LEVERAGING DIGITAL COMIC BOOKS TO ENHANCE WRITING SKILLS IN THE EFL CLASSROOM:

A MULTIMODAL APPROACH

Abstract

The use of authentic materials in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL), and in particular digital comics, offers the opportunity to work on the target language in a contextualized way, integrating multilingual, cultural and digital competences. In order to analyze the effect of digital comics (reading and creation) on the development of written language in EFL, a three-month didactic experience is conducted with a group of students (n=82) of compulsory secondary education. The data is collected through tests of reading comprehension and written expression before and after the didactic experience. The results show that the use of digital comics (reading and writing) significantly improves written language development in EFL, particularly in the areas of reading comprehension and written expression, especially in written expression. Pedagogical implications for the teaching-learning process in EFL are suggested in order to optimize plurilingual competence.