DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH CARTOONS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) CLASSES. A CASE STUDY OF ECOLOGICAL FACULTY STUDENTS

The purpose of the study is to find out if environmental cartoons as visual resources are useful in ESP teaching and particularly in teaching speaking. The author uses the term an environmental cartoon to refer to an amusing drawing (often including a caricature) created for the purpose of conveying a commentary on environmental issues and found in a newspaper, magazine, whether in print or electronic form. A case study of teaching speaking through environmental cartoons to ecological faculty students with intermediate and upper-intermediate levels of language proficiency is considered here. The obtained results are evaluated by the teachers as well as students. In this respect positive and negative aspects are outlined. The results suggest that use of environmental cartoons to teach speaking to intermediate and upper-intermediate ecological faculty students is an effective method. We believe that this study contributes to the field of language education and might be interesting for teachers of foreign languages.