THE USE OF E-BOOK TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ LITERACY SKILL

Devie Dian Nisrina, Indra Perdana, Misrita

Universitas Palangka Raya
Pos-el: deviedn.96@gmail.com

Abstract
This paper aims to highlight on the use of e-book to improve students’ literacy skill. Literacy is
an ability to understand and process information during reading and writing. The importance
to improve students’ literacy since it plays an important role in the students to obtain skills,
knowledges, and attitudes. In this globalization era, all activities including literacy is dependent
on technology. It has contributed to make information easy to access, especially in digital
source. Technology has succeeded in effecting and replacing the reading habits. By connecting
to the internet students’ have many optional media to access all of information. E-book can be
one of the media to improve students’ literacy skill with many advantages and attractiveness.
This research used a literature review by collecting research data from various articles that are
in accordance with the theme on the use of e-book to improve students’ literacy skill especially
in reading skill, then the data is reviewed, analysed, and concluded.
Keywords: e-book; literacy skill

How to Cite (APA Style):

Nisrina, D. D., Perdana, I., & Misrita. (2022). The Use of e-Book to Improve Students’ Literacy
Skill. In R. H. Budhiono (Ed.), Prosiding Seminar Internasional Bahasa dan Sastra Daerah II
(Sinar Bahtera II) (pp. 249–254). Balai Bahasa Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah.

INTRODUCTION

There are many definitions of literacy (Harris and Hodges, 1995). In Indonesian language, literacy
is widely known as ‘melek huruf’ or in English is called ‘literate’, which is an ability to read and write
(Rintaningrum, 2019). Then, Maulida & Suriansyah (2019) defined that literacy does not only mean
reading a book, but it is also a person’s capability to understand and process information during
reading and writing. Moreover, the National Literacy Trust stated that literacy as the ability to read,
write, speak, and hear since that literate people are able to communicate effectively and understand
written information (Picton, 2014). So that, it cannot be separated from the basic literacy aspects
that is reading and writing (Widodo et.al., 2020). It plays an important role in many educational
processes.
However, it is widely acknowledged that the English literacy level in Indonesia is shallow.
Referring to the test result in EF EFD 2021, Indonesia in position 80 out of 112 countries (EF
Standard English Test, 2021). Then, from the survey result conducted by the Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 Indonesia’s literacy rate is in position 74 out of 79
countries (Summaries, 2019). Therefore, English literacy in Indonesia is still a main issue that
requires serious attention. Nevertheless, it is not easy to cultivate literacy, so that this can be
started with the habit of reading.
Grabe (1991 as cited in Pourhosein Gilakjani & Sabouri, 2016) defined reading as an
interactive process between readers and texts that result in reading fluency. It is one of the four
language skills which are extremely valuable to the students in finding information from the text
(Suhardiana & Lestari, 2020). Moreover, in this globalization era students can access all the
information using technology. By connecting to the internet, they have many optional media. One
of the media that can be used is e-book.

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 E-book is electronic book that can be displayed, accessed, and published on a desktop
computer on any hand-held device with screen (Tosun, 2014). It can be the one of media to
improve students’ literacy skill especially reading skill with many advantages on it. Students can
improve their literacy skill by means of reading the material presented in e-book. So that, using
those kinds of e-book are intended to increase students’ reading comprehension skill. Owing to
the important roles on the use of e-book to improve students’ literacy skill particularly in reading,
it is viewed necessary to investigate the impacts of it for students. One of the ways to investigate
the impact of e-book to improve students’ literacy skill is through studying the literature reviews
from previous related studies. Thus, several studies focusing on the use of e-book were analyzed
to gauge the effectiveness of using it to improve students’ literacy skill especially in reading skill.
The research used qualitative descriptive research, by using the literature review method.
According to Sugiyono (2013), qualitative research is related to how to analyze written or implied
communication. While, a literature review approach to collect and analyze the data. The process of
collecting the data obtained from various article in accordance with the theme on the use of e-book
to improve literacy skill especially in reading skill. The result of data analysis in the quantitative
descriptive was explained qualitatively in the result and discussion.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

In the result and discussion sections, it is explained about literacy in the world of education, the
effect of technology development in literacy skill, and the use of e-book in improving students’
reading skill.

Literacy in the World of Education

Literacy is being heavily campaigned in the world of education in Indonesia. It requires to ensure
the educational process success. Daulay et.al. (2021) stated that literacy is an important thing to
determine the educational process’s success in the learning process that assists students in
obtaining information and knowledge. It is a necessary element and has many benefits in every
aspect of our life, since most of the existing information and knowledge is derived from literacy.
However, until now, literacy especially in reading is a global issue that need serious attention
(Wijayanti, 2020). The low interest in reading is influenced by many factors. It is not only because
of the low of motivation, but also lack of adequate facilities and infrastructure of reading resources
(Yarmi et.al., 2019). Besides, reading is a skill which is the foundation of almost the entire learning
process and it is very important for students not only to acquire languages and literature studies,
but also to learn other subjects. If students’ reading skill is low, it would automatically implies
difficulties in learning other subjects (Geske & Ozola, 2008).
Thus, it is important to increase the quality of human resources, especially in the world of
education. The quality of a country's human resources reflects the state of literacy in that country.
By establishing a strong literacy, a country may generate high quality resources (Daulay et.al.,
2021). Therefore, literacy and education inextricably linked. Both are important references that
need to be intensively instilled.

The Effect of Technology Development in Literacy Skill

In this globalization era, technology has advanced at a breakneck pace. All activities, including
literacy is dependent on technology, since it has become an integral part of the world of education
(Benson & Kolsaker, 2015). Moreover, the youth of today are growing up surrounded by

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computers, the internet, mobile devices, and other tech products which could capture their
attention like nothing else can (Short, 2010). This indicated the students that live in the 21st century
are attracted more to technology (Bee Choo & Zainuddin, 2018). So that, it is necessary to integrate
technology into literacy in this digital era.
Then, along with the technology development has increased the use of online information,
many academic activities have been using technology especially internet to get digital sources for
getting information (Manalu, 2019). The new sources provide not only many innovative and
attractive application but also interprets more appropriately with the brand-new context of use. It
is also gradually replaced printed media into digital form and the sources of reading are not only
printed but also in digital form. The concrete form of technology’s entry into education is the
development of e-book replacing printed book. It makes most of academic institutions have
increasingly adopted e-book as a medium of teaching and learning (Wu & Chen, 2018).

Use of e-Book in Improving Students’ Reading Skill

Reading is one of the important keys to perform better in learning. It can be considered one of the
basic ways of acquiring information in society and for academic purpose (Al-Jarrah & binti Ismail,
2018). So that, it is assumed that the person who is not able to read well will face serious trouble,
especially in what is regarded to be educational and job opportunities (Mundhe, 2015) in Al-Jarrah
& binti Ismail (2018). Therefore, the students are expected to develop good reading skill.
Considering that reading skill is important for the future, the students need to acquire and develop
their reading skill not only on print books. The students need a new tool and media to improve
reading skill activities might contribute to their literacy development (Dwipayana, 2021). Then,
electronic book or e-book can be used as media to improve their reading skill in this digital era
(Dwipayana, 2021).
E-book is usually an electronic version of printed book, but sometimes a book is published
in digital version only without printed form (Astuti et.al., 2017). It emerges as one of the modern
technologies in introducing e-content in more attractive and interactive way which has never been
seen before through the printed book. E-book industry made it easy to find information via internet
and mobile phones, so that it is useful for learning anytime and anywhere (Mohammed & Rahman,
2015). It can be an effective media that can gain student interest and motivate them to complete
the task at hand (Almunawaroh, 2020). According to Reid et al. (2016), e-book has the greater
impact on helping student’s reading comprehension skills. E-book also has great benefits in helping
students to understand the lesson because it has an interesting feature so the students are more
excited in the learning process that is useful and helpful to literacy development.
Bee Choo & Zainuddin (2018) also found that using the e-book to improve reading
comprehension a good strategy since it is completely different from the traditional ways. The
students also have different kind of learning environment in which they are able to focus on the
lesson by looking at the e-book. Then, Akpokodje & Ukwuoma (2016) told that reading e-book have
made students understanding more easier since it is useful with quick access ability and use on
the go, anywhere and everywhere. The use of e-book also makes students motivated because of
its convenience, saves their time and e-book is searchable. This has helped students to develop
good reading habit, increase their reading time and makes them to read more books. So that, it is
important that the use of e-book should be encourage to help them develop good reading habits
and ensure lifelong learning.
Moreover, Satin et al. (2018) carried out of students’ perception and motivation toward digital
text in learning reading. The result revealed that students give a positive response about using
digital text since it gives a different way in learning, then digital text more simples than printed
paper. In line with Manalu (2019), students had positive perception of reading digital text in their

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academic life. They preferred and were interested to use digital text since most of their lecturers
used to assign them with digital texts. The students also motivated to read digital texts because of
its availability, accessibility, and convenience. It also can be seen in Osih & Singh (2020) that
performed research on students' perception on the adoption of an e-textbook (digital) as an
alternative to the printed textbook. The result showed that most of the students prefer e-textbooks
since it more profitably, then they study more frequently using e-textbooks as opposed for the
print textbooks. The students also motivated and did not find difficult reading with e-textbooks.
Furthermore, not only for students, Syam et al. (2021) reported that digital text is useful for
teachers in delivering material and make them easier to give assignments to students. A similar
result found in Park & Lee (2021) that to prepare students for the future, teaching use of digital
devices is important. EFL teachers should encourage students to read extensively using tablets to
develop basic reading comprehension. In addition, Ruddamayanti (2019) defined several
advantages of e-book compared to conventional book, such as: (1) e-book is easier and practical
to carry a lot of e-books easily as long as you hold the electronic device, (2) e-book is not be easily
damaged with age and considered simpler to carry and store, (3) e-book is cheaper than printed
book, then there are many e-books that are provided free of charge, (4) e-book has a digital format
and its physical size is small. It can be stored in data storage such as hard disk, DVD, CD-ROM,
etc.
From the studies of using e-books to improve literacy skill discussed, several implications
can be generated. Generally, e-book facilitates the students to improve their reading
comprehension skill and develop good reading habit since it motivates them to read more (Reid et
al., 2016; Akpokodje & Ukwuoma, 2016). There are a lot of reasons why e-book can be used as a
media to improve students reading skill. One of the reasons is the interactive features that available
in e-book. It has an interesting features, so the students more excited since it makes learning and
reading activities completely different (Reid et al., 2016; Bee Choo & Zainuddin, 2018; Satin et al.,
2018). Then, e-book has several advantages and more profitably, hence the students prefer to use
e-book and did not feel difficult reading with it (Manalu, 2019; Osih & Singh, 2020; Ruddamayanti,
2019). E-book also useful for teachers in teaching and learning process (Syam et al., 2021; Park &
Lee, 2021). So that, it concludes the fact that e-book is a more beneficial media to use for reading
comprehension (Reid et al., 2016). Therefore, as the students are studying in the 21st century, they
would prefer using technology to learn (Bee Choo & Zainuddin, 2018).
Based on the analyses of the studies, there were some positive impacts of e-book to improve
students’ reading skill, such as:
1) E-book makes students more motivated to read more books because of its advantages.
2) E-book gives different way in learning and makes students understanding easier.
3) E-book is helpful to literacy development and good reading habit.
4) E-book is useful for teachers in teaching and learning process.

CONCLUSION

In this research, the writers reviewed some important issues pertinent to the use of e-book to
improve students’ literacy skill particularly in reading skill which are conducted by some experts.
The literature review indicated that along with the development of technology in this globalization
era, an effective step needs to be taken to develop students’ reading skill is by using technology.
Then, reading skill can be revitalized using e-book, since it provides many advantages, benefits,
and some positive impacts that can help students improving their reading skill. E-book can facilitate
and motivate students to read more, develop good reding habit, and perceive different experiences
in reading and learning activities. E-book also has interesting features, so that the students prefer

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to use e-book and did not find difficult reading on it. Therefore, e-book can be an option for students
in this digital era. Then, not only for students, e-book also useful for teachers in teaching and
learning. Thus, the teacher roles also important for students to improve their reading skill. To sum
up, the findings of the literature review showed that e-book is the right choice for students to
improve their literacy skill especially in reading skill.

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