"IMPROVING VOCABULARY ABILITY BY USING

COMIC"
Abstract:
The problems of this research were how to improve vocabulary using
comic and how to motivate the students to apply it in their d English. The
research was guided by a conceptual framework leading to the using comic
through peer work to improve their motivation to speak English during the
process of classroom communication interaction. The research type was an
action research. The subject consisted of 20 students of the third special
class of SMAN 1 MATARAM in 2009-2010 academic years. The research data
were collected using test (test after first treatment and test after the second
treatment), observation for collecting data on the students motivation in
improving vocabulary ability using series pictures. Data on vocabulary ability
using comic were analyzed using the descriptive and statistic analysis, to
know the improvement in mean students after the first cycle and the second
cycle. Based on the first cycle, the students average was 67.8, then, on the
second treatment, the students average increase to be 78.8. It can conclude
that teaching vocabulary using comic can improve students vocabulary
ability.
1.

BACKGROUND

Students learning outcome, which is still considered as unsuccessful,

has always been the focus of criticism towards the failure of teaching of
English in Indonesia. As a consequence English teachers are demanded to be
responsible for the failure in making the students capable of using English for
communication both productively and receptively. To alleviate this ordeal,
educators, practitioners, and policy makers quite often pay very much
attention to research dealing with the curriculum, methodology and teachers
excluding such significant variables as the learner perspective. They have
rarely taken the learner perspective into consideration as a very important
contribution to the learning process.
Does the failure have any relations to these factors? Some English
textbooks written for young learners seem to neglect these factors. As a
matter of fact, many research findings have shown the powerful role of the
students in improving their learning outcome.
Teaching vocabulary in Indonesia is considered to be the most difficult,
pronunciation, structure, discourse, and the social context of culture and
situation. In short, it needs the mastery of the linguistic and the cultural
competence. Besides, as vocabulary is difficult, more effort is required on the

part of the students and teachers. It is not enough for the students to listen
or to speech only. The teachers need to give the students activities to
practice the new speech among the four basic skills of language. Bourdons in
Nunan (1993) stated that spoken language needs the mastery of vocabulary
habit. This means that practice vocabulary needs much time to fulfil the
requirements of the mastery of spoken English, either from school or the
environment.
Teaching English at Senior High School in Indonesia as stated in
Curriculum 2004 revised in 2006 covers abilities four aspects of language.
One of them is vocabulary ability. Paultson and Brunder (1975) stated that
the objective of the language teaching is the production of the speakers
competence to communicate in the target language. Rivers (1968) stated
that the teacher should give the students opportunities to practice
vocabulary. She further stated that if the students are able to practice the
new speech habit throughout as the children do in his native language, the
problem of vocabulary fluency of foreign language would be lessened.
Teaching vocabulary at Senior High School in Indonesia is one of the
main focuses in the English teaching. Therefore the English teachers should
find out the effort on searching and creating a new model in presenting
materials, in order to increase vocabulary ability.
Based on the background above, the researcher formulates the
following research questions: (1) Do the students have high motivation in
vocabulary English using comic?; (2) Does the use of comic through peer
work significantly improve their ability to speak English?
Related to the problem statement above, the objective of this research
is then specified: (1) to know about the effectiveness of using comic in
improving their motivation to speak English through peer work; (2) to know
about the effectiveness of using comic through peer work in improving their
ability to speak English.
The result of this research is expected to be useful information to: (1)
increase the teachers knowledge of English and share experiences in
improving vocabulary ability using comic; (2) encourage the teachers
colleagues in doing action research in improving their teaching as the
professional practices; (3) give any contribution to the general public in
increasing knowledge concerning about classroom action research and get
any reflection for being perfection.
This research is done by the subject of the students of the third class of
SMAN 1 MATARAM using comic through peer work to improve their ability to
speak English. The researcher focused his research in improving vocabulary
ability and the students motivation in the process of teaching and learning
using comic. The topics or themes used were: (1) Global warming; (2) Daily
activity. Comic through peer work were used to attract and encourage the
students to improve their ability to construct their understanding and the
ability to speak English and help the teacher to present the materials.
2.

THE REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The researcher found some studies had been conducted using the
students own picture through peer work in improving their ability to speak
English. Some of them: (1) Rahman, Aulia (2007) in his research stated
that teaching vocabulary here is how teacher can give a good theme to the
students, the theme must make students fill happy so they will give attention
all times during the teaching process. The learning and teaching of a second
or foreign language is a complex process. Learning is Acquiring or getting of
knowledge of subject or skill by study, experience, or instruction. Similarly,
teaching, which is implied in the first definition of learning, may be defined
as. Showing of helping someone to learn how to do something, giving
instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge,
causing to know or understand. Teaching cannot be defined apart from
learning. (2) Westnood, Peter and Oliver (1975) stated that in improving oral
language there are four ways should be considered in which teachers
sometimes operate to restrict language development or indeed at times train
students not to listen but to speak; (3) Hergenhalm in Elliott (1996) stated
that good teaching begins with knowing what you want to teach: the stimuli,
you must also identify the responses you want to connect to the stimuli and
timing of appropriate satisfiers. (4) Hulse in Elliott (1996) on the effective
teaching and effective learning stated that feedback or reinforcement of
asking question is very important. It is a powerful tool of controlling
behaviour of the students. If you praise students correct responses
immediately and the students increase correct responses; (5) Erna (2006) in
his research stated the way of teaching vocabulary as follow: The stages of
teaching and learning vocabulary is divided into three stages which
commonly known as presentation, practice, and production. (5) Nunan
(1993) distinguished between motor-perceptive skills, which are concerned
with correctly using the sounds and structures of the language, and
interactional skills, which involve using motor-perceptive skills was all that
one needed in order to communicate successfully. Besides, he suggested
that, in particular, learners need to develop skills in the management of
interaction involves such things as knowing when and how to take the floor,
when to introduce a topic or change the subject, how to invite someone else
to speak, how to keep a conversation going, when and how to terminate the
conversation and so on.
Vocabulary lesson can follow the usual pattern of preparation,
presentation, practice, evaluation, and extension. The teacher can use the
preparation step to observe, draw, and establish a context for vocabulary
task on certain objects and things (where, when, why, with whom it will
occur) and to initiate awareness of vocabulary skill to be targeted. In
presentation, the teacher can provide learners with a reproduction model
that furthers learner comprehension and help them become more attentive
observers of language use. Practice involves learners in reproducing the
target structure, usually in controlled or highly supported manner. Evaluation
involves directing attention to the skill being examined and asking learners

to monitor and assess their own progress. Finally, extension consists of

activities that ask learners to use strategy or skill in a different context or
authentic communicative situation, or to integrate use of new skill or
strategy with previously acquired ones (Brown, 1994).
Vocabulary function is the productive and interactive skill. (1) What is
productive skill? With reference to usage, it is then perfectly true to say that
vocabulary is productive and makes use of the aural medium. Widdowson
(2003) described that the act of communication through vocabulary is
commonly performed in face-to-face interaction and occurs as part dialogue
or other forms of verbal exchange. What is said, therefore, is dependent on
an understanding of what else has been said, whether by the speaker or the
interlocutor in the interaction; (2) What is an interactive skill? Richards et al.
(2000) stated that vocabulary is rarely done in one direction or in the form of
monologue. It involves the participation of the listener. In an interactive
communication, a speaker, and therefore the speaker also becomes a
listener. Why comic? A wise statement says I hear I forget, I see I know, and
I do I understand. This means that if we have learning experiences by
observing, drawing, doing and also what our eyes see and catch most of the
time will stay long in our memory. Therefore, the statement strengthens to
improve vocabulary ability by using comic as media to teach English.
Pictures as visual aids will attract students attention, and motivate them to
learn. In addition, using comic means that the students try to connect the
plot in the picture to be a link of story.
Westwood, Peter and Oliver (1979) stated the principles of oral language
should the language program of teaching vocabulary be based on: (1) create
an enjoyable, entertaining, social learning situation, which gives pleasure to
the students; (2) keep the peer work activity; (3) arrange for fragment,
intensive sessions in two or three short sessions daily; (4) ensure active
participation remembering that it is what a student practices saying, not
what he hears, that improves communicating ability; (5) have clearly
defined, short term goals for each sessions: teaching a certain adjective,
adverb, or conjunction: and and but: (6) observe the slow learners and
give some degree of repetition and our learning if necessary; (7) use material
such as practices and games to hold attention as the basis for language
simulation; (8) use pleasure and praise as reinforces.
One authentic material that has been explored over the past few years
is the comic strip or comic book (see Davis, 1990, for a detailed
bibliography). Before this form of educational entertainment emerged to the
foreground, it was often believed (and still is by some social critics) that
"comic books were so educationally unsound that their use would lead to
mental stagnation (Ellman, 1979, p. 24; MacGregor, 1996, p. 7).
Teachers, businesses, and publishers, however, have realized that comic
strips and comic books have a widespread appeal to all age groups and
levels of society because they reflect authentic language and culture, for
example, social commentary, human idosycracies, stereotypes, and life
conflicts (Conrad, 1993; Elkins & Bruggemann, 1971), and contain a richness

in story content and character development (Yoshihiro, 1992). In fact, it is

one of the most widely read media throughout the world, especially in Japan
where comic books accounted for 22.9% of the entire publications in 1994
(Weng Kin, 1995).
The resurgence of interest in this form of entertainment has spawned a
host of texts and magazines seeking to ride the wave on using comics for
educational purposes. All of these have taken advantage of the inherent
characteristics that make this medium so attractive as an educational tool:
(a) A built-in desire to learn through comics (Richie, 1979); (b) easy
accessibility in daily newspapers and bookstands; (c) the novel and ingenious
way in which this authentic medium depicts real-life language and "every
facet of people and society" (Yoshihiro, 1992, p. 9); and (d) the variety of
visual and linguistic elements and codes that appeal to students with
different learning styles (Bangs, 1988; Davis, 1990; Kossack & Hoffman,
1987). Furthermore, many lessons can be adapted to bring the material
within the linguistic reach of different levels of students.
Many native English teachers in Japan are assigned listening and
vocabulary classes, with limited opportunities to teach the other skills areas.
There is, however, a general movement on many fronts to shift this once
generic class towards more content-based or ESP courses. The result has
been that English now becomes more than a mere frill to a true vehicle to
disseminate one's ideas. With the emergence of such a need, comics can fill
this gap because of its multi-dimensional nature, combing both words and
pictorial images.
The classes I teach generally meet twice a week for 90 minutes over 20
weeks. The underlying framework behind group-oriented projects takes root
in the concept of cooperative learning, where the groups' efforts are focused
on accomplishing a meaningful task with shared rewards. Here is one of a
group of five projects I carry out during the year.
4.

METHOD
The method used in this research was classroom action research (CAR)
focused on improving vocabulary ability using comic. The subject of the
research consisted of 20 students of the third class of SMAN 1 MATARAM in
2009-2010 academic year.
This research had one dependent variable and one independent
variable: (1) the independent variable of this research was the teaching
device using comic through peer work. Using comic means the pictures
belong to the students (e.g. pictures taken from magazines and newspapers)
or the pictures that the students had drawn by themselves. Peer work was a
teaching technique/activity which allowed students to act in accordance with
the assignment; (2) the dependent variable of this research was vocabulary
ability. It was empirically by the students mastery of using comic which

covered fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, structure, discourse and the

social context of vocabulary.
To collect data, the instruments to be used: (1) test consisted of pretest, post-test, and formative test; (2) observation. Test after the first
treatment and test after the second treatment administered to find out the
improvement of the students vocabulary ability, the formative test was
administered to measure about the improvement of their vocabulary ability
from the cycle 1 and cycle 2. The observation was administered to measure
the characteristics of the students towards the application of using comic
through peer work, and questionnaire was administered to support the data
of the students improvement in vocabulary English ability.
The activities of the research used the following procedures:
1. The researcher observed the previous students vocabulary average.
2. The researcher planned the action, constructing the lesson plan for the first
cycle using comic.
3. The researcher implemented the fist action cycle (giving treatment, using
comic).
4. The researcher observed the classroom while implementing the actions in
first cycle.
5. The researcher gave reflection to the results of the observation by using the
guide of observation in the form of checklist.
6. The researcher analyzed the result of series picture and then classified them
qualitatively.
7. The researcher constructed the lesson plan for second cycle.
8. The researcher implemented the second action cycle.
9. The researcher observed the classroom while implementing the second
action cycle.
10. The researcher reflected the results of class observation in the second cycle.
11. Analyzing the results of reading test in the second cycle quantitatively and
then classified them qualitatively,

a.
1.
2.
3.
b.
1.
2.
3.

In the first treatment, the researcher did some activities related to the
using of comic. The topic chosen was Global Warming. The first treatment
activities were:
Warm up:
Opening. This activity is as like greeting and asking students condition.
Brain storming to the matter. This activity was done to guide students to the
matter given.
Distributing the comic.
Whilst:
The teacher asked the students to guess the picture and asking the difficult
vocabulary related to the picture.
The teacher wrote the difficult vocabularies related to the picture on the
board.
The teacher drilled the difficult vocabulary related to the pictures.

4.

The teacher asked them to discuss with their partners about the picture and
the plot of the story.
5. The teacher asked them to tell the pictures in front one by one.
c.
Closing
1. The teacher asked their difficulty and their problem in vocabulary process.
2. The teacher gave motivation in studying and closing the lesson.
From the first treatment, the research got the problem as bellow:
The pictures were not so interesting.
The students got difficulty in contracting the sentence, because many new
vocabularies for them, so they need long time to memorize.
3. The researcher needed to pay attention more to the students who were
weak in vocabulary in guided them to make the story.
After analyzing the problem above, the researcher need to solve the
problem. So on the second treatment, the researcher would be easy in
attempting the method. Then after choosing the interesting pictures, the
researcher made a lesson plan. Then the researcher did some activities in
implementing the second treatment. The treatment was as follow;
1.
2.

a.
1.
2.
3.
b.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
c.
1.
2.

Warm up:
Opening. This activity is as like greeting and asking students condition.
The teacher gave brain storming to the matter. This activity was done to
guide students to the matter given.
The teacher distributed the comic.
Whilst:
The teacher asked them to pay attention to the picture.
The teacher asked the students to guess the picture and asking the difficult
vocabulary related to the picture.
The teacher wrote the difficult vocabularies related to the picture on the
board.
The teacher drilled the difficult vocabulary related to the pictures.
The teacher asked them to discuss with their partners.
The teacher asked them to present their story in their group first.
The teacher asked each group to give correction and suggestion to their
friends error.
After the correction, the teacher asked every student to tell the pictures in
front.
The teacher asked another friend to give suggestion and correction
Closing
The teacher asked their difficulty and their problem in vocabulary process.
The teacher gave motivation in studying and closing the lesson.
Based on those activities, the problems on the first treatment could be
eliminated. Here, the researcher gave more assistance and support to the
weak students. Besides that, the correction and suggestion from their
partner in peer work cold eliminate the error when they deliver their story in

front. The topic about daily activity and the picture chose were so interesting
and made them enthusiastic to deliver their story.
5.

DATA ANALYSIS
Before the treatment, students mean in vocabulary was 65.0. Then,
researcher prepare Then after the treatments, data on the students
vocabulary skills were collected in line with the instruments (tests,
questionnaires, and observation) and were analyzed using the scoring
system, tabulating, percentage, classification, calculating the mean score,
from the first treatment, the researcher got the mean of the students
reached 74.

6.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

6.1
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings and discussion in the previous parts, the
following conclusions are:
(1) The implementation of teaching English in this action research
using comic through peer work as teaching strategy could improve the
students motivation in improving their ability to speak English at both the
first cycle and second cycle. It can be shown from the students increasing
average in vocabulary score. In the first treatment, the students average
was 67.8, then, on the second treatment, the students average increase to
be 78.8; (2) the use of comic through peer work as teaching strategy could
improve vocabulary ability significantly. This led to the conclusion that using
of comic through peer work as a teaching strategy is a need in English
language teaching and learning in improving their ability to speak English in
the term of vocabulary, grammar, and their performance based on the
context of situation.
.
6.2
SUGGESTIONS
The first is addressed to the third class of SMAN 1 MATARAM dealing
with the classroom implementation of the findings. The second one is
addressed to the foreign language teaching researchers.
1) The classroom implementation of the findings
Since the implementation of using comic has been proven to be
successful in improving their ability to speak English, it is strongly suggested
that such teaching strategy improving vocabulary ability using comic could
be continually implemented in teaching vocabulary. Assistance and giving
motivation to the students is much needed, besides choosing interesting
pictures.
2) Further researchers

The emphasis of conducting this research was the improving vocabulary

ability using comic. The result of this research showed that vocabulary ability
could get significantly improvement.

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