The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 882 Copyright © 2022 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 10, Number 1, June 2022 pp. 882 - 892 The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students Soleman Dapa Taka sdapataka@gmail.com Universitas Nusa Cendana, Kupang, NTT, Indonesia Received: 2022-05-23 Accepted: 2022-06-26 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v10i1.2873 Abstract This research aims at finding out the efficacy of using Digital Comics in teaching reading to senior high school students. The main question of this research: Is the use of Digital Comics effective in teaching reading to senior high school students? The research can be an addition to the persisting teaching reading of English particularly the use of the Digital Comics. This research was conducted at the tenth-grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, an Indonesian senior High School. The total number of samples was 25 students. The research used a pre-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design. The pre-test was given to find out the basic ability of the students in reading and the post-test given to find out the students’ improvement in reading after giving the treatment by using Digital Comics as media. The findings show that using the digital comics as media is effective in teaching reading to senior high school students. It is supported by the result of the significance test through SPSS 20 program that the P was 0.00. Therefore, it is recommended to use the digital comics in developing students’ competence in reading class of senior high school students. Keywords: Indonesian EFL students; Digital Comics; teaching reading http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 883 Introduction Reading comprehension is about the students’ reading capacity and understanding in what they learn at school. The definition of reading comprehension is so wide depending on the person’s point of view. As a student, reading comprehension is a skill which should be learned at school. Those are focused on the reading instruction, reading in text, vocabulary, paragraphs unity and so on (Snow, 2002). Based on the senior high school curriculum, the aim of reading is to learn processes to enhance the capacity of the students to understand text, it will assist their understanding text to help them regulate their thoughts, consisting of meaning. to get knowledge and get ideas of text, ideas to expand knowledge in reading teach over time in order to increase their learning process in reading Therefore the students are required to increase and understand the text, as well the main ideas that is detailed in the text. Comprehension is the important part of reading. A text cannot be understood if the reading is not comprehended. By comprehending the text through reading; students can understand the content of the text. Students can study many things through reading comprehension. Much knowledge is in books. Those can be studied by reading comprehension. The theory of different levels in reading comprehension skills has been discussed among scholars for decades (Herber, 1970; Snider, 1988; Mc Cormick, 1992; Pearson & Johnson, 1978). The interaction with the text, cognitive demands, and requirements on the reader differentiate the level of reading comprehension. Herber in Basaraba (2012) uttered the theory by mentioning that if students intend to master reading comprehension, they should initially and competently engage in tasks of literal comprehension before they engage in intensive interactions with the texts, such as those prompted by inferential and evaluative understanding. Additionally, retrieving information which is vividly conveyed in a text should be accomplished by the readers (Carnine et al., 2010). When the writer did observation in SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, he found that some of the students do not master the reading skills. They sometimes do not understand a reading text included a story in English. Even though the students always learn it before the writer did observation there, they still confused about it. To solve these problems, the English teacher try to apply various teaching techniques, or the teacher has to create class atmosphere of how to encourage student’s reading ability. A teacher plays an important role in teaching and learning process in classroom activities. He or she is responsible to determine the aim of teaching and has to create favorable situation in motivation the students to study. To teach successfully, an English teacher has to use certain strategies to make the students understand the lesson. one of the media that can be used by a teacher in Soleman Dapa Taka The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students 884 teaching reading namely digital comics. According to Lamb & Johnson (2009), digital comics are simple comics presented in certain electronic media. Thus, it can be said that digital comics are a form of illustrated story with certain characters that present information or messages through electronic media. Comics have long been a part of Indonesian popular culture which has experienced ups and downs in its development 14 . Comics according to Scott McCloud from the book Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, namely juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended convey information and or produce an aesthetic response in the reader. McCloud emphasized that comics are images that are lined up in a deliberate sequence, intended to convey information or produce an aesthetic response from the reader. 15 MS. Gumelar also explains in his book that comics are sequences of images that are arranged according to the purpose and philosophy of the creator so that the message of the story is conveyed, comics tend to be given the necessary lettering according to 14Boneff, Marcel. Les Bandes Desine es Indonesia. Translated by Rahayu S. Hidayat. Indonesian comics. Jakarta: Gramedia Popular Literature: 2008 15MS. Gumelar. Comic Making. Jakarta : PT. Index: 2011. page 6 needs. 16 Arroio who said that comics can act as a medium that serves to convey scientific information in an entertaining visual way. 17 Afrilyasanti and Basthomi also added that comics are visual media that are equipped with interesting pictures so that they can stimulate students to learn and become alternative learning media in creating learning variations. Sudjana and Rivai define comics as a form of cartoon that reveals characters and acts out a story in a sequence that is closely related to images and is designed to provide entertainment to the readers. At first it developed in western countries and was only broadcast in newspapers in the style of cartoon paintings that contained elements of humor and criticism, but later action comics were published such as Superman, Batman and Captain America. According to Susilana, comics can be defined as a form of cartoon that reveals characters and applies a story in 16 Ibid. pp. 17 17 Arroio, Agnaldo. Comics as a Narrative In Natural Science Education. Western Anatolia Journal of Educational Science. special issue: 2011. hlm 93-98 18Afrilyasanti, Rida., Basthomi, Yazid. Adapting Comics and Cartoons to Develop 21st Century Learners. Language in India ; Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow. 2011. pp. 552-567 19Sudjana, Nana. and Ahmad Rivai. Teaching Media. Bandung: Sinar Baru IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 885 Algensindo: 2011 sequences that are closely related to images and are designed to entertain the readers. Meanwhile, according to Santyasa, comics are a form of storytelling with a series of funny pictures. Comic books provide stories that are simple, easy to catch and understand, so that they are very popular with both children and adults. 21 Comics are defined as a form of cartoon that reveals characters and applies a story in a sequence that is closely related to the image and is designed to provide entertainment to the readers. 22 Comics generally depict cartoons, so their existence cannot be separated from the role of the cartoon itself. Noerhadi in I Dewa Putu Wijana defines cartoon as a form of humorous response in a visual image. Cartoon characters are fictitious created to present social comedies and witty visualizations. 23 I Dewa Putu Wijana distinguishes cartoons into two types, namely verbal cartoons and nonverbal cartoons. Verbal cartoons are cartoons that use the elements of Susilana, Rudi and Cepi Riyana. Learning Media: Nature, Development, Utilization, and Assessment . Bandung : CV Wacana Prima Susilana: 2007. pp. 186 21Satyasa. Innovative Learning Models . on-line 2007. Available at http:digilib.unnes.ac.id. Accessed February 18, 2016 22 Daryanto. Op. cit. pp. 127 23 I Dewa Putu Wijana. Kartu., Yogjakarta: Ombak Publishers, 2004, p. 7 verbal elements such as words, phrases, sentences, discourses in addition to witty pictures that provoke readers' laughter. Meanwhile, non-verbal cartoons are cartoons that only use funny pictures or visualizations. 24 From this classification, it can be seen that comics are included in the verbal cartoon category. This is because, in the presentation of comics, there are conversational sentences contained in balloons that show the conversation to help the reader understand the story even though the sentences are not dominant. From some of the definitions above, it can be understood that comics are verbal cartoons consisting of several panels arranged chronologically to present information. Cartoon images in comics are presented in the form of these panels, showing a continuous scene. Along with the development of comics from time to time, comics are divided into several types. This is in accordance with the visual style of each comic artist. If observed, there are at least two types of comics on the market today. First, comics d Based on the explanation previously, the researcher is interested in conducting a research under the topic “ The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students”,as a result in real situation he does not find an adequate and appropriate media in teaching reading in SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, an Indonesian High School it may be caused by most English teachers still teach by using conventional method in teaching reading. Therefore, it is very important to provide an alternative technique to improve student; it is assumed Soleman Dapa Taka The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students 886 that using digital comics might for improve the students’ ability in mastering reading a story. From the background of the study, the researcher formulated the research questions such as below: Does the use of digital comics improve effectively the ability in reading story of second year students of SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang,?. Then, the researcher formulates the objective of the research as follows: To find out the effectiveness of using digital comics as media in improving the ability in reading at second year students of SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang,. This research is expected to be useful information for teacher and the students about teaching reading story by the students through the use of digital comics as media. Also it expected to be a reference for the next researcher who wants to do a research about o online reading class. The scope of the research is to know what teaching reading of SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, at the second-year students through the use digital comics. Then it is limited for knowing the factor hamper the students in understanding a story. Method In this research, the researcher applied a pre-experimental method. Pre- experimental design used pre-test and post-test where pre-test was held before treatment and post-test after treatment. The design of the research is as follow: O1 X O2 Where: O1 = pre-test X = treatment O2 = post-test (Best 1997:103) The population of this research was the tenth-grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, an Indonesian High School. In determining the sample of this research. The researcher took 24 students as sample of this research. The writer used grammar test to measure the students’ ability in mastering reading. Before and after giving treatment involves IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 887 The data was collected by using the procedure below: 1. Giving Pre-test Firstly, the researcher introduced himself to the students and explained purpose of his coming in their class. The researcher gave pre-test to the students to measure the skill of the students before giving treatment. 2. Giving Treatment The researcher conducted the treatment to the students for sixth meetings by using digital comics as media in teaching reading. the steps as follows: (1) Before: in this stage, teacher needs to follow engage instruct-initiate sequence. It is to give understanding to the students about what they are going to do and when they have to finish their task with digital comics. (2) During: the researcher introduces herself and explains the material about the Narrative text as a tool to teach reading comprehension to Adolescents by using the digital comics. Next activity Adolescents are divided into two groups containing five Adolescents. The teacher provides brief material about the narrative text given to each group. Then, the teacher gives 15 minutes to the Adolescents in each group have to cooperate to understand the text. After that, the teacher gives questions about the text that has been given to each group. The teacher is giving a score to a group based on how many questions can be answered. The teacher announces the winner. Last activity, the teacher gives reflection about the material that has been given in this meeting . (3) After: teacher gives feedback after students finish their work. 3. Giving Post-test The students were given the same activity in the pre-test after the treatment. The researcher gave reading test and asked the students to answer. It aimed at finding out the students’ability in reading skill after giving treatment. In analyzing data, the researcher giving score to the students based on the result of their reading test in pretest and posttest. The last step of the data analysis was the hypothesis testing. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t-test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Results From the result data analysis, shows that the mean score of the student’s pretest was 40 and the mean score of posttests was 75 It means that using reciprocal teaching technique in teaching reading can enhance the students’ achievement especially for the students’ reading skill. Soleman Dapa Taka The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students 888 From the statistical analysis, the researcher concludes that there is a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ reading ability through reciprocal teaching technique as a way to deliver learning material. Digital comics as media is effective in enhancing the students’ reading ability. Based on the describing above, the researcher concludes that one of important point that teacher should accommodate he/she should give full the attention especially in reading skill. Therefore, in teaching reading one of technique that the teacher may use this technique in teaching, especially in writing or constructing ideas is greatly expected to make the students easier in understanding a text. After calculating the result of the students’ pretest, the mean score and standard deviation of both groups are presented in following table: Pretest Posttest Mean 40 75 Standard dev. 8.30 10.49 Max 43 64 Min 21 37 The data shows the mean score of the student’s pretest was 40 and the mean score of posttests was 75. Standard deviation of pretest was 8.22 and the standard deviation of posttest was 11.27. It means that using reciprocal teaching technique in teaching reading can enhance the students’ achievement in reading. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t-test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Assuming that the level of significance (𝛼) = 0.05, the only thing which is needed; the degree of freedom (df) = N – 1, where N = 25, then the t-test is 10.81 P is 0.00 From the analysis, the researcher concluded that there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ grammar ability trough pair work technique as a way to deliver learning process. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05) with degree of freedom (df)= N- 1, where (N) = 25, df = 24. The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 889 indicated that the alternative hypothesis (H1) was accepted and the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected. It means that the use of digital comic technique is effective in enhancing the students’ reading ability. Discussion Based on the result of data analysis, the researcher found out that the use of Digital Comics as media is effective in developing students’ competence in reading skill at the tenth-grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang. Actually, there some media that we can use to teach reading but the researcher using digital comics as media, moreover the application of digital comics as media gave good effect in enhancing the students’ skill in reading. Based on the data collected, the use of Digital Comics as media in teaching reading can enhance the students’ achievement. It was proved by students’ score on the grammar test. All students’ score was improved after conducting the treatment through the use of Digital Comics as media. The result of this research is supported by Harmer (2001:207) as cited in Mulya (2016:79) defines the use of Digital Comics as media as a way of increasing students’ participation and language use. This technique can be used in enormous number activities whether speaking, reading, or writing. The result of this research is digital comics as media in an online reading class is effective in teaching Reading Comprehension where there are several previous researches that found the same results. As for the previous research, namely by Euis Setiati, Intan Satriani (2017) found that result of this research found that teaching reading comprehension the use of Digital Comics as media technique has significant improvement in Adolescents’ Reading Comprehension. ST. Nuaisya Karim (2017) found that the research suggested that the use of Digital Comics as media is effective in students Reading Comprehension. Chicca Kurnia Saputri (2017) found that So it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement by the use of Digital Comics as media of students’ Reading Comprehension in XI Science 4 Class of SMA Negeri 1 Kotagajah. Ermawati Zulikhatin Nuroh, Vidya Mandarany found that the result of this research was is students respond well to cooperative learning model type Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) to improve students’ Reading Comprehension. From all the results of previous research above, it proves that the use of Digital Comics as media is an effective method in teaching Reading Comprehension as said by Bejo Apriyanto and Fahrudi Ahwan Ikhsan that the use of Digital Comics as media is designed as a learning model that combines individual learning with cooperative learning. With the TAI model, the weaknesses that exist in individual learning and Soleman Dapa Taka The Efficacy of Using Digital Comics in Reading Class to Senior High School Students 890 on cooperative learning can be minimized with the advantages that exist in both This research has shown that the use of Digital Comics as media can increase the students’ ability in mastering r. So, in teaching conditional sentence, the students should be in the use of Digital Comics as media that will be a useful situation where the students can share their knowledge and support their team in mastering reading in English. Conclusion The researcher concludes that the use of digital comics as media is effective in developing students’ competence in mastering reading skill at the tenth-grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, NTT. It was proven by there was a significant difference between the students’ mean score of pretest and posttest. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05). The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it indicated that there is significant differences between the result of pre-test and post-test after giving treatment in improving students’ competence in mastering reading through the use of digital comics as media in online reading class to the tenth grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang NTT. 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