ABSTRACT
This quasi-experimental research determined the effectiveness of localized webtoon series in enhancing the reading and writing skills of Senior High School students. The developed webtoon series were validated by English teachers and ICT experts in the Division of Calamba City and webtoon specialists from South Korea. The evaluation of its effectiveness was administered through pre-test, formative, and post-test performance of the Grade 11 students of Camp Vicente Lim Integrated School. Mean was employed to describe the performance of the participants. T-test for dependent samples and paired samples were used to identify the significant difference in the performance of participants. The findings of the study revealed that both experimental and control groups have average performance in the pre-test and post-test. The experimental group attained high performance in formative tests, while the control group got average. The hypotheses were rejected because there was a significant difference between the formative test performance of the two groups. Similarly, there was a significant difference between the two groups' post-test performance. Furthermore, each group's pre-test and post-test performance was found to have a significant difference. The findings implied that the developed material enhanced the participants' performance in Reading and Writing Skills and was more effective compared to SLMs. The study recommends that the material could be used in teaching Reading and Writing Skills and webtoon utilization can be adapted in other learning areas to further assess its effectiveness as an instructional tool.
Keywords: instructional material, teaching strategy, reading skills, Webtoon, writing skills
INTRODUCTION
From a global perspective, new web technologies and the expansion of interactive devices such as tablets and laptops can provide new opportunities for schools and their teaching methods. First and foremost, new technologies can enable schools to develop constructivist learning environments by moving away from passive learning and toward a more active learning style. Specifically, as stated by Bryant et al. (2020), the utilization of new technological innovations in the classroom has much promise: it allows for personalized, mastery-based learning, it saves teachers’ time, and it gives kids the digital skills they need in 21st-century jobs. Individualized blended learning has been shown to dramatically increase student results in controlled pilot experiments. During this age of school closures and distant learning, educational technology has become a lifeline for continuing education. These opportunities were abruptly explored and given attention by schools worldwide during COVID 19 pandemic, including in the Philippines, to address and answer the problems in achieving education continuity.
Due to the worldwide pandemic's restrictions on Philippine education, public and private schools were forced to use online distance learning, alternative work arrangements, and other virtual practices to help prevent the virus's spread. Despite the short time of preparation of teachers, inadequacy, and inappropriateness of learning materials, scarcity of technological tools on the part of the students, technical difficulties, and a lot more hindrances, the government, especially the agencies directly concerned with education, urgently worked on resolutions, directives, and the like to hasten these inadequacies. As a result, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued DepEd Order 012 s.2020 or the Adoption of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan for the School Year 2020-2021 in Light of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency to provide a set of educational interventions aimed to address fundamental education challenges and ensure learning continuity.
Investing in electronic tools for students, such as tablets, was one move taken by the Department of Education. Inquirer (2020) reported that 1,042,575 devices had been supplied to 43,948 public schools, accounting for 93 percent of all public schools in the country. According to Secretary Leonor Briones (2020) in a "Handang Isip, Handa Bukas" virtual press briefing, this move is part of DepEd's endeavor to identify ways to "gradually shift" from print to digital learning.
In SDO-Calamba City, 3500 tablets have already been delivered to various learners in the division's numerous schools. Five hundred twenty-nine of these were received by grade 11 students at Camp Vicente Lim Integrated School. Teachers can take advantage of these technologies to their full potential. Because the obstacles of distance learning are overwhelming, teachers must make significant changes and come up with concrete answers. To reduce and alleviate the issues and challenges brought by the new arrangement, they must employ new teaching approaches that appropriately use technology.
Given that 21st-century students are referred to as "digital natives," the teaching strategy should be based on the technology that students are most interested in and familiar with. Furthermore, because Filipino students cannot function without their smartphones and other electronic devices, technology and digital media must be investigated and employed, as students are interested in anything electronic, interactive, and distinctive. Hence, the researcher developed a localized webtoon series and utilized it to teach reading and writing skills to Garde 11 students.
Consequently, the researcher seeks to determine the effectiveness of using webtoon to enhance reading and writing skills among Grade 11 students.
This study is anchored on Richard Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (2014). According to him, having two unique and independent channels allows students to work with more meaningful information since different content presentations are processed differently. The student can remember and work with significant pictures and keywords in working memory. Each of these bits of information is examined and organized into models and patterns that assist understanding and recalling the information. The knowledge is kept distinct in working memory, and the learner creates two models. Finally, the learner combines the models to their existing knowledge and experiences to create a coherent whole. Once all the components have been linked together sensibly, the new information may be retained in long-term memory.
Moreover, the Theory of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) served as the backbone of this study. Krashen (1982) claimed that students retain more information and perform better when learning is associated with pleasant solid emotions. The Emotive Filter theory reflects Krashen's notion that a range of affective qualities aid but do not cause second language learning. The factors are drive, confidence, anxiety, and personality attributes. According to Krashen, individuals with intense desire, self-esteem, a positive self-image, lower stress, and extroversion are well-suited for second language acquisition. Low motivation, poor self-confidence, anxiousness, social awkwardness, and fear can all boost the emotional filter, preventing comprehensible input from being utilized for learning. In other words, language acquisition is impaired whenever the filter is present. On the other hand, positive affect is essential but inadequate for learning and acquisition.
Further, this study was underpinned by the ADDIE Model, which refers to analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The input for the instructional material is analysis; the process is design, development, and evaluation; and the result is implementation. In this study, the model served as a guide in developing, validating, and evaluating the localized webtoon series to ensure the quality and appropriateness of the developed instructional material. It assisted the researcher in developing more effective quality designs, clearly stated learning objectives, structured and coherent material, measured and organized workload for educators and students, including visualizations and media, and practical student activities and evaluations related to the desired learning outcomes.
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