Action Research
Action Research
Action Research
INTRODUCTION
comprehension skills can be described as the ability to process text, understand the meaning,
and integrate or connect information from the text to what the reader already knows. According
to (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000), comprehension skills builds up through making connections,
predicting, inferring, synthesizing and seeking answers to questions that arise. However, in this
paper, we would want students to improve their comprehension skills in literature by not only
understanding and visualizing the text but also help to enhance their higher order thinking skills
With that being said, our initiative of creating as well as promoting comic as a medium
to teach literature in an English classroom aims to improve comprehension skills among Form
4 students especially for one of their literature components which is the short story ‘Rubbish
Dump’ by Steve Chimombo. Through comics students would be able to grasp the meaning or
storyline of the short story in a limited amount of time which would eventually reduce Teacher
Talking Time (TTT) and increase Student Talking Time (STT) during a literature lesson.
develop the Four C’s Skills; Critical thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Communicative
skills in order to prepare them to conquer the 21st Century challenges and opportunities in
future.
needs to be taught in all schools in Malaysia. Curriculum Specification states that the English
subject not only focuses on the language and grammatical skills but also it emphasizes on the
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literature component like novel, short stories and poems. The literature component in the
English subject is aimed to develop language proficiency and nurturing the love for reading
learning and coping with the literary materials and texts provided. Arvidson and Blanco (2004)
argued that these literary texts are written in such a way that they are dull and lengthy with
unattractive colours and visuals. Furthermore, they believe students failed to relate themselves
to the literary materials and texts as their comprehension level towards it is limited.
comic specifically in the short story ‘Rubbish Dump’. This is because comics are colourful and
Besides that, it also helps to develop much needed analytical and critical thinking skills.
b) To enhance higher order thinking skills among students using visuals and illustration
in literature class.
b) How does comic improve the higher order thinking skills among students in a literature
class?
c) What are the limitations that teacher face when using comic in handling a literature
classroom?
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1.5 Operational Definition
Comic is a medium used to express ideas by images, often combined with texts
or other visual information. According to Greg Hayman and Henry John Pratt in an
essay entitled ‘What Are Comics’, they define comic as a ‘pictorial narrative’. Durkin,
1993 believes that comprehension is the essence of reading and the active process of
constructing meaning from text. Higher order thinking skills or known as HOTS can be
taxonomy and involves the learning of complex judgmental skills such as critical
thinking and problem-solving. The material that will be used is in this research is the
short story ‘Rubbish Dump’ which is written by Steve Chimombo. It is a story from
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter focuses on previous findings and research found in journals and scholarly
materials which are closely related to our own study. There are few important topics covered
in this chapter which are both literature and the short story ‘Rubbish Dump’, the importance of
comprehension skills in literature, the intervention of this study itself which discusses on the
use of comic in literature, and finally the ARCS model as our theoretical approach.
2.1 Literature
Hirsch (1978), defines literature as any text worthy to be taught to students by teachers
literature or literary works are written texts that are marked by careful use of language,
including creative features like metaphors, symbolism, well-turned phrases, elegant syntax,
rhyme, alliteration and meter that are in a literary genre (poetry, prose fiction, drama). Apart
from that, literature plays two important roles ; literature with a capital L and literature with a
small l. John McRae (1994) distinguishes between literature with a capital L as the classical
texts such as Shakespeare, Dickens and literature with a small l which refers to popular fiction,
fables and song lyrics. However, in the context of Malaysian schools, as highlighted by the
Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025), the importance of teaching and learning literature
in the Malaysian classroom is to enhance and upgrade the proficiency level of English. It also
contributes to students’ personal development and character building and widen their outlook
of the world through reading about other cultures and world views (Ganakumaran, 2003).
Conversely, if literature is not incorporated in the English language classroom, Malaysia will
not be able to help younger generation for the advent of globalization and the various
challenges that abound in today’s borderless world (Paramjit Kaur & Nooraida Mahmor,2013).
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2.2 Short Story ‘Rubbish Dump’
Rubbish Dump is a short story written by a Malawian writer, Steve Chimombo that is
featured in the Malaysian Form 4 literature component book, “Changing their Skies: Stories
from Africa, retold by Jennifer Bassett”. In our study, we focus on incorporating comic in the
short story Rubbish Dump as a tool to help students and teachers to learn and teach the short
2.3 Comprehension
According to Durkin 1993, Comprehension is the core of reading and the active process
of constructing meaning from text. Whereas, RAND Reading Study Group (2002) stated that
comprehension is the process of stimulating and creating meaning through interaction and
involvement with written language. On the other hand, Duke (2003) mentioned that
comprehension is a process where readers produce meaning by interacting with text through
the combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text, as well
Comprehension does not only merely depend on the reader’s characteristics such as
their prior knowledge and previous experience, but it also depends on language processes such
actively involves strategic processes. There are two types of these processes which are known
as metacognition and comprehension monitoring. Readers must go through both the language
and strategic processes to develop and improve their comprehension skills. However, when
readers develop in their comprehension skills, they are eventually able to progress well from
the stage of learning to read to the main goal which is reading to learn (Yovanoff, Duesbery,
Alonzo, & Tindal, 2005). Therefore, comprehension skills is crucial as it does not only develop
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a reader’s knowledge academically but also helps to shape a person mentally based on what
2.4 Comics
As for the historical background, the English word “comics” is already being published
in American newspaper in the “funnies” section about a century ago. Comics are seen as “a
narrative form consisting of pictures arranged in sequence” (Varnum & Gibbons 2001: xvi).
“Comics or, less commonly, sequential art is a form of visual art consisting of images which
are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions”
(Comics 2007: 1). The word ‘comics’ can in fact be considered a misnomer (Eisner 2004: 16).
“Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information
and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (p. 9). Comics have the following
There are different fundamental forms of comics. They are comic strips, and comic
books and graphic novels. As for the comic strips, it can be identified from the usage of four
panels’ longs of a sequence cartoons. The other form is comic book and graphic novels. They
are longer comic stories. Few examples of popular comic books are Batman, Superman and
The Fantastic Four. These comic books are even being made into Hollywood films. In addition,
there are also web comics and instructional comics. Web comics are online comics available
on the Internet (Comics 2007: 8). Meanwhile, instructional comics are different compare to the
other available comics. It is being used to convey information for educative or informative
purposes. For many years, comics were only regarded as recreational reading, but comics
become more accepted as a legitimate form of art and literature and they are making their way
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2.5 Intervention of Using Comic in Literature
Nowadays, teaching through static texts is not just dull but also impractical (Lyga &
Lyga, 2004). Thus, teachers need to come out with various creative ideas to attract student’s
attention especially in learning literature. There are many classic literature titles that has been
adapted into graphic novels and has been proven that comic can help the teachers to develop
reading literacy skills among students (Schwarz, 2002). According to McCloud (1993), comic
can be defined as a juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequences, intended to
convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response for the viewer. Laycock (2018)
propose that using comic in literature can help to build student’s interest and motivation to
read. This is due to the lack of interesting visual and the dullness of certain literary texts. Some
of the text are also lengthy and hard to understand. The use of pictures and vibrant colours in
comic enables it to become one of the solutions in a more interactive literature lesson. This is
because, the combination of texts and visual are much more engaging for students to actively
language classroom to build visual literacy and language. Brown highlighted how comics were
made of two different types of code: (1) linguistic code and (2) visual code. This is also as
similar as Paivio’s (1971) DCT theory who propose a similar coding system but as process.
DCT during top-down processing gave second language learners an additional strategy to use
when problem-solving a text. This could be best exemplified when students were instructed to
compose the text (i.e., dialogue or narrative) when communicating a meaningful story for a
provided sequence of visuals. Thus, by using comic the class will not be a ‘traditional’ class,
but comic books invite students to participate meaningfully in a classroom discussion precisely
because most of them are not already convinced of their literary value. If asked to critically
evaluate a comic book, students might be much more forthcoming with their ideas and opinions
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than in a discussion of a more "traditional" literary work (Rocco Versaci, 2001). In this
research, in order to answer the research questions, we will use a printed comic of the short
story Rubbish Dump to determine how effective the usage of comic in improving student’s
Every educator in the 21 century learning is facing great challenge of stimulating and
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many students become disinterested as they regard literature as a boring lesson. Thus, they are
dealing with difficulty of finding reliable and valid method to motivate the learners. One
method to solve this challenge is by using ARCS model of motivation which is proposed by
John Keller that provides guidance for analysing the motivational characteristics and designing
motivational strategies based on this analysis. According to John Keller’s ARCS Model of
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Motivational Design Theories, there are four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in
First, a lesson must grab the learner’s attention. Tactics for these can be ranged from
simple unexpected events (teacher shows the title of the short story with colourful and fancy
comic writing) to mentally stimulating problems that engage a deeper level of curiosity.
Definitely, student will lose their interest if teachers are using the old strategies such as reading
aloud to teach literature component. In fact, learners will be more interested and engaged into
the lesson if the teachers used variety of strategies to teach them. The use of comic to teach
literature component is one of the great ideas that can be applied in order to gain the attention
of the learners.
The second requirement of this model is to build the relevance. Although, the attention
is already being attained from the learners, but they will simply lose the motivation if it has no
perceived value. Relevance is aroused from the relationship between the content of the
instructions and the important goals of the learners, their past interests and their learning styles.
Learning literature “Rubbish Dump” can be considered as relevance into them as it is might be
related with their important goals such as pass the exam with flying colours. In term of past
interest, there is no doubt that many learners love to read comics as it is very interesting instead
of reading the written form. Besides that, the visual learners will found that the use of comics
in literature component is relevance into them as they are learning better through images and
visual representations.
Confidence is the third requirement in the ARCS motivational model. Establish positive
expectancies of success for students often used as the method to build the confidence. There is
no doubt that students often lose confidence if they are not aware of what is being expected
from them. It is much easier to boost the confidence among students if the teachers prepare
clearer objectives and providing examples of acceptable achievements. Thus, the teachers can
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assist in building positive expectation of success by making the lesson much easier and simpler
for students through the use of comic in learning literature. If the students found that learning
literature is exciting, they are prone to have a high confidence towards the success.
If the learners are attentive, interested in the content, and moderately challenged, then
they will be motivated to learn. But to sustain this motivation, the fourth condition of
satisfying in sense of achievements or praises. The students must feel positive about the
learning experiences to receive recognition and evidence of success that support their intrinsic
feelings. Tangible extrinsic rewards such as grades, token of achievements and prizes also can
produce satisfaction among students. The use of comic in the short story “The Rubbish Dump”
will help the students to understand the subject matter easier and faster than the traditional
ways. Hence, they will have better understanding on lesson and eventually will lead them into
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Action research is a process which participant examine their own educational practice
systematically and carefully using the technique of research (Watts, 1985, p. 118). According
to Mills (2011), action research is an attractive option for teacher researchers, school
administrative staff, and other stakeholders in the teaching and learning environment to
consider. Action research is being actively promoted in schools and teachers are strongly
(Patrick T.H Lim, 2007). There are many guidelines and models of action research that are
available and can be used by the teachers in order to conduct and engage with an efficient
action research. Some of the well-known action research model is Kurt Lewin’s action -
reflection - cycle Model (1946), Kemmis and McTaggart’s Model (1998), Dialectic Action
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Figure 3.3.2 Kemmis and McTaggart’s Model (1998)
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3.2 Action Research Process Model (CAR Model)
The action research model that is used in this research is the Process Model for
Canonical Action Research by Davison et al, 2004. Process Model for Canonical Action
Research or as known as CAR Model is a model that imply a cyclic process of intervention,
with the conduct of (rarely) one or (more usually) several cycles of activities that are designed
to address the problem(s) experienced in the organizational setting. There are two essential
components in CAR which are first, by iterating through carefully planned and executed cycles
of activities, so researchers can both develop an increasingly detailed picture of the problem
situation and at the same time move closer to a solution to this problem. Second, by engaging
Akin to other forms of AR, CAR involves the combination of theory and practice
acceptable ethical framework’ (Avison et al., 1999, p. 94). Basically, according to Davison et
al, there are five principles in CAR model which are the Principle of the Researcher - Client
Agreement (RCA), The principle of the Cyclical Process Model (CPM), the Principle of
Theory, the Principle of Change through Action and the Principle of Learning through
Reflection. In this research paper, the principle that will be used throughout the process is the
Principle of the Cyclical Process Model or also known as CPM. The cyclical nature of the CPM
and reflection.
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Figure 3.2.1 CAR process model.
Susman & Evered (1978) originally proposed a model with the following five stages
which are diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation and reflection. Process Model for
Canonical Action Research also have fives similar stage. Hence, we believed that by using this
process model, we can also come up with a reliable action research. The reason why we used
this model because the second principle (CPM) in this model have the criteria that can reflect
systematic research. The extent to which the Principle of the CPM is reflected in a project can
Num. Criteria
1 Did the project follow the CPM or justify any deviation from it?
3 Were the planned actions based explicitly on the results of the diagnosis?
7 Were both the exit of the researcher and the conclusion of the project due to either
the project objectives being met or some other clearly articulated justification?
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3.2.1 Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the first stage, process or step in conducting an action research according
to the Cyclical Process Model adapted from Davison et al 2004. In this stage, the researcher
must conduct a thorough diagnosis and also an independent diagnosis of the current situation
not only as to confirm the nature of the problem(s) but also to determine the cause(s) of the
problems. As researchers we will collect information and review literatures and materials that
are relevant to our study. We will also assess the situation of our topic through a thorough and
independent diagnosis by developing our research problems. In the context of our research
which is on the use of comic in ‘Rubbish Dump’ to improve comprehension skills in literature,
we will look into the problems that students faced in understanding a literature text.
3.2.2 Planning
After diagnosing the problems, researchers will directly move to the planning stage
whereby the intended sequence of actions needs to be specified. In this stage, researchers will
3.2.2.1 Sampling
The selected group of students will be from Form 4 with an intermediate level
test to determine their language proficiency level. The group of students must have the
same level of proficiency, which is intermediate. Students with the same language
proficiency level is needed for the purpose of data collection and analysis. This will
help the researchers to observe whether there are any improvements in comprehension
and high order thinking skills among the selected group of students after the
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government-funded school located in Gelugor, Penang. All quantitative and qualitative
3.2.2.2 Instrument
Our study will utilise a pre-test, formative test (post-test), summative test (test
and observe), peer feedback (observation from senior teacher), self-reflection for the
teacher and journal writing for the students. The tests will be conducted appropriately
by prioritising the accuracy, validity, reliability and credibility without losing any
information in the process. The qualitative methods used are emphasized without
neglecting the quantitative methods since our research requires both immense and in-
i. Instrument 1: Pre-test
Our Pre-test is in the form of a diagnostic online test that will be conducted
among the 30 selected students. The students are required to take the test
individually from the laptops provided by the researchers in charge. The main
purpose for this pre-test is to indicate their English proficiency level before
comprehension skills on the storyline and characters involved in the short story.
The researcher in charge will conduct this test with the students after
implementing the comic. This test will assess the students on their ability to
answer the questions without having any reference of the text or the comic. This
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iii. Instrument 3: Summative test (Test and Observe)
This test is conducted to assess students’ high order thinking skills (HOTS)
HOTS questions regarding the important lessons that they have learned and
The senior teacher will observe the researchers and give feedback on the
effectiveness of using comic in the classroom and also to ensure that the lesson
Education.
v. Instrument 5: Self-reflection
that the researchers face in the midst of creating and implementing the comic.
This will also help researchers to learn from the problems that they faced during
This method is for the students. The students will be given the chance to
write their opinions on how effective the use of comic is to improve their
comprehension skills and also higher order thinking skills. Students will also
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rate the effectiveness of the whole learning process through comic with a scale
3.2.3 Intervention
First and foremost, we used comic as the intervention in our action research because it
contains a series of sequential images arranged in panels that are using words and symbols to
tell a whole story. Comics provide narrative experiences for students just beginning to read and
for students acquiring a new language. Students follow story beginnings and endings, plot,
characters, time and setting, sequencing without needing sophisticated word decoding skills.
Images support the text and give students significant contextual clues to word meaning. Comics
act as a scaffold into the students’ understanding. Rather than using the original short story of
The Rubbish Dump, some student might find it is boring as there are not many pictures in this
short story. Apart from that, it is also being arranged in lengthy paragraphs and thus will lead
into disinterest among students to read the short story itself. On the contrary, if we change the
lengthy paragraphs of the short story into comics, it will be much easier to read the short story.
As they read it students are exposed to English as a whole, and not the simplified collection of
structures presented in a linear fashion which is the staple of most ESL course books.
According to Stephen Carry, a second language learner specialist and author of Going
Graphic: Comics at Work in the Multilingual Classroom, says: “Comics provide authentic
language learning opportunities for all students. The dramatically reduced texts of many comics
make them manageable and language profitable for even beginning level readers.” Also,
according to Cary, comics motivate reluctant readers. They engage students in a literary format
which is their own. Comics speak to students in a way they understand and identify with. Even
after students learn to be strong readers comics give students the opportunity to read material
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which combines images with text to express satire, symbolism, point of view, drama, puns and
3.2.4 Evaluation
The use of comic as the intervention in this research will give many good effects to the
students. The strengths of comics in education according to Yang Gene (2003) are many such
as motivating. Due to human’s natural attraction to pictures, comics can capture and maintain
the learner’s interest. The visuals representations by using colourful pictures and texts mutually
tell a story. Thus, the students will become more interesting to read the story by using comic
instead of reading it in traditional way in lengthy paragraphs. There is famous Chinese proverb
“one sighted is worth, a hundred words”, it is fact that we take knowledge through our
intellects. In this "interplay of the written and visual" comics "put a human face on a given
subject" resulting in emotional connection between students and characters of a comic’s story,
Versaci (2001). Hence, the students will understand the character better because the use of
pictures in this comic that show facial expression will definitely make it easier for the students
to understand the emotional feelings of the characters such as happy, sad, angry and others.
The combinations of images and the written word (Eisner, 1985) have a strong visual aspect,
which facilitates readers’ imagination and helps anchor the expressions used by not only
putting them in context but making the medium multimodal. Memory formation is also aided
The usage of comic books in the short story “The Rubbish Dump” might have
advantageous psychological effects. It is possible that the use of comics reduces students’
Foreign Language Anxiety (Horwitz, Cope, 1986). This type of anxiety, if high, could prevent
information intake and therefore inhibit the learning process. We cannot deny the fact that there
are students who refuse to read the short story because it is written in English. The students in
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the intermediate level will regard English language is difficult to understand because it is not
their mother tongue and they are not a native speaker. However, when deeply engrossed in a
comic book story, attending to both text and image, students may learn to read for pleasure,
develop a liking to their target language, and experience less anxiety in the classroom.
However, the use of comic as the intervention in this research will also have some
drawbacks to the students and teachers. The language that are been used in comic are very
simple and straightforward. Thus, it does not require a complex information processing. For
some weak students, it may give advantages to them as they will be able to understand the
storyline and plot of the story as a whole. However, for advanced students, they might find that
reading comics is not challenging for them. The usage of simple words and vocabularies will
later on made them feel disinterested towards the comics. This means that, although students
find them absorbing, their vocabulary level and themes do not challenge students. Most
importantly, the sequential events that present in the comic takes into account the important
and essential part of the short story only. Hence, there are not much exposure about the
additional or extra parts of the short stories such as minor characters, moral values and
additional themes. Thus, if the students want to understand better everything of the smaller
As for the teachers, they might find that it is challenging to use comic in literature
classroom because only the important parts of the short story is being highlighted in the comic.
Thus, this may misguide the students into the wrong interpretation of the short story especially
if the teacher does not provide learning guidance for them. Reading the comic will benefit the
students’ comprehension skills as they will see a clear cut of events and plot in the short story.
However, there are not much higher order thinking skills (HOTs) that being applied and
showed from the comic. Besides that, as we already know, in comic there are many pictures
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and texts that been used in order to make the short story as a whole. For some students, they
might focus more on the pictures and images instead of focusing on the content of the comic.
Besides that, the teachers will use the comic to improve higher-order thinking skills
(HOTS) among students in a literature class. The teachers will teach students about few
elements of the short story such as characters, plot, settings and many more. These elements
will be taught by using the comic. It means that the comic will be used by the teachers in order
to replace the usage of the traditional text in teaching and learning process in literature. The
usage of the comic will be emphasized on particular strips so that the students will get an idea
about the important lessons that be gained through their reading on the comic.
After that, the teachers will conduct a test in form of summative assessment to access
the students. The test will require students to answer the question that related to HOTS. The
test will be about the important lesson of the short story “The Rubbish Dump”. The test will be
conducted by the teachers in order to know whether the usage of comic can be used as a way
to improve their higher-order thinking skills. The students will be asked to state three points
with the relevant explanations that can be gained from that short story. They will be given 30
The teachers will record the students’ grades after the test in order to evaluate their
performance regarding the usage of the comic in the literature class. The students will be
observed to know whether the comic can improve their higher-order thinking skills. The
students’ answers and grades will be analysed by the teachers in order to check their
understanding level. The teachers will refer to the scoring rubrics to monitor their higher-order
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3.2.5 Reflection
According to Davidson et al, the fifth stage in this model provides an opportunity to
reflect explicitly on the activities and outcomes of the project. It should enable the action
cycle. Thus, in this stage the teacher will use summative assessment as the final test to discover
each of the student’s comprehension skills by using a comic in teaching literature. A journal
writing will be conducted with the students by the teacher-in-charge. The journal writing will
take place to test if the students are able to improve their comprehension skills in learning
Rubbish Dump by using comic instead of the original text. Students will write a journal writing
for 15-20 minutes depending on the way the teacher-in-charge handles the session.
To ensure that the approaches can improve the student’s comprehension skills
accurately, the teacher will also provide the students with a rating scale. Rating scale can help
the teacher to make comparison between each student’s prior performance and their current
performance. With this method, the teacher in-charge will be able to identify the flaw and the
For this research, the researchers will reflect if the comic strips can help students to
improve their higher order thinking skills. However, there will be a few limitations that teachers
might face when using comic in handling a literature class. One of the limitations is it might
be time consuming. This is because the teachers might take a lot of time to draw the comic
strips. For example, the teachers might have to spend 35 minutes just to draw one frame of the
comic strip. Some of the teachers also might have to spend more time if they are not familiar
Besides that, the teachers might have difficulty to draw the comic well because of the
limited platforms offered to them. Even though there are few platforms that can be used freely,
they might contain only small database of characters and templates to choose. If this kind of
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problem occurs, the teachers might have to draw the comic manually and of course, it will take
more time to cover the whole part of short story “The Rubbish Dump”. The outcome of the
comic strip also might not be satisfying enough to be used in the teaching and learning process
in a literature class.
Lastly, the art of reading might be disappeared if the comic strip is being used to teach
the literature. Through the implementation of comic, teachers might find it difficult for students
to appreciate the art of literature. This is because the students might have to analyze the comic
strips in depth in order for them to get information about moral values, symbolism, plot and so
on. Compared to the traditional text, it might contain more information about all of those
elements in details.
result or a piece of information that can be trusted or believed. To ensure that the comic is
suitable and relevant to be used in teaching literature, a validity test will be conducted by the
senior teachers. Researchers will invite senior teachers to give feedbacks and their opinion
about the use of comic in literature class. On the other hand, the senior teachers will validate
whether the comic truly can measure what is intended to be measured which is to improve the
comprehension and higher order thinking skills among students in learning literature. Even
though, the researchers want to have a fun and interactive class, the syllabus and content of the
The validity of the comic can be check by using criterion validity (or criterion-related
validity) that can measures how well one measure predicts an outcome for another measure. A
test has this type of validity if it is useful for predicting performance or behavior in another
situation (past, present, or future). Through this type of validity, the senior teacher can validate
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whether the comic is suitable to be use in the literature class when the senior teachers observe
the students when they use the comic as the literary text instead of the original text. If their
observation can show the students future performance, the test is said to have criterion validity.
For the collection of the quantitative data, there was a pre-test conducted to determine
the proficiency level of the students. The students were given the comic to read and
comprehend the sequence of events in the short story “The Rubbish Dump”. There were both
formative and summative test conducted where questions regarding the storyline and plot of
the story were asked. This is to ensure that the students know the overall storyline and the
sequencing of the events of the story. However, there were no use of rubrics for the test as the
main idea of it is to find out if the students are able to understand as well as state the sequence
Besides that, we also collected qualitative data for this research. For this, the teachers
are required to write a self-reflection, do journal writing as well as write peer review. Teachers
are required to write a reflection based on their own observation of the lesson. Also, they a
required to do a writing journal which is will be reviewed. As for the peer review, a senior
teacher would observe the lesson and give out her opinions about it.
Quantitative data collected through the use of rubric will be used for analysis purposes.
Students who undergone the pre-test and summative test will have their score and will be
Qualitative data are collected through the use of journal writing and rating scale from
the students. The data will be analysed to determine the effectiveness of using comic in
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4.0 RESEARCH TIMELINE
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8. Task 2: Lesson Plan 1 /
Teaching plot using original text
9. Task 3: Lesson Plan 2 /
Teaching plot using printed comic
10. Task 4: Lesson Plan 3 /
Teaching themes using printed
comic
11. Task 5: Lesson Plan 4 /
Teaching characters using printed
comic
12. Task 6: Lesson Plan 5 /
Teaching settings using printed
comic
13. Task 7: Lesson Plan 6 /
Teaching lesson using printed comic
13. Post-test is administered /
14. Submission of journal writing and /
rating scale from the students
15. Discussion and conclusion /
16. Submission of final report /
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5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kaur, P., & Mahmor, N. (2013). Examining the Role of the English Literature Component in the
Malaysian English Curriculum. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263281975_Examining_the_Role_of_the_English_Literature
_Component_in_the_Malaysian_English_Curriculum
Ghazali, S., Setia, R., Muthusamy, C., & Jusoff, K. (2019). SL Students’ Attitude towards Texts and
Teaching Methods Used in Literature Classes. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42386399_ESL_Students'_Attitude_towards_Texts_and_Te
aching_Methods_Used_in_Literature_Classes
Bassett, J., Kamwathi, P., Ntensibe, J., Asare, M., & Hedge, T. (2014). Changing their skies.
Butterworth: Zirwan Sdn. Bhd.
Yee, B. (2019). TSL3133 Topic 5 Action Research Concepts and Models. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/YeeBeeChoo/tsl3133-topic-5-action-research-concepts-and-models
Marianthi, V., Boloudakis, M., & Retalis, S. FROM DIGITISED COMIC BOOKS TO DIGITAL
HYPERMEDIA COMIC BOOKS: THEIR USE IN EDUCATION. Retrieved from
https://www.comicstripcreator.org/files/papers/DigitalHypermediaComics.pdf
Karap, Z. (2017). The possible benefits of using comic books in foreign language education: A
classroom study. Képzés És Gyakorlat, 15(1-2), 243-260. doi: 10.17165/tp.2017.1-2.14
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6.0 APPENDICES
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6.2 Appendices 2 (Pre-test and Post-test)
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7. Why Joey’s mother forbidden him from going to the rubbish dump?(1m)
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10. What does Joey and Mazembezi talk about when they meet?(1m)
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Model answer
Question Answer
1. What Joey thinks when he looks at the big He loves watching passengers in their
aeroplane? expensive clothes, bags and cameras getting
off the plane.(1m)
2. Where does Joey and his family live? Next to an international airport. (1m)
3. Why does it quite hard to live next to the Unbearable noise from the airplanes. (1m)
international airport?
4. Why does Joey refuse to receive help Mazembezi is dirty. (1m)
from Mazembezi when he falls on the
piles of rubbish?
5. What are the relationship between Joey Friend. (1m)
and Mazambezi?
6. Why do Joey and Mazambezi meet at the Because Mazambezi is a rubbish collector and
rubbish dump? he works at the rubbish dump. (1m)
7. Why Joey’s mother forbidden him from His mother afraid that he will get ill. (1m)
going to the rubbish dump?
8. What does Mazambezi gives to Joey as a A broken plane. (1m)
toy?
9. Where Joey hides the toy? In the bag where he kept the foreign money,
empty cigarette packets and all the things he
found in the airport.
10. What does Joey and Mazembezi talk The things in the dump and where they come
about when they meet? from.
Note: teacher can accept any other valid and appropriate answers.
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6.3 Appendices 3 (Lesson Plans)
LESSON PLAN 1
Teaching Plot using original text
Class : Form 4
Number of students : 16
General Objective : Students should be able to identify the plot and its elements in the short story
‘Rubbish Dump’.
Specific objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Show students a picture of small Laptop, LCD Projector &
(5 minutes) children in Africa picking up trash PowerPoint slides
using the LCD Projector.
2. Ask students to answer question based
on the picture short shown to them.
Lesson Delivery 1. Ask the students to form a group of Manila card, Marker pens,
- Stage 2 four. Printed pictures, & Sticky
(27 minutes) 2. Distribute the jumbled printed tapes
extract of important events to
each group.
3. Then, distribute the manila cards
that are marked with ‘Expository’,
‘Rising Action’, ‘Climax’ and
‘Falling Action & Resolution’ to
each group.
4. Instruct the students to rearrange
the printed extract of important
events following the sequence of
the plot on the manila card.
5. Ask one representative from each
group to present what they have
done.
6. Tell them to paste the manila cards
on the wall.
Lesson Delivery 1. Tell students to remain seated in LCD Projector, & Laptop
- Stage 3 their groups.
(10 minutes) 2. Show students the question on the slide:
“If you were Mazambezi what would you
have done to improve the status of your
life?”
3. Explain to students about the activity.
4. Students carry out the activity.
5. Students present the final outcome of their
activity orally in front of the class.
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LESSON PLAN 2
Teaching Plot using printed comic
Class : Form 4
Number of students : 16
General Objective : Students should be able to identify the plot and its elements in the short story
‘Rubbish Dump’.
Specific objectives : By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
i. Rearrange the correct sequence of the plot elements in the short story.
ii. Present their point of views regarding the statement which is based
on the short story.
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Show students a picture of small Laptop, LCD Projector &
(5 minutes) children in Africa picking up trash PowerPoint slides
using the LCD Projector.
2. Ask students to answer question based
on the picture short shown to them.
Lesson Delivery 1. Ask the students to form a group of Manila card, Marker pens,
- Stage 2 four. Printed pictures, & Sticky
(27 minutes) 2. Distribute jumbled pictures tapes
(signifying important events in the
story) and comic strips (captions
for each picture) to each group.
3. Then, distribute the manila cards
that are marked with ‘Expository’,
‘Rising Action’, ‘Climax’ and
‘Falling Action & Resolution’ to
each group.
4. Instruct the students to rearrange
and paste the given pictures to its
correct comic strip following the
sequence of the plot on the manila
card.
5. Ask one representative from each
group to present what they have
done.
6. Tell them to paste the manila cards
on the wall.
Lesson Delivery 1. Tell students to remain seated in LCD Projector, & Laptop
- Stage 3 their groups.
(10 minutes) 2. Show students the question on the slide:
“If you were Mazambezi what would you
have done to improve the status of your
life?”
3. Explain to students about the activity.
4. Students carry out the activity.
5. Students present the final outcome of their
activity orally in front of the class.
Closure 1. Ask students to repeat at least two important
(3 minutes) events in the short story.
2. Recap the lesson.
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LESSON PLAN 3
Teaching themes using
printed comic
Class : Form 4
Enrolment : 16 students
Level : Intermediate
Specific Objectives : By the end of the lesson, students should be able to: -
i. Identify at least two themes of the short story The Rubbish Dump.
ii. Relate the themes of the short story with the given comic
strip which denotes the important events in the short story.
iii. Complete the worksheet given by match all the themes with
the given excerpts of the story accurately.
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Divide students into groups of four. Comic Strips
(5 minutes) 2. Distribute the comic strips to each
group.
3. Ask students to discuss “What are
the possible themes they can relate
to the shown comic strips?”
4. Ask one representative from the
group to answer the discussed
answer orally in front of the class.
Lesson Delivery 1. Divide students into groups of Manila card, Marker paper
- Stage 2 four.
(27 minutes) 2. Provide students with the manila card.
3. Explain to students about the
activity.
4. Students carry out the activity.
5. Students present the final outcome of
their activity.
Lesson Delivery 1. Distribute the worksheet. Worksheet
- Stage 3 2. Give instructions.
(10 minutes) 3. Students do the activity with
teacher’s guidance.
4. Discuss students’ answers in class.
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LESSON PLAN 4
Class : Form 4
Enrolment : 16 students
Level : Intermediate
Specific Objectives : By the end of the lesson, students should be able to: -
i. Identify the two main characters of the short story The Rubbish
Dump based on the given comic strips.
ii. State at least three characteristics of the main characters
based on the given comic strips.
iii. State their favourite character and state at least two reasons
for it.
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Distribute the comic strips to the Comic Strips
(5 minutes) students.
2. Ask students who are the main
characters in the story based on the
given comic strips.
3. Ask a few students to answer the
question orally in front of the class.
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LESSON PLAN
Teaching Setting using printed comic
Class : Form 4
Enrolment : 16 students
Level : Intermediate
Specific Objectives : By the end of the lesson, students should be able to: -
i. Identify the settings of the short story The Rubbish Dump based on
the given comic strips.
ii. Match the events and the settings given in the comic strips.
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Show students pictures of a few PowerPoint Presentation
(5 minutes) places and ask them if they look
familiar.
2. Ask students if they can relate the
pictures with the settings of the short
story.
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LESSON PLAN 6
Teaching Lesson using
printed comic
Class : Form 4
Enrolment : 16 students
Level : Intermediate
Specific Objectives : By the end of the lesson, students should be able to: -
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Stages (60 minutes) Activity Notes
Set induction 1. Place a wastepaper basket at the Wastepaper basket, Trash
(5 minutes) front of the classroom. (Used piece of paper).
2. Ask students to take out a piece
of trash (used piece of paper).
3. Ask students to aim and throw the
piece of trash into the wastepaper
basket.
Lesson Delivery 1. Explain to students that the
Marker pens, Whiteboard,
- Stage 1 wastepaper basket represents
Manila Card, Plasticine
(15 minutes) goals or opportunities in life.
2. Next, tell them that the way they
aim and shoot the piece of trash
into the wastepaper basket is the
effort they take to achieve their
goals in life.
3. Explain to the students that the
ones who sat in the front row
and the ones who sat at the back
have different privileges in life,
but their effort would determine
their future.
4. Introduce the main topic to the students
by showing the excerpts from the short
story and relating it to the set induction.
5. State the objectives of the lesson.
Lesson Delivery 1. Divide students into groups of Manila card, Marker paper
- Stage 2 four.
(27 minutes) 2. Provide students with the manila card.
3. Explain to students about the
activity.
4. Students carry out the activity.
5. Students present the final outcome of
their activity.
Lesson Delivery 1. Distribute the comic strips. Comic Strips
- Stage 3 2. Give instructions.
(10 minutes) 3. Students do the activity with
teacher’s guidance.
4. Discuss students’ answers in class.
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Closure 1. Ask students what the important lessons
(3 minutes) in the short story are, The Rubbish
Dump.
2. Recap the lesson.
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6.4 Appendices 4 (Summative Test)
(30 marks)
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6.5 Appendices 5 (Scoring Rubrics)
The scoring rubric we have used is the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubrics.
In this case, students are Students are accurately Students are able to
perfectly evaluates the evaluates the important Students still able to evaluate the important Students cannot
lessons of the short story lessons short story evaluate the important lesson of the short story make an
“Rubbish Dump” either “Rubbish Dump” either lesson of the short “Rubbish Dump” either evaluation of the
it is satisfying or not by it is satisfying or not by story “Rubbish it is satisfying or not important lessons
providing two well- providing two well- Dump” either it is but unable to provide a short story
developed and precise developed reasons to satisfying or not by clear reason to support “Rubbish Dump” is
reasons to support the support the answer. providing two brief the answer. satisfying or not.
answer. and simple reasons to Give irrelevant
support the answer. descriptions or
reasons.
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6.6 Appendices 6 (Storyboard)
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