63 For the students in the control group, they considered the PowerPoint
slides used in their class good and easy to be understood. However, they suggested that the teacher modify the learning aid with more pictures and any
colorful design. They argued that any additional pictures or colors on the medium might boost their interest in learning the materials. In addition, some of the
students argued that it was better for the teacher to compare the pairs of the near- synonyms side by side in one slide so that it would be easier for the students to
analyze any subtle differences of the near-synonyms. The last interview question was about the learning media the students want
and need in learning. All of the students both in the experimental and control group stated that they wanted to learn materials by using any movies, short
videos, pictures, or games. We can conclude that they preferred to learn by using any visual and kinesthetic element as the means.
4.2 Discussion
In terms of the students’ understanding in mastering the materials, the researcher could say it was improved
. It was shown by the students’ achievement in the formative evaluations which were the post-test 1 and post-test 2. From the
results of the pre-tests, we can indicate that the students had not mastered the use of near-synonyms before. It is proved by the pre-test results showing that most of
the students could not achieve the minimum mastery criterion in their marks which was 75. Moreover, the results of the interviews revealed that the students
faced several problems in answering the pre- tests’ questions. They added the fact
64 that they did not aware the importance of mastering near-synonyms before.
Therefore, they faced a lot of difficulties in distinguishing one similar word and the others.
Based on the paired samples t-test results, the control and experimental group had significant increases in the post-test 1 and post-test 2 with p-values
which were less than 0.05. It means that both learning media successfully helped the students to improve their near-synonym mastery. However, we can see from
Figure 4.1 and 4.2 that the mean gain of the students’ post-test 1 and post-test 2
results in the experimental group was higher than the mean gain of the students’
post-test 1 and post-test 2 results in the control group. It indicates that the use of the picture comparison interactive medium could help the students to learn the
materials better than the PowerPoint slides. The more significant mean gain of the students in the experimental group
indicates that the use of the picture comparison interactive medium successfully helped the students to foster their understanding about near-synonyms. The
researcher tried to link- up this result with Paivio’s dual coding theory. As what
Paivio proposes 1986, p. 53 , “Human cognition is unique in that it has become
specialized for dealing simultaneously with languages and with nonverbal objects and events”. In a picture comparison interactive medium, the researcher applied
the theory of dual coding by integrating the explanation of near-synonyms in the form of texts with some illustrations which could depict the near-synonyms. By
presenting those two modes, the researcher wanted to verify whether both modes PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
65 could help one and another to activate the information it brought up as what
Paivio’s dual coding theory tried to propose. In the medium, to compare the word exhibition and show for example, the
researcher presented the explanation of any subtle differences between those two words in the form of verbal and nonverbal explanations. The researcher tried to
foster the students’ understanding by giving concrete illustrations of the words which could give more cues to make the students understand and imagine the
words in a real situation. Whereas a picture of a fashion show was presented to depict the meaning of the word show, a picture of a crowded painting exhibition
was brought up to represent the meaning of the word exhibition. The researcher expected that the presence of the nonverbal information could help activating the
verbal information and vice versa. Ainsworth in Zheng 2009 supports that every mode may have its own
different functional roles for learning and support any knowledge differently. The presence of the two modes in a picture comparison interactive medium was
expected to bring several roles in learning. First, the two modes might complement each other by facilitating different cognitive processes as in the dual
coding theory. The theory mentions that verbal and nonverbal information are assumed having different subsystems in a memory. Moreover, their presence
could help teachers to serve students’ different learning preferences. Second, the
two modes might be suited to foster deeper understanding of any materials instead of merely using one representational format as cited in Zheng, 2009.
66 Besides, the approach of using a picture comparison interactive medium is
also suppo rted by Mayer’s 2005 theory of multimedia learning. In his theory, he
defines multimedia learning as an action to learn certain materials by using verbal and non
verbal learning means. Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning focuses on the idea that learners attempt to construct meaningful connections
between words and pictures and they can learn deeper more than being exposed to either verbal or nonverbal information alone.
In his theory, Mayer also declares that meaningful learning from words and pictures occurs when learners could engage in five cognitive processes as
cited in Sorden, 2005. Therefore, the researcher attempted to trigger the existence of those five cognitive processes in a picture comparison interactive medium. The
medium provides relevant words that later will be selected to be processed in a verbal working memory and relevant images to be processed in a visual working
memory. Then, the selected information will be organized into a verbal and pictorial model. After that, it can trigger students to integrate the verbal and
pictorial representations with their prior knowledge. The successful integration of the information will result in students
’ improvements in mastering the given materials.
Regarding to the five cognitive processes explained before, the visualization itself has its two functions in its presence in a picture comparison
interactive medium. First, visualization brings its representational function because it could make the meaning of the near-synonyms more accessible for
learning by making the explanations in the form of texts more concrete. Then, it PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
67 also brings its interpretation function by clarifying texts which are difficult to be
understood and making them more understandable for learners Levin et al., 1987. These important roles of pictures are in line with Chanlin 1998 which
reports that any visual treatment in lessons can enhance the learning with varying degrees of success as cited in Stokes, 2001. When prior knowledge is low,
graphics, either still or animated, are better for learning than a lesson with texts only.
As what the students in the experimental group have stated in the interview, they felt that a picture comparison interactive medium had played a
significant role in helping them to understand near-synonyms faster. They admitted that the modes provided in the learning aid could help them to learn the
materials better than reading dictionary or being explained orally. It means that the medium can meet five multimedia instructional principles proposed by Mayer
2009. Those are signaling, redundancy, modality, and multimedia principle in which the medium can help the students learn better by bringing cues, graphics,
and narrations. Moreover, the medium also meets spatial contiguity principle where the similar explanation of the materials is placed side by side in a same
page or screen. Placing the corresponding words and pictures near in the medium might make the students learn better because it can ease the students in analyzing
any subtle differences between the near-synonyms. It is in line with the theory of a compare and contrast strategy which proposes that the implementation of this
strategy can reduce any confusion in understanding the near-synonyms by PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
