COMICS STRIPS, SHORT STORIES AND PUPILS’

READING COMPREHENSION

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 14
Pages: 334-338
Document ID: 2023PEMJ1259
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8412852
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-5-10
Psych Educ, 2023, 14: 334-338, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1259, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8412852, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Comics Strips, Short Stories and Pupils’ Reading Comprehension

Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
This study sought to determine the pupils’ reading comprehension through comics strips and short
stories presentation of the Grade 4 pupils in Jagna District for the academic year 2021-2022. This
further sought to verify the result of the pretest and posttest of control and experimental group. This
study employed the experimental design specifically the static-group pretest- posttest design in
determining the participants’ reading proficiency. The data gathered were treated, analyzed and
interpreted through the average percentage formula and t-test. The pupils’ posttest average score of
the experimental group was 25.2 which is higher than their pretest average score of 12.6, which
implied that they learned from the lessons presented using the Comics Strip Materials for the
remediation of experimental group. The pupil’s performance improved with the use of the two
methods for reading intervention. The study showed significant difference between the two methods
of remediation with the use of comics strips intervention in enhancing reading comprehension,
competencies and skills which were not grasped during the class. This study concludes that the use of
comics strips as reading remediation or intervention is more effective than the use of short stories in
improving the pupils’ reading comprehension. Comics strip remediates pupils’ difficulties in reading
and the visuals help them retain more knowledge for better understanding. Hence, the researcher
encourages other teachers to use the comics strip materials as tools in reading remediation. A
proposed training design suggests that the District Supervisor may look into the possibility of
providing opportunities of promoting the comics strip materials to reinforce reading lessons. The
school heads may encourage the teachers to use comics strip materials for remediation. Finally, other
researchers may conduct parallel studies on the factors that may affect the effectiveness of comics
strip materials that are not covered in the study.

Keywords: reading proficiency, short stories, comics strips, pupils’ reading comprehension

Introduction media in teaching students reading comprehension can

Reading comprehension is one of the most complex
behaviors in which humans engage. Reading theorists
have grappled with how to comprehensively and
meaningfully portray reading comprehension and
many different theoretical models have been proposed
in recent decades (McNamara, 2009). According to
Education DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones(2020),
DepEd introduced modular Distance Learning under
the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan or BE-
LCP.
Modular approach has been proven to be an effective
and efficient tool pupils learn but the fact that not all
pupils are well-facilitated at home and not all can
comprehend or understand the lessons well, many
pupils fall as struggling readers, who cannot
comprehend well and find difficulty in coping with
everyday lessons. Reading plays a vital role in the
English learning process, and teachers have the
fundamental role to stimulate students in the learning
process (Sugirin, 2018).
As stated (Stauffer, 2021) 21st century, is a visual
world with a visual culture and the children are largely
visual communicators. Comics strips as the visual
help teachers deliver the teaching and learning process
efficiently. According to Barry(1997) images, not
words that communicate most deeply, and images are
combined with words , the words become secondary
but the language of images becomes primary.The
(Phil-IRI) Philippine Informal Reading Inventory aims
to determine reading skills and difficulties of Filipino
school children. Last January 2022 the District of
Jagna conducted (Phil-IRI) for the Grade 4 pupils and
exposed results that 47% of the pupils did not meet the
mastery level. In the pre-test, the result fell to the
frustration level.It is in this light that the researcher
realized the need to utilize another learning strategy
and conducted a study on the use of sample comics
strips and short stories as learning tools to improve the
reading comprehension of the learners who are barred
from going to schools. If found effective, the result of
this study will be beneficial in improving reading
comprehension.
Research Questions
The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness
of comics strips and short stories in relation to
comprehension of Grade-4 pupils of Naatang
Elementary School, Naatang, Jagna, Bohol during the

Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro 334/338

Psych Educ, 2023, 14: 334-338, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1259, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8412852, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

DepED Region VIII, UNILAB and Pushpin Visual

academic year 2021-2022. Specifically, it sought to Solutions. Permission was secured from CISTEM to
answer the following facets of the study: use and translate the educational materials to English
since the study is conducted for the enhancement of
1. What is the pupils’ pretest and posttest performance English reading comprehension. The data were
of the following: gathered through self-made pretest and post-test
1.1 Experimental/(comics strips) group; and questionnaire. Pretest was a test given to pupils before
1.2 Conventional/(short stories) group? completion of the aid of the different teaching method
2. Is there a significant difference between the pupils’ while post-test is a test given to the pupils after
reading comprehension using comics strips and short completion of both teaching strategies to measure the
stories in terms of: increase of reading comprehension. Pretest and post-
2.1 Pretest scores of the control and experimental; test were in similar content administered before and
2.2 Pretest and post test results between control and after the integration of comics strip and short story in
experimental group; the lesson proper. The content of the pretest and post-
2.3 Post test results between control and test were based on the short story and comics strips. It
experimental group; and was submitted to the research adviser and editor for
2.4 Difference between the pretest-posttest of the corrections and improvements. A pilot testing of
two groups? be proposed? questionnaires was conducted to the Grade-4 first
section of Jagna Central Elementary School to find out
if the questions were valid and reliable.
Methodology
Procedure
Design
Phase I. Sending a Letter Request. A written
The study used the pretest-posttest experimental permission was secured from the Dean of the College
design. This design involved the experimental and of Advanced Studies, Campus Director, University
control groups. The experimental group was exposed President, Schools Division Superintendent of Bohol
to comics strips and the control group to conventional and to the school heads of Jagna Central Elementary
text short story. Both experimental and control group School and Naatang Elementary School.
underwent the pretests to determine the gained
knowledge. The post tests were administered to both Phase II. Preparation of Comics Strips, Short Story
groups at the end of the experiment period to assess and Questionnaires. The materials needed for the
the effects of using comics strips and short stories in sessions were prepared. Validation and evaluation of
the enhancement of reading comprehension of the the questionnaires and comics materials was made to
grade four pupils. ascertain the understandability of the materials.

Environment and Participants
The locale of the study was Naatang Elementary
School situated at Naatang, Jagna, Bohol. It is located
5 kilometers from the town proper and it lies almost
halfway between the town of Jagna and Duero, Bohol.
The participants of the study were the learners who got
the “frustration level” during PHIL-IRI. The pupils
were paired and match through the result. It comprises
of 30 Grade-4 pupils from Naatang Elementary
School. Then the pupils were divided into two groups
the control and experimental group.
Instrument
Phase III. Pilot Testing and Item Analysis. A 45–
item test was formulated based on the given topic.
After which, pilot testing and item analysis were done
for the finalization of the questionnaires.
Phase IV. Groupings of the Respondents. Matching
and pairing was done to choose the respondents. The
30 pupils who got “Frustration level” and “Satisfactory
level” were paired according to the pretest in their
PHIL IRI result. The paired participants were assigned
into experimental and control groups based on pretest
results. The first group served as the group that was
exposed to comics strip materials while second group,
the control group was exposed to short stories.

COVID comics materials were adapted from Tagalog Phase V. Administration of the Pretest. Before the
version published under Center for Integrated STEM session started, pre-test was administered to both
Education Inc. (CISTEM) in collaboration with control and experimental groups.

Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro 335/338

Psych Educ, 2023, 14: 334-338, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1259, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8412852, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Phase VI. Application of the Teaching Method Table 2. Post-test Performance of the Pupils Exposed
to Comics Strips and Short Stories N=30

The short stories group had a majority score of 16-23 9

Results and Discussion
Table 1. Pretest Performance of the Comics Strips which points out that learners are active participants in
Group and Short Stories Group N=30
out of 15 pupils or 60%. The average score of the
control group is 21.8. This result shows that there is
gain, which means the learning takes place even if
pupils were exposed to different intervention
materials.
The Constructivist Theory relates with this study
their learning journey, knowledge is constructed based
on experiences. As events occur, each person reflects
on their experience and incorporates the new ideas
with their prior knowledge thus, helping pupils to
improve their reading comprehension.

Table 3 shows insignificant difference between the

performance of the control and experimental group
during the pretest. This pretest result entails equal
pairing of both groups and that they have equal level
of knowledge prior to the reading intervention.
Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage of the
pupils’ performance before exposure to comics strips The result from the pretests and posttest of both the
and short stories. It reveals that 12 out of 15 or 80% of
control and experimental groups with the remediation
the pupils in the comics strips group got a score of 8 to
using comics strip and short stories to re-teach and
15 only or described as “Fair”. The average score of
this group is 12.6. clarify skills and review the information showed
significant difference. The pupils’ reading proficiency
Meanwhile, on the short stories group, 12 out of 15 or in both groups the control and experimental group
80% of the pupils got a score of 8 to 15 describe as shows increased results. Thus, the null hypothesis was
“Fair”. The average score of the control group is 13.0 rejected. It denotes that there is a significant difference
which is slightly greater than the experimental group.
between the performance of the pupils in the pretest
Table 2 presents the performance of the pupils after and posttest after they were exposed to both strategies
exposure to comics strips and short stories. In the during remediation. Hence, learning has occurred in
comics strips group, most of the pupils got a score of both groups.
16-23 described as “Satisfactory”. The average score
of this group is 25.2.

Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro 336/338

Psych Educ, 2023, 14: 334-338, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1259, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8412852, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
Table 3. Difference in the Performance of the Control and
Experimental Group N=30
Table 3 also shows the significant difference between
the posttest performances of the control and
experimental group. Thus, the null hypothesis was
rejected. It denotes that there was a significant
difference between the performance of the pupils in
the posttest after they were exposed to both strategies
during remediation in favor of the comics strips group.
The computed t- test value 2.88 is within the tabular
value of 2.045 at 0.05 level of significance.
As to results, the null hypothesis was rejected. This
elaborates that pupils’ learning takes place with the
help of comics strip materials rather than using plain
short stories. Furthermore, this implies that comics
strip material is effective in re-teaching skills and
competencies in elementary reading.
This finding supports the statement that there are
layers of mediated forms that the reader must move
through in order to be involved with the story (Sivak,
2003). The construction of comics is vastly different
from textual narratives in that the writer of text alone
can theoretically write quickly with no revision. It
involves a certain immersion into the culture of the
comics that one reads. It involves any number of
choices to be made. These choices include whether the
author, the visual style or the knowledge of the story
first attract the reader.
According to Yilar (2012), comics strips can be used
in teaching activities and its features make the content
interesting through funny characters that trigger
children's imagination and positively affect their
motivation towards the lesson. Through the visuals
presented with the text, communication is developed
and expanded. These visuals attract the attention of the
reader making the text easier to understand. Comics
are quick and easy to understand and can be suitable
teaching tools for the education of large masses. Also,
Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro
comics can be produced, distributed, and used with
widespread participation. In the world where
multimedia and the Internet are major forces in
communication as well as in entertainment, the skills
required to fully comprehend comics will be
fundamental in understanding the way in which
information is conveyed. Through the simplification
of form, comics echo our own simplified ideas, and
the form utilizes “repetitive images and recognizable
symbols” that create their own language through their
very repetition.
Furthermore, this is also parallel to the study of
(Kargoz, 2018) using teaching materials in teaching
activities supports students' cognitive, affective, and
psycho motor development. Teaching materials are
effective tools in the development of different
perspectives in students, enrichment of educational
processes, and creation of multiple learning
environments. Also, with materials that appeal to
students, teachers may overcome many difficulties in
the teaching process like the use of educational
comics.
Conclusion
The use of comics strips as reading remediation or
intervention is more effective than the use of short
stories in im pro v in g the pup ils’ read ing
comprehension. The comics strips remediates pupils’
difficulties in reading and the visuals help them retain
more knowledge for better understanding and
comprehension skills.
Based on the significant findings and conclusion of
this study, these are the following recommendations:
(1) The Public Elementary School Teachers may
secure copies of comics strip materials that can be
easily used for the pupils who need remediation.
Comics strip materials can be used and distributed to
pupils through printed or e-copies that can be read
online or offline. (2) The School Principal and School
Managers may encourage teachers to use and create
comics strips materials especially in the absence of
face-to-face classes or limited face to face classes as
an alternative remediation method. They may organize
workshops in making and sharing of comics strips
material for reading remediation. (3) The Pupils are
encouraged to use the comics strip materials with
guidance of elders at home or teachers in distance
learning. (4) Instructional Materials Development
Committees may use this study as reference and
consider the use of comics strip material as an
instructional and intervention material for reading. (5)
The Future researchers may be guided in conducting
337/338
Psych Educ, 2023, 14: 334-338, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1259, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8412852, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
related endeavors such as producing remedial 1349-1356.DOI http://dxdoi.org/10.1750.0606.3=24
materials for the pupils who needs reading remediation Llego,MA. DepEd Learning Delivery Modalities for SY 2020-
to verify findings. https://www.teacherph.com/deped_learning_delivery_modalities.
References
Alais,(2010). Multisensory Perceptual Leaning of Temporal Order:
Au d i o v i s u a l L ea rn in g t ran sfe r to Vi sion but not
Audition.https://www.journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/j
ournal.pone.0011283.www.journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1
371/journal.pone.0011283.
Blickenstaff, J. (2013). The Effects of Reading Strategies in
Comprehension for Elementary Age Learners. Master of Arts in
Education Action Research
Papers.https://sophia.stkate.edu/do/search/?q=author_lname%3A%2
2Blickenstaff%22%20author_fname%3A%22Jennifer%22&start=0
&context=1580871&facet=
Cass, D, et al. Multisensory Perceptual Leaning of Temporal Order:
Au d i o v i s u a l L ea rn in g t ran sfe r to Vi sion but not
Audition.https://www.journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/j
ournal.pone.0011283.
Deep M ul t i mod a l C l u st e rin g for Un s u p e rv i s e d
Audiovisual Learninghttps://www.scholar.google.com.ph/scholar?q
=audiovisual+learning+modalities&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=
scholart.
DepEd Central Office Directory. Blended, Modular
DistanceMultiple Learning Modalities.
https://www.google.com/search.q=DepEd+audivisual+learning+mo
dalities&sxsrf=ALeKkO16uW_HqYWorqMF_q18jv4hqpm.
Estacio, R. (2015). The Effect of Concept Cartoons as
an Instructional Material and Assessment Tool in Teaching
Evolution and Diversity on the Achievement of Freshmen College
Students of Quezon City Polytechnic University. Unpublished
Master’s thesis, QC Polytechnic University, Q. C, Philippines.
Eker, C (2014). The Effects of Educational Practice with Cartoons
on Learning Outcomes. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Bulent Ecevit
University, Zonguldak, Turkey.
Frimasary, A (2015). Using Short Story to Improve
Student’s Reading Comprehension. Published Master’s
thesis, Center of Language Innovation, Journal of Linguistics and
Language Teaching. Vol 2 No 2: October 2015.
Geoffrey, T. (2018). Making Connections to the Human Brain.
Association for supervision and curriculum development,
Alexandria VA 91 p 201
Hu. D & Wang. Z. Curriculum Visual Learning. www.arXivpo
printarXiv.2020.
Kanellopolou, C. (2019). The dual -coding and Multimedia Learning
Theories Film Subtitles as vocabulary Teaching Tool
http://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030210
Leipzig, D.H. 2001. What is Reading and Reading with Short
Stories www.Google.co.id. 17.
Liu, Y. (2018). An empirical study of Schema Comprehension
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 6, pp
Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro
Sanopao, J. (2016). The Effect of Reading Fluency and
Comprehension Remediation in English Learning.International
Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research. ISSN
2348-3164 Vol.4, Issue 1, pp: (422-426)www.researchpublish.com
Scott, W. Cartoons I n
Education. www.aiu.edu/university/np/awnp/awedre.html.
Selangan (2015). The Reading Profile of Children in the
Philippines.http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/reading-profile-child
ren-philippines.
Sugirin, (2018). The Effectiveness of using Comic Strips to Increase
Students’ Reading Comprehension 8th Students of SMPN 1
Pundong DOI:10.2991/iceri-18.2019.49
Sivak, A. (2003). Using Comics Books to Teach Reading
and Language Arts. Journal of Reading.22,253-258.
McNamara, D. S., & Magliano, J. (2009). Toward comprehensive
model of comprehension. Psychology of Learning Motivation,51,29
doi:10.1016/S00797421(09)51009-2
Oakhill, J., Hartt, J., & Samols, D. (2005). Levels of comprehension
monitoring and working memory in good and poor comprehenders.
Reading and Writing, 18, 657-686. www.eductech.com/rd
ark/hrd/styles/
Reeves, T. (2007).The cone experience. Educational
Technology,47(6),56.www.edtech.com/rdonclark/learning/styles
Shah, R.(2018) Concepts of Learner-Centered Teaching.
International Journal of Education
https://orcid.org/000-003-1338VAK Learning Modalities. Retrieved
from www.nwlink.com/rdonclark/hrd/styles/vakt.html#:text=the%V
AK%20Learning%20styl%20uses.%2C.
VAK Learning Styles: What are they and what do they
mean? https://www.engage_education.com/aus/blog/vak_learning_st
yles_what_are_the%20y_and_what_do_they_mean/#01
Vaughn, S., (2013). Improving reading comprehension and social
studies knowledge in middle school. Reading Research Quarterly,
48, 77-93. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.039
Yusuf, M. 2000, Improving Students Reading Ability through Short
stories at the First Level at SLTPN I Sukaraja Bengkulu Selatan.
Bengkulu: Universitas
Bengkulu. https://ejournal.iainbengkulu.ac.id/index.php/linguists/arti
cle/view/113
Affiliations and Corresponding Information
Maria Sharani Joy E. Castro
Bohol Island State University – Philippines
338/338