ENHANCING EFL STUDENTS’ LISTENING SKILLS VIA WATCHING ENGLISH CARTOONS: AN EXPERIMENT AT DONG NAI UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This study aimed to improve EFL freshmen’s listening skills through an experiment involving cartoons. Forty-five first-year students were divided into an experimental group and a control group, and both groups took pre-tests and post-tests. The treatment lasted five weeks during the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year and included ten cartoons. Class observations were also conducted to assess participants’ behaviors. The post-test results showed that cartoons were a beneficial teaching aid, with the experimental group’s average listening scores increasing by 31%, and the significance level (Sig. 2-tailed) was 0.00, lower than 0.05. In contrast, the control group’s scores increased by only 12.5% after the intervention. The experimental procedure highlighted the difference between both groups’ results, indicating that cartoons effectively boosted EFL learners’ listening comprehension.