Outside the classroom

Reading  skill  

Using Comic Strips in Language Classes

          Comic are usually funny so applying them to methodological purposes will have the same effect as using games in teaching English. Comic strips not only amuse and interest L2 students. There are plenty of other reasons to use them in education.

          Oller’s episode hypothesis, John Oller and his episode hypothesis “texts which are more episodically organized can be stored and recalled more easily than less episodically organized material”. The students can follow the story line step by step and can recall its structure more easily. Oller’s theory can be applied in the case of comic strips used in the language class. The visual nature of comic strips also helps to increase motivation and more importantly. The learner will memorize and recall it more easily. Comic strips improve communicative competence and are used in spoken, colloquial. Consequently, comic strips help students to deal with spoken and even informal language. Comic strips are authentic and using authentic material is very important in language teaching and learning. There are many sample exercises to practice.

          Comic strips are not only for fun in language class, but there are also methodological reasons for teachers to use them. Comic strips provide the structure and stimulus to which students respond. It helps students to acquire vocabulary, grammatical and communicative competence. When I’m a teacher, I will use comic strips to teach in the language class because it can help students to learn many skills.