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How can improved reading materials enhance reading comprehension of rural left-behind children without teacher guidance?
1. Introduction
Rural left-behind children are defined as those who, due to their parents’ migration for work, remain in rural areas under the care of relatives or neighbors. Emerging alongside China’s reform and economic development, they constitute a vulnerable group, with education being a crucial factor influencing their future development(Wang & Chen, 2023; Tao & Zhou, 2012). According to data released by the Chinese State Council Information Office in 2021, there are approximately 6.436 million left-behind children in rural China. Most of them attend underfunded rural primary schools that lack sufficient teaching resources(Li & Zhang, 2018). Due to inherent shortcomings in rural education, left-behind children commonly face reading challenges, such as insufficient guidance in reading behavior and suboptimal reading learning outcomes(Deng, 2015). How to improve the quality of rural children’s reading despite the lack of teachers’ and parents’ guidance is a matter of concern(Wei, 2023).
This paper aims to explore how enhancing the styles of illustrations and illustrations integration with text can help children enhance their comprehension in independent reading. We propose that two major attributes of illustrations—the style and quantity of illustrations, along with their interaction—are crucial dimensions influencing the reading experiences of rural left-behind children (Hurt, 1987; Moore & Skinner, 1985). These dimensions are not only related to the content and form of reading materials but also to the way illustrations help children cognitively process information and emotionally engage with the narrative. As Gerrard notes, illustrations enable children to recognize and empathize with the emotions of characters, thereby enhancing their comprehension of both the cognitive and emotional aspects of the story(Gerrard, 2008). Based on this theoretical foundation, we focus on and explore several aspects of the issue: 1) Is children’s reading comprehension related to the style of illustrations? 2) Does different illustration styles have varying effects on children’s reading comprehension levels? 3) Does using multiple single-scene illustrations help children better understand the content of classical poetry compared to a single full-scene illustration? 4) Can multiple illustrations stimulate children’s deep understanding and insight? 5) Which has a more significant impact on children’s reading comprehension, the style or quantity of illustrations? 6) Is there an interaction effect between them?
To delve into this series of questions, this paper employs empirical research method, collecting and analyzing the reading performance and feedback of rural left-behind children under different conditions of illustration styles and quantities through experiments and interviews. The novelty of this study lies in starting from the visual characteristics of reading materials, exploring the impact of illustration attributes on the independent reading comprehension abilities of rural left-behind children. The results of this study will contribute to understanding the mechanism through which illustrations influence the reading of rural left-behind children, providing guidance and recommendations to improve their reading abilities and habits. Importantly, the exploration of this issue is expected to address, to some extent, the reading problems of children in rural areas of China due to the lack of teachers, offering a new perspective to enhance the quality of education for rural children.
2. Literature review
Previous research has demonstrated that verbal and nonverbal references to print during storybook reading can increase preschoolers’ visual attention to print, emphasizing the role of visual elements in cognitive development(Justice et al., 2008). Additionally, a more recent eye-tracking study found that pictures play a key role in supporting children’s comprehension of stories, indicating that images serve as focal points for children’s cognitive processing and contribute to narrative understanding (Sue et al., 2022). Even when reading text-focused books, children spend a considerable amount of time viewing images(Evans et al., 2008; Arslan-Ari & Ari, 2022). Research has shown that when illustrations match children’s preferences—such as bright and realistic images—comprehension levels often surpass those achieved through purely textual books. This finding suggests that illustrations are not merely supplementary but can be fundamental in enhancing understanding, as they provide visual cues that complement and reinforce textual content (Carney & Levin, 2002; Brookshire et al., 2002; Gerrard, 2008). This suggests that suitable illustration, by providing visual aids that complement and reinforce textual content, play an active role in supporting children’s reading abilities.
Recent research underscores the significance of well-integrated illustrations in fostering textual coherence, thereby enhancing children’s reading comprehension(Latini et al., 2020; Mayer, 1989). This is particularly crucial for early-grade primary school students, as they often face difficulties with basic reading skills. Illustrations serve as a vital conduit, rendering complex textual materials more accessible and fostering deeper student engagement with reading (Hulme & Snowling, 2011; Pike et al., 2010). Furthermore, the incorporation of illustrations transcends mere aesthetic considerations; it aligns with the cognitive principles of processing verbal and pictorial information through distinct yet complementary cognitive systems, thereby generating a synergistic effect. Specifically, while text engages the linguistic system, illustrations leverage the visual system, reinforcing learning through dual coding mechanisms (Paivio, 2014; Yu et al., 2020). Consequently, the visual perception centered on images becomes integral to knowledge acquisition, aligning with the indispensable role of illustrations in cultivating reading competencies (Wang, 2020; Myatt & Carter, 1979; Mathewson, 1999). However, while these studies have demonstrated the general benefits of illustrations in narrative or educational texts, there is still limited understanding of how illustrations function in more complex texts such as classical poetry. Illustrations that work well for narrative texts may not necessarily have the same effect on poetry, which often relies on symbolism and emotional depth. Additionally, most of the existing research has focused on simple narrative materials, leaving a gap in understanding how illustrations—especially different styles and quantities—affect comprehension of more abstract and symbolically rich texts.
When revealing the impact of illustrations on children’s reading comprehension, researchers have found that the style of illustrations will influence the readers’ mental picturing process, as well as their understanding and experience of the text. The effectiveness of illustrations is further enhanced when they align with children’s preferred styles(Aggleton, 2023). The illustration style refers to a combination of visual elements and characteristics within an illustration that together form its unique appearance and feel (Garces et al., 2017).Children’s preferred illustration style makes text more easily understood, surpassing the comprehension level of purely textual books. This suggests that suitable illustration styles may enhance children’s reading abilities (Amsden, 1960; Newton, 1984). However, Eng’s research suggests that illustrations must be thoughtfully designed; as excessive detail can detract from comprehension. Only by streamlining illustrations and focusing on essential elements can children’s attention be enhanced, improving their understanding of the text.(Eng et al., 2020). Additionally, researches indicate that children exhibit clear aesthetic preferences for illustration styles, with a particular preference for cartoon-style and realistic-style illustrations(Fang et al., 2017; Rump & Southgate, 1967). Some researchers have found that children aged preschool to 11 prefer colorful, exaggerated anthropomorphic cartoon styles(Ramsey, 1989; Li et al., 2020). This is because exaggerated cartoon styles enhance the affinity of the work, highlight its features, making it easier to perceive and understand, and stimulate children’s natural curiosity to explore the unknown world(Bénard et al., 2013; Höffler et al., 2010). On the other hand, some scholars argue that children prefer realistic styles of pictures. Especially, children aged 3 to 10 tend to favor realistic principles in aesthetics(Lam, 1967; Myatt & Carter, 1979; Rump & Southgate, 1967). This is because elementary school students primarily rely on visual thinking. This thinking is closely related to direct sensory experiences, where visual thinking plays a significant role. Therefore, realistic and colorful illustrations are more suitable for elementary school students(Rump & Southgate, 1967). Based on this research, most children prefer realistic and cartoon artistic styles. When children read picture books, these artistic styles become factors influencing their illustration preferences, affecting children’s reading(Amsden, 1960; Loschky et al., 2018; Greenhoot et al., 2014). Thus, this study considers illustration style as an essential variable, exploring its impact on the reading comprehension levels of rural left-behind children.
While a wealth of research has explored the role of illustration style in children’s reading comprehension, a key question remains unanswered: which aspect of illustrations holds greater influence – style or narrative function? Visual Language Theory (VLT) posits that pictures in picture books, similar to text, serve narrative purposes(Loschky et al., 2018; Zhang, 2018). Therefore, multiple continuous pictures can help children complete the story, thus improving reading comprehension. However, illustration style may not necessarily achieve this(Cohn, 2013). Thus, this study considers the quantity of illustrations as another crucial variable, exploring its impact on the reading comprehension levels of rural left-behind children.
Although many studies have demonstrated that illustrations positively support children’s reading comprehension, a recent study focusing on science texts found no significant difference in comprehension between illustrated and text-only materials (Wu et al., 2021). This discrepancy suggests that the effectiveness of illustrations may depend on the type of content presented. However, these findings were limited to scientific texts and did not explore texts that are richer in emotion and symbolism, such as classical poetry. Literary texts often require deeper emotional and symbolic treatment, which may need to be supported by different types of illustrations. Compared to popular science texts, classical poetry conveys complex emotions and abstract ideas that may require different types of visual support. As a result, there is still a gap in the literature on how illustrations affect the understanding of classical poetry.
Building on this gap in the literature, it is crucial to examine not only the effect of illustrations on classical poetry comprehension but also the specific aspects of illustrations that contribute to this understanding. While previous studies have focused on children’s aesthetic preferences for illustration styles – for example, some studies have shown that children prefer exaggerated and anthropomorphized cartoon images, as these align with their developing cognitive and aesthetic preferences(Fang et al., 2017) – there has been insufficient comparative analysis of how different illustration styles affect independent reading comprehension of classical poetry. It is worth noting that although previous literature has indicated that multiple consecutive pictures can help children’s reading comprehension, in current Chinese language textbooks and children’s extracurricular collections of ancient poems, each poem is accompanied by only one illustration. In other words, the effect of the difference in the number of illustrations allocated to each poem on children’s independent reading comprehension has not yet been addressed in relevant studies. Further, there are no studies comparing which of the two factors, illustration style or number of illustrations, is more effective in promoting children’s independent reading comprehension.
Based on the above research background and questions, this study proposes three hypotheses:
- (1)
Cartoon-style illustrations would have a more positive impact on the independent reading comprehension of rural left-behind children than realistic-style illustrations.
- (2)
Compared to a single illustration encompassing all scenes of a classical poem, multiple illustrations—each depicting a single sentence of the poem—will likely be more effective in enhancing the reading comprehension levels of rural left-behind children.
- (3)
Compared to illustration style, the quantity of illustrations has a more significant impact on enhancing independent reading comprehension of classical poetry picture books for rural left-behind children.
3. Materials and methods
This study employs Chinese classical poetry as the reading research material . In the Chinese educational context, classical poetry is a vital medium for promoting children’s individual development(Liu et al., 2021). In the early grades of primary school, illustrations are often used to help children understand the meaning, context, and emotions of classical poetry, as well as to appreciate the beauty of its language (Sipe, 2000). Although illustrations are widely incorporated as an important tool in the reading materials of classical poetry for primary school children(Moore & Skinner, 1985; Ramos, 2014) their actual impact on comprehension remains underexplored. To explore this, we collected the latest Chinese language textbooks and 200 types of children’s classical poetry books available on the market. We found that all these materials followed a consistent design: each classical poem was accompanied by one illustration to help children understand the content, mood, and underlying meaning of the poetry. This consistent design choice offers a clue, guiding us to further investigate the effects of illustrations on the reading comprehension of rural left-behind children.
Building on this foundation, this study combines different illustration styles and quantities to systematically evaluate their dual impact on the independent reading comprehension of rural left-behind children. This comprehensive approach aims to provide deeper insights into how illustration attributes influence children’s reading comprehension and to reveal their interrelationships.
3.1. Participants
The study recruited 148 students in grades 1–3 (mean age = 8.7 years, SD = 0.97) from two primary schools in Xiangyang, Hubei, China. Eligible children were randomly selected as participants. Eligible children met the following criteria: (1) Both parents or one parent works away from home and returns home about twice a year; (2) Chinese language final exam scores are not in the top 10 % or bottom 10 % of the class rankings; (3) No visual, color perception, or cognitive impairments; (4) Willing to participate in the experiment and obtained parental consent.
3.2. Variable selection
The independent variables in this study are illustration style and illustration quantity, and the dependent variable is the level of independent reading comprehension.
- (1)
Illustration Style: Realistic style and cartoon style were selected as variables for illustration style. Specifically, realistic style illustrations adopt an oil painting main style, emphasizing texture and depth, and highlighting light and shadow effects. Cartoon-style illustrations mainly use line drawing, with a simple and cute style, bright colors, and a flat appearance. When designing illustrations, efforts were made to ensure consistency in content, themes, and emotions with the poems while highlighting the characteristics and expressive power of the illustration style.
- (2)
Illustration Quantity: Single and multiple illustrations were selected as variables for illustration quantity. Specifically, a single illustration is an illustration that includes all the scenes of the ancient poem, and a multiply-illustration poem is an ancient poem with multiple illustrations, each one depicting a scene from only one line of the poem.
3.3. Experimental materials
Experimental materials include reading materials and test materials, used to provide the content of classical poetry picture books and assess children’s reading comprehension levels.
3.3.1. Reading materials
- (1)
Text Materials: The "Expert Assessment Method" was used to select "Mountainous Miscellaneous Poems" (Wu Jun, Southern and Northern Dynasties) as the text material.1 This method leverages the knowledge and experience of experts to estimate the suitability and efficacy of research components or contents, making expert opinions a valuable source of information in decision-making(Petrov, 2020; Perälä et al., 2020). Experts believed that this poem was consistent with the level of classical poetry in the Ministry of Education’s compiled lower-grade Chinese language textbooks in terms of linguistic complexity, vocabulary load, emotional expression, poetic imagery, and age appropriateness. To avoid familiarity bias, none of the participating children had read this poem before. The content of the poem is as follows: "At the edge of the mountain I see the misty smoke. Through the bamboo I glimpse the setting sun. Birds fly towards the eaves of my hut. Clouds drift out from the window."
- (2)
Picture Book Illustration Materials: The picture book illustrations were designed by members of the research group with reference to the teaching objectives of classical poetry for children in the 2021 new curriculum standards of the Chinese Ministry of Education. Two sets of illustrations with different quantities and styles were created for "Mountainous Miscellaneous Poems" (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4). These illustrations, combined with the text materials, constituted the complete reading materials. The reading materials were divided into four categories: Single Illustration Groups and Multiple Illustrations Groups, each with two styles – cartoon and realistic style. In the Single Illustration Groups, each poem (composed of four lines) is accompanied by a single illustration. In contrast, in the Multiple Illustrations Groups, each line of the poem (four lines total) is paired with its own illustration, meaning that participants in these groups received four illustrations for each poem. The study thus included four conditions: one poem with one realistic style illustration, one poem with one cartoon style illustration, one poem with multiple realistic style illustrations, and one poem with multiple cartoon style illustrations. Regardless of whether participants were in the Single Illustration Groups or the Multiple Illustration Groups, all illustrations (whether one or four) and the text of the poem were presented on a single page. This consistent layout was chosen to minimize potential confounds arising from differences in material structure, and maintain consistency in the presentation and flow of the reading material.
Fig. 1. One poem with a realistic-style illustration.
Fig. 2. One poem with a cartoon-style illustration.
Fig. 3. One poem with multiple realistic-style illustrations.
Fig. 4. One poem with multiple cartoon-style illustrations.
The content of the poems remains consistent across all conditions. In terms of visual content, the total quantity of visual elements depicted in single illustrations and multiple illustrations does not differ significantly. In other words, the sum of elements depicted in the four illustrations of the multiple illustration group is not substantially greater than the elements in the single illustration. However, the multiple illustration group provides a more detailed visual representation, with each illustration specifically dedicated to one line of the poem. Thus, while the total number of visual elements is similar, each element is depicted with more specific details in the multiple illustrations. This approach allows for the conveyance of more specific details, thereby enhancing comprehension through visual cues. The illustrations used in both the realistic and cartoon styles were uniform in size across the single and multiple illustration groups; however, in the Multiple Illustrations Groups, the four illustrations were designed with different sizes. This decision was informed by a pre-study survey conducted with left-behind children, in which most participants expressed a preference for varying illustration sizes, similar to those found in comic books. Respecting these preferences, the multiple illustrations were designed to vary in size accordingly.
3.3.2. Test materials
Test materials were used to assess students’ understanding and application levels of the learned knowledge, consisting of 10 4-alternative choice questions with only one correct alternative and 1 open-ended question. Each 4-alternative choice question was worth 1 point, and the open-ended question was worth 5 points, totaling 15 points. The test material covered various aspects and levels of this poetry, including the content, form, artistic conception, emotion, theme, and the connection between poetry and life. The design of the test materials referenced the requirements and indicators for children’s classical poetry reading comprehension in the 2021 new curriculum standards of the Chinese Ministry of Education, as well as relevant teaching evaluation standards and methods. To ensure the quality of the test content, this study invited the aforementioned Chinese language teachers and a psychology teacher to use the "Expert Assessment Method" to check and validate the test content. The evaluation results indicated that the test questions could effectively reflect the tested content and had good content validity.
3.4. Experimental procedure
The experiment took place in the primary schools where the participants attended. Upon arriving at the experiment site, the participants were familiarized with the experimental environment by four experimenters. They were informed about the experimental process, given instructions, and potential factors that might interfere with the experiment were controlled in advance. This helped alleviate the children’s anxiety, excitement, and other emotional factors that could affect the results, ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of the experiment. To ensure the consistency of the results, all experimenters received uniform training and testing before the experiment.
The experiment consisted of two phases: the independent reading phase and the independent testing phase. Participants were informed in advance that they would receive classical poetry reading materials with illustrations and were given 20 min for independent reading. After 20 min, the experimenters collected the reading materials and distributed the test materials. Participants had to complete the test content independently within 20 min.
Once all children understood their tasks, the independent reading phase began. The children were divided into four groups: the first group studied classical poems with single realistic style illustrations, the second group studied classical poems with single cartoon style illustrations, the third group studied classical poems with multiple realistic style illustrations, and the fourth group studied classical poems with multiple cartoon style illustrations. Each group of participants read in the same classroom, supervised and recorded by one experimenter to ensure they followed the instructions and did not interact or interfere with each other.
In the independent testing phase, participants had 20 min to complete the test materials. The test materials were uniformly distributed and collected by the experimenters to ensure that the participants followed the instructions and did not copy from each other or interfere.
After completing the testing phase, two trained experimenters independently scored the test materials according to the prepared answer key. The scoring process used a double-blind method to avoid subjective bias from influencing the results. After scoring, two other experimenters reviewed and statistically analyzed the scoring results to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the scoring.
4. Experimental results and discussion
4.1. Statistical methods
In this study, we aimed to investigate how different attributes of illustrations—illustration style and quantity—affect the reading comprehension of rural left-behind children. To rigorously test our hypotheses, we employed several statistical analyses on the experimental data. This section provides an overview of the data analysis methods used to examine the impact of illustration style and quantity on children’s reading comprehension.
4.1.1. Purpose of data analysis
The primary goal of our data analysis was to evaluate the effects of different illustration styles (cartoon vs. realistic) and quantities (single vs. multiple, where multiple means each line of poetry has an illustration) on the reading comprehension scores of rural left-behind children. By applying appropriate statistical methods, we sought to determine whether:
- (1)
The style of illustrations significantly influences reading comprehension.
- (2)
The quantity of illustrations has a meaningful impact on comprehension levels.
- (3)
There is an interaction effect between illustration style and quantity that affects comprehension.
4.1.2. Statistical methods
One-way ANOVA:
Hypothesis 1
To test whether cartoon-style illustrations lead to better reading comprehension compared to realistic-style illustrations, we used a One-way ANOVA. This method allows for the comparison of mean scores across the groups, testing whether the differences are statistically significant(Schober & Vetter, 2020). The independent variable is illustration style (cartoon vs. realistic), and the dependent variable is the reading comprehension scores. Specifically, we analyzed the main effect of illustration style (cartoon vs. realistic) across two conditions: single and multiple illustrations. This analysis compares the mean reading comprehension scores between two groups—those exposed to cartoon-style illustrations and those exposed to realistic-style illustrations.
Hypothesis 2
To evaluate the impact of illustration quantity on reading comprehension, another One-way ANOVA was conducted. Illustration quantity (single vs. multiple) served as the independent variable, while the reading comprehension scores were the dependent variable. This analysis compares the mean scores between groups with single illustrations and those with multiple illustrations.
Two-way ANOVA:
Hypothesis 3
To investigate whether there is an interaction effect between illustration style and quantity, a Two-way ANOVA was performed. Illustration style (cartoon vs. realistic) and illustration quantity (single vs. multiple) were the independent variables, while the reading comprehension scores were the dependent variable. This test assesses the main effects of both illustration style and quantity on reading comprehension. It also explores whether the combination of these factors influences comprehension differently than each factor alone.
4.1.3. Significance level
For all statistical tests, a significance level of 0.05 was adopted. This means that we considered results to be statistically significant if the p-value was <0.05, indicating that any observed effects were unlikely to have occurred by chance.
4.2. Impact of illustration style on reading comprehension
A validation analysis of the first hypothesis was conducted to assess whether cartoon-style illustrations would have a more positive impact on the independent reading comprehension of rural left-behind children than realistic-style illustrations. The data analysis results (Table 1) indicate that there were no significant differences in the scores of reading comprehension tests between different illustration style groups, whether in single illustration or multiple illustration condition. Specifically, the average score difference between the single realistic illustration group and the single cartoon illustration group was −0.75 points, with a main effect of F(1, 72) = 1.13, p = 0.29, η² = 0.01. The average score difference between the multiple realistic illustration group and the multiple cartoon illustration group was −0.49 points, with a main effect of F(1, 72) = 0.67, p = 0.41, η² = 0.01. These results suggest that cartoon-style illustrations designed based on aesthetic preferences do not have a more significant impact on the independent reading comprehension of rural left-behind children compared to realistic-style illustrations. Additionally, the small effect size (η² = 0.01) indicates that only 1 % of the corrected total variance is explained by illustration style, suggesting that even if there were differences, they are not practically significant. Therefore, H1 is rejected.
Table 1. Comparing the effects of realistic and cartoon-style illustrations on independent reading comprehension.
| Group | M | SD | Df | F | p | η2 | Post Hoc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Realistic Illustration | 7.30 | 2.96 | 1 | 1.13 | 0.29 | 0.01 | −0.75 |
| Single Cartoon Illustration | 8.05 | 3.14 | 0.75 | ||||
| Multiple Realistic Illustrations | 9.35 | 2.60 | 1 | 0.67 | 0.41 | 0.01 | −0.49 |
| Multiple Cartoon Illustrations | 9.84 | 2.50 | 0.49 |
4.3. Impact of illustration quantity on reading comprehension
For the confirmatory analysis of the second hypothesis, i.e., reading materials with one poem with multiple illustrations, each of which depicts a scene from one line of an ancient poem, are more likely to improve children’s reading comprehension than reading materials with only one illustration depicting all the scenes of an ancient poem. The analysis indicates (Table 2) that the quantity of illustrations has a significant impact on independent reading comprehension levels (F(1144) = 17.19, p < 0.01, η² = 0.11). The multiple-illustration group outperformed the single-illustration group in the comprehension test, confirming H2.
Table 2. Comparing the effects of Single and Multiple Picture Illustrations on independent reading comprehension.
| Group | N | M | SD | F | p | η² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Illustration | 74 | 7.68 | 3.05 | 17.19 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| Multiple Illustrations | 74 | 9.59 | 2.54 |
Note: Both single-picture and multiple-picture groups have both realistic style and cartoon style illustrations. Here, we only compare the impact of picture quantity on reading comprehension effects, excluding the impact of illustration style.
This result indicates that, in this study, illustration quantity is a significant factor in the independent reading comprehension level of rural left-behind children. Multiple illustrations depicting each line of an ancient poem can more effectively assist in understanding the content of classical poetry, thereby enhancing their independent reading comprehension abilities. Furthermore, the effect size η²=0.11 indicates that 11 % of the corrected total variance is explained by illustration quantity, reaching the standard of a medium effect, suggesting that illustration quantity has a certain degree of impact on independent reading comprehension levels.
4.4. Interaction effect of illustration style and illustration quantity
For the confirmatory analysis of the third hypothesis, i.e., that compared to illustration style, the quantity of illustrations has a more significant impact on improving the independent reading comprehension of rural left-behind children in classical poetry. To test this hypothesis, a two-way ANOVA was conducted to assess the main effects of illustration style and illustration quantity, as well as their interaction effect on reading comprehension. The independent variables were illustration style (cartoon vs. realistic) and illustration quantity (single vs. multiple), while the dependent variable was the reading comprehension score. As shown in Table 3, the quantity of illustrations had a significant impact on independent reading comprehension (F(1144) = 17.19, p < 0.01). In contrast, illustration style did not show a significant effect (F(1144) = 1.80, p = 0.18). Similarly, the interaction effect between illustration style and quantity was not significant (F(1144) = 0.08, p = 0.77). These results suggest that the quantity of illustrations plays a more critical role in enhancing children’s reading comprehension than illustration style, thus supporting H3.
Table 3. Comparison of the Impact of Illustration Style and Illustration Quantity on Independent Reading Comprehension.
| Source | df | MS | F | Sig. | η² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustration Style | 1 | 14.29 | 1.80 | 0.18 | 0.01 |
| Illustration Quantity | 1 | 136.24 | 17.19 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| Style * Quantity | 1 | 0.67 | 0.08 | 0.77 | 0 |
| Error | 144 | 7.92 |
This result also indicates that there is no interaction effect between illustration style and illustration quantity. In other words, the impact of illustration style on independent reading comprehension levels is not influenced by illustration quantity, and vice versa.
5. Interview
5.1. Interview methodology and objectives
After the experiment, we conducted interviews with a total of 72 child participants, randomly selected from the four groups, with 18 children in each group. The interviews were conducted using a semi-structured approach. An interview outline was designed in advance based on the interview objectives, including both open-ended and closed-ended questions to collect basic information and reading experiences of the children.
The primary purpose of the interviews was to explore, from the children’s perspective, the mechanisms through which illustrations influence their reading comprehension, as well as their cognitive and emotional changes during the reading process. Specifically, the interviews aimed to:
- (1)
Understand children’s preferences and evaluations of illustration styles and quantities, as well as their cognition of the functions and roles of illustrations.
- (2)
Investigate whether children use illustrations to comprehend the content, mood, emotions, and themes of classical poetry during the reading process, and how they establish logical relationships between poems through illustrations.
- (3)
Explore whether children, during the process of reading, connect to their own life experiences and previous reading experiences to understand classical poetry.
After the interviews were conducted, we employed a thematic analysis approach to analyze the qualitative data from the interviews. The coding process was divided into three main stages:
- (1)
Open Coding: Each interview transcript was reviewed by three independent coders, and segments of the text were assigned initial codes based on the responses. This step involved identifying key themes, such as ‘ Understanding of Illustrations ‘ ‘ Helpfulness of Illustrations ‘ and ‘Life Experience Connection.
- (2)
Axial Coding: In this stage, similar codes were grouped into broader themes to refine the initial coding categories. For example, codes related to children’s comprehension of illustrations were merged to form the theme ‘Illustration Support in Poetry Comprehension.’
- (3)
Selective Coding: The final step involved identifying the core themes that emerged from the interviews, focusing on how illustrations helped children establish logical relationships in the poems and connect them to their personal life experiences.
To ensure the reliability of the coding process, we conducted an inter-coder reliability analysis using Cohen’s Kappa. The results indicate a high degree of consistency among the coders:
-
Recognition of Logical Relationships Between Illustrations: Cohen’s Kappa = 0.9709
-
Understanding and Use of Illustrations: Cohen’s Kappa = 0.9729
-
Connection of Illustration Content to Personal Life Experiences: Cohen’s Kappa = 0.9885
These results demonstrate the reliability of the coding process and support the robustness of the qualitative findings. Notably, the high level of inter-coder reliability can be attributed to the design of the interview questions, which primarily employed binary choices (e.g., “understand/do not understand”). This design minimized ambiguity and reduced subjective interpretation, allowing coders to achieve consistent results. Additionally, pre-coding discussions to establish clear definitions and examples for each theme further enhanced the reliability of the coding process.
5.2. Key findings from interviews
All interviewed children expressed their ability to understand the content of illustrations. Among the two groups with multiple illustrations (Multiple Realistic and Multiple Cartoon groups), 80.5 % of the children stated that they could comprehend the logical relationships and meanings between illustrations, thus helping them understand the logical connections between lines of poetry. For example, when children saw the illustration of the sun setting (illustration for the second line of the poem), they could understand the reason why the birds were returning home (illustration for the third line of the poem). Similarly, seeing the sunset, they understood that the family was preparing dinner and smoke was coming from the window (illustration for the fourth line of the poem). In contrast, in the two single-illustration groups (Single Realistic and Single Cartoon groups), only 47.2 % of the children claimed to understand the logical relationships between lines of poem.
Interview statistics showed that 84.7 % of the children exhibited behavior indicating an understanding of the meaning of classical poetry from illustrations, especially when dealing with what they perceived as more challenging sentences. Through the interviews, we learned that 75 % of rural left-behind children, during the reading process, were able to connect their own life experiences and previous reading experiences to understand plot and inner meanings. For example, some children indicated that the poem mentions sunset, which means that it is evening. They related this to their own experience of their family cooking dinner in the evening, with the smoke from cooking rising out of the window.
The interview results show that most children can understand the content of ancient poems through the logical progression within the series of illustrations and integrate these visual cues with their personal life experiences. This indicates that the logical connections between illustrations and the dual engagement of visual and textual elements enhance children’s overall understanding and interpretation of the content, leding to the establishment of logical relationships between sentences in their reading of the illustrations, and thus to an understanding of the relationship between the different forms and meanings of pictorial and verbal symbols(Dooley et al., 2012; Sipe, 2000).
6. Discussion
6.1. Comparison of illustration styles
The first goal of this study was to determine the effects of illustration style on reading comprehension. Literature on illustration styles suggests that children’s preferred illustration styles can help them better understand textual content(Brookshire et al., 2002; Fang et al., 2017). However, our study indicates that despite the different styles, both realistic and cartoon illustrations resulted in no significant differences in reading comprehension performance. This suggests that both verbal and imagery codes contribute to the learning process, and the effectiveness of these codes may not be style-dependent but rather on how well they facilitate the integration and processing of information(Wang & Li, 2019). That is to say, both styles of illustrations provided visual cues that helped children understand the specific content and emotional connections of the poems, activating the dual coding mechanisms(Paivio & Csapo, 1973). In addition, the cognitive demands and the depth of processing elicited by the illustrations may have been similar across styles, leading to equivalent comprehension outcomes(Purnell et al., 1991).
Further analysis indicates that the narrative function of continuous visual scenes serves a similar role to text in aiding the understanding and memory of story content (Cohn, 2013; Cohn, 2014). In other words, the style (cartoon or realistic) of the illustrations may not be crucial. As long as they form a coherent visual sequence, they can help children establish logical and emotional connections between the lines of the poems. Interview results support this. Children were able to understand the specific content and establish logical and emotional connections between the lines based on the visual cues provided by the illustrations. For instance, some children mentioned in the interview that seeing the setting sun in the illustration helped them understand why the birds were returning home, and the cooking smoke helped them associate it with the family preparing dinner. These concrete visual cues, once decoded by the children, enhanced their understanding of the overall content and emotions of the poems. This process of decoding the symbolic nature of illustrations allowed children to attribute meaning to the visual elements and connect them to the textual conten(Cohn, 2020; Gerrard, 2008).
6.2. Impact of illustration quantity on reading comprehension
The second objective of our investigation was to elucidate the impact of varying quantities of illustrations on the reading comprehension of poetic texts. In this study, the multiple illustrations group significantly outperformed the single illustration group. This indicates that multiple illustrations provided continuous visual presentation. Such a series of continuous illustrations not only bridges different narrative elements but also compensates for the inherent limitations of a single image, thus enriching the depiction of the poem’s content (Buchholz, 2014; Cohn & Bender, 2017). This sequential deployment of illustrations helps in constructing narrative cohesion and wholeness, aligning with the cognitive and psychological characteristics of primary school students, and aids children in establishing the narrative logic and emotional connections of the poems(Cohn, 2013; Cohn, 2014). Additionally, multiple illustrations can gradually present the poem content through the visual system and integrate with the linguistic system, enhancing the understanding and memory of the poem(Schüler & Mayer, 2020; Bi, 2021). Therefore, pairing each line of the poem with an illustration helps children build a complete mental image of the poem, enhancing the readability of the poem’s narrative, reducing the complexity that a single illustration might bring when depicting the entire poem, and promoting deeper cognitive processing of the text, thereby improving reading comprehension. Interview results further confirm this finding.
Interview results also support this finding. Children generally responded positively to multiple illustrations. They stated that multiple illustrations helped them better understand the poem’s content and logical relationships. Some children mentioned in the interview that sequential illustrations allowed them to understand each line step by step, rather than being overwhelmed by the complex information when a single illustration depicts the entire poem. For example, seeing the illustration of the setting sun helped them understand why the birds were returning home, and the illustration of cooking smoke led them to associate it with the family preparing dinner.
6.3. Comparing the impact of illustration style and quantity
The third objective of this study was to compare the effects of illustration style and illustration quantity on improving the independent reading comprehension of left-behind children. The results indicate that the quantity of illustrations has a greater impact on reading comprehension compared to illustration style. This may be because information is processed through both the linguistic and imagery systems, and multiple illustrations provide continuous visual presentation and more visual cues (Cohn & Bender, 2017). These visual cues help children establish linguistic logical relationships and emotional resonance between the lines, fully engaging their cognitive resources, thereby enhancing overall comprehension (Cohn, 2014; Donald, 1979, 1983; Kendeou et al., 2020).
The study also found no significant interaction effect between illustration style and illustration quantity. This may be because illustration quantity primarily determines the activation of the visual system, while illustration style affects the specific form of visual representation but does not alter the basic mechanism of interaction with verbal representation (Höffler et al., 2017; Moere et al., 2012; Paul et al., 2022). Therefore, although the quantity of illustrations has a more significant impact on understanding poetry, the style of illustrations does not interfere with or alter the effect of illustration quantity, resulting in no significant interaction between these two factors. This finding aligns with prior research on the distinct roles of visual quantity and style in cognitive processing
7. Conclusions
This study investigated the impact of illustration styles and quantities on the independent reading comprehension of left-behind children in rural China. The findings revealed no significant effect of illustration style on reading comprehension. However, increasing the quantity of illustrations by providing an illustration for each line of poetry, as opposed to a single illustration for the entire scene of a poem, can positively impact comprehension. This approach bridges narrative gaps that a single image might not cover, improving narrative understanding. The effects of illustration style and quantity on reading comprehension are independent and do not influence each other. Interview results support these findings, with children reporting a better understanding of content, mood, and theme with multiple illustrations.
Currently, classical poems in Chinese elementary school textbooks typically have only a single illustration, which may not be optimal for supporting independent reading. This limitation could hinder logical and emotional understanding. Therefore, we recommend that picture book designers provide illustrations for each line of poetry to reinforce logical connections and narrative understanding.
Concerns about whether left-behind children can grasp the deeper meanings of classical poetry, such as metaphors and satire, even with multiple illustrations, are valid. Studies suggest a correlation between children’s reading comprehension and visual cognitive levels, which improve with age(Yang et al., 2013; Kavale, 1982). Thus, we speculate deepening poetic understanding and appreciation as children grow with more experience.
8. Limitations and future directions
First, this study’s limitations include its focus on left-behind children in rural areas, lacking urban children’s reading comprehension data. This gap highlights a potential research direction: examining whether children of similar ages, regardless of urban or rural backgrounds, benefit equally from multiple illustrations. Such a result would point to a specific and highly relevant issue for educational psychology.
Second, because this study is based on a single investigation, we cannot determine the effects of multiple illustrations compared to no illustrations. Additionally, for certain topics (e.g., nature and buildings), the differences between realistic and cartoon illustrations may not significantly affect comprehension, as both styles can effectively convey these concepts. For other topics, specific illustration styles may be more effective, or style may have minimal influence overall. Furthermore, our focus on classical poetry, without including other types of texts such as lyrical or satirical poetry, limits the generalizability of the results. Moreover, the applicability of our findings to other reading materials, such as prose, remains uncertain. Limiting the scope to classical poetry may reduce the relevance of these findings to everyday educational settings and more common reading materials. Therefore, in future research, we plan to incorporate a broader range of texts, including additional poems and narrative texts related to everyday life and personal experiences. This approach would help determine whether the observed effects are consistent across various reading materials and contexts, offering deeper insights into how illustration style and quantity influence comprehension.
Third, this study did not collect data on individual participants’ preferred illustration styles because the research focus was on examining the general effects of illustration style and quantity on reading comprehension rather than exploring individual preferences. This limitation highlights the need for future research to investigate how individual differences in illustration preferences might interact with the effectiveness of different illustration styles.
Forth, the study did not explore the long-term effects of different illustration styles and quantities or the impact of other text types and difficulty levels on reading comprehension. While illustrations have been studied extensively in relation to memory and comprehension, a gap remains in comparing the effects of illustrations in picture books versus instructional materials. Future research should examine whether these effects vary across these distinct types of materials.
Additionally, we did not consider the differences in text placement between the single and multiple illustration conditions. In the single illustration condition, the text is presented as a single block, while in the multiple illustration condition, it is presented one line at a time within each illustration. This difference in text placement could serve as an alternative explanation for the observed results and should be considered in future research to determine its impact on comprehension. Another limitation is the potential impact of visual complexity in the single illustration condition. The detailed, all-encompassing nature of the single illustration in our study may have introduced visual noise, hindering children’s ability to parse the image effectively. Previous research shows that simplifying illustrations can enhance comprehension by reducing attentional competition(Eng et al., 2020). Future studies could explore whether simplified single illustrations yield different outcomes compared to multiple illustrations, to determine whether the number of illustrations or the complexity of the visual representation has the most significant effect on comprehension.
These limitations present new opportunities and challenges for future research. Further research can provide deeper insights into the impact of illustrations on children’s comprehension, contributing to improvements in education quality and literacy development.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Kenan Yao: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Methodology, Conceptualization. Wei Xiong: Writing – review & editing, Investigation. Hongxian Liu: Visualization, Formal analysis. Zhaoxia Wang: Methodology, Investigation. Shuai Xiao: Investigation.
Declaration of competing interest
During the preparation of this work we used Deepl, Google Translate and Kimi to ensure accurate translation and correct grammar. After using those tools, we reviewed and edited the content as needed and we take full responsibility for the content of the publication.
Funding
This research was supported by the Huazhong Agricultural University Autonomous Science and Technology Innovation Fund, Grant Number: 2662023WFPY003.
February 5, 2025 at 10:21PM
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