Comic Book Project as a Tool for Teaching Multimodal Argument and Fostering Critical Thinking Skills: Implications for the L2 Writing Classroom

Oct 15, 2026

A university L2 writing instructor uses a comic book project to address persistent difficulties in academic argumentation among international students. After placement essays showed problems with comprehension, coherence, and evidence-based argument, the course replaces conventional prompts with a familiar multimodal genre. The article explains how multimodality supports students’ engagement and critical thinking, presents a theme-based freshman context, and details classroom activities that scaffold comic construction while encouraging everyday argumentative reasoning. It also considers possibilities and limitations of the approach.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Teaching Context and Rationale

Placement-Essay Challenges in L2 Argument Writing

Multimodal Argument Through Comics

Project Design and Classroom Implementation

Course Theme and Genre Requirements

Assignment Prompt and Persuasive Mindset Focus

Supported Topics Across Educational, Social, and Cultural Aspects

Reflection on Possibilities and Limitations

Comic Book Project as a Tool for Teaching Multimodal Argument and Fostering Critical Thinking Skills: Implications for the L2 Writing Classroom Hee-Seung Kang Sheridan College One of my major responsibilities as Director of ESL Writing Program at Case Western Reserve University was to place incoming international students in the appropriate writing class based on their placement essay each fall. Overseeing the placement of 150-170 second language (L2) students in a few days was overwhelming and daunting at times, but it gave me a better sense of L2 students’ challenges in academic writing. The placement essay prompt aimed to gauge students’ academic reading and writing skills by asking them to make an argument based on a reading excerpt. Incoming freshmen were asked to summarize, respond to an excerpt and support their argument using their own experience, content from the passage or their general knowledge. It was not easy for native-English speaking students to respond to the essay prompt, but L2 students in particular struggled at various stages ofthe writing process. While some had trouble understanding the text, others had difficulty writing a coherent and well-organized essay. Many students engaged the text to some extent and incorporated interesting ideas into their essays, but most relied heavily on personal experiences and failed to produce well-developed arguments supported by effective evidence. Overseeing the placement process prompted me to evaluate what prior knowledge and skills L2 students bring to my writing class and what aspects challenge them. As an instructor, I had scaffolded for argumentation by explaining the concept, giving students examples, and having them write a number of argumentative essays. The placement essays and student comments made me realized, however, that not all the assignments and tasks helped students learn what it means to join the conversation and make an argument. For example, a number of L2 students told me that questioning or disagreeing with an author made them uncomfortable; they were used to accepting concepts from the book. As a result, I wanted to create an argumentative assignment that used a genre that L2 students are familiar with and on a topic with which they feel comfortable. I also wanted students to realize that an academic argument can build on their own opinions and ideas and that they are making arguments daily. When my colleague, Mary Assad (first author of this roundtable), shared her idea of having students make a comic book, I was intrigued and decided to incorporate it into my teaching. Using the comic book to teach academic writing may seem odd at first, but it is a genre that most students are familiar with regardless of their first language and culture. Because many students grew up with graphic novels and comics, using comics in an academic writing class can excite, engage, and ultimately empower students by connecting their previous literacy experience with academic writing. In my class, the comic book assignment was used to teach multimodal argument and develop critical thinking skills. Multimodality refers to communication practices that combines more than one mode of communication; it often includes linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gestural resources. Examples of multimodal texts are a graphic novel, comics, a webpage which has music, oral and written language, and images. By sharing my teaching experience in this article, I argue that a comic book project, in which students create their own comic book, is an effective tool for teaching multimodal argument and fostering critical thinking skills in a university L2 writing class. I begin by explaining the teaching context of the project and then detail how the complex task of constructing a comic book can be broken down into manageable classroom activities and assignments. Finally, I share my reflections on the assignment, including its possibilities and limitations. The class I taug

FAQs

Why were traditional argumentation tasks insufficient for L2 students?

Placement essays and student comments indicated that many students struggled to understand the texts, write coherent essays, and produce well-developed arguments backed by effective evidence. Some were also uncomfortable questioning or disagreeing with an author.

How does a comic book project support multimodal argument in L2 writing?

The project leverages multimodality by combining linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gestural resources. Creating comics connects students’ prior literacy experience with academic writing and helps them practice constructing arguments using multiple modes.

What is the core goal of the comic book assignment in the course?

Students create a comic book to persuade incoming or current international students that adopting a specific mindset or behavioral practice can lead to a rich and rewarding university experience in the U.S.

What kinds of topics can students use for their comics?

The assignment provides topic suggestions in educational, social, and cultural areas, such as managing time and language barriers, developing social relationships, handling culture shock, adjusting to classroom culture, and communicating in different ways.

Oct 15, 2026

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