Skip to main content
European School Education Platform

Visual arts in English as a Foreign Language classrooms: A small scale action research in Greek primary education

Peer-reviewed article

Visual arts in English as a Foreign Language classrooms: A small scale action research in Greek primary education

This article presents an action research study exploring how visual arts can enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning in Greek primary education, what kind of teaching approach can support student engagement and participation in EFL lessons and how visual arts integration can improve teaching practices.
Children painting with water colours
Image: Pexels / Monstera

The action research was carried out at an inner-city public primary school in Athens, Greece, with 21 students aged 11-12 years, attending Grade 6. The research aims were informed by a literature review about visual arts integration. This article describes the context of EFL learning in Greek primary education and the design of the action research, which consisted of four phases - planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. It covers the implementation of the lesson unit, ‘Painting Sounds’, which involved learning about and creating soundscapes, and presents the main findings.

Research found that integrating the visual arts into EFL learning increased student participation and engagement in EFL lessons. In addition, the co-equal, cognitive approach allowed for a broad and balanced visual arts and EFL curriculum and supported the achievement of learning objectives in both disciplines. Moreover, implementing an action research study led to increased knowledge about visual arts integration in EFL classrooms and improved teaching practices due to its planned structure and continuous reflection.

Finally, the article discusses the limitations of this study regarding its validity and trustworthiness and the generalisability and representativeness of its results. It concludes that adopting a co-equal, cognitive visual arts integration approach can engage children in decision-making and higher-order thinking processes and deepen their understanding in both disciplines. However, it necessitates a shift in teachers' attitudes and beliefs towards visual arts integration.

 

Keywords: EFL, visual arts, co-equal, integration, primary education, Greece

Authors: Angeliki Charalampous & Martha Christopoulou

 

Download the full article (PDF)

 

This paper was submitted to the call for papers organised in 2022 and it has been reviewed by external peer-reviewers. See here all the articles selected within the same call.

 

Additional information

  • Education type:
    School Education
  • Target audience:
    Head Teacher / Principal
    Student Teacher
    Teacher
    Teacher Educator
  • Target audience ISCED:
    Primary education (ISCED 1)
    Lower secondary education (ISCED 2)