IS COMIC STRIPS AN EFFECTIVE MEDIA TO TEACH NARRATIVE WRITING? HOW AND WHY? (A PERSONAL THOUGHT!)
Hey there! It is been a while since my last post in
this blog. I was so busy in doing my thesis, so I had no time to write. But I have
graduated!!! Yeay!!! (AFTER ALL THIS YEAR XD)
Talking about
my thesis, I did a research about how comic strips could be a suitable media to
teach narrative writing. So today, I would like to share my personal thought of
how comic strips could be an effective media. But before I share my thoughts, I
would like to explain some points about writing, narrative, and comic strips
briefly.
Writing can be the most
difficult skill that must be learned by the foreign language learners.
According to Scott (1995, p. 68) writing has certain characteristics which are
difficult to be mastered by pupils. One of the characteristics is that pupils
cannot use the same body language, intonation, tone, eye contact, and all the
features to convey the meaning as they use in speaking. Therefore, it can be a
challenge for students in writing a text properly so that the meaning can be
conveyed. In addition, Nation (2009, p. 119) states that some students have an ability to say what they want to write but might have difficulty
in putting it into written form. It
means that they have problems
in conveying their ideas into written
text. Some students are
able in doing this but are very slow. The students may be lack of proficiency in turning ideas into text. A possible reason
might be the difference between the students’ first language writing
systems and the second language writing system.
One of the
writing products is Narrative Text. According to Elite (2000) in Putri and
Adnan (2019, p. 154), narrative is a story that is roled by characters who
experience some events sequentially. However, some students might have
difficulties in writing narrative. As stated by
To overcome these problems,
teacher must determine a certain media in teaching writing in order to improve
students’ ability and willingness in writing, so that the teaching and learning
process will be effective and the students can be active in classroom. One of the media that
is suggested to be used in classroom is visual aids. According to Kreidler (1965) in Rizky (2013, p. 127) visual
aids is useful to language
teacher. In addition, according
to Harford and Baird (1996, p. 1) visual aids help people to learn and remember.
It is clear that visual aids are very helpful in teaching and learning process.
One of the visual aids that can be used in teaching English writing is picture.
One of the picture media
that can be used is Comic Strips. According to McCloud
(1996, p. 9), comic is juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate
sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic
response in the viewer. Moreover Sudjana (2002, p. 64) defines comic
strips as kind of cartoon form which expresses the characters and composes a
story. Comic strips consists of a story which expresses briefly and
interestingly. Additionally, Kunzle in Sommerland and Wictorin (2016, p. 3)
states that comic strips is a sequence of separate images with a preponderance
of image over that appears in a mess medium and tells story which is both moral
and topical. In addition Jungst in Mӓlzer (2015, p. 323) states that comic is
narrative in a sequence of panels combined into page layout where words appear
in speech balloons, caption, or as onomatopoeia integrated into the
picture.
PERSONAL THOUGHT
From the explanation above
we can conclude that comic strips is a set of drawings in a panels combined
into page layout where words appear in speech balloons, caption, or as
onomatopoeia which expresses characters and story briefly which intends to
produce aesthetic response in a viewer. Therefore, comic strips might give the
students an opportunity to improve the writing content which refers to the idea
of the text. In writing a narrative, students need idea, comic strips has a
sequence which refers to the organization of text, grammar which refers to
rules which help the writer to construct sentences, vocabulary which refers to
word choice, mechanics which refer to spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization. These aspects are important in teaching narrative writing.
Comic strips will assist students to build up their idea since comic strips is
equipped pictures which show characters, place, and situation of the story.
As discussed before the comic
strips has a sequence which is made deliberately. How the students organize the
text is important, so that the reader will catch the message clearly. Not only
the organization, but also students must have good grammar and vocabulary since
comic strips has speech balloons contain of word or sentences, so that the story
will be conveyed clearly and meaningfully. In conclusion, since comic strips
can help students of having these five aspects, it may lead students to have
micro skill and macro skill in writing. For example, a good spelling leads the students to have good
vocabulary. When students have the aspect of vocabulary, students will use an
acceptable words and appropriate word order patterns. Students who have grammar
aspect will use acceptable grammar system.
So I guess that’s all about
the explanation of how comic strips can be an effective media to teach narrative
writing. See you. :D
References:
Harford, Nicola ; Nicola Baird. (1996). How to Make Visual Aids. Oxford: Oxfam.
Mӓlzer, Natalie. (2015). Comics: Ṻbersetzungen und
Adaptionen. German: Frank & Timme.
McCloud, Scott.(1996). Understanding Comics The Invisible Art.
New York: HarperCollins Publisher.
Nation, I. S. P. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL:
Reading and Writing. New York: Routledge,Taylor & Francis.
Putri, Irena., & Adnan, Aryuliva. (2019). Teaching
Spoken Narrative by Using Animation Film to Junior High School Students. Journal
of English Language Teaching.8(1). 153-159.
Rizky, M. Syaeful.,Rukmini,Dwi.,& Sutopo, Djoko.
(2013). The Use of Pictures to Improve Students’ Motivation in Learning
Vocabulary. English Education Journal, 3(2).
126-135.
Scott, Wendy.A. (1995). Teaching English to
Children. New York: Longman
Sommerland, Ylva., & Wictorin. Margareta. Wallin.
(2017). Writing Comics into Art History and Art History into Comic
Research. Journal of Art History. 86. 1-5.
