Exploring the use of animated cartoons to enhance students’ listening skills.

Abstract

Listening is the English language skill that models language for students to understand sounds, intonation, pronunciation, differences in accents, and so forth as stated by Tomlinson (1984, cited by Hamouda 2013, p. 117). This skill allows people to share messages effectively making it possible to communicate. After initial observations carried out in a primary school, it was possible to identify students’ difficulties when understanding L2 listening activities. This action-case study explores how primary students’ listening skills may change when using animated cartoons in L2 lessons. The study also investigate students’ perception about this tool. Data was collected through observations, one semi-structured interviews for the students, one structured interview for the teacher, and an initial and final test for the students. Results showed that there was an improvement in students’ listening skills and they recognized it as a good tool for developing the L2.