The Impact of ‘WEBTOON’ as a Digital Reading Tool for EFL High School Students

Abstract

After the pandemic, a palpable learning loss in the classrooms was left while more technological learners and teachers were born. It has led us to seek digital strategies to keep students engaged in the classrooms and one of these is the use of Webtoon. It has been widely gaining attention for its simple but fun interface in the generation Z, besides having different genres, themes, and panels with drawings that can engage users to keep reading in their leisure time. In the following qualitative study, the perspectives of high school students from UEPSMA (Unidad Educativa Particular Salesianas María Auxiliadora) in Cuenca were analyzed. Using three action research cycles with a qualitative method, they engaged in three pop quizzes and a final Google Forms survey at the end of the third. Results showed that students found Webtoon’s illustrations and vocabulary satisfying, and they continued reading because of the plot and the illustrations. Their open-ended questions also highlighted how content the majority were at using a digital reading tool in the classroom, boosting their English reading motivation.