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2.

0 RESEARCH FOCUS

After a few of my interaction with the pupils, it can be said that that they have a problem were
their limited range of vocabulary. This causes the pupils having problems where the pupils are not
able to write proper sentence. The use of Comic Strips in this action research is aimed to guide the
targeted group to overcome this problem. Their vocabulary will be developed through the use of the
comic strip. The comic strip could also be used as a stimulus to draw out their existing listening and
speaking vocabulary. This technique could also be utilized to develop their writing skills through the
use of table word that consists of the vocabulary brainstormed from the comic strips. The word table
functions as a systematic guidance for them to write sentence where simple sentence structure can be
highlighted through the word table.

2.1Comic Strips in Teaching and Learning


The use of comics and comic strips in education is based on the concept to engage and motivation
for pupils. The effectiveness of comics as medium for effective learning and development has been
the subject of debate since the origin modern comic book in the 1930s. According to Davis, many
lessons can be adapted to bring the material within the linguistic reach of different levels of students
so this technique is also suitable for teaching them vocabulary due to the words that can be found in
the script of the comic strips. It develops the pupils sight-reading due to the present of visual images
in the comic strips. It also helps the pupils to discover the usage of phonics and spelling which could
be done inductively and deductively using this technique. This will help the pupils to easily master
the English language gradually.
2.2The steps in Comic Strips Teaching and Learning
In comic strips learning, the teacher plays an important role placing the stages by selecting the
comic strips to serve as a stimulus for the young learners. They will be requested to identify what they
can see in the comic strips. The vocabulary will be identified by the young learners in the comic strips
by drawing a line from the identified words in the comic strip. The teacher will say the word and
write it on the board. The young learners will be asked to spell the words and later they will
pronounce it. After identifying all of the vocabularies, the words will be read out loud and pronounce
it. The vocabularies will be reviewed and read aloud. The words will then be categorized into their
common concept such as people, action and non-living things. The teacher can also add new words

that can be relevant to the students knowledge and stimulus. As pupils preparation for the next stage
the, the teacher can lead a discussion about the comic strips and what the students opinions about it.
The students will be asked to form a sentence based on the vocabulary learned. For creating a
paragraph the young learners asked to classify the sentence and putting it into a good sequence to
form comprehensible paragraph. Lastly, the whole class will read and reviewed the sentence or
paragraph.
2.3The Functions of Comic Strips in Teaching and Learning
Comics had been over for almost a century, they have been used in teaching and learning for quite
sometimes to serve as a stimulus to teach. Davis (1990) stated it is one of the authentic material that
has been over the past explored few years is the comic strip or comic book. Ellman (1979) stated
before this form of educational entertainment emerged to the foreground, it was often believed comic
books were so educationally unsound that their use would lead to mental stagnation. This showed
that comic strips proven itself to be a successful method in drawing ideas in the ESL classroom
around the globe. In using the comic strips it will function as two things. First, it will be used to
Punch out the young learners knowledge on vocabulary and putting them in to their vocabulary
dictionary. Secondly, it will be used as writing prompt. With the aids of the words and pictures that
allows the targeted learners to generate ideas and write in English.
2.4Word Categorizing in Comic Strips in Teaching and Learning
The categorizing of words in the comic strips that follows after the identifying sessions. This is
beneficial for introducing a part of speech to the young learners knowledge and helps them
recognize the use of vocabulary while constructing a sentence (subject verb - object). So the
sentences that are made are more understandable and meaningful.
2.5Further Studies on Comic Strips in Teaching and Learning
Before this, Comic Strips had been used and studied to prove that it could help the ESL students
in their teaching and learning. Dira Febrianti (2013) conducted a research to study whether using
Comics could help the young ESL learners to learn and promote Comic in developing writing skills.
Experimental method was used in the study and the targeted groups were 20 students and all of them
are from year 1 primary. They showed a promising outlook at the technique, experimental group
showed better performance a than control group.
Another studied showed was conducted by Erwin Hari Kurniawan (2009) to test the used of
comics in improving the learners descriptive writing. There were positive feedback from the
experiment that was conducted the young learners performance was better than before using comic.

The researcher stated that comic has successfully facilitates the learners to build up their writing with
generalization. The comic used also helped the target group expanding their range of vocabulary. The
use of comic in teaching could make the student engage more in the activity because it increases the
group interest and cooperation in the acquiring process. The researcher also mentioned that their
writing skills were improving after Comic was used to improve descriptive writing.
Nadiatul Khoiriyah (2010) also conducted a study to propose the use of Comic Stories in
improving the learners English in the Middle School. In the study there are five areas have been
assessed in determining the targets group ability, how they are organize, content, grammar, writing
mechanism and style of expression. Before this the students have problems in writing the showed a
result from poor to average performance. After the Comic Stories were used in teacher the young
learners shows improvement that support the effectiveness of Comic in teaching ESL learners to write
better.
From the recent stories about it shows that Comic has help the researcher with their target groups
of ESL Learners. The ESL learners was introduced with Comic and showed improvement in different
types of writing. This showed that Comic Strips in applicable in developing different types of writing
among the ESL Learners even in a certain period of time. According to Scott McCloud in his book
Understanding Comics (1993), comics are juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate
sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.
Depends on the information conveyed by the comic strips their existing vocabulary will be channeled
by their reading and writing skills through the use of Comics with proper sample and guidance, young
learner will be able to benefits hugely from the use of technique. Therefore, Comic Strips will be
suitable technique for developing this action researchs for the target group in developing their
vocabulary to improve their writing skills.

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