THE EFFECT OF COMIC STRIPS ON THE STUDENTS` ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING NARRATIVE TEXTS.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, the writer would like to express her highest gratitude to
the Almightly Allah SWT for giving blessings, love, opportunity, health, and mercy
to complete this thesis. The thesis has been written to fulfill the requirements for the
degree of Sarjana Pendidikan at English Department of Language and Arts Faculty,
State University of Medan.
In the process of finishing this thesis, the writer has worked with a great
number of people, through their guidance, suggestions, and comments for which the
writer would like to express her sincere gratitude and appreciation. The writer would
like to express her thanks to
1. Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd., Rector of State University of Medan,
2. Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts
State University of Medan and all her staffs,
3. Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English and Literature
Department,
4. Dra. Meisuri, M.A., the Secretary of English Department,
5. Nora Ronita Dewi, S.Pd., S.S., M.Hum., the Head of Education Program of
English Department,
6. Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D and Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed., her
thesis advisors, for their advice, kindness, guidance, and for spending their
precious time in suggesting, supervising, and giving valuable knowledge in
the process of completing this thesis,
7. Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., Dra., Sortha Silitonga, M.Pd., Rita
Suswati, S.Pd. M.Hum., her thesis reviewers and examiners,
8. Ahwin, S.Pd., The Headmaster of SMA Negeri 6 Padang Sidempuan for
allowing the writer to conduct the research in his school,
9. Eis Sri Wahyuningsih, the administration staff of English Department, for
her attention, asistance, and information in completing this thesis,
10. her beloved parents Endong Suprianto and Siti Sarifah Panggabean,
Thanks for their endless love and has been patiently given their moral and
financial, advices, motivations, support, and also her beloved brothers Candri
Gustian and Wardiman thank you for making her laugh, motivation,
support, advice, and prayer,
ii
11. Anisya D, Fauziah, Aini, Asrina, Eva, Yeni, Widya and all students in
Class A Extension 2011, for their support and assistance during academic year
and also for all the time that we share together in our study,
12. Heru Darmawan for his love, support, encouragement, patience, prayer, and
was always there cheering up and stood by her through the good times and
bad,
13. Riri Hsb S.Pd, Hendri Batubara S.Pd, M.Ibrahim S.Pd, Atiqah Nasya
S.Pd, Sukri, Zulaifa S.Pd, a great thanks to her big family in the Islamic
Association of University Student (HMI Komisariat FBS UNIMED)
especially the management 2014-2015 periods for the loyalty help her in the
period, and
14. her beloved friends Daniel Banjarnahor, S.Ked, Putri Asyiyah, Sarah,
Aisyah, and also her beloved cousin Sriayu Aritha Pbgn, S.H. for her
support. To all whose names can not be mentioned one by one, she would like
to say thanks a lot.
Overall, the writer hopes this thesis can give contribution to the English
Education students and further pedagogical research. And also it can be useful for the
readers.
Medan, September 2015
The Writer
Endang Sakinah
Reg. Number 2111521004
iii
ABSTRACT
Sakinah, Endang. The Effect of Comic Strips on the Student’s
Achievement in Writing Narrative Texts. A Thesis. English Department. Faculty
of Language and Arts. State University of Medan. 2015.
This study deals with the effect of using media Comic Strips on the students’
achievement in writing narrative texts. It was conducted by using experimental
research design. The population of this study was the tenth (X) grade students of
SMA N 6 Padang Sidempuan. Two classes were selected as purposive sampling and
the total sample was 60 students. The classes were divided into two groups. The
experimental group was taught by using Comic Strips while the control group was
taught by using single picture. The instrument used to collect the data was writing
narrative text. The data were analyzed by using t-test. The result of computing the ttest obviously showed that t-observed value is greater than t-table (3.59 > 2.00) with
the degree of freedom (df) = 58 at the level significance 0.05. It showed that the
application of comic strips gives significant effect on the students’ achievement in
writing narrative text.
Keywords : Comic Strips, Writing, Narrative Text.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ iv
LIST OF TABLE ..................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF APPENDICES ......................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Background of the Study ................................................................................ 1
Problem of the Study ...................................................................................... 5
Objective of the Study .................................................................................... 5
Scope of the Study ......................................................................................... 5
Significance of the Study ............................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................... 6
A. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 6
1. Students’ Achievement ...................................................................... 6
2. Writing ............................................................................................... 7
a. Writing Process ............................................................................... 8
b. Writing Genre ................................................................................. 9
3. Narrative Text .................................................................................... 10
a. Generic Structure of Narrative Text................................................ 11
b. Grammatical Features of Narrative Text ........................................ 11
4. The Assessment of Writing ............................................................... 12
5. Media ................................................................................................ 13
a. Kinds of Media ............................................................................... 14
b. Advantages of Using Media in Teaching English .......................... 14
c. Disadvantages of Using Media in Teaching English ...................... 15
6. Comic Strips....................................................................................... 15
a. The Strengths of Using Comic Strips in Teaching English ............ 16
b. The Weaknesses of Using Comic Strips in Teaching English ........ 17
c. Using Comic Strips in Classroom ................................................... 18
B. Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 19
C. Hypothesis ...................................................................................................... 20
iv
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD............................................................... 21
A.
B.
C.
D.
Research Design ............................................................................................. 21
Population and Sample ................................................................................. 21
The Instrument for Collecting Data ............................................................... 22
Procedure of Research ................................................................................... 22
1. Pre-test .............................................................................................. 22
2. Treatment ........................................................................................... 22
3. Post-test .............................................................................................. 26
E. Reliability of the Test ..................................................................................... 26
F. Rubric ............................................................................................................. 27
G. Technique of Data Analysis ........................................................................... 30
CHAPTER IV: THE DATA AND RESEARCH FINDING ................................ 31
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
The Data ......................................................................................................... 31
The data Analysis ........................................................................................... 34
The Reliability of the Test ............................................................................. 36
Testing Hypothesis ......................................................................................... 36
Research Finding ........................................................................................... 37
Discussions .................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ....................................... 39
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 41
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................... 43
v
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 3.1 Research design..........................................................................................21
Table 3.2 The Activities of Teacher and Students in Experimental Group ...............22
Table 3.3 The Activities of Teacher and Students in Control Group.........................24
Table 3.4 Rubric .........................................................................................................26
Table 4.1 The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test in Experimental Group...................32
Table 4.2 The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test in Control Group ............................33
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.
The Background of the Study
Language plays an important role in human life because it is the
media of communication, thought, and learning. Human need to interact,
to communicate or to show their ideas, feelings and interrelated to others.
By using language human beings can narrate and share their experience or
information to others. It can be used in any international activities as
commerce, diplomacy, politic, sport, science, education, and technology.
So, it demands Indonesian students to be able to master English in order to
compete with others. Therefore, English must be taught and learnt at
school.
According to the Educational Unit Curriculum (KTSP), students
must master four language skills; they are listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. The language skills to be achieved are divided into two parts of
language function, namely, oral and written English as a means of
communication. In this case, listening and speaking are oral language;
reading and writing are written language. However, for the students, the
written one is the most difficult skill of language. Sampath and Zalipour
(2010) state that students consider writing to be an extremely difficult area
in learning English and it seems to be a daunting task for most ESL
1
2
learners. While Wallace (2004: 15) states that writing skill for beginning
students can give benefit from learning and practicing one skill at a time.
Writing as one of the English skills is important to be improved
especially for academic. In the context of education, it is worth if the
students‟ writing skill is improved, student will be able to do some kinds
of writing exercise such as essay question, report, or even writing paper.
But not only in written, it will also improve their spoken in English.
Moreover writing skill is useful not only for academic life, as we know the
improvement of technology, like in social media such facebook,
instagram, path etc demand people especially students to be able to write,
this make students would rather practice their writing skill than practice
other skill such as speaking, listening, or reading.
Based on the writer observation in grade X senior high school at
SMA Negeri 6 Padang Sidempuan, from 41 students it is found that there
are only 18 students could pass the passing grade (KKM) and 23 students
still could not pass the passing grade which is made by the teacher, the
score of passing grade is 70. Moreover, it happened because of many
reasons. First, the students consider that writing is a complex skill because
it deals with vocabulary, grammar, and ability to express idea. The second
reason is they consider it is difficult to write because they do not
understand in arranging words in order to form a good sentence or make a
good paragraph. The last is because they do not have any guidelines even
from the teacher in arranging their ideas and make it into words. Teacher
3
uses lecturing method. She only gives a topic, ask students to read the text,
explains it, and ask them again to answer questions or write but teacher
doesn‟t allow them to use media.
There are many kinds of genre in writing, to select the appropriate
text, the teacher must consider the characteristics of the students, which
directly related to the learning process. This study will focus on one of the
genre, that is narrative text. According to Wolpert in Hutapea (2013:10),
narrative text is made of development used by the write to tell factual
event. the story or to give an account of historical. In addition, the story of
narrative brings short message for the readers thus at the same time it gives
social message that can build students‟ motivation. Based on Harmer
(2004) teachers should be able to select appropriate text and use media to
create fun activities so that students can study the subject successfully.
Students often need to be encouraged and motivated to engage actively in
learning the four language skills of writing, speaking, reading and
listening. Furthermore, many teachers are inspired to be as creative as
possible, in order to encourage learners to study English more effectively.
Accapezzato (2013:9) states that writing skills are part of daily life.
They are even embedded into many activities enjoyed by school students.
Because most students don‟t think that practicing writing is important, the
„how does this apply to me‟ excuse is uttered on a regular basis in the
classroom. The goal is to change the mindset of students. Creating
4
interesting, engaging lessons that teach the importance of writing skills
should be a top goal of school teachers.
There are several approaches to improve students‟ achievement in
writing such as by using method, technique, strategy, game, and media.
The study will focus on using media as one of the way to improve
students‟ achievement in writing. Media in language teaching can be
classified into three groups, they are: audiovisual, visual, and audio. This
study choose picture of comic strips as a media, because among the
education media, picture is cheaper and easily to use. By using comic
strips, students will be motivated to improve their writing skills without
being bored or feeling punished.
The use of comic strips as teaching media in writing narrative class
is important. In the writing process, comic strips give advantages in the
prewriting stage. Edmunds (2006) states that comic strips enable students
to identify the elements of a story through the presented visual and
dialogues. They consist of enough words and expressions that can help
build the idea of the students to construct sentences. They also provide
contextual clues to the meaning of written narrative. In line with that,
Vukoja in Kristi (2013) states that through the use of comic strips in
prewriting activity, students can explore the structural devices of the story
(plotlines, character development, setting, and theme). Moreover Fay
(2009) states that the reason of using comics in the classroom is because of
5
their visual appeal, efficiency, and power of message. Therefore, it will be
easier for the students to learn about narrative text.
B.
The Problem of the Study
The problem of this study is formulated as follows. “Does the
application of comic strips have a significant effect on the students‟
achievements in writing narrative texts?”
C.
The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to investigate the applying of comic
strips on the students‟ achievement in writing narrative text.
D.
The Scope of the Study
This study was focused on investigating the effect of applying
comic strips in developing students‟ achievement in writing narrative
texts. The level of students is grade X of Senior High School.
E.
The Significance of the Study
Findings of the study are expected to give significant contribution
theoretically and practically. Theoretically, the finding will add up more
horizons in theories of language learning. The findings can also be
references for further studies. Practically, the findings can be useful for the
teachers in improving their teaching.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
A.
Conclusion
Based on the reason of the data analysis, it is found that comic strips
significantly affect the students; achievement in writing narrative text. The
application of comic strips enables the students to write a good paragraph. On
the other hand, comic strips give the significant effect to the students’
achievement in writing a paragraph. Therefore it is concluded that the
alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted.
B.
Suggestion
In relation to the conclusion, suggestion are staged as the following
1. The English teachers are suggested to apply comic strips in order
to improve students’ achievement in writing narrative text. To
reach the better result, it is better if the English teachers give the
topic based on students’ knowledge.
2. The students, they should practice their writing ability by using
comic strips, by which they can maximize their writing
achievement.
39
40
3. Since this study only focuses on the students’ ability in writing
narrative texts. It is suggested for other researchers to apply Comic
Strips to other skills and other genres in writing.
REFERENCES
Bolton-Gary, Cynthia. 2012. Connecting Through Comics: Expanding
Opportunities or Teaching and Learning. University of South
Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton SC, USA
Carol, J. A, et al. 2001. Writing and Grammar: Communication and
Action. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Csabay, Noemi, 2006. Using Comic Strips in Language Classes. English
Teacher Forum Journal, Vol.3 number 1.
Drolet, Claude A, 2010. Using Comics in the Development of EFL
Reading and Writing. SungKyul University.
Fay, D. 2009. Student Storytelling through Sequential Art. English
Teaching Forum Journal, Vol.45 number 3.
Frau-Meigs, Divina. 2006. Media Education: A Kit for Teacher, Students,
Parents and Professionals. Paris : L’exprimeur
Harmer, Jeremy. 2004. English Language Teaching. New York: Longman.
Hasibuan, Sri Wahyuni. 2013. The Effect of Animation Film on Students’
Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text. Unimed: Unpubished.
Hyland, K. 2002. Teaching and Researching Writing. Great Britain:
Longman.
Hutapea, Naomi L, 2013. The Effect of Series of Picture Media on
Students’ Achievement in Writing Narrative Text. Unimed:
Unpublished.
Julian and Nick. 2010. The Media Teacher’s Book. London: Hodder
Education.
Knapp, P., and Watkins, M. 2005. Genre, Text, Grammar. New South
Wales University of New South Wales Press Ltd.
Kristi, Ferri Prastya. 2013. The Implementation Of Comic Strips As Media
In Teaching Writing Narrative Text For The Tenth Graders Of
Senior High School. State University of Surabaya: Unpubilshed.
41
42
Morrison, T. G., Bryan, G. & Chilcoat, G. W. (2002). Using StudentGenerated Comic-Books inthe classroom. Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy, 45(8), 758-767.
Patel and Jain. 2008. English Language Teaching (methods, tools, and
techniques). Jaipur: Sunrise.
Saragih, A. 2008. Discourse Analysis. Medan: State University of Medan.
(unpublished)
Versaci, R., 2001. How comic books can change the way our students see
literature: One teacher’s perspective. English J., 91(2): 61-67.
Downloaded from internet
Accapezzato, Alicia M., 2013. Engaging Writing Activities to Increase
Skills and Motivation for Middle School Students. State University
of
New
York.
Retrieved
April
9th
2015
from:
digitalcommons.brockport.edu
Bledsoe, G., 2010. Comic Life. Computer software. Comiclife.com. Web.
April
9th
2015.
Retrieved
form:
http://www.comiclife.com/education.
Edmunds, William. 2006. Why Should Kids Read Comic? Retrieved April
10th 2015 from:
http://comicsintheclassroom.net/ooedmnds2006_08_24.htm
Retalis, S., 2008. State of the Art Comics in Education. Using Web
Comics in Education. Retrieved
April
9th
2015
from:
http://www.educomics.org/material/deliverables/Deliverable1_Stat
eoftheArt.pdf.
Yang, G., 2003. Strengths of comics in education. Comics in Education.
Retrieved
from:
http://www.
humblecomics.com/comicsedu/strengths.html
First and foremost, the writer would like to express her highest gratitude to
the Almightly Allah SWT for giving blessings, love, opportunity, health, and mercy
to complete this thesis. The thesis has been written to fulfill the requirements for the
degree of Sarjana Pendidikan at English Department of Language and Arts Faculty,
State University of Medan.
In the process of finishing this thesis, the writer has worked with a great
number of people, through their guidance, suggestions, and comments for which the
writer would like to express her sincere gratitude and appreciation. The writer would
like to express her thanks to
1. Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd., Rector of State University of Medan,
2. Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts
State University of Medan and all her staffs,
3. Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English and Literature
Department,
4. Dra. Meisuri, M.A., the Secretary of English Department,
5. Nora Ronita Dewi, S.Pd., S.S., M.Hum., the Head of Education Program of
English Department,
6. Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D and Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed., her
thesis advisors, for their advice, kindness, guidance, and for spending their
precious time in suggesting, supervising, and giving valuable knowledge in
the process of completing this thesis,
7. Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., Dra., Sortha Silitonga, M.Pd., Rita
Suswati, S.Pd. M.Hum., her thesis reviewers and examiners,
8. Ahwin, S.Pd., The Headmaster of SMA Negeri 6 Padang Sidempuan for
allowing the writer to conduct the research in his school,
9. Eis Sri Wahyuningsih, the administration staff of English Department, for
her attention, asistance, and information in completing this thesis,
10. her beloved parents Endong Suprianto and Siti Sarifah Panggabean,
Thanks for their endless love and has been patiently given their moral and
financial, advices, motivations, support, and also her beloved brothers Candri
Gustian and Wardiman thank you for making her laugh, motivation,
support, advice, and prayer,
ii
11. Anisya D, Fauziah, Aini, Asrina, Eva, Yeni, Widya and all students in
Class A Extension 2011, for their support and assistance during academic year
and also for all the time that we share together in our study,
12. Heru Darmawan for his love, support, encouragement, patience, prayer, and
was always there cheering up and stood by her through the good times and
bad,
13. Riri Hsb S.Pd, Hendri Batubara S.Pd, M.Ibrahim S.Pd, Atiqah Nasya
S.Pd, Sukri, Zulaifa S.Pd, a great thanks to her big family in the Islamic
Association of University Student (HMI Komisariat FBS UNIMED)
especially the management 2014-2015 periods for the loyalty help her in the
period, and
14. her beloved friends Daniel Banjarnahor, S.Ked, Putri Asyiyah, Sarah,
Aisyah, and also her beloved cousin Sriayu Aritha Pbgn, S.H. for her
support. To all whose names can not be mentioned one by one, she would like
to say thanks a lot.
Overall, the writer hopes this thesis can give contribution to the English
Education students and further pedagogical research. And also it can be useful for the
readers.
Medan, September 2015
The Writer
Endang Sakinah
Reg. Number 2111521004
iii
ABSTRACT
Sakinah, Endang. The Effect of Comic Strips on the Student’s
Achievement in Writing Narrative Texts. A Thesis. English Department. Faculty
of Language and Arts. State University of Medan. 2015.
This study deals with the effect of using media Comic Strips on the students’
achievement in writing narrative texts. It was conducted by using experimental
research design. The population of this study was the tenth (X) grade students of
SMA N 6 Padang Sidempuan. Two classes were selected as purposive sampling and
the total sample was 60 students. The classes were divided into two groups. The
experimental group was taught by using Comic Strips while the control group was
taught by using single picture. The instrument used to collect the data was writing
narrative text. The data were analyzed by using t-test. The result of computing the ttest obviously showed that t-observed value is greater than t-table (3.59 > 2.00) with
the degree of freedom (df) = 58 at the level significance 0.05. It showed that the
application of comic strips gives significant effect on the students’ achievement in
writing narrative text.
Keywords : Comic Strips, Writing, Narrative Text.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ iv
LIST OF TABLE ..................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF APPENDICES ......................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Background of the Study ................................................................................ 1
Problem of the Study ...................................................................................... 5
Objective of the Study .................................................................................... 5
Scope of the Study ......................................................................................... 5
Significance of the Study ............................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................... 6
A. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 6
1. Students’ Achievement ...................................................................... 6
2. Writing ............................................................................................... 7
a. Writing Process ............................................................................... 8
b. Writing Genre ................................................................................. 9
3. Narrative Text .................................................................................... 10
a. Generic Structure of Narrative Text................................................ 11
b. Grammatical Features of Narrative Text ........................................ 11
4. The Assessment of Writing ............................................................... 12
5. Media ................................................................................................ 13
a. Kinds of Media ............................................................................... 14
b. Advantages of Using Media in Teaching English .......................... 14
c. Disadvantages of Using Media in Teaching English ...................... 15
6. Comic Strips....................................................................................... 15
a. The Strengths of Using Comic Strips in Teaching English ............ 16
b. The Weaknesses of Using Comic Strips in Teaching English ........ 17
c. Using Comic Strips in Classroom ................................................... 18
B. Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 19
C. Hypothesis ...................................................................................................... 20
iv
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD............................................................... 21
A.
B.
C.
D.
Research Design ............................................................................................. 21
Population and Sample ................................................................................. 21
The Instrument for Collecting Data ............................................................... 22
Procedure of Research ................................................................................... 22
1. Pre-test .............................................................................................. 22
2. Treatment ........................................................................................... 22
3. Post-test .............................................................................................. 26
E. Reliability of the Test ..................................................................................... 26
F. Rubric ............................................................................................................. 27
G. Technique of Data Analysis ........................................................................... 30
CHAPTER IV: THE DATA AND RESEARCH FINDING ................................ 31
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
The Data ......................................................................................................... 31
The data Analysis ........................................................................................... 34
The Reliability of the Test ............................................................................. 36
Testing Hypothesis ......................................................................................... 36
Research Finding ........................................................................................... 37
Discussions .................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ....................................... 39
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 41
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................... 43
v
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 3.1 Research design..........................................................................................21
Table 3.2 The Activities of Teacher and Students in Experimental Group ...............22
Table 3.3 The Activities of Teacher and Students in Control Group.........................24
Table 3.4 Rubric .........................................................................................................26
Table 4.1 The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test in Experimental Group...................32
Table 4.2 The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test in Control Group ............................33
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.
The Background of the Study
Language plays an important role in human life because it is the
media of communication, thought, and learning. Human need to interact,
to communicate or to show their ideas, feelings and interrelated to others.
By using language human beings can narrate and share their experience or
information to others. It can be used in any international activities as
commerce, diplomacy, politic, sport, science, education, and technology.
So, it demands Indonesian students to be able to master English in order to
compete with others. Therefore, English must be taught and learnt at
school.
According to the Educational Unit Curriculum (KTSP), students
must master four language skills; they are listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. The language skills to be achieved are divided into two parts of
language function, namely, oral and written English as a means of
communication. In this case, listening and speaking are oral language;
reading and writing are written language. However, for the students, the
written one is the most difficult skill of language. Sampath and Zalipour
(2010) state that students consider writing to be an extremely difficult area
in learning English and it seems to be a daunting task for most ESL
1
2
learners. While Wallace (2004: 15) states that writing skill for beginning
students can give benefit from learning and practicing one skill at a time.
Writing as one of the English skills is important to be improved
especially for academic. In the context of education, it is worth if the
students‟ writing skill is improved, student will be able to do some kinds
of writing exercise such as essay question, report, or even writing paper.
But not only in written, it will also improve their spoken in English.
Moreover writing skill is useful not only for academic life, as we know the
improvement of technology, like in social media such facebook,
instagram, path etc demand people especially students to be able to write,
this make students would rather practice their writing skill than practice
other skill such as speaking, listening, or reading.
Based on the writer observation in grade X senior high school at
SMA Negeri 6 Padang Sidempuan, from 41 students it is found that there
are only 18 students could pass the passing grade (KKM) and 23 students
still could not pass the passing grade which is made by the teacher, the
score of passing grade is 70. Moreover, it happened because of many
reasons. First, the students consider that writing is a complex skill because
it deals with vocabulary, grammar, and ability to express idea. The second
reason is they consider it is difficult to write because they do not
understand in arranging words in order to form a good sentence or make a
good paragraph. The last is because they do not have any guidelines even
from the teacher in arranging their ideas and make it into words. Teacher
3
uses lecturing method. She only gives a topic, ask students to read the text,
explains it, and ask them again to answer questions or write but teacher
doesn‟t allow them to use media.
There are many kinds of genre in writing, to select the appropriate
text, the teacher must consider the characteristics of the students, which
directly related to the learning process. This study will focus on one of the
genre, that is narrative text. According to Wolpert in Hutapea (2013:10),
narrative text is made of development used by the write to tell factual
event. the story or to give an account of historical. In addition, the story of
narrative brings short message for the readers thus at the same time it gives
social message that can build students‟ motivation. Based on Harmer
(2004) teachers should be able to select appropriate text and use media to
create fun activities so that students can study the subject successfully.
Students often need to be encouraged and motivated to engage actively in
learning the four language skills of writing, speaking, reading and
listening. Furthermore, many teachers are inspired to be as creative as
possible, in order to encourage learners to study English more effectively.
Accapezzato (2013:9) states that writing skills are part of daily life.
They are even embedded into many activities enjoyed by school students.
Because most students don‟t think that practicing writing is important, the
„how does this apply to me‟ excuse is uttered on a regular basis in the
classroom. The goal is to change the mindset of students. Creating
4
interesting, engaging lessons that teach the importance of writing skills
should be a top goal of school teachers.
There are several approaches to improve students‟ achievement in
writing such as by using method, technique, strategy, game, and media.
The study will focus on using media as one of the way to improve
students‟ achievement in writing. Media in language teaching can be
classified into three groups, they are: audiovisual, visual, and audio. This
study choose picture of comic strips as a media, because among the
education media, picture is cheaper and easily to use. By using comic
strips, students will be motivated to improve their writing skills without
being bored or feeling punished.
The use of comic strips as teaching media in writing narrative class
is important. In the writing process, comic strips give advantages in the
prewriting stage. Edmunds (2006) states that comic strips enable students
to identify the elements of a story through the presented visual and
dialogues. They consist of enough words and expressions that can help
build the idea of the students to construct sentences. They also provide
contextual clues to the meaning of written narrative. In line with that,
Vukoja in Kristi (2013) states that through the use of comic strips in
prewriting activity, students can explore the structural devices of the story
(plotlines, character development, setting, and theme). Moreover Fay
(2009) states that the reason of using comics in the classroom is because of
5
their visual appeal, efficiency, and power of message. Therefore, it will be
easier for the students to learn about narrative text.
B.
The Problem of the Study
The problem of this study is formulated as follows. “Does the
application of comic strips have a significant effect on the students‟
achievements in writing narrative texts?”
C.
The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to investigate the applying of comic
strips on the students‟ achievement in writing narrative text.
D.
The Scope of the Study
This study was focused on investigating the effect of applying
comic strips in developing students‟ achievement in writing narrative
texts. The level of students is grade X of Senior High School.
E.
The Significance of the Study
Findings of the study are expected to give significant contribution
theoretically and practically. Theoretically, the finding will add up more
horizons in theories of language learning. The findings can also be
references for further studies. Practically, the findings can be useful for the
teachers in improving their teaching.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
A.
Conclusion
Based on the reason of the data analysis, it is found that comic strips
significantly affect the students; achievement in writing narrative text. The
application of comic strips enables the students to write a good paragraph. On
the other hand, comic strips give the significant effect to the students’
achievement in writing a paragraph. Therefore it is concluded that the
alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted.
B.
Suggestion
In relation to the conclusion, suggestion are staged as the following
1. The English teachers are suggested to apply comic strips in order
to improve students’ achievement in writing narrative text. To
reach the better result, it is better if the English teachers give the
topic based on students’ knowledge.
2. The students, they should practice their writing ability by using
comic strips, by which they can maximize their writing
achievement.
39
40
3. Since this study only focuses on the students’ ability in writing
narrative texts. It is suggested for other researchers to apply Comic
Strips to other skills and other genres in writing.
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