Using Comics in the English Language Classroom

Abstract

English is a language which plays an important role in the Ecuadorian society because it is used on different fields such as business, tourism, entertainment, health. English is present in Education because it is taught in most educational institutions – at primary, secondary and higher levels – giving students the opportunity to gain competencies in a second language. Unfortunately, the lack of didactic resources to teach grammar makes the English learning process difficult and boring. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a storytelling to learn English grammar through comics. The methodology used is the mixed method approach – qualitative and quantitative – for the data collection. The students who participated on this research took a pre-test and a post-test in order to know the perspective of comics as well as their grammar knowledge. The comics were designed in the software Paint 3D because it makes colorful presentations and it is possible to draw on the computer’s screen by using the optical pen. The comics present grammar structures in familiar contexts to motivate comics reading. After applying comics, the results showed that students improved their grammar grades and were motived to learn grammar. A secondary goal is to promote comics as an English resource to improve the learning of different English skills.