44
book that needs continuity. Considering those characteristics, it is important to look deeper at the use of comic strip in the classroom.
e. Comic Strip in Language Classroom
In recent decades, a comic strip has been being issued by some experts for its use in language classroom. Almost of the experts state that comic strip can
enhance the learners‟ ability to master the language. It is because there are several advantageous aspects of comic strip which cannot be afforded from other media.
According to Mc. Vicker 2007, comic can assist a teacher to provide the visual literacy media in teaching language. Visual literacy means a vision competency
that can be developed by assimilating some sensory experiences at the same time. It is said so since comic contains pictures and texts in a reading text. In reading
comic the learners will use not only one sensory experience which are seeing the picture but also reading the text. This support of visual literacy skills will assist
the learner to develop strategies in acquiring words, improving phonics skills and building the vocabulary construction. Related to this, Liu 2004 denotes that the
visual of reading text will assist the learners to comprehend factual information. It is also supported by Nunan 2004 by stating that learners who are given a
complementing visual that provided a context are able to reconstruct a logical version of the story.
Supporting this idea Piro in Mc. Vicker 2007 describes that a picture will enlarge the comprehension of the text for the student. It is because by seeing the
picture and relating to the text, the process of enlarging or extending comprehension in comprehending the text will occur. It is due to a schema owned
45
by the learners‟ mind when they see the pictures. The schema will trigger the learners‟ prior knowledge when they see the picture. Piro added that using visual
literacy such as a comic strip in teaching can develop the student spatial concepts. The learner will not be forced to imagine the detail or description in color, size
and other aspects. The visual provided by comic also has other advantages. According to Csabay 2006 the visual of comic strip will be a factor that
improves the communicative competence. It is due to the presenting of expressions used in spoken of life-like situations, such as idioms, reduced forms,
expressions that require shared cultural knowledge and the gestures or body language of the characters which will also develop the learner communicative
competence of nonverbal communication. In addition, a comic also could role as a motivating aid for the learner in
learning language since the learning process will be more enjoyable and interesting. In enjoyable learning condition the learners never realize that they
acquire knowledge in reading the comic. Through comic the learners will not feel that they are really reading the academic texts but they will feel reading the text
for pleasure since there are pictures in comic. Royanti 2007 also agrees that pictures give intention more effectively than words. Pictures give an image of
situation that more comprehensible than word. Therefore, comic can also support the enjoyable learning condition created in class. Krashen in McKiver 2007
also states that comic also has a purpose of motivating young readers to become recreational readers, which will support them to develop their vocabulary
knowledge, to connect their imaginations, and to inspire reading habit. The
46
motivation will emerge since it will bridge the learners‟ literacy interests to more
conventional text structures. Added to this, another advantage of a comic strip is the authenticity
provided in the text. The authenticity is got since it provides the actual situation of society in using language. Remember that using authentic material is very
important in language teaching and learning since it will give several advantages. Firstly, the fact that learners comprehend a genuine text successfully, the learners
can be motivated and the learners‟ confidence will be built Csabay, 2006. Lastly, comic also conveys value and popular culture for the learner. The
value could be obtained by the learner in a story of the a comic which is also represented in pictures. According to Buckingham in Morison, Chilcoat and
Bryan 2002 popular culture should be introduced for the learners especially junior and senior high school because it can reduce the different feeling that the
student experiences in the school and out the school. This theory makes the learner get the kinds of value that the learner gets in the school and outside the
school. Since learners have more than one role in their daily life, they ought to learn the popular culture.
Those facts, then, inspire several material developers or teachers to make a comic strip as the learning materials. It inspires the materials developer or teacher
to develop learning materials based on a comic strip. As it is found that there are several teachers using a comic strip in their language class. The first person is
Sylvia. She is a teacher also materials developer. In her blog “Sylvia‟s English
Online”, she tells that she uses comic strip in her language class resulting several
47
good responses from the learners. Sylvia said that her learners respond well to colorful visuals that demonstrate the context of language since the learners will
get very tired of black and white print and monotonous exercises. She also states that the learners also like making their own and comic strips since she thinks that
the best way for learners to remember is to do it themselves. Besides, she states that this kind of multi-media project work makes the learners feel enthusiastic. It
increases creativity and promotes confidence and independence. This is an example of Sylvia‟s work in developing the materials.
Picture 3. An Example of Comic Strip in Language Classroom
The second teacher is Carla Arena. She is a Brazilian EFL teacher, a teacher trainer and site content manager at a Binational Center in Brasilia, Casa
Thomas Jefferson. In her blog she tells that she uses comic strip for her learners to teach about phrasal verb too. She found that comic strip has several advantages
which are visually appealing, providing the comprehensible input, fun and
48
engaging, dealing with language used in our daily lives, giving the learners a sense of accomplishment as they are able to figure out language from context and
images. Besides, some college students in Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia also develop English learning materials based on a comic. The materials are shown in
an exhibition of English instructional as reported in Kabar UPI on December 13, 2013.
Therefore, based on the facts above the comic strip-based learning materials are developed by the researcher. In developing these materials, there
also several considerations that should be taken into account. It is included the implementation of English instruction in the level of education and what approach
that uses in developing the materials.
c. Criteria of Good Comic Strip
