The Implementation of Picture Books in Teaching Reading on High School Student at SMAN I Pandaan

By Arlita Dwi Amilawati 

Picture books (stories in which the both the text and illustrations contribute to meaning) have long been thought of as appropriate only at primary grade levels because of their short length, simple plots, and minimal number of characters. When used in secondary grades, their principal function has been as remediation for struggling readers or English language learners (ELLs). However, anecdotal evidence and an exhaustive literature review strongly suggest that the supplemental use of picture books increases engagement and learning among high school students at all instructional levels. The purpose of this study was to analyze the process of teaching reading by using picture books on the high school students’ engagement with these texts.

When we talk about our thinking, we make it visible to our students and this helps them understand the role the reader plays in the reading process. We look at a few ideas for using books to support the development of strategic readers. Other educators have noticed the role picture books play in creating a safe learning environment for their students. This lies in part because picture books offer a medium in which all students, regardless of background knowledge or level, can succeed.

Students who are reading below grade level don’t have to exhaust themselves trying to comprehend a picture book text, which enables them to relax, a stance that certainly facilitates learning (Beckman & Diamond, 1984). The use of picture books can gain the trust of readers, begin the process of building their confidence and offer successful reading experiences (Kane, 2007).

Based on the KTSP, the eleventh grade students should master some of short functional text and monolog and also essay namely narrative, report, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition and spoof. In this research, the researcher is interested in teaching reading narrative texts as it is taught at the tenth grade until twelfth grade.

Reading is an essential skill for students of English as a foreign language (Nunan, 2003, p. 69). For most of these students it is the most important skills to master in order to ensure success not only in learning English, but also in learning in any content class where reading English is required. By strengthening reading skills, students will make great progress and development in all other areas of learning. Reading is useful for language acquisition. Provided that students more or less understand what they read, the more they read, the better they get at it. Reading also has a positive effect on student’s vocabulary knowledge, on their spelling and on their writing (Harmer, 2007, p. 99).The more things that students read, the better they become at reading. The more enjoyable the things they read are, the more they will stick them and develop the reading skills that they need for full access to information in their adult lives. Reading should be viewed as a pleasurable activity as a source of entertaining tales and useful and interesting factual information.

Accordingly, Nuttal (1982, p. 3), as cited in Fuadi (2005, p. 13), since English is a foreign language; it is understandable that most students face difficulties in understanding a piece of reading text. These difficulties sometimes make students frustrated. They lose their motivation to learn English. Finally, they learn English simply because it is a compulsory subject to be learned. Moreover, as a foreign language English is considered difficult to learn by many students, especially in reading. The reason is that English is not the mother tongue of students (Apriani, 2009, p. 1).

Harmer (2008, p. 108) states that the aims of all committed teachers are to facilitate learning. It really needs creative efforts from the English teachers to conduct the process of teaching-learning. To be more interesting, then the teachers have to create many ways to explain the subject so that it can be understood well by the students.

One of the most difficult tasks of English teacher in the context of teaching English as a foreign language is to foster attitude toward reading. It is caused by the limited time, limited media, limited sources and other constraints they face during the teaching and learning process. Teachers are often unable to encourage students to find entertaining and interesting information in reading materials. 

It is very important to select reading materials and media. Teachers must consider students’ competence as well as curriculum (Fuadi, 2005, p. 14), because curriculum is the standard competence in teaching learning at school. If teachers have found the right reading materials for students, teachers also have to select good media. It is because the good media will support the success of teaching learning process.  We realize that instructional media encompasses all the materials and physical means an instruction might use to implement instruction and facilitate students’ achievement of instructional objectives. In general, there are three kinds of instructional media. They are audio, visual, and audio visual media (Setyowati, 2009). Accordingly, Kasbolah (1993, p. 57), as cited in Setyowati (2009), audio media are media that can be listened to, while visual media are media that can be seen. The instructional media that involve the sense of sight and hearing are named as audio visual media. Finocchiaro (1973, pp. 155-185), as cited in Setyowati (2009) ,mentions examples of the media each kinds. The visual media may include blackboard, textbook, real object, picture file, chart, pocket chart, flash card, word card, number card, flannel or felt board, magnetic board, opaque projector, overhead projector and transparency, codachrome slide, filmstrip, and miscellaneous materials. So, teachers should select the good and right media in teaching reading from the three kinds of media, one of them is pictures.

Method

The design of the research is Descriptive Qualitative method, as Bodgan and Taylor (1998, p. 25) defined the qualitative approach as a research procedure which produces a descriptive data such as verbal or nonverbal utterances or words from the object being observed. It presents the information concerning the current status of phenomenon and it is directed toward determine of a situation as it exist at the time of the study (Stake, 2010, p. 5).

A.    Research Subject and Setting

The research subject is the English teacher of Sosial Science Program and 36 students  in the Eleventh Grade of  SMAN 1 Pandaan. The setting of the research is in SMAN 1 Pandaan.

B.    Source of Data

The data source of this research is taken from the classroom interaction in reading  class of the Eleventh Grade of  SMAN 1 Pandaan. Three out meetings will be chosen randomly used since the focused of this research is not on the topic but the picture book in reading class.

C.    Data Collection Technique

As the research is a qualitative research, the main research instrument is the researcher herself. The researcher’s roles are as the data collector and data analyst. Ary (2002) stated that there are three most common data collection methods in qualitative research; they are first, observation, is the most basic method for obtaining data in qualitative research. The researcher takes the role as non-participant observation because she observes  the teaching and learning process without participating or taking any active part in the situation.

In conducting the research, the researcher applies supporting instruments to collect the data. The supporting instruments are in the form of observation sheet, interview and questionnaire.

The observation sheet format is used to collect data concerning the process of learning and teaching in the classroom for every visit. The format consists of the day/date the observation is conducted, time/period, the number of the students, the topic/sub topic being taught, the kind of instructional materials and media applied, and the assessment applied during reading  class (see Appendix 1).

The interviews are used for a number of purposes. For a qualitative research, perhaps the main purposes are: (1) Obtaining unique information or interpretation held by the person interviewed, (2) Collecting a numerical aggregation of information from many persons, (3) Finding out about “a thing” that the researchers are unable to observe themselves (Stake, 2010). The researcher interviews the teacher and some students in order to find the related information dealing with teaching and learning process using picture book (see Appendix 2)

In this research, the questionnaire consists of ten questions related to the use of picture book in teaching reading. This questionnaire is aimed at obtaining the data about the students’ attitude on the implementation of the active learning. This questionnaire  will be administered to the students after the implementation activities (see Appendix 3)

D.    Data Analysis

Data analysis is a process whereby researchers systematically search and arrange their data in order to increase their understanding of the data and to enable them to present what they learned to others (Ary, 2002, p. 480). Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 4) view that qualitative data analysis consists of data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusion.

Data reduction is the stage of processing the “raw” data in order to be ready to be analyzed. The process, as suggested by Miles and Huberman, might be in the form of selecting, simplifying, focusing, summarizing, coding, sorting, or even making cluster of the themes. In the context of this research, data reduction refers to the process of selecting classroom interaction that using task-based active learning, focusing the activities/steps in using task-based active learning and sorting the irrelevant data.

Data display is the process of demonstrating the data either in the form of narrative text, matrices, graphs, networks or charts. The displayed data are expected to ease the researcher to completely understand what happens in the field and come to the conclusion. In the context of this research, the data were displayed in the form of conversational excerpts, classroom interaction and result of interview.

The above steps, starting from reducing data to displaying data, are applied each time the researcher obtained data from one topic session. Based on these activities, the researcher makes a tentative conclusion of the analysis which provides the researcher with information needed to come to a more focused attention in the subsequent data collection. This conclusion is written based on the analysis of the observation sheet, result of the interview, and documentation in the relation to the research problems. The research is stopped after the data obtained answer all of the research problems.

Results

The next issue of using of picture books is connected to its usefulness in teaching reading. It highlighs that picture books in teaching reading could provide language input such as vocabulary and functional expressions. It was found that 30 out of 34 student or 88% of the students agreed the use picture books  in teaching reading could provide significant language input that might help students improve their reading skills particularly. The last issue of this questionnaire is related to the benefits of the picture books in teaching reading to the students’ reading skills improvement. It revealed that 28 out of 34 students or 81% of the students positively responded after the implementation activities yet only 15% of the students showed their uncertainty of its benefits

Discussion

1. Discussion of How the Teacher Implement Picture Books in the Teaching Reading at      Eleven Grade Students of SMA Negeri I Pandaan.

Based on the finding of this research, it is proved that “the use of “Picture book” media in teaching reading at SMAN I Pandaan is one of appropriate to teach narrative texts and gives beneficial contribution in improving students’ ability in reading .  This media  was implemented on the view of reading  as process in comprehending  text is based on far more than simple reception of the words themselves, and the process of reading would be better defined as constructing meaning from written text. Brown (2007, p. 366) states for the most second language learners who are already literate in a previous language, reading comprehension is primarily a matter of developing appropriate, efficient comprehension strategies Therefore, the teacher has to follow a particular procedure in implementing this strategy. One of the strategies in teaching reading is to use picture book media.   The use of reading strategies when reading picture books, giving particular attention to decoding and visualization. Based on the inherent interaction between the verbal and the visual expressions, the picture book illustrations can bring out key information and provide poor decoders with a more comprehensive version of the text.    Picture books are those books in which the illustrations are as important as the text in the creation of meaning. In many picture books, illustrations verify the text, reflecting the same story that the words are telling. Contemporary artists, however, almost always extend the text in some way by adding visual information or meaning not presented in language. Picture books not only span a number of genre; they also span a wide range of ages.

Many components support teaching learning process. Those components often used by the teacher to present innovative teaching. In teaching learning process, the teacher must prepare all of their material and equipment. Things that must be drawn up before teaching are (1) preparing the lesson plan (2) preparing the material (3) preparing the instructional media and (4) The Assessment form. The teacher applied oral assessment by using analytical scoring rubrics for telling the story. Reading is a process of negoitating meaning. The reader brings to text a set of schemata for understanding it by imagining the picture for understanding it and intake is the product of the interaction.   The teacher here integrated reading skill with speaking for the students to have a lot motivation to understand the text.

a.       Discussion of What Kinds of Problems Arises during the Implementation at Eleven Grade Student of SMA Negeri I Pandaan.

Based on the finding of this research by interviewing the teacher it is proved that  “the use of “Picture book” media in teaching reading at SMAN I  Pandaan  has some problems which arise during the implementation. The data from interviewing shows that the barriers found that it takes too much time to prepare the learning stuff  before the time begins. For instance, the teacher has to find story or picture books that match with the topic. Then, the next problem is the inadequate time. She has to manage the time in such a way to explain the material and make all students finish the task.

b.            Discussion of What Students’ Responses Are Toward the Implementation at Eleven Grade Students of SMA Negeri I Pandaan Year 2013-2014

Based on the finding of this research by giving questionnaires to the students at eleven grade students of SMA  Negeri i Pandaan Year 2013-2014, it was proved that  “the use   of  “Picture book” media in teaching reading at SMAN I  Pandaan  has positive responses.  Almost all of the students felt very enthusiastics to read the text, strongly motivated to read it, and   felt confident in answering the questions in reading. This was due to the readers having to devote all their attention to the words rather than their meaning. Additionally, if the readers struggle with decoding, the picture becomes more significant than the individual word. This way, interpreting illustrations becomes an important skill for conveying and developing meaning in picture books (Lewis 2001 and Nikolajeva & Scott 2001).

The case study revealed that weak readers‟ prior knowledge helped and motivated the readers if they were familiar with the stories in their mother tongue prior to reading the stories in a second language. This is consistent with the findings of Oakhill & Garnham (1988) and Nikolajeva & Scott (2006). Also, the readers‟ comprehension will inevitably suffer as the reader struggles to decode (LaBerge & Samuels 1974). This is due to the readers having to devote all their attention to the words rather than their meaning. Additionally, if the readers struggle with decoding, the picture becomes more significant than the individual word. This way, interpreting illustrations becomes an important skill for conveying and developing meaning in picture books (Lewis 2001 and Nikolajeva & Scott 2001).

Consequently, we may draw the conclusion that visualization helps make the content of the text clear in addition to help the reader organize the text, i.e. increases reading comprehension. This corresponds with the discovery of Roe (2011).

At first glance picture books appear to be a simple form of children’s literature, but a closer look reveals their complexity and the infinite possibilities for picture book authors and illustrators to exploit two levels of communication in order to create a story, convey meaning and provide pleasure to all age groups. Further, there is a fundamental relationship between the verbal and the visual, and “the unity of the whole emerges from a subtle interplay of the differing parts” (Nodelman 1988, p. 217).

Conclusions and suggestions

After the researcher held the research, she inferred the implementation of   picture books in teaching reading on high school student at SMAN I  Pandaan.

With the research findings and discussion, the researcher offers some suggestions. The suggestions are addressed to the teachers and future researchers.

The teachers who have the same problems with the teacher at SMAN Pandaan are suggested to employ   the Picture media to make the students feel enthusiastic and active in the process of reading. Yet, the teachers should focus on the followings aspects: (1) the lesson plans should be arranged in such away, (2) the pictures should be selected based on the students’ level and need,

Future researchers, particularly those who are interested in applying “Picture” as media in their research are suggested that they conduct action research in the teaching of reading  of narrative  texts in  different level of education, for example, Elementary School. Moreover, it is also suggested that future researchers conduct action research in the teaching of reading using different genres for instances, spoofs and recount texts.

References

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Ary, D., Jacobs. L. C., Razavieh. A., & Sorensen, C. (2010).  Introduction 

Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principle: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education.

Harmer, J. (2007). How to teach English. Essex: Pearson Longman.

Harmer, J. (2008). The practice of English language teaching. Essex: Pearson Longman.

Miles, M. & M. H. (1994).  Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Beverly Hills: SAGE Publication Inc.

Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English language teaching. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education.

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