Using picturebooks in ELT has been integral to the work of the IATEFL Young Learners and Teenagers Special Interest Group (YLTSIG) for over three decades. Opal Dunn was closely involved in founding  YLTSIG and remains an avid supporter of the SIG’s mission. Her pioneering work with children’s picturebooks in ELT spans fifty years which you can read all about here.


Picturebooks in ELT champion, Sandie Mourão was formerly YLTSIG Coordinator (2002-2006) and the current YLTSIG Coordinator, David Valente is researching the impact of  picturebooks in the primary ELT classroom for their intercultural learning affordances as part of his PhD at Nord University, Norway. He is also the reviews editor of the open access Children’s Literature in English Language Education Journal (CLELE). 


YLTSIG regularly features articles on using picturebooks in the twice-yearly publication for members, ‘TEYLT Worldwide’. Issue 2, 2019 for example includes an article on ‘Diversity in children’s picturebooks’ by Ella Watkins and Bella Szyszkowska as well as an article on ‘Cooperative learning via picturebooks’ by Sharon Ahlquist.
You can find out more about IATEFL YLTSIG by visiting yltsig.iatefl.org and by sharing your ideas via the SIG’s Facebook group with over 3000 followers around the world.