Using comic strips in teaching english reading comprehension to students at duc hue high school in long an province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE USING COMIC STRIPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPR

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

USING COMIC STRIPS

IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TO STUDENTS AT DUC HUE

HIGH SCHOOL IN LONG AN PROVINCE

Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my professors of the Master course in TESOL 2008 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, whose highly informative, interesting lectures, academic advice and enthusiastic guidance helped me form a more scientific approach to my career I am indebted to all of them for their instructions

My special thanks to my friends of this Master course, TESOL 2008, who are willing to share their experience

My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues and my students at Duc Hue High School who have enthusiastically participated in the study

Grateful acknowledgment is made to my beloved for their data collection, feedback, and supportive opinions in accomplishing this thesis as well as to

my family for their deep love and heartedly constant encouragement throughout the course and the completion of this thesis

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

USING COMIC STRIPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TO STUDENTS AT DUC

HUE HIGH SCHOOL IN LONG AN PROVINCE

In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2013

Lê Yến Phượng

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Le Yen Phuong, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements for the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited

in the Library should be accessible for purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions establish by the Library for care, loan

or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2013

Lê Yến Phượng

Abstract

The study attempts to investigate Duc Hue High School teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards using comic strips as a facilitating tool in English reading comprehension classes, a topic which has gained wide attention recently The study also looks for a better understanding of both advantages and disadvantages in the current application of comic strips in English reading comprehension classes so that some possible suggestions may be put forward

To achieve the objectives of the study, the writer conducted a survey The respondents of the study were 240 students at the 10th, 11th, and 12thgrade, and all eight English teachers at Duc Hue High School (abbreviated to ĐHHS) in Long An province Three research tools were used for gathering data: questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations

After the data were gathered, descriptive analysis such as frequency and percentage was used to analyze the participants’ responses and classroom observation The three major findings of the study were that (1) teachers’ and students’ positive attitudes toward the use of comic strips in their EFL reading comprehension classes; (2) benefits and disadvantages of using comic strips in the English reading comprehension lessons; (3) teachers’ and students’ strong acceptance of the practice using comic strips in English reading comprehension classes

A major conclusion of the study was that EFL language programs should consider introducing comic strips into the curriculum as a tool to improve the current learning environment

Keywords: attitudes, comic strips, English reading comprehension, high

school, Vietnam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements i

Certificate of originality ii

Retention and use of the thesis iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents v

List of tables ix

List of figures x

List of abbreviations xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 5

1.3 Purpose of the study 7

1.4 Significance of the study 9

1.5 Delimitations of the study 9

1.6 Definition of terms 9

1.7 Organization of the study 11

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13

2.1 Reading comprehension 13

2.2 Strategies for English reading comprehension 15

2.3 Motivation and English reading comprehension learning 17

2.4 Effects of visual aids in teaching English reading comprehension 19

2.5 Comic strips in education 20

2.6 Strengths of comic strips in foreign language teaching 23

2.7 Comic strips as an educational tool to develop language skills 26

2.8 Comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 29

2.9 Synthesis of literature review 33

2.9.1 Dual Coding Theory 34

2.9.2 Empirical studies related to Dual Coding Theory 36

2.10 Summary 41

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 42

3.1 Research design 42

3.2 Pilot study 42

3.3 Main study 44

3.3.1 The research site 44

3.3.2 The respondents of the study 45

3.3.2.1 The student respondents 45

3.3.2.2 The teacher respondents 47

3.3.3 Data collection instruments 48

3.3.3.1 Student questionnaire 50

3.3.3.2 Classroom observation 52

3.3.3.3 Teacher interview 53

3.4 Data collection procedure 56

3.5 Data analysis procedure 59

3.6 Summary 60

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 61

4.1 Analysis of data 61

4.1.1 Analysis of students’ responses 61

4.1.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards using comic strips in English reading

comprehension lessons 61

4.1.1.2 Advantages of using comic strips in learning English reading

4.1.2 Analysis of teachers’ responses 69

4.1.2.1 Frequency of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension at ĐHHS 69

4.1.2.2 Teachers’ responses to advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 70

4.1.2.3 Teachers’ responses to disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 74

4.1.3 Analysis of classroom observations 78

4.2 Discussion of results 81

4.3 Major findings 84

4.3.1 Research question 1 85

4.3.2 Research question 2 85

4.3.3 Research question 3 86

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 88

5.1 Summary 88

5.2 Pedagogical implications 90

5.3 Suggestions……… 93

5.3.1 Suggestions for the administrators 93

5.3.2 Suggestion for teachers at ĐHHS 93

5.3.3 Suggestion for other stakeholders 95

5.4 Limitations of the study 96

5.5 Recommendation for further study 96

REFERENCES 97

APPENDICES 107

Appendix A: Questionnaire to student respondents 108

Appendix B: Classroom observation checklist 111

Appendix C: Interview questions to teacher respondents 113

Appendix D: Transcription of teacher answers 115

Appendix E: Summary of the classroom observations 124 Appendix F: Comic strips used in English reading comprehension classes… 125

LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 3.1: The distribution of the student respondents 46

Table 3.2: Years of English teaching by teacher respondents 48

Table 3.3: Grade taught by teacher respondents 49

Table 3.4: Summary of research tools 52

Table 3.5: Summary of implied purposes from the student questionnaire 52

Table 3.6: Summary of implied contents of the teacher interview questions 55

Table 4.1: Students’ attitudes towards using comic strips in English reading comprehension classes 62

Table 4.2: Students’ opinion onusing comic strips in learning English reading comprehension 64

Table 4.3: Summary of students’ opinion about advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 65

Table 4.4: Students’ preference for comic strips being incorporated into English textbooks 68

Table 4.5: Comic stripsas a useful tool to teach English reading comprehension 71 Table 4.6: Teachers’ opinion about advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 74

Table 4.7: Teachers’ opinion about disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 76

Table 4.8: Summary of the classroom observations 79

Table 4.9: Summary of the major findings 87

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: An example of a comic strip 11

Figure 2.1: A heuristic model for thinking about reading comprehension 14

Figure 2.2: Verbal and nonverbal symbolic systems of Dual Coding Theory 35

Figure 2.3: Synthesis of literature review 39

Figure 2.4: Conceptual Framework of the current study 40

Figure 3.1: Summary of research tools 56

Figure 3.2: Summary of data collection procedure 58

Figure 4.1: Frequency of using comic strips according to student respondents 66

Figure 4.2: Frequency of using comic strips according to teacher respondents 69

Figure 4.3: Comic strips as a useful tool 72

Figure 4.4: Disadvantages of using comic strips 76

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DCT Dual Code Theory

EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language RRSG RAND Reading Study Group

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides an overview of the research by firstly presenting background, problem, and purpose of the study Then, the significance and delimitation of the study are pointed out Next, the contributions of the study and the organization of the thesis are outlined

1.1 Background to the study

Of the four basic skills that a language learner is supposed to acquire (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) reading plays an important role because today’s people have to process a huge amount of information The proliferation of the Internet and the spread of English as a lingua franca have meant that the development of reading skills can be a stepping stone for non-native speakers of English in terms of employment, cultural enrichment or integration into new cultures Therefore, proficient reading in English is a crucial skill in today’s modern world In this regard, how to improve reading

is a major concern for most teachers and researchers in education

As Anderson (1999) points out, “reading is an essential skill for English as second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) students” Reading teachers and researchers realize that reading is often the main goal of language learners in countries where English is taught as a foreign language because reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study can take place

In Vietnam, English is taught and learned in a non-native environment Based on the new English curriculum of the Ministry of Education and

Training (MOET, 2006), currently in use at high schools in Vietnam, reading

is one of the four language skills that should be taught and learned Each unit

in new English textbooks, which are named “Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11 and Tieng Anh 12”, consists of five lessons: reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus Reading lessons are presented in the first part in each unit

The new English textbooks are designed under theme-based approach Each unit is about a theme The aim of this is that through reading the students are provided with language input This can help them to be acquainted with the theme and the language relating to the theme From then, the students can speak, listen and write about the things relating to the theme

in the next parts

In fact, reading skill offers EFL students a wide range of interesting information as well as a variety of language expressions and structures which are of great usefulness for developing other language skills In other words, through reading they can develop the other language skills such as writing and speaking and improve the language components as well, for instance, vocabulary and grammar Therefore, focusing on the ways and methods to improve the learner’s English reading comprehension is inevitable

Reading teachers and researchers realize that affective factors such as interest, attitude and motivation, for example, play an important role in reading development and success (Cooter and Flynt, 1996) As Worthy et al (1999) state that when students are interested in what is being taught and have access to interesting materials, learning, motivation, effort, and attitudes are

improved When they become interested, it turns into curiosity The curiosity then develops into motivation to learn more about what is being discussed Moreover, instructional approaches or materials that are motivating, as well as teachers who show interest and enjoyment in the subject or activity, might sometimes lead to the development of long-term interest Therefore, English reading comprehension instruction, as Spratt (1985) explains, has to

be done “according to the student’s interests” (p 64) Thus, reading instruction for students needs to be broad and interesting enough to intrigue them

According to Csabay (2007), having a high level of motivation is crucial in language teaching generally and in teaching English reading comprehension particularly One well-known way to arouse students’ interest may be achieved by bringing something extraordinary and new into the language class (Csabay, 2007) Today, instead of a focus on text-based literacy, additional attention is given to critical and visual literacy (Carter, 2007b)

In recent years, the focus of the educational community has shifted from teaching basic skills to teaching higher-level thinking The higher level thinking skills are identified as the ability to learn, to reason, to think creatively, to make decisions, and to solve problems; and these skills are seen

as critical for success in the classroom (Sherman & Wright, 1996) The reinforcement of these higher skills is mostly possible through providing a secondary stimulus for learners in the learning process of a second language

In this respect, EFL teachers have been turning to popular visual aids as a means to engage their students in classrooms They have made great use of

comprehension classrooms to make English reading comprehension lessons more enjoyable and comprehensible Examples of such materials include newspapers, magazines, TV programs, radio talks, menus, brochures, novels, short stories, weather forecasts, recipes, and comic strips (Hedge, 2000) One of the authentic materials explored over the past few years is comic strips (Davis, 1990) Especially among teenagers and young adults, comic strips can be used efficiently for this purpose because it brings a cheerful atmosphere into the class (Csabay, 2007) EFL and ESL teachers often give students reading materials accompanied by comic strips to make reading more enjoyable and comprehensible

Comic strips might bring students great interest and strong motivation instead of boredom during the English reading comprehension lesson First, comic strips are usually funny, communicative, popular, accessible, and readable, and they combine aesthetic perception with intellectual pursuit (Harvey, 1994; Inge, 1990; Waller, 1991) Second, comic strips communicate using two major media: words and images – a somewhat arbitrary separation because comic strips’ expressive potential lies in skillfully employing words and images together (Liu, 2004) They bring “images of reality into the unnatural world of the language classroom” (Hill, 1990, p.1) Their use in education is based on the Clark’s & Paivio’s (1991) dual coding theory, which supports the importance of imagery

in cognitive operations They believe that recall or recognition is enhanced by presenting information in both visual and verbal form Finally, applying them

to methodological purposes may have the same effect as using games or pictures in teaching English because they bring not only images of reality, but can also function as a fun element in the class

The results of these studies have revealed that the use of comic strips helps motivate reluctant readers and aid comprehension for less skilled readers

1.2 Statement of the problem

According to Gorman (2003), for some students, the link between reading

a text and learning can be difficult for many reasons Some of the students struggle with comprehending written text, while others simply are not interested in the typical classroom reading material Students who have reading difficulties are often reluctant to read and lose interest in literature

In fact, basing on the results of an informal survey to English as a Foreign Language students and teachers about the difficulty of English reading comprehension learning and teaching conducted at Duc Hue High School (abbreviated to DHHS) in Long An Province, and in the researcher’s experience of 20 years teaching English as a foreign language at this school, indicates that most students feel that learning English is difficult, especially English reading comprehension They argue that learning English reading comprehension is boring They sometimes become struggling and reluctant readers

As for the teachers, they think that one of the most difficult aspects of teaching English reading comprehension is making it interesting for their students in the classrooms Many students lack motivation or confidence to acquire English reading skills It has often been difficult to engage them in English reading in the classroom In addition, they learn that learner’s motivation towards reading is also an important factor in reading process It may effect on reading result such as good speed, enjoyment and

comprehension The lack of motivation, the students do not want to keep on reading They also state that when EFL students are engaged in activities which they find interesting, that is when they learn best in classrooms

As a matter of fact, what students are wondering is a big question that always bears in the teachers’ mind and urges them to try to find a suitable solution to better facilitate both the teachers’ and students’ English reading comprehension teaching and learning process From this perspective, EFL teachers at DHHS have been continually searching for new and innovative ways to make their English reading comprehension lessons more interesting and productive for their students

Up to now, many workshops have been organized and a lot of specific and effective ways to teach English reading comprehension have been applied by EFL teachers at DHHS The idea of using comic strip format as supplementary materials in their English reading comprehension instruction

to better aid students learn English reading comprehension has been conducted at DHHS by EFL teachers at DHHS, including the researcher All agree that comic strips are of great use to aid both the teachers and their students in teaching and learning English reading comprehension

As mentioned in the background and the discussion so far, comic strips have many potential benefits in teaching English reading comprehension They are often regarded as a beneficial medium for visual learners, as they combine images with text to increase comprehension (Hassett & Schieble, 2007) Comic strips bring a bright new strategy to English reading comprehension instruction Employing them in English reading

comprehension instruction might be said to be a possible solution for improving students’ motivation, thereby increasing their comprehension level Because of the importance of English reading comprehension instruction and the way used to improve the low level of DHHS students’ motivation in English reading comprehension lessons by using comic strips, the current research focuses on eliciting teachers’ and students’ attitudes regarding the use of comic strips in English reading comprehension classes in order to provide pedagogical implications to improve the current situation

In addition, Brown and Rodgers (2002) state that teaching is heavily influenced by the beliefs of its participants: teachers and students Thus, there

is a need for evidence of the teachers’ and learners’ attitudes regarding the use

of comic strips in English reading comprehension learning and teaching at DHHS

From what the teachers, students and researchers have mentioned about some of benefits of comic strips, the researcher partly know about their attitudes towards the use of comic strips in teaching and learning English reading comprehension This inspires the researcher to conduct the current study with hope of understanding more about not only the teachers’ and students’ attitude towards the use of comic strips but also the overall problems faced by them in teaching and learning English reading comprehension through comic strips

1.3 Purpose of the study

In the above discussed context, the main purpose of this study is, therefore,

to explore DHHS teachers’ and learners’ attitudes toward the use of comic

strips in English reading comprehension classroom Insights are gathered about teachers’ beliefs concerning the effectiveness of comic strips The study sheds light on the students’ perceptions of the influence of comic strips on improving their language proficiency, in general, and on their English reading comprehension, in particular It should be noted that the study does not aim to testify the benefits of using comic strips or the effects of comic strips on English reading comprehension since it is proven by the literature and scholastic works

In other words, this study is expected to find out the attitudes of both teachers and students towards using comic strips in teaching and learning English reading comprehension at DHHS In addition, a closer look would be taken at the way comic strips are used and the advantages and disadvantages of applying them Then some pedagogical techniques would be detected for further exploitation of comic strips in the same context

In brief, to achieve the purposes stated above, the study attempts to answer the following research questions:

1 What are teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension at DHHS?

2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension?

3 How should comic strips be incorporated into curriculum to produce better learning outcomes?

1.4 Significance of the study

The study highlights the students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using comic strips in teaching and learning English reading comprehension at DHHS, and the important role of motivation in teaching English reading comprehension More importantly, it offers the theoretical basis for this application in the classroom Besides, this study is hoped to be a beneficial reference for not only teachers and students but also for those who have the same interest in teaching English reading comprehension

1.5 Delimitations of the study

First, it is noted that this study is not an experiment to find out the effect of comic strips on English reading comprehension because the literature already confirm their benefits Here, the context of Vietnam high school may be different Therefore, it is necessary to find out the attitudes of students and teachers, those who are familiar with the use of comic strips as an educational medium in their English reading comprehension classes

Next, the student respondents in the study only involve in DHHS students, who are comprised of students from 10th to 12th grade The teacher respondents are in charge of English teaching to those students at this school In addition, it is noteworthy that the study is limited to the area of teaching and learning English reading comprehension in the new textbooks

“Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12” at DHHS

1.6 Definition of terms

The following is the definition of the basic terms involved in this research

First, what is reading? According to Harste (1989), reading refers to the process of constructing meaning through a dynamic interaction between the reader's existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language, and the context of the reading situation

Second, what is reading comprehension? Reading comprehension is defined as a strategic process during which readers simultaneously extract and construct meaning from text (Roe, Stoodt-Hill, & Burns, 2004)

Third, what are comic strips? A number of various definitions have been presented for comic strips One of the earliest definitions of the genre is by Waugh, who suggested in 1947 that a comic strip is a form that must include the following elements:

“A narrative told by way of a sequence of pictures, a continuing cast of characters from one sequence to the next, and the inclusion of dialogue and/or text within the pictures” (Mallia, 1997, p 96)

The clearest definition of comic strips comes from McCloud, who defined

it as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended

to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, 1993, p 9)

The following, figure 1.1 is an example of a comic strip

Figure1 1: An example of a comic strip

Finally, what is attitude? According to Good (1973), attitude refers to a predisposition to react specifically towards an object, situation, or value which is usually accompanied by feelings and emotions

1.7 Organization of the study

The study is divided into five chapters The following is the overview of the thesis

The introduction, chapter 1, presents the general background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, statements of the problem, the purposes as well as the delimitation of the study, the definition of basic terms and the outline of the study Chapter 2 is a review of related literature that consists of previous study, underlying theory: the notion of reading comprehension,

strategies for reading comprehension, motivation and English reading comprehension learning, historical perspective of comic strips in education, the effects of visuals and comic strips in teaching reading comprehension, some recent researches on the pedagogical effectiveness of comic strips in reading comprehension, and dual coding theory as a theoretical framework to investigate the effects of visuals in general and comic strips in particular on reading comprehension Chapter 3 is research method It consists of the research design, the research method, the respondents, the research instruments, the data collection procedure, the method used for data analysis, and the pilot study Chapter 4 is data analysis and findings It consists of description of the data presentation, data analysis and discussion Chapter 5 presents the conclusion It summarizes what is addressed in the study, points out the limitations, draws some pedagogical implications and provides some suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter offers a review of the literature related to the present study The discussion focuses on the nature of reading comprehension, the effects of visuals, the motivation, the effects of comic strips, and some previous and recent researches on the pedagogical effectiveness of comic strips in reading

comprehension are dealt with

2.1 Reading comprehension

Anderson et al (1969) stated that comprehension is the essence of reading Smith and Robinson (1980) argue that comprehension means understanding This means that reading comprehension is a process of thought where the readers understand the writer’s ideas and interpret them into his or her own needs

According to Grabe (1991), reading is not merely a receptive process of picking up information from the page in a word-by-word manner Rather, it is

a selective process and characterized as an active process of comprehending Alderson (2000) defined reading as “…an enjoyable, intense, private activity, from which much pleasure can be derived, and in which one can become totally absorbed (p 28)”

In order words, reading means different things to different people; for some it is recognizing written words, while for others it is an opportunity to teach pronunciation and practice speaking The writer creates a text to communicate a message, and the reader’s task is to comprehend that message RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG, 2002) defined reading comprehension

as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language

Reading comprehension consists of three elements: (1) the reader who is doing the comprehending; (2) the text that is to be comprehended; (3) the activity in which comprehension is a part The RRSG developed a heuristic

model to show how these elements interrelate in reading comprehension This three-way interrelationship occurs within a larger socio-cultural context that shapes and is shaped by the reader and that interacts with each of the elements iteratively throughout the process of reading

This idea is illustrated in Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1: A heuristic model for thinking about reading comprehension (RRSG, 2002, p xiv)

Reading comprehension is defined by National Reading Panel (2000) as

an interaction between the reader and the text In other words, it is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension

Thus, it is generally accepted that the major goal for any reading activities

is comprehension This goal is in line with the objective of teaching reading

in high schools The objective of teaching reading in high schools is to develop the students’ reading comprehension skills so that they can read English texts effectively and efficiently

2.2 Strategies for English reading comprehension

As mentioned earlier, reading always has a purpose Students should be aware of the purpose that a text is read for Knowing the purpose, the skilled students will be encouraged to employ the appropriate strategies for different comprehension goals They are readily able to adjust their reading strategies Reading strategies can be defined as “plans for solving problems encountered in constructing meaning” (Duffy, 1993, p 232) Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are

in control of their own reading comprehension Some strategies are related to bottom-up procedures and others enhance the top-down processes (Brown,

1994, p 291)

Brown states ten strategies, each of which can be practically applied to the classroom techniques They are identifying the purpose in reading, using graphemic rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding, using efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid comprehension, skimming, scanning, semantic mapping or clustering, guessing, vocabulary analysis, distinguish between literal and implied meaning, capitalize on discourse markers to process relationships (Brown, 1994)

According to Grabe (1991), reading is also interactive in the sense that many skills work together simultaneously in the process so that working some

of the skills reinforces learning the other ones Reading is comprehension Reading is flexible The reader employs a range of strategies to read efficiently These strategies include adjusting reading speed, skimming ahead, reconsidering titles, headings, pictures, and text structure information, anticipating information to come

Additionally, Grellet (1981) identifies three main types of strategies such

as sensitizing, improving reading speed and going from skimming to scanning Sensitizing is subcategorized into making inferences, understanding relations within the sentence, linking sentences and ideas Going from skimming to scanning includes predicting, previewing, anticiptation, and skimming and scanning Classroom techniques using these strategies include ordering a sequence of pictures, comparing texts and pictures, matching, using illustrations, completing a document, mapping it out, jigsaw reading, reorganizing the information, comparing several texts, summarizing, and note taking

Furthermore, in a study focusing on effective practices for developing reading comprehension, Duke and Pearson (2002) suggest six specific comprehension strategies shown to be effective in improving students’ comprehension of text They are prediction, think-aloud, text structure, visual representations of text, summarization, and questions or questioning Frequently, students can read the words of a text but do not know how to implement the correct strategies in order to comprehend its meaning

The discussion above may indicate that in order to process a text, the students should be explicitly taught the strategies, why they are important, and how to use them If they learn that strategies are tools for understanding the conceptual content of text, then the strategies become purposeful and integral to reading activities Strategic reading allows them to elaborate, organize, and evaluate information from text They help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation

Finally, reading comprehension strategies are seen as comprehension processes that enable students to construct meaning from the printed page most effectively In other words, those strategies show how students tackle a reading task, how they interpret their reading and what they do when they do not comprehend These strategies appear to be effective since they help students enhance the reading ability

2 3 Motivation and English reading comprehension learning

According to Pardo (2004), students with higher amounts of motivation are more likely to apply the use of comprehension strategies while reading In fact, motivation is an important factor in reading strategies It is one of the factors to catch the students’ attention when it comes to learning English reading comprehension Brown (2004) found that motivation is the most frequently used term to explain the success or failure of a complex task The success in a task is directly related to the fact that someone is “motivated” to

do it Brown (1994) also stated that motivation is commonly thought of as an impulse, inner drive emotion or desire that moves a person to a certain action

Furthermore, motivation does have important influence on students’ use

of reading strategies The more motivation generates both the necessity and desire for the employment of a wider range of reading strategies And some special motivation types often lead to the choice of certain types of reading strategies For example, deep integrated motivation usually leads to more frequent and various use of metacognitive reading strategies

All in a word, students’ motivation and reading strategies closely relate and one will affect the other If we stimulate and raise students’ motivation to read, they themselves will try to find the most effective reading strategies to read Thus, there is a relationship between motivation and choice of reading strategies, and some types of motivation which influence students’ choice of reading strategies

Within the context of the study, the researcher focuses on visual representations of text, one of the six strategies suggested by Duke and Pearson (2002), to improve students’ comprehension of text Some examples

of visual aids are pictures, photos, maps, diagrams, charts, animations, cartoons, and comic strips When the readers cannot comprehend a particular passage, they may shift their attention from the text to the accompanying visual images In return, the visual aids, which they do comprehend, might lead them to notice the text’s linguistic input and thus enable them to comprehend the text through matching and mapping among factors such as word recognition, syntax, intertextual perceptions, and background knowledge

Some researchers believe that the supplementation of text with visual aids provides readers with two sources of information from which to draw upon

when reading the material (Bernhardt, 1991; Gyselinck and Tardieu, 1999; Hibbing and Rankin-Erickson, 2003) For language teachers, the use of different visual aids will hopefully help teachers seeking to improve student motivation and interaction in class as well as learning of particular language skills and knowledge (Danan, 1992) It indicated that different visual aids combined with reading strategies was effective on students’ motivation and reading comprehension of English learning

2.4 Effects of visual aids in teaching English reading comprehension

Researchers such as Levie and Lentz (1982), Levin have outlined five

major functions of visual aids in reading First, visuals repeat the text's

content or substantially overlap with the text Second, they enhance the text's

coherence Third, they provide the reader with more concrete information

Fourth, they target critical information in the text and recode it in a more memorable form Finally, they are used for their aesthetic properties or to spark readers' interest in the text

Hudson (1982) investigated the effects of visuals on adult ESL learners at beginning, intermediate, and advanced proficiency levels He assessed the subjects' reading comprehension on three passages under each of the three conditions: (a) Subjects saw pictures related to the passage, received focus questions, and wrote down predictions before reading; (b) subjects received vocabulary lists and discussed definitions before reading; and (c) subjects read the passage, took a test on it, reread the passage, then took a test on it again His study found that at lower proficiency levels, procedure (a), pictures plus questions and predictions, was more effective, but at more advanced levels, procedures (b), vocabulary lists and definitions, and (c), read, test,

reread, retest, were more effective than procedure Based on his finding, Hudson concluded that visual imagery via picture cues can overcome deficits

of lower proficiency readers and that more advanced readers bring more visual information to the reading comprehension process

Additionally, several researchers (Levin, Anglin, & Carney, 1987) have suggested that the presence of visuals elicits improved comprehension due to the four major functions that visuals serve in reading First, they substantially overlap the text or repeat the text’s content Second, they improve the coherence of the text Third, they provide the readers with more concrete information Finally, they not only illustrate the text but also develop the readers’ interest in the material The combined effect of these four functions

of visuals facilitates the comprehension of text These researchers have reached the general consensus that visuals in text have positive effects on readers’ comprehension

2.5 Comic strips in education

As mentioned earlier, comic strips are some of the examples of visual aids Here, within the context of this current study, comic strips can be considered as a form of visual aids that depict all or some of the accompanying text’s content As Csabay (2007) states comic strips are authentic, and using authentic material is very important in language teaching and learning It has several advantages, among which is the fact that if students comprehend a genuine text successfully, that can motivate them and build their confidence

The educational potential of comic strips is an issue worth researching Comic strips have a rich history Comic strips became very popular in the

early 1930s Some publishers began to publish them in the form of a book In Europe (especially in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain) children’s magazines began to publish comic strips during the 1930s Comic books began in the 1930s as reprint collections of newspaper strips (Pustz, 1999)

In the early 1940s almost all the young people aged 8-18 read comic books Research on the educational value of comic strips appeared in the literature analyzing the reading content of comic books and vocabulary words used Educators began designing curriculum employing comic books in a variety of subject areas (Yang, 2003) Because comic strips were practically a universal experience for children in their lives outside of school, researchers believed they should be accepted at school and used as a teaching tool

In the 1970s comic strips began to reappear in the classroom as an effective means for building literacy According to John Oller and his episode hypothesis, “texts (oral or written forms of discourse) which are more episodically organized can be stored and recalled more easily than less episodically organized material” (Oller, 1983, p.44) In other words, it is easier for students to learn a language if they are given connected sentences that have a logical structure and a story line, instead of disconnected, randomly organized phrases Of course it has been stated several times before that vocabulary and language can be learnt in context What is essential is that the dialogue or text should have a logical structure and a logical conclusion (Oller, 1983) This way the students can follow the story line step by step and can recall its structure more easily because logic helps them, and they do not have to rely only on memory

As Schetter wrote

“Comic strips have become a social phenomenon Their ability to capture contemporary economic and social events with remarkable accuracy and finesse means they are preferred area of study for… educationalists, who, at one time were apt to moralize about comic strips, now use them as a teaching aid” (Schetter, 1992,

p 35)

It was believed that the blend of words and pictures assisted in overall comprehension for reluctant and at risk readers as well as English language learners Williams found that using comic strips in second language classrooms can guide students to hypothesize about the cartoons language, raise awareness of pragmatics, and emphasize languages underlying regularity (Williams, 1995)

As Mallia (1997) suggested that the use of comic strips for instructional purposes was infinite For example, he suggested that they could be used; as icebreakers, as strategic points in the lessons, to stimulate interest in a subject being discussed and to add interest and variety to instructional text During the past decade, numerous journal articles have introduced techniques for using comic strips in education and particularly in language classrooms The multi-dimensional nature of comic strips is a source of excellent teaching material, and allows teachers and students to explore language in a creative way Because comic strips were familiar and popular, they were highly motivating (Hatfield, 2006; McPherson, 2006)

Today, educators at all levels are designing new ways of teaching through comic strips because of their strengths (Davis, 1990) In fact, the wide spread

of comic strips and their strengths have interested teachers in using them as a medium for language teaching and learning

The next section is going to discuss the strengths of using comic strips in foreign language teaching and learning

2.6 Strengths of comic strips in foreign language teaching and learning

According to Nigay (2007), the use of comic strips in second language classrooms is greatly beneficial to the students In fact, the strengths of comic strips in second language classrooms according to Yang (2007) are many such

as motivation, visual, permanent, intermediary, and development of thinking skills

Firstly, according to Yang (2008) the most frequently mentioned asset of comic strips as an educational tool is its ability to motivate students Due to human’s natural attraction to pictures, comic strips can capture and maintain the student’s interest They motivate the students by their pictures The use of colors, the name of animals, and the identification of the main parts of human body can be studied and understood fast with the use of comic strips Through comic strips as a medium the teacher can give motivation to the students to learn English in more enjoyable and interesting ways and the students do not realize that they are learning English They will be more motivated to learn English

As Hill pointed out, “the standard classroom” is usually not a very suitable environment for learning languages That is why teachers search for various aids and stimuli to improve this situation Comic strips are one of these valuable aids They bring “images of reality into the unnatural world of

the language classroom” (Hill, 1990, p.1) They bring not only images of reality, but can also function as a fun element in the class They are usually funny; therefore, applying them for methodological purposes will have the same effect as using games in teaching English Comic strips amuse, interest students, and bring a cheerful atmosphere into the class So, with the use of comic strips as a medium in teaching English reading comprehension, they might not feel the stress or pressure while they are learning English They will

be more motivated to learn English Moreover, learners have a natural attraction to comic strips By bringing comic strips into the learning environments, educators can take advantages of the fantastic motivating power of comic strips In fact, one of the strongest benefits of using comic strips to teach is the ability of comic strips to motivate students (Yang, 2003)

Secondly, comic strips, being composed of "pictorial and other images" (McCloud, 1993, p 9), are a fundamentally visual medium Pictures and text mutually tell a story The visual nature of comic strips Oller’s episode hypothesis is further supported by the very nature of comic strips, namely that they are drawn, and therefore visual This characteristic of comic strips also helps to increase motivation (especially when the comic strips are coloured ones); and more importantly, if a word, expression, or concept is accompanied by a picture (a visual image in one’s mind), then the learner will memorize and recall it more easily

The third advantage of using comic strips in classroom is that the story presented in the comic strips is always there for students to refer to or look back on Unlike movies, the learner can move through the story at his or her own pace Williams stated that comic strips are permanent, in contrast to film

and animation, where the medium dictates the pace of the viewing progresses (Williams, 1995) The text medium is permanent but not pictorial It shares this quality, but not the visual element Visual elements help to provide context to students who may have problems decoding text Thus, visual permanence is unique to comic strips, while time within a comic book progresses at the pace of a reader

Fourthly, comic strips can serve as an intermediate step to difficult disciplines and concepts They can give reluctant readers the non-threatening practice and to experienced ones inspiration and confidence for more challenging texts

Finally, according to Versaci (2001), analytical and critical thinking skills can be developed through comic strips Answering of deeper questions about the combination of visual and textual forced students to get familiarized with these two means of expression, uncover the deeper meaning of a work, and offer a profound insight

The review of literature above indicates that the strengths of comic strips such as motivation, visual, permanent, intermediary, and development of thinking skills can be harnessed in practically any subject and at practically any grade level Many innovative teachers have already done so with much success In brief, it can be claimed that comic strips are not only for fun in a language class, but there are also methodological reasons for teachers to use them as an educational tool to develop language skills

2.7 Comic strips as an educational tool to develop language skills

According to Oller’s episode hypothesis, a text that has a story line and a logical structure is easier to remember and to recall (Oller, 1983) Comic strips provide the structure and stimulus to which students respond, and, as Brown points out, since stories are universal, students from different cultures can understand their structure and can identify with the characters (Brown 1994), which helps them to acquire vocabulary, grammatical and communicative competence, and provides them with special cultural knowledge as well (Csabay, 2006)

First, comic strips, for example, without words can be used to illicit oral

or written performances Students can be asked to provide an oral or written description of the comic strips Williams described his usage of comic strips in an intensive ESL course and found that the strips were a good medium to demonstrate common aspects of spoken English Collaborative learning can be used for groups of students to develop their oral or written descriptions Moreover, homework can be assigned with written descriptions

of the comic strips The teacher may select to guide the descriptions with questions to promote high level thinking skills, such as problem solving or evaluation of alternatives It is open to the teachers' creativity to develop activities using comic strips without words (Williams, 1995)

Comic strips can also expand students’ vocabulary by giving contexts to words that the students would not normally have been exposed to (Grant 2006) As Brown points out, “the best internalization of vocabulary comes from encounters (comprehension and production) with words within the context of surrounding discourse” (Brown 1994, p 365) By this way students

will associate the words with a certain context, and they can recall and apply

it better than just learning a single word with a corresponding meaning

Besides vocabulary, with the help of comic strips, new grammatical points can be introduced and practiced, and since these grammar points are embedded in a story with a logical structure, students will be able to better recall them later For example, McVicker (2007) is an enthusiastic proponent

of using comic strips to teach elementary school grammar and as a remedial instruction tool for literacy in general She notes the accessibility of comic strips, including such sites as www.garfield.com, which she used to create in-class puzzle games which prompted students to first assemble a strip in the proper sequence, then answer questions relating to vocabulary and prompting students to infer from the text they have reassembled For those who wish to use comic strips to teach basic grammar skills, McVicker (2007) is an excellent guide

Furthermore, comic trips can enhance second language learning because they present language in action They help improve reading development for learners struggling with language acquisition, as the illustrations provide contextual clues to the meaning of the written narrative (Edmunds, 2006) In addition, comic strips bring a bright new strategy to reading instruction (McVicker, 2007)

In a more recent article, Wright and Sherman (1999) argued that teachers can promote level thinking and writing skills by encouraging students to combine words and pictures to create comic strips They further asserted that

if teachers want students to become critical, and creative thinkers, then they must align curricula, teaching strategies and instructional resources In the

area of reading and writing, the task is to stimulate students' thinking about explicit and implicit meanings conveyed by textual material (Wright and Sherman, 1999) Ranker (2007) looked at the use of comic strips as reading material for ESL students and found that they help English language learners with both reading and writing In fact, in second language instruction, the use of comic strips has been strongly recommended (Hadley, 2000) for both reading and writing instruction (Zamel, 1987)

Finally, the fact that comic strips are visual also contributes to improving communicative competence In a comic strip, life-like situations and expressions are used in spoken, colloquial language: for instance, idioms, reduced forms, slang, and expressions that require shared cultural knowledge Consequently, comic strips help students to deal with spoken and even informal language, preventing them from sounding “bookish,” as students might when they are only exposed to written, formal language (Csabay, 2006) Another advantage of the visual nature of comic strips is that they show the gestures and the body language of the characters This contributes to the development of communicative competence, which includes nonverbal communication

To sum up, comic strips can be used not only for English reading exercises but also for improving the other three skills and the language components as well, for instance vocabulary and grammar Wright and Sherman (1996) concluded that teachers can use comic strips as both a method and medium of language instruction Also, comic strips can be used

as tools to develop critical thinking skills, writing skills, as motivational devices, and as visual aids to English reading comprehension classes Therefore, comic strips can be used to teach a wide variety of language skills