The importance of using comics in the English and French classes
Cartoons and comic strips can be used from beginner to advanced level for a variety of language and discussion activities. Using comics to teach English is a great way to teach and have fun with your class.
Why use comics?
- similar to using games or music
- positively impacts motivation
- lowers affective filter
From the pedagogical point of view comics promote the target language through student-centered work and and they promote the use of higher-level thinking skills.
Comics can promote the acquisition of L2 pragmatic intelligence as students discuss “appropriate” responses. They can also offer the way to bring in target-language culture - they are often contextualized.
Graphic texts are complex, effective teaching tools because they require readers not only to passively receive information, but to interact with both text and images to construct meaning, and that is the key to the magic. Words and pictures work together!