Teaching is a process of communication.

It has to be created through the way

of teaching and exchanging the message or information by every teacher and student.
The message can be knowledge, skills, ideas, experiences, and many others. Through
the process of communication, the people can receive the message or information. To
avoid misunderstanding in the process of communication, media are needed in the
process of teaching.
Media play an important role in a teaching and learning process. Media are
needed to reach the objectives of teaching-learning process. As a teacher, we should
use various media or teaching aids in giving the material to the students as stated by
Harmer (2001: 134) that “as a language teacher, we use a variety of
teaching aids to explain language meaning and construction, engage students
in a topic or as the basis of a whole activity.”
According to Gerlach and Elly (1980: 241), a medium is any person, material,
or event that establishes conditions which enable learners or students to acquire
knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In addition, Brown (1977: 2-3), defines media as the
tools or the physical things used by a teacher to facilitate the instruction.

From the definitions above, the researcher makes a conclusion that media are
the tools, materials, or events that establish conditions used by a teacher to facilitate
the instruction to acquire knowledge, skill and attitudes, and engage the learners in a
topic or as the basis of a whole activity.
The teachers’ creativity in using media will increase the probability that
students will learn more and the knowledge will retain better in their mind.
There
are many media that can be used in a teaching-learning process. Gerlach and
Elly
(1980: 297) classify media in six general categories:
1. Picture
Picture consists of photographs of any object or event, which may be
larger or smaller than the object or event it represents.
2. Audio Recording
Recording is made on magnetic tape, discs, motion picture, and
soundtrack. These are reproductions of actual event or sound track.
3. Motion Picture
A motion picture is a moving image in color or black and white
produced from live action or from graphic representation.
4. Television
This category includes all types of Audio Video electronic distribution
systems; which eventually appear on television monitor.
5. Real things, simulation and model
This category includes people, events, objects and imitation of real
things. Imitation of real things can be used as a substitution for the
actual objects or event. They are, in fact, life itself, often in its natural
settings. Simulation is the replication of real situation, which has been
designed to be as near the actual event or process as possible. Many
media, including the computers, tape recordings, and motion pictures
can be used for simulation. A model is replication or representation of
reality. It is often in scale and may be miniature, exact size or an
 enlargement.
6. Program and computer-assisted instruction.
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Programs are sequences of information (verbal, visual, or audio)
which are designed to elicit predetermined responses. The most
common examples are programmed textbooks or instructional
programs prepared for computers.
From the categories above, not all of them can be applied in the classroom.
According to Gerlach and Elly (1980: 254), to select the appropriate media,
the
teacher must consider the characteristics of the students which directly relate
to
the learning process, such as verbal abilities, visual and audio perception
skills,
experience, intelligence, motivation, personality and social skills.
Furthermore, according to Brown et all (1977), there are six principles of
media selection:
1. Content
Do the media (i.e. comic book) have significant relation with the
lesson? The choice of certain media must be conformed to the lesson
(message) that will be given to the students.
2. Purposes
The use of the visual aids should contribute to the teaching and
learning process significantly. It means that the media can facilitate
the teaching-learning process.
3. Price
Before buying certain visual aids, a teacher should consider whether
the cost or money spent is accordance with the educational result
derived from its use.
4. Circumstance of use
In choosing a visual aid, a teacher should take into account the
environment (school) where he/she teaches. He/she should think
whether the aid would function effectively in that environment.
5. Learner’s verification
A teacher should think whether the aid has been tested to certain
students. He/she should consider if the tested are similar to the
students whom he/she teaches.
6. Validation
A teacher must think whether there are data providing that the students
learnt accurately through the use of aid.
(Brown et all, 1977:76)
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From the explanation above, it should be better if the teacher follows all
the principles, so that the teaching and learning process can run normally and
the
goal of the teaching-learning process can be reached.
Strengths of Storytelling in Education
Strengths of Storytelling in education according to (www.genayang.com/
comicsedu/strengths.html), can be described as follows:
1. Motivating
The most frequently mentioned asset of comics, as an educational tool, is its
ability to motivate students. Through comic as a medium the teacher can give
motivation to the students to learn English in more enjoyable and interesting
ways.
Students, especially young learners, like to read comics. If they are
given options to study or read comics, they will choose to read comics. So,
with the use of comics as a medium in teaching English, the students do not
realize that they are learning English. They will be more motivated to learn
English.
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Comics motivate the students by its pictures. The use of colors, the
name of animals, and the identification of the main parts of human body can
be studied and understood fast with the use of cartoon comics. Sones
(www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html) theorizes that pictures tell

any story more effectively than words.

“The potency of picture story is not a matter of modern theory but

of anciently established truth. Before man thought in words, he
felt in pictures…it is too bad for us “literary” enthusiast, but it’s
the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than
words”.
(www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html)

2. Visual
Comics, being composed of pictorial and other images, are a
fundamentally visual medium. The interest of students in comics’ picture
emphasizes the potential of visual medium. In a study comparing comics to
text, Sones (www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html) found that
comics’ visual quality increases learning. Sones divided four hundred sixth
into two groups, balanced in terms of both school grade and intelligence. To
the first group he presented comics, to the second only text. Afterwards, each
group was given a test on the content of the story. The result was the first
group scored significantly higher than the second group. At the end Sones
concluded that a strong trend in favor of the picture continuity was indicated
by two sets of results.
“Sones’ conclusion foreshadows the trend towards teaching to
multiple intelligences among educators today. He writes, “An
assumption implied in most school instruction is that all children
will read the printed material with equal effectiveness…The
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absurdity of this practice is patent” Visual learners benefit from
visual media”.
(www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html)
3. Intermediary
Comics can serve as an intermediate step to difficult disciplines and
concepts. Many language arts educators have used comics in this manner with
tremendous success. Karl Koenke (www.genayang.com/comicsedu/
strengths.html) suggests that comics can lead students toward the discipline of
learning. Hutchinson’s experiment (www.genayang.com/comicsedu/
strengths.html) found out that many teachers discovered comic strips to be
particularly useful in special classes or for slow learning pupils in regular
classes.
Versaci (www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html) found out that
discussions on comics are generally livelier than those on classic novels.
Through comics, Versaci encourages his students to think critically about the
literary worth of books and the formation of the literary canon.
“Using comics, Versaci challenges college literature students to
consider, evaluate, and question the very concept of a “literary
canon.” Because comics are rarely considered literature, Versaci
than leads his class in a discussion on literary worth. He has found
out those discussions on comics are generally livelier than those
on classic novels”.
(www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html)
4. Popular
Comic is a popular reading for children. If we ask the students, whether
they have read comic or not, most of them would say, “yes.” It is very popular
because comic has interesting story and full of colors. That is why the children
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like it. By comics, students can learn about culture. Teachers can introduce
popular culture into their classroom easily and effectively through comics. By
incorporating popular culture into curriculum teachers can bridge the
separation many students feel, between their lives in and out of school.
According to Versaci (www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html),
through comic books, teacher can lead their students in a study of
“contemporary lifestyles, myths, and values”
“Versaci (2001) asks English teachers to consider Judd Winick’s
comic book Pedro and Me: friendship, Loss, And What I learned.
Pedro and Me is a touching account of the author’s friendship
with Pedro Zamora/ a young AIDS activist who eventually
succumbed to disease. Through comic book such as these,
teachers can lead their students in a study of “contemporary
lifestyles, myths, and values”.
(www.genayang.com/comicsedu/strengths.html)
2. 4 The use of comic in teaching
Comic has been spread out widely as the medium to entertain. The colored
illustration, simple theme and plot, and the characterization will attract the person
who read it. Amazingly, nearly everyone says yes if they are asked whether they
have ever read comic. The wide spread of comic has interested the writer in using
comic as a medium for teaching.
A teacher may use the potential of comic in motivating the students. The
main role of comic book in teaching is its strength in motivating the students’
interest. It is better to combine the use of comic with a particular method of
teaching. So, the use of comic as a medium of teaching will be more effective. A
teacher should help the students to find a good and enjoyable comic which is
17
appropriate to the way the students think and the students’ age. Also, a teacher
should help them get broader information and knowledge from the comic.

2. Types and Procedures in Using Role Play

In view of the persons taking an actor, Gillian explained that there are
several types of role. The first is the roles which correspond to a real need in
the students. lives. In this category, it involves such roles as doctors dealing
with patients, or salesman traveling abroad. The second type of role is the
students play themselves in a variety of situations which may or may not have
direct experience. The example which include in this category is a customer
complaining or a passenger asking for information. The third type is the type
that few students will ever experience directly themselves, but it is easy to
play because the teachers have such vast indirect experience of them. The
television journalist is a good example of this type and it is very useful kind of
role taken from real life. The last type is fantasy roles, which are fictitious,
imaginary, and possible even absurd. 17
In case of role play activities, according to Donn Byrne, role play can
be grouped into two forms, scripted and unscripted role play. In details, those
types of role play activities described as follows:
17 Gillian, Op. Cit, p. 13
17
a. Scripted Role Play
This type involves interpreting either the textbook dialogue or
reading text in the form of speech. The main function of the text after all is
to convey the meaning of language items in a memorably way.18
For more details, Adrian Doff gave an example of scripted role play
dialogue and reading text and how the process is:
Angela : Good morning. I want to send a letter to Singapore.
Clerk : Yes, do you want to send it by air mail or ordinary mail?
Angela : I think I.ll send it air mail. I want it to get there quickly. How
much does it cost?
Clerk : To Singapore? That will be 30 pence, pleas.
Angela : (give the clerk 50 pence) Here you are.
Clerk : Here.s your stamp, and here.s 20 pence change.
Angela : Thank you. Where is the post box?
Clerk : You want the air mail box. It.s over there, by the door.
(Adapted from living English book 2 : A.G. Abdalla et al)
To demonstrate a role play activity based on the dialogue, the
procedures given by Adrian Doff is as follows:
1) First, the teacher guides the role play by writing these prompts:
(where? / air mail / how much? / post box? / thanks). Talk as you write
to show what the prompts mean.
2) If necessary, go through the prompts one by one, and get students to
give sentences or question for each one.
3) Call two students to the front: one play the role as Angela and the
other one is the post office clerk. They should improvise the
conversation using the prompts to help them. Point out that the
conversation should be similar to the one in the textbook, but not
exactly the same; the conversation can be shorter than the presentation
dialogue. It should just cover the main points indicated by the prompts.
4) Call out a few other pairs of students in turn, and ask them to have
other conversation based on the prompts.19
18 Don Byrne, Op. Cit, p. 122-123
18
Based on these procedures, the writer views that the ways of
organizing this dialogue can be carried out into pairs of students who
would improvise a conversation in front of class, in turns. The teacher can
also ask the students to practice the conversation privately with their
partners before they act it out in front of the class.
b. Unscripted Role Play
In contrast to scripted role play, the situations of unscripted role play
do not depend on textbooks. It is known as a free role play or
improvisation. The students themselves have to decide what language to
use and how the conversation should develop. In order to do this activity,
good preparation from teacher and students is really necessary.
The example and procedures of unscripted role play which is
adapted from Adrian Doff.s book are as follows:
One student has lost a bag.
He/she is at the police station.
The other student is the police officer, and asks for details.
To brings out this ideas:
1) The teacher could prepare the whole class, by:
a) Discussing what the speakers might say (e.g. the police officer
would asks the students how he or she lost the bag).
b) Writing prompt on the board to guide the role play, and any key
vocabulary.
2) The teacher could divide the class into pairs, and:
a) Let them discuss together what they may say.
19 Adrian
Doff, Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers trainer.s Handbooks,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Inc. The British Council, 1988), p. 233 - 234
19
b) Let them all try out the role play privately, before calling on one or
two pairs to act out in front of the class.
Susan House explained that there are several procedures in using role
play:
a. Students read and familiarize themselves with the (example) dialogue.
b. Divide the class in pairs, A and B, give A and B roles from the dialogues.
c. Let students act out their role play, not just say them but students should
read it loudly.
d. Walk around correcting and checking.
e. Students swap roles and repeat, those whose finish first can be asked to
make up their own role play, using different words to fill the gaps.20
The above procedures do not mean an exact to be used. It is flexible;
teacher can create or develop procedures which is appropriate and suitable
with his/her own class.
3. Significance of Role Play in Teaching Speaking
It has been mentioned before in the above discussion that role play is one
of the activities to promote speaking. Through role play activities the students
learn how to express ideas, opinions, or feeling to others by using words or
sounds of articulation.
Larsen Freeman explained that role plays are important in the
communicative approach because they give learners an opportunity to practice
communicating in different social contexts and different social roles.
A role play is a highly flexible learning activity which has a wide scope
for variation and imagination. According to Ladousse, role play uses different
20 Susan House, An Introduction to Teaching English to Children, (Richmond Publishing, 1997),
P. 23
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communicative techniques and develops fluency in the language, promotes
interaction in the classroom and increases motivation. Here peer learning is
encouraged and sharing of responsibility between teacher and the learner in
the learning process takes place.
Role play can improve learners. speaking skills in any situation, and helps
learners to interact. As for the shy learners, role play helps by providing a
mask, where learners with difficulty in conversation are liberated. In addition,
it is fun and most learners will agree that enjoyment leads to better learning.
Several reasons for using role play in teaching speaking quoted from
Ladousse as follows:
a. A very wide variety of experience can be brought into the classroom and
we can train our students in speaking skill in any situations through role
play.
b. Role play puts students in situation in which they are required to use and
develop those phatic forms of language which are so necessary in oiling
the works of social relationships, but which are so often neglected by our
language teaching syllabuses.
c. Some people are learning English to prepare for specific roles in their
lives. It is helpful for these students to have tried out and experimented
with the language they will require in the friendly and safe environment of
a classroom.
d. Role play helps many shy students by providing them with a mask.
e. Perhaps the most important reason for using role play is that it is fun.21
In conclusion, role play is a technique which can develops students.
fluency in target language, promotes students to speak or interact with others
in the classroom,

a. Method of Teaching Speaking

A researcher needs to know the definition of method and technique
in teaching English. Fauziati (2002: 5) has pointed out that method is
treated at the level of design in which the roles of teachers, learners, and
instructional materials are specified.
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There are ten methods of teaching foreign language (Fauziati, 2002:
v) such as: Grammar Translation Method (GTM), Direct Method (DM),
Audiolingual Method (ALM), Situational Language Teaching (SLT),
Community Language Learning (CLL), Total Physical Response (TPR),
Natural Approach (NA), Silent Way (SW), Suggestopedia, and
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). However, in this research the
writer wants to describes the Communicative Language Teaching method
as the way of teaching speaking.
To get a clear description of what CLT, the writer has adapted the
theory of CLT from Brumfit (1979) in Fauziati (2002: 101). CLT attempts
to communicative activities may be encouraged from the very beginning.
Thus language learning is learning to communicate. Language is created by
the individual often through trial and error, and fluency and acceptable
language is the primary goal: accuracy is judged not in the abstract but in
context. Through this method the students are expected to interact with
others.
Harmer (2001: 86) explains that the aim of Communicative
Language Teaching as follows:
The communicative approach or CLT have now become
generalized terms to describe learning sequences which
aim to improve the student’s ability to communicate, in
stark contrast to teaching which is aimed more at
learning bits of language just because they exist and
without focusing on their use in communication.
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Related to the expert contribution, the writer concludes that the goal
of CLT method is to create and improve the student’s ability in
communication.
 Types of Story
There are many story types. Stories range along three main dimensions:
formality, length and complexity. The topic provides several clues and correlations to
determine these dimensions.
We must also account for the tolerance of the audience. Certain groups may be less
receptive of an informal story. A scenario-based program is an example of a more
formal storytelling technique. In a scenario the participant is given a role within a
reality-based story.
The amount of material determines length. The simplest of the three dimensions,
length is determined by dividing and sub-dividing a program into groups of three to
five complete bits of information, each definable in an action-oriented sentence
sometimes referred to as an “objective.” However not all story types are sustainable
over certain lengths. Stories perform most effectively and efficiently when used
consistently.
Complexity is the most difficult dimension to calculate and deal with, especially in
longer stories. More complex topics generally require more complex stories. The story
in a complex program anchors the material in metaphor and example. This helps the
user visualize the material. In other cases the story is a simple one. A series of concise
and practical worksheets may be the whole narrative.
A series of questions and worksheets to help someone discover his or her true
calling. In this case the audience themselves are the main characters and the plot is the
task at hand. Animated characters or comics don’t help in this case. Just as a story
must resolve itself, the learner must complete a specific sequence of events to resolve
the task at hand.
The storytelling technique is a unique approach to design, not a way to
trivialize the topic. There are different types of stories, ranging from lighthearted
character treatments to “real life” scenarios. Analysis of the topic, audience and
organizational personality inspires the appropriate story.
There are several additional methods that provide powerful storytelling by Dominic R
Villary:
1. Live storytelling
Don’t underestimate the power of someone simply telling a story. Word of
mouth is still the most powerful motivator in most forms of advertising.
 Sound and stills
 An under used method in multimedia is sound and fading stills. A developer’s
first instinct is often to use video. However, a series of stills that fade into each other
with a sound or voice track can be just as effective. It’s cheaper and uses less
bandwidth.
 Re-use
Often elements of a program can be used multiple times in subtly different
ways. With modifications, the same script can be used in a workbook, job aid and
online training tool. Pictures and video can also be re-used in different ways (such as
the documentary example above).
2. Cloning
One of the benefits the computer offers is cloning and modification of objects.
You can create an element once as a template, then modify it slightly for a multitude of
uses.

3. Alternative animation
Animated characters have become increasingly more fluid in their movements.
However, a little movement goes a long way. In fact, limited movement sometimes
becomes “stylistic.” A classic example of this minimalist animation is Terry Gilliam’s
work on “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” A more contemporary example is the
animation style used by DNA Productions in “Olive, the Other Reindeer.”
 Economy of scale
Design methods become more efficient when they are used repeatedly. Steps in
creation can be streamlined, and lessons learned applied to future projects.