Effects of Animated Cartoon-Based Instruction on Jss2 Students’ Achievement in English Vocabulary Learning in Keffi Lga, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of animated cartoon-based instruction on Junior Secondary School II (JSS2) students’ achievement in English vocabulary learning in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group design. The population comprised all JSS2 students in public junior secondary schools in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. A sample of 80 students from two intact classes was used for the study, with 37 students assigned to an experimental group taught using animated cartoon-based instruction and 43 students assigned to a control group taught using the conventional teaching approach. Data were collected using an English Vocabulary Achievement Test (EVAT). The instrument was subjected to expert validation and reliability testing. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Paired t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Illustrative results showed that the experimental group recorded a higher adjusted post-test mean than the control group. The Paired t-test result indicated a statistically significant effect of animated cartoon-based instruction on students’ vocabulary achievement. The study concludes that animated cartoon-based instruction can provide a meaningful multimodal environment for vocabulary learning when carefully integrated with teacher-guided activities. It recommends that English language teachers should incorporate appropriately selected animated materials into vocabulary lessons and that schools should strengthen access to relevant digital instructional resources.