste esto? McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding comics. Retrieved from http://es.scribd.com/doc/39956535/Understanding-Comics-The-Invisible-Art-ScottMccloud Meskin, A. (2007). Defining comics?. 369-379. Morrison, T., Bryan, G., & Chilcoat, G., (2002). Using student-generated comics books in the classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 45(8), 758-767. Oxford University Press. (2001). Oxford Dictionary of Current English. (3rd ed.). Oxford, England: Author. Retalis, S. (2008). State of the Art Comics in Education. Retrieved from: http://www.educomics.org/material/deliverables/Deliverable1_StateoftheArt.pdf Ruurs, M., (2010). Creating Comics Strips Salehi, H. (2012). Effects of Using Digital comics to Improve ESL Writing. Research Journal of Applied Sciences. 4 (18), 3462-3469. Saraceni, M. (2003) The Language of comics. Retrieved from http://es.scribd.com/doc/72737437/SARACENI-Language-of-Comics. Varnum, R., & Gibbons, C., (2001) The language of Comics: Word and Image. Retrieved from http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/language-of-comics

Weltham, F. (1954). Seduction of the innocent. Reinhart and Company, 192, 234-235 Zimmerman, B., (2008). Creating Comics: Fostering Reading and Writing. The Educational Digest, 40, 55-57