Abstract

Researchers have investigated the effects of reading on foreign language acquisition and have found that reading generally impacts foreign language development positively. However, if learners are not very proficient in their language skills, reading sometimes seems too much for them to process in order to learn from the input. Reading a graphic novel in the foreign language classroom is an approach to ensure that input becomes intake, because the format inherently supports readers with visual clues and allows them to understand authentic materials. Looking at the research done so far, no study particularly has inspected the effects of reading a graphic novel in German at the elementary level on the acquisition of language skills, or on their development while reading. The research design that was implemented was a qualitative case study. The author researched language and attitudinal development through the integration of a graphic novel in the German foreign language classroom.The analysis of the data is still in progress, but reading a graphic novel seems to have positively impacted some learners’ language skills and attitude towards the target language, or at least consolidated their skills. However, not every student appears to have benefited equally, which suggests that the integration of comprehensive reading of a graphic novel only assists a particular type of learner in the learning progress and cannot be understood as a general means of instruction.