Explicit Instruction, Comic Strips and ESP Reading Comprehension
Eny Kusumawati
Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia
eny-k@pens.ac.id
Keywords: Explicit instruction, implicit instruction, comic strips, ESP reading comprehension.
Abstract: Vocabulary plays the important role in language learning. However, the vocabulary used in language, whether
implicitly or explicitly, becomes the central discussion in language literature. In this study, comic strips were
used to investigate the development of the learner to enhance their reading comprehension explicitly. Quasi
experimental with posttest design involved 54 engineering students of Polytechnics was employed in this
study. Students were organized into two groups with two different treatments, the first group was presented
with comic strips and the second group was presented text only. Independent sample T-test used in analyzing
the data revealed that the group receiving comic strips as their treatment to enhance their reading
comprehension outperformed the group receiving text only as their treatment in comprehending reading. In
addition, to offering pedagogical suggestion that the practitioners can take into account in teaching reading,
especially in ESP context, to improve students’ comprehension in reading.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the university level, the teaching of English for
Non-English Department students is different from
that in the English Department. In Non-English
Departments, English is positioned as English for
Specific Purposes (ESP). It refers to the teaching and
learning of English as a second or foreign language
where the goal of the learner is to use English in a
particular domain.
Mostly, in the ESP content area, reading is the
first to be concerned. Because reading is the gate to
deliver the printed information to the readers, which
has the biggest portion in the skills to learn. Reading
is an active process, which involves some elements of
processing (Smith, 1994: 23) she described the nature
of the reading process as follows:
(1) written text is a blue print to which readers add
the details, (2) comprehending requires readers to
construct meaning. This is accomplished by using the
direct and indirect meanings of an author’s words.
Plus what the readers known that is relevant, (3)
comprehending is an interacting process in which the
reader’s knowledge of the world interacts with the
message conveyed directly and indirectly by the text.
The result is fully developed communication between
author and reader.
The characteristics of ESP as Dudley and Evans
(1998) said that (1) ESP is defined to meet specific
needs of the learners, (2) ESP makes use of
underlying methodology and activities of the
discipline it serves, (3) ESP is centered on the
language appropriate to these activities in terms of
grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and
genre. Mostly in content area of English for Specific
Purposes (ESP), reading is taking the most view to
see and pay attention. Reading is such a long and
complex process and high in the L2 content. It
demands the reader to have dual activations,
understand the subject matters and the language at the
same time. Beside empirical problems faced by the
students described previously, the ESP lecturers as
well as ESP teachers also experience difficulties in
delivering their instructional material to the students.
Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 158), three problems are
identified which matches the results of discussions
with teachers of ESP. These are lack of ESP
orthodoxy to provide a ready-made guide, the new
realm of knowledge the ESP teachers have to cope
with, and the change in the status of English language
teaching. It is believed that these challenges
inevitably lead to practical problems encountered by
the students in their learning English. With these
issues as practical and empirical evidence, if optimum
learning is sought in the practices of teaching ESP
needs to shift its focus from English in isolation to
Kusumawati, E.
Explicit Instruction, Comic Strips and ESP Reading Comprehension.
DOI: 10.5220/0007163201270133
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 127-133
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
127
English as medium for subject matter exchanges
(Aniroh, 2009: 169). With this teaching orientation,
both students and ESP lecturers will obviously have a
clear picture of what to learn and how to learn ESP at
college level.
At the conceptual level, Hutchinson & Waters
(1987: 16) note that ESP is divided into two main
types and differentiated according whether the learner
requires English for Academic Study (EAP: English
for Academic Purposes) or for work (EOP/EVP/VES
: English for Occupational Purposes/ English for
Vocational Purposes/ Vocational English as a Second
Language). As Sulistyo (2012: 13) assert, in the
Indonesian context essentially the teaching of English
to college students of non-English departments, in
which English as a course is only offered in one
semester with 2 credits semester, needs to be
classified into EAP since it aims to equip the students
with academic reading study skills. It is different from
the purpose of the teaching of EOP of which
orientation is to equip the students with English
competences related to their specific field of study for
future occupational purposes. One of essential point
to be noted that ESP subject is certainly need to have
clear correlation to the students’ needs and it showed
significantly effectiveness in making learning
English better and faster. Then, in the term of
teaching of reading to non-English Department
students who took EAP course, it is obvious that the
students are expected to be able to convey implicit
and explicit details from various text they read. Baker
(1985) as cited by Fahim (2012: 141) who found that
college students with lower verbal abilities were able
to identify individual words and facts but were unable
to combine the information in the text with the
previously acquired information. This inability to
integrate ideas was accompanied by an inability to
draw logical inferences and to check ideas while
reading to see if the ideas contradict each other. Since
reading comprehension plays a center role in
academic instruction and it is what the students need
to succeed both in an academic environment, it is
necessary to provide explicit training in the specific
reading strategy skills in which students are expected
to perform adequate proficiency in reading.
At the Engineering Polytechnic (PENS) an ESP
course of English is offered in first semester until
sixth. Some English lecturers was conducted to gain
information on the teaching EAP in the department.
They mentioned that when teaching, they delivered a
text to the students and asked them to read sentence
per sentence and to translate word by word. Also, the
students were asked to report when they found
difficulties in the grammar construction of the
sentences and the meaning of words in
comprehending the reading passages. They also
added that most of the time, they taught English in the
students’ native language, Bahasa Indonesia. Taber
(2006) states that translation of literary passages from
the target language into the native language
constitutes one feature of the Grammar-Translation
Method. The classical procedure for intensive reading
utilized in the department is certainly close to the
practice of the Grammar-Translation Approach in
which the teacher works with the learner, using the
first language to explain the meaning of a text,
sentence by sentence. The use of translation is
believed that learners will understand, and when the
learners do some of the translation themselves, it
allows the teacher to check whether they understand
(Nation, 2009: 25). Sulistyo (2001: 24) added that
ability to translate word by word of a passage is no
warranty of abilities to comprehend the passage
content as a whole.
Reading comprehension can be improved by
employing certain strategies in the form of study
skills. One of the widely used study strategies to gain
students’ comprehension, mostly in reading
comprehension is PQRST, which stand for Preview,
Question, Read, Summarized, and Test (Ahuja &
Ahuja, 2007: 21). PQRST is kind of reading strategy
that has been used to be effective to improve a
readers’ understanding, and the ability to recall and
gain information. It means that the reader is more
likely to learn, and to learn more of the reading
material. Steps in PQRST are also beneficial for
aiding the students in comprehending the text. This
strategy is also suitable for teaching expository
reading which EAP students learn (Wormeli, 2005:
131). The PQRST strategy has been empirically
shown to be able to improve the student’s reading
comprehension. Haeriyanto (2012) taken classroom
action research (CAR) and found that PQRST
strategy helped to improve the reading
comprehension skills of the eleventh graders.
Related to reading strategies which are used in this
study, teachers often give students reading materials
accompanied by visual such as pictures, cartoon, or
comic strips to make reading more enjoyable and
comprehensible. Likewise, ESL and EFL textbook
designers and materials developers often use visual to
provide context which is helps engage students in
reading. A comic strip is defined in this study as a
series of pictures inside boxes that tell a story. Among
visual genres, comic strips catch many researchers’
attention because they are communicative, popular,
accessible, and readable, and they are combine
aesthetic perception with intellectual pursuit
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
128
(O’Sullivan, 1971; Swain, 1978; Inge, 1990; Waller,
1991; Harvey, 1994). Comic strips communicate
using two major media words and images, this is kind
of arbitrary separation because comic strips
expressive potential lies in skillfully employing
words and images together. Harrison (1998)
discussed how comic strips can be employed in
journalism history classes to illuminate the subject
and impart a number of relevant lesson. Wright and
Sherman (1994) discussed the attributes of daily
comic strips that make them an ideal media for
reading. After analyzing the readability of various
comic strips readily available to students and
teachers, they argued that comic strips can be used
effectively to build reading skills. Moreover,
Sherman and Wright (1994) introduced a teaching
strategy using newspaper comic strips to promote
higher level thinking elementary and secondary
students. In their study, they explained two functions
of questioning (centering and expansion) using a
Peanut comic strip. Recent article. Wright and
Sherman (1999) replied that teachers can promote
literacy, higher thinking level, and writing skills by
encouraging students to combine words and pictures
to create comic strips. Moreover, they said that if
teachers want to students to become literate, critical,
and creative thinker, in advance they must align
curricula, teaching strategies, and instructional
resources. In the area of reading, the task is to
stimulate students thinking about explicit and implicit
meaning conveyed by textual material. In their
conclusion, they suggested that teachers could
accomplish the task by using comic strips as both
method and medium of instruction.
Ousselin (1997) in his study suggested that comic
strips are available to complement textbooks and
activities commonly used, because they are versatile,
easy to use, and culturally relevant. Many reading
comprehension studies consider the extent to which
visuals, help readers to comprehend the information
represented within the texts. Certain functions of
visuals in reading were identified as:
1. Representation: Visual repeat the text’s
content or substantially overlap with the text.
2. Organization: Visuals enhance the text’s
coherence.
3. Interpretation: Visuals provide the reader with
more concrete information.
4. Transformation: Visuals target critical
information in the text and recode it in a more
memorable form.
5. Decoration: Visuals are used for their aesthetic
properties or to spark reader’s interest in the
text. (Liu, 2004: 226).
One of the theoretical frameworks to describe,
explain, and predict the effects of visuals on cognition
is the Dual Coding Theory (DCT). Liu (2004: 226)
explained that the DCT, which concerns the nature of
language and imagery, can perhaps provide a
framework to unify these disparate theories.
In light of the background of the study, the
research questions are formulated as follows.
1. Is there any influence using reading text with
explicit instruction with comic strips in ESP
reading comprehension?
2. Is using reading text with comic strips with
explicit instruction giving any influence on ESP
reading comprehension through the students
with different proficiency?
2 METHODS
This study was quasi experimental with pretest and
posttest design with PQRST strategy and natural
translation method. The subjects were the third
semester of Mechatronics Department and
Electronics Department, Engineering Electronics
Polytechnic Institute of Surabaya. They were chose
because they had the same characteristics
In order to determine which group belongs to the
PQRST instruction class and the natural translation
instruction class between 3-Meka and 3-Elka, the
coin lottery was employed.
Prior the experiment, both classes were ensured to
be equal in all aspects by observing both classroom,
interviewing the English teacher taught in both
classes, and using school document of students
English scores in previous semester. Those were
carried out as the efforts to reduce the threat towards
internal validity, in this case is selection (Ary et al,
2006: 298).
The data of students f the two classes are shown
in Table 1.
Table 1: The Qualitative Features between two classes.
No
Features
PQRST
Group
N-T
Group
1
Number of students
27
27
2
Mean scores for
English subject
58.89
56.76
3
The schedule of
English subject
Monday
1-2
Monday
7-8
From the qualitative features in those two classes,
it could be concluded that they were not significantly
in terms of students’ number in the portion mean
scores for English subject. In other words, both
Explicit Instruction, Comic Strips and ESP Reading Comprehension
129
classes were homogenous which play an important
role prior to the experimental research. It should be
ensured that the subjects of the study in both groups
were equal for the purpose of avoiding bias result.
Then, the students reading comprehension scores
of both groups will be compared to determine the
effect of the treatment instruction on both groups
according to their proficiency.
Before the treatments, both experimental groups
would be given the pretest, this was aimed to know
and to measure the ability of both groups before the
treatments, the pretest was conducted on both
experimental classes to know the condition of the
classroom and to ensure that both classes were equal
in term of language learning achievement. Then, the
next was the experimentation in which the two
instructions were experimented. They were, PQRST
group to the first group (first class) and N-T group to
the second group (second class). After being given the
treatments, the posttest was conducted to the groups.
Due to the posttest, the writer would prepare the
instruments that was reading comprehension in the
form of Comic Strips and text only design, to each
student with allotted time to do the test. After
finishing the test, the instruments must be collected to
find the results.
In the process of teaching and learning, a teaching
schedule alternation between the teacher and the
researcher was applied in order to minimize the
possible threats, particularly in this case is that the
teacher plays role on student’s motivation. By
alternating the schedule of teaching between the
teacher and the researcher, the teaching and learning
atmosphere were conditioned like the usual classes so
that the students would not be suspicious that they
were under the research. The discussion on the
detailed lesson plan, including teaching strategy,
media/materials, and assessment were carried out to
the process of the experiments. In order to ensure that
the teacher could apply the lesson plan on PQRST
strategy and Natural-Translation strategy in both
experimental groups on each meeting, the detailed
explanation on the lesson plan were given to the
teacher before starting the class. The detailed
teaching schedule alternation between the researcher
and the English teacher are shown in the Table 2
Table 2: Teaching schedule for the researcher and the
English Teacher.
Meeting
1
st
Experimental
Group
2
nd
Experimental
Group
1
The English teacher
The researcher
2
The researcher
The English teacher
3
The English teacher
The researcher
4
The English teacher
5
The researcher
6
The English teacher
7
The researcher
8
The English teacher
This swap was based on the consideration that
every changes happening in the post-test for
experimental groups did not have any relationship
with the teacher in the group. In any other words, this
is one of the researcher’s effort to control the possible
extraneous threat which was in the form of
experimenter’s effect during the treatment process.
Before conducting the treatment, the English
teacher and the researcher discussed all the planning
of the teaching and learning activities during the
treatment for both experimental groups. All of the
lesson plans for 8 meetings for both classes had been
set by the researcher. Before implementing the lesson
plans, the proposed lesson plans were discussed with
the expert in ESP that was aimed at having feedback
for the betterment of the lesson plans. The revise
lesson plans then were communicated in detailed to
the English teacher, so there was no
misunderstanding between the researcher and the
teacher regarding the implementation of the activities
for the two groups. Based on the result of the
discussion between the teacher and the researcher,
some revisions were made. Some materials to
conduct the activities were prepared, prior to the
discussion with the English teacher, power point slide
show and video were used as the media.
After all the lesson plans and media had been
ready for the experimentation process, the English
teacher and the researcher set the schedule for the
experimentation for the groups. Prior the
experimental process, the pretest was conducted on
the first meeting on both experimental classes to
know the condition of the classroom and to ensure
that both classes were equal in term of language
learning achievement.
The final stage of the data collection was
administering the post-test. After administering the
post-test, the scoring test was carried out. The
formula of the scoring was that each correct test item
was counted as one point meanwhile the wrong one
was counted as zero point. Then, the number of
correct items was divided by total number of the items
and multiplied by 100 as the maximum score. The
score of each student, then, was tabulated in the
computer for further analysis.
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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3 DISCUSSION
3.1 The Difference of ESP reading
comprehension between PQRST
strategy group and N-T strategy
group
After the process of treatment, the posttest was given
to the PQRST group and N-T group in the form of
ESP reading comprehension test, which lasted for 75
minutes.
Then, the T-test with independent sample testing
is used to find out the answer on the research problem
whether any difference or no difference between two
groups. Based on the result of posttest in PQRST
group and N-T group, it was shown that the mean
scores of the groups were 77.4074 and 67.6852
respective.
Roughly, it could be concluded that the main
score of the PQRST group was higher than the N-T
group.
3.2 The Difference in ESP reading
comprehension with high level
proficiency under the PQRST and
high level proficiency under the N-T
Based on the result of posttest of high level
proficiency students under the PQRST and high level
proficiency students under the N-T, which is used T-
test with independent sample testing to find out the
answer of the research problem, the mean scores for
high level proficiency under PQRST group is 81.2500
and high level proficiency under N-T group is
71.7857 respectively. It could be concluded that the
main score of high level proficiency students under
PQRST was significantly higher than the high level
proficiency students under N-T
3.3 The Difference in ESP reading
comprehension with low level
proficiency under PQRST and FD
under N-T
Based on the posttest analysis of the low level
proficiency students under PQRST and low level
proficiency students under N-T, which is used T-test
with independent sample testing to find out the
answer of the research problem, it was revealed that
the mean score for low proficiency students under
PQRST group was higher with 69.72 than low
proficiency students under N-T group with 53.33.
3.4 The Interaction between the
Vocabulary Instruction and Students
proficiency level in ESP reading
comprehension
In this current factorial study, the students’
proficiency levels were included as one of the factor
in investigation they were high proficiency level
students group and low proficiency level students
group, whether or not that explicit vocabulary
instruction is effective toward ESP reading
comprehension. Regarding the analysis, which used
Anova one-way test on the statistical computation,
the interaction between two independent variables
(instructions and cognitive styles) is shown that in
PQRST group that there were 18 high proficiency
level students. The data also shown that the mean
scores for the high proficiency level students who
were taught using PQRST is 81.25 Then, there were
9 low level proficiency students, and with multi
covariate analysis 29.54. The data showed that the
mean score for the low level proficiency students who
were taught using PQRST is 69.72 In addition, in N-
T group there were 21 high level proficiency students.
The data also showed that the mean score for the high
level proficiency students who were taught using N-
T is 71.78 Then there were 6 low level proficiency
students whose mean score was 53.33, and with multi
covariate analysis 29.54 Based on the descriptive of
the data above, it can be concluded that the mean
score for high level proficiency students generally is
the highest. It means that there are interactions among
those variables.
4 THE INTERACTION AMONG
VARIABLES TOWARD
STUDENTS READING
COMPREHENSION
To answer the research problem related to the
interaction between teaching strategy and students’
proficiency levels, the data was analyzed with
ANOVA, it is also shown that the significance value
of the interaction between strategies and cognitive
styles is .000. This significance level is lesser than
.05 (sig .000 < sig .05) which means that there is an
interaction between teaching strategy and students
proficiency level. Moreover, although the statistical
analysis showed a significant F test result, there was
not post hoc test as it was aimed at analyzing the
effect of factors with more than two levels.
Explicit Instruction, Comic Strips and ESP Reading Comprehension
131
5 CONCLUSION
Based on the statistics data, there were set 2 groups of
students, a group of students with high level
proficiency and a group of students with low level
proficiency. They were under two kinds different
treatment with two different media of ESP reading
comprehension. Reading comprehension with text
only and reading comprehension with text and comic
strips.
Overall, in this study both strategy which is
applied are appropriate to use and may need some
development for next research to make it more
interesting. Both groups have significant
development when the strategy applied, even for the
students in high level proficiency.
This is different with the media of reading
comprehension. The finding in this study revealed
that all students with a comic strip effects, regardless
on proficiency and text level, performed better than
the one, even this group is get better. But, further and
deeper analyze found that the low level students
apparently did not need the pictures to support the
simpler text, and the higher proficiency group
likewise did not need the pictures to support either the
simpler or the more difficult text versions. However,
the lower proficiency group did significantly better
with the more difficult text when it was supported
with pictures because presenting the text with pictures
encouraged them to read the text using two source of
information instead just one. Likewise, on the
students with high level proficiency, they do not need
the pictures to support the text to give them
comprehending about high level comprehension.
It can be summaries that instruction is the most
important for the students to guide them into ESP
reading comprehension. Especially in the field of
Engineering Polytechnic. The appropriate instruction
on the class is the most main point to be concerned
when the teacher delivers the material to the students.
Using PQRST as the instruction to deliver the English
with combining material between text and comic strip
will be better to be apply.
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