Comic Book 4 Pt

An excitement and buzz was evident in all students as they were eager to begin. Yet, reviews were slightly less favorable, as they found the comic slightly less stimulating and more complex, stating that what they liked the least was, indeed, the comic's 'plot'.

However, Student7, otherwise reserved and frugal in his responses and participation, added a surprisingly interesting and intuitive comment, that was in fact, accurate as the next, and final part, would reveal, and despite him regressing once again, to his native Greek: '' Μόνο αν μέσα από την έκρηξη εμφανιστεί κανένας εξωίηνος! = only if from the explosion an alien emerges!''. This notion was further supported by Student5, again in Greek (‘‘ή γίνει τίποτα με τους εξωγίηνους! = or if something happens with the aliens!''), despite, at that particular point, not having such a reference in the text.

As such, this predictive behavior could be a result of either or both background knowledge, a deeper comprehension of the happenings in the text either through the visuals and/or text itself, or even, an indication of growth of their predictive and inferential skills. Nonetheless, it was a positive occurrence as, despite being in Greek, they were spontaneous and unprompted responses, likely indicating their growing confidence.

Similarly, Student7, later added, again in Greek, another unexpected comment: '' Βασικά δεν θα είχε πλάκα να πολεμήσουν μεταξύ τους, δηλαδή σε μια διαφωνία; (= wouldn't it be fun if they [the superheroes] fought

amongst themselves, like in an argument?)'', to which the girls responded in awe (‘‘Student4: Oh!; Student6: Wow!; Student2: Wow! ''); with him adding: '' Ναι αλλά κι αυτοί έχουν τις διαφωνίες τους όπως κι εμείς και δεν νομίζω να είναι και πολύ του λόγου κανένας τους! (=Yes, but they have their arguments too and I don't believe any of them is much of a talker!), showing not only comprehension and some prior knowledge, but, indeed, depth, complexity and maturity of thought.

Additionally, the students were active in contributing hypotheses and predictions of following events,

Student1: They will stop the bomb!'

Student4: Yeah. They will stop and they will save the people so they could not be dead...the others would leave!

Student5:The Legion will help the people, and they will get to it the explosion and stop it!

This instance of one learner taking the lead from another and forming a dialogue is, once again, a recurring behavior and could be an example of how they have grown as readers and speakers during the study. It goes to show that interacting on a topic of interest to them could lead to their more frequent and accurate engagement in reading and discussion of their readings, ultimately leading to the formation of a more positive reading habits and their overall growth as learners, likely beyond the parameters of the EFL classroom.

Furthermore, Student2 also participated a little more actively during this session, in comparison, her responses also being more on point and accurate, despite some being in Greek ( e.g., ''Μήπως θα τρέξει μέσα σ'αυτό; = Maybe he'll run into it?''); while, Student9 continued in his habit of not actively participating despite his level of English and apparent comprehension. Student4, conversely, was consistent in her engagement, participation and accurate, lengthy responses (''...explode and that many people will die and the Legion goes to the scene to help the people to go out to other place and I think they will find a way to dispose the bomb!''), all the while adding a new word ('exploded') to her sentence after asking the moderator/researcher for its translation from Greek, and using more complex diction than ever, in such words as 'scene' and 'dispose'.

All in all, the session ended with all the students being extremely excited to find out the comic's ending, some raising two hands into the air, smiling, giggling and cheering, and asking for more comic books and more discussion groups.

3.3.8 Comic Book 4 Pt. 2

During the last reading, following the trend set during the reading of the previous section, all students claimed preferring the previous comics to the one at hand, indicated by Student1, who, using the new word he learned in the previous discussion group ('plot') to justify what he did not particularly like: '' Researcher: What did you dislike from this part? – Student1: The plot!'', echoed by Student2 (''Yes! The plot!'').

Whether or not, it was because this comic was not as exciting as the ones read previously, it should be noted, that during this meeting, the boys mostly took the initiative and responded more freely and frequently, than the girls, especially in the cases of Student1, Student3, Student8 and Student5, indicating interest, motivation, willingness, and general comprehension (i.e., ''Researcher: How did it manage to trick the Legion? – Student1: It tricked them by telling them lies''; and, ''Researcher: What did the Legion do to the robot? – Student8: It destroyed it! – Student1: It destroyed it ALL!''); as well as the overly consistent in both accuracy, and positively disposed contributor Student4 (e.g., ''And tell them to bring Green Lantern to turn of his ring of power so to tell them to not go to the air so in that way they didn't this and wouldn't have saved many lives!'').

As in all previous discussion groups, Student9 did not participate; while, surprisingly, Student6, completed her reading last, and did not actively participate unlike all previous sessions.

The overall reading and discussion processes of the study, ended on a high note, with first examples of how reading attitudes and habits, as well as numerous other skills, may be positively affected by the use of more innovative, non-traditional reading materials, of liking and interest to the learners, as are comics.

All in all, in the final, seventh and eighth, reading and discussion groups, it was observed that:

 Prompting by the researcher/moderator was considerably less, as the students are seemingly grew accustomed to the processes and displayed a better comprehension skills and autonomy in their responses. Also, providing longer responses and justifications of their positions, by most participants.

 It could also be claimed, once more, that a more positive attitude towards (comic) reading and the subsequent discussion processes, has led to generally positive group dynamics, as students are evidently more willing, excited and spontaneous and independently providing responses, extending the flow of conversation, and opening new topics in a more conversational manner. Also, as in most previous sessions, students shared ideas and hypotheses.

 Once again, almost all participants were active interlocutors, while some were consistently less involved. It should be noted that the more reluctant Student7 was actively participating in these conversations, in comparison. The same could be claimed of Students 3, 8 and 2.

 The trend of some students participating more than others with longer responses, compared to others still applies.

 Morals, deeper meanings and messages relayed in the text, as well as finding a common thread between the comics read so far were also discussed and accurately distinguished by the students through dialogue mostly among themselves.

 Students' familiarity with the characters prior to the study likely led to the activation of schemata and their incorporation into some students' responses.

 Also, a note should be made in terms of interest. Students found the final comic book to be less appealing than the previous ones. This

may indicate, as supported in the literature, that when generally interested in a topic and/or genre, as are comics, students are more likely to be involved. As such, even though this comic book was less to their taste, in comparison, the students did read it eagerly, and engaged in an active dialogue, generating ideas and hypotheses, despite it being shorter in duration. Therefore, they still put in the effort with the same excitement, and generally consistent behaviors and attitudes.

As such, it could be implied that, ultimately, the comic book reading, discussion groups and the temporary comic book borrowing library could have positively affected the students' reading attitudes and habits. Therefore, responding to Research Question 3 and its relevant hypotheses.