IMPROVING STUDENTS READING ABILITY BY USING LOCAL FOLKLORE

COMICS

Fransiska Dwi Mulyani Wijayanti 1)

1)
SMAN 4 Pontianak, Jl. Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo, Pontianak,West Kalimantan, Indonesia
E-mail: dwi_wijaya89@yahoo.com

Abstract. The purpose of this research is to improve the studentsreading ability by using local folklore comics. Local
folklore comics are used as teaching materials by considering the aspects of cultural and historical of west Kalimantan
heritage which are relevant to the students narrative understanding in learning English. The aspects of reading ability that
had been revealed positively through this Classroom Action Research are improvements in the interest of reading,
understanding in generic structure of narrative reading as well as understanding in its language features. Based on the
provided data from the two cycles, it can be concluded that the use of local folklore comics are able to improve the students
understanding and interest of narrative reading, arose the students culture of reading literacy, and has met the criteria of
contextual teaching and learning ( CTL).

Keywords: Contextual Teaching Learning, Local Folklore Comics, Narrative Generic Stucture

I. INTRODUCTION
Reading literacy skill is needed to be trained and taught
in school learning environtment, as well as the
studentsinterest in reading that is also needed to be arisen.
Reading is the process to grap knowledge of words and
match the word meaning in sentences. Moreover, reading
acquires skill in order to have analitical thinking in
understanding text. By having reading skill, students are
able to have some information and as the result from the
reading process, they are able to understand the text and
message which is included from the reading that they read
so it can enlarge their point of views about something,
experience the changing of life behaviour, gain
entertainment and learn to find out solution in their lives.
The activity of reading book is very rare in SMA
Negeri 4 Pontianak. It is proved base on the data provided in
students visit to the school library each month which is
only 16% and if they borrow the books, they are only books
concerning with certain subjects only. The students tend to
find out instant information from the internet which can not
solve the problems deeply rather than book. In fact, if the
students read diligently, they will gain benefit; that is the
aquisition on something and solving of the problem.
Besides, there are many factors which create the
students uninterested in reading in SMAN 4 Pontianak. One
of them is less interesting of the reading text in learning
which tends too long so it makes the students bored and
confused to understand the reading text, difficult to find out
main idea and explicit information from the text, and
difficult in identifying the generic structure of the text. In
addition, the reading text much more presents the folklore
from other places rather than the folklore relating to the
local place where the students exist. Then, another problem
comes from learning media; such as book, picture, or photo
which are not interesting in English learning process. In fact
English is the international language which should be
mastered well by the students. Due to those problems faced
by the students which the material of reading text tends to
ignore the element of local wisdom and is not interesting in
the learning process, make the writer assume that the
students need creative material through local folklore comic
to increase their reading skill, their interest in reading, and
their understanding about the reading material.
By using local folklore comic from West Kalimantan
as a learning media, the writer intends to prove that there is
significant improvement in students reading understanding
especially on narrative text. The local folklore from West
Kalimantan is chosen in order to introduce the students own
culture and enlarge their point of view about their cultural
and historical ancestor in their memory. The local folklore
comics media are designed especially for teenagers of
Senior High School ages. Another reason is that the pictures
in comic illustrate the ideas so when the students read the
text, they will clearly understand the reading. The
illustration, plot, simple them, and the character existing in
comic can invite the readers attention to read. So it can
make the students easier to understand the reading text
through pictures, and ease the students to grap the main
points of the story and find out the meaning of words.
II. METHOD
In this research, the writer applies Classroom Action
Research (CAR) as Irais [1] explains that Classroom action
research is carried out by teachers in their context, in their
classrooms. Teachers identified a problem or an area they

1
wish to improve and based on theory or experience or a
hypothesis they think of an intervention. In this study, the
writer focuses on improving students reading
comprehension on narrative text by using local folklore
comic.
The participant of this research was purposively taken
from XI IPS4 class. XI IPS4 class was from second grade
students of senior high school that had low motivation in
reading English text. XI IPS 4 was the class that also had
lack of vocabulary. They got difficulties in grasping and
memorizing the meaning of the words because they seldom
used them and werent motivated in reading text. It is
because they were unable to understand the essence of the
text, and difficult to identify the generic stucture as well as
the language features.
The figure of actions can be illustrated as follows:
Plan
action
Reflection
Observation
Revised Plan
action
Reflection
Observation
Next
Fig. 1 Model of Classroom Action Research
Modified from Kemmis and Mc Taggart cited in
Hopkins (2008:51) 4th Ed.
Based on the model above, the procedure of classroom
action research can be described as follow:
a. Planning the Action
Planning was identified the problem area. The writer
prepared everything related to the action such as; made a
lesson plan about a certain topic, material, media, time,
2
schedule and instrument. The topic of reading
comprehension in lesson plan was based on the syllabus in
curriculum. The media that used was local folklore comics;
such as, Splited Stone (Batu Balah Batu Betangkup), The
Origin of Mountain Senujuh ( Asal Mula Gunung
Seujuh ),The legend of piantus hills ( Legenda Bukit
Piantus ) in teaching reading comprehension. Recording,
observation checklist and field notes were used by the writer
as intrument of observation. While the material which was
chosen by the writer was narrative text concerning with
local folklore of West Kalimantan. The last is test. It was
done to know whether students reading comprehension
improved or not.
b. Implementing the Action
In this step, the writer did the teaching process based
on the lesson plan. In this case, the writer became the real
teacher who had the authority and responsibility to manage
the class. The collaborator used observation checklist and
field notes to see and to know about the condition of the
class and students during the teaching and learning process.
c. Observation
After doing the teaching process, it is time to gather the
evidence. The collaborator observed the effect of the action
which had been done by the writer, analysed the media
whether solution was successfull or not. In this step the
writer gave a test by giving multiple choice questions based
on the story that had been read by students.
d. Reflecting the Action
Here, the writer analysed the evidence that she had
gathered. Was the problem solved or not? If not, what steps
would she try to apply for the next meeting? In this research,
the cycle would have been stopped if the students had
reached the target of successful process, including score.
In this research, observation checklist table was a tool
to observe the teaching and learning process. It was
conducted to get information about classroom environment,
class condition, and teaching learning process by using the
media of local folklore comic. In the implementation, the
observation had been done by both of the writer as the
teacher and the collaborator. In this study, the writer also
recorded the students behavior in teaching and learning
process by using video recorder. The activities were
recorded, in terms of; what the students did during the
classroom action research with the object of reading
comprehension using comic. Its aims are to know how high
the students motivation and the students enthusiasiasm in
learning reading comprehension.
In addition, in this research the writer took notes to all
activities during the lesson and noted the students response
to the learning reading comprehension using comic. The
writer acted as the teacher who taught the students. Field
note was used by the writers collaborator. The collaborator
helped the writer to take some notes, evaluate and offer
suggestions about the implementation of media.
In order to accomplish the goals of this study, the data
were analysed by using qualitative and quantitative
approaches. According to [2],Qualitative analysis is a
process of reviewing, synthesizing and interpreting data to
describe and explain the phenomena or social worlds being
studied. Qualitative here has been derived from observation
technique that were observation checklist, field notes and
recorder. In observation checklist, the writer was analyzed
the condition of the classroom during the teaching and
learning pocess, the observation sheet was filled by the
collaborator and analyzed by the writer systematically. The
data from observation checklist was categorized based on
two categories; they are, Yes and No. Yes was for
statements that showed students response and No was used
if there was no students response. Then the field note was
completed after finishing teaching and learning process by
the collaborator, meanwhile the writer was written a
description based on the result of the field notes such as: the
students activities or what students did during the teaching
and learning process and the students response to the
learning reading English. While, concerning with the data, it
had been measured by quantitative and qualitative data.
1. Quantitative Data
Quantitative here is to measure the students English
achievement which would be taken from multiple-choise
item or test. In this research, the writer analysed the
students individual score according to the reading test
given. After the researcher has obtained the individual score
and calculated it, the next step is to calculate the number of
students in the class, to compute the class test the researcher
used the formula of mean score [3]
2. Qualitative Data
Qualitative data is used by the writer in order to
observe the students behaviour during teaching and
learning process. Qualitative data of the research was
collected by using some techniques of data collection
including: field notes, observation checklist and recording.
In this research the process of analyzing the qualitative data
was made simply which contained 3 components, they were;
reduction of data, coding the data, and conclusion or
verification [4]
III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The implementation of teaching reading
comprehension by using the media of local folklore comics
consisted of two cycles. Each cycle consisted of two
meetings, one meeting for presenting the material and one
meeting for conducting the test. Meanwhile, for each
meeting took 2x45 minutes. For the first cycle the writer
used local folklore comic of The Legend of Splitted Stones
(Batu Belah Batu Betangkup) to teach reading
comprehension with topic Analysing the generic structure
and language features of the story. For the second cycle,
the writer continued giving another local folklore comic of
The Origin of Senujuh Mountain ( Asal Mula Gunung
Senujuh) with the topic Find out the generic structure,
explicit and implicit, and main idea. Every cycle consisted
of a series of steps; identifying the problem, planning the
action, implementation the action, observing the action,
reflecting and evaluating the result of the observation and
revising the plan.
Moreover, the research implementation contained the
implementations of the actions that was teaching by using
local folklore comic based on theories from some experts.
During the teaching and learning process, the writer worked
together with the collaborator. The collaborator observed the
students behavior by using checklist and notes on the sheet.
1. First Cycle ( Cycle 1 )
a. Qualitative Data
Based on the data which has been obtained from field
notes and observation checklist, the writer and collaborator
found that the students were impressed and excited with the
material from local folklore comic. Relating to the reading
comprehension, some students could actually explain the
writers questions concerning with generic structure and
language features, implicit and explicit information, and
main idea but there were some of them could not explain at
all. They forgot and they had no idea about it. After the
students gave good responses, The writer explained to them
what they should comprehend in reading narrative story by
using comic. At the first time of learning reading
comprehension by using local folklore comic as a media, it
seemed that the students were curious to know more about
their own local folklore, since they have never read and even
used the media of comic in the learning reading
comprehension. The writer explained the procedure of
learning process before the lesson began. The students were
enthusiastic in listening to the writers explanation and
interested to join the learning process. But some of them still
did not enjoy with the writers explanation. They were busy
with their own conversation and their own business. They
were still confused what they should do.
b. Quantitative Data
Based on the data gained from the reading test result
on the first meeting, the studentsachievement was still too
far from the expectation target. They still had difficulties in
understanding the reading material and solved the item
problems. It can be shown from the percentage score of
studentsreading understanding belows:
50
CYCLE I Excellent
40 41,66% Good
30 30,55% Average
25%
20 Poor
10 2,77%
0
Fig.2 The Percentage Score of Students Reading
Understanding
From the data figured above, the writer found out the
problems faced by the students which indicated that they
were still confused about the plot of local folklore The
Legend of Splitted Stone comic. They tended to answer the
questions based on their feelings. They still faced difficulties
in finding out the main idea, finding implicit and explicit
information, and identifying the generic structure and
language features of the text. Besides, they still had
weakness in vocabulary which made them difficult
understand the comic given.
c. Reflecting the Action
Based on the discussion with collaborator, and
analyzing the students percentage score on reading
understanding, it could be concluded that Cycle 1 wasnt
3
satisfied yet and still needed some efforts to achieve the
objectives from the material given. Based on the result
analysis of observation checklist, field notes, and the
recording, it could be concluded that the students still far
from being serious and still confused how to understand
reading comprehension using comic. They still had less
focuss during the teaching and learning process. In doing the
test, the students still made any noise and tried to disturb
their friends. They still had no idea how to answer these
questions well. Based on the result, the writer concluded that
the students showed confused about the usage of comic in
the reading comprehension and the way how to understand
the story.
2. Second Cycle ( Cycle 2 )
a. Qualitative Data
In the second cycle process, the writer has revealed the
following evidence of students significant progress in
understanding the story of The Origin of Senujuh Mountain
(Asal Mula Gunung Senujuh ). Moreover, the writer learnt
much from the previous phase, so in this second cycle she
well prepared for everything related to the media, teaching
strategy, procedure, and test. First, the writer needed to
explain to the students how to understand the content of the
story of The Origin of Senujuh Mountain; such as, the
students should know about the tittle of that story, in order
to make students easier to understand its plot. Second,
students should know about the message conveyed by each
image in the comic. So that they were able to conclude the
content of the story. They also had to pay attention and
know the characters of the story.
b. Quantitative Data
On the second cycle, the writer gave test to measure
the studentsunderstanding on reading comprehension. The
result of the second cycle test showed that there was
significant progress if it was compared with the first cycle.
The result could be seen below:
first cycle could be minimalized on the second cycle so the
students score had much increasing. Thus, the teaching
learning process also became much better than the first
cycle, so the cycle could be stopped.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the provided data, it can be concluded that
the use of local folklore comics are able to improve the
students understanding and interest of narrative reading,
arose the students culture of reading literacy, and has met
the criteria of contextual teaching and learning ( CTL). The
result showed that on the first cycle only 2,77% students
interest and understanding of narrative reading that was
considered excellence, and on the second cycle showed the
increasing become 38,88% of students interest and
understanding of narrative reading that was considered
excellence, and no students were considered in the poor
category.
REFERENCES
[1] Burns, Anne. 2010. Doing Action Research in English
Language Teaching. A Guide for Practitioners.New
York: Routledge.
[2] Davidson, Larry et all. 2002. Understanding and
Evaluating Qualitative Research. Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Psychiatry No. 36.Pp.711-732.
[3] Kurpius and Stanfford. 2006. Testing and
Measurement. A User- Friendly Guide. USA (United
States of America): SAGE Publications.
[4] Miles and Huberman. 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis.
London: SAGE Publication; International Educational
and Profesional Publisher.
[5] Kimberly. 2002. The content Analysis Guided Book.
USA ( United State of America ) : SAGE Publications.

CYCLE 2
100
52,77% Excellent
38,88%
8,33% 0% Good
0
Average
Poor

Fig. 3 The Percentage Score of Students Reading

Understanding

The above figurem means that the students had

significant improvement in understanding the reading
comprehension by using comic. It was considered that the
students had achieved the criteria of success.
c. Reflecting The Action
In this phase, almost all students could achieve the
learning objectives. Based on the data, it showed that the
application of comic not only had improved students
behavior but it could also influence students better
understanding of the reading text positively.
It meant that using comic could influence the students
reading understanding positively. The weaknesses on the