THE APPLICATION OF COMIC STRIPS TO IMPROVE THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS WRITING ABILITY OF SMAN 9 PEKANBARU

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this research was to find out if the application of comic strips
could improve students’ writing ability of the first year students of SMA Negeri 9
Pekanbaru.The participants were 35 students. The data was collected by using
observation sheets, writing tests, and field notes. The test was used to collect the
quantitative data and the observation sheets were used to collect the qualitative data.
After accomplishing this research, the writer concludes that the application of comic
strips in writing recount text can improve the students’ writing ability. The result of pretest
shows the average score of students writing ability was 37.94%. It improved to
46.86% on the post-test in cycle 1, 54.73% on the post-test in cycle 2, and 62.83% on
the post-test in cycle 3. It was also proved that that the application of comic strips could
improve the students’ behavior in learning especially in writing ability. They are more
active and have a great motivation during the process of teaching and learning since
they are free to explore their idea and share to their friends. In addition, application
comic strips could also improve students’ ability to write English in terms of grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension.

Keywords: Application Comic Strips, Writing Ability, Recount Text