Students at Qatar Academy Sidra working on the project.
Students at Qatar Academy Sidra (QAS), part of Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education, have transadapted and recreated a graphic novel for the blind and visually impaired.
The graphic novel ‘The Arrival’, transadapted into an audiobook, is now available at the Qatar National Library.
As part of their English Language and Literature class, under International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme curriculum, Grade 11 students at QAS have worked on the project for three months. They have analysed the graphic novel, identified and decoded its central elements to determine the storyline, scripted the audio description, drew and tactilised relevant frames, and built 3D models and raised images.
The audio-descriptive narratives were produced in the recording studio at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), under the supervision of Dr. Josélia Neves, Associate Dean for Social Engagement and Access.
The novel consists of six chapters, and so the students were divided into six groups with each group working on one chapter.
A QAS student, Salman Al Meer, said, “Historically, literature has mostly been about words, and that has meant one part of society. The blind and visually impaired have never been able to consume it. Through our project we wanted to make the novel accessible to them.
“By working on this project, we are now more aware of the various resources across QF that we have access to such as the recording studio at HBKU.”
Al Meer also said that he looks forward to learn beyond the classroom and engage in more hands on learning experiences which can improve his skills.
Another student at QAS, Muhannad Suleiman said, “The project has helped us pushing our boundaries to do things we don’t usually do. Using the original graphic novel, we had to identify the primary and secondary characters in the story, propose names for them, and create their characters including how they look. We had to think, imagine and create, which boosted our critical thinking and creativity.”
With this being the students’ first experience of transadapting, it was initially challenging for them. According to QAS student, Yassin Sabri Abdelgawad, “When we started, we had trouble understanding what the pictures were meant to depict and what the author was trying to say through them. Over time as we analysed the novel with our teachers, we gradually began to understand the pictures and how to uncover the meaning behind them.”
Language and Literature teacher at QAS Melissa Kandido, who supported and supervised the students through the project said that the most important objective of the project was to motivate students to think and innovate.
“The goal was to develop students’ analytical skills and allow them to interpret the book in their own ways. They created a narrative for the storyboard, learned some musical symbols, created sound effects, and determined their placements. It was not just about telling the story, but about feeling it and creating a dialogue that was not present in the text,” she said.
The transadapted version of the novel is currently placed in Qatar National Library for all students to witness the tangible outcome of one group’s efforts and desire to bring about change.
