THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GRAPHIC NOVELS IN IMPROVING PRIMARY SCHOOL ESL PUPILS’ READING SKILLS

In 2022, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) reported that Malaysia scored 388 in the reading domain, with less than 50% of the primary school pupils reaching the minimum level (Level 2). This shows that the proficiency level among primary school English as a Second Language (ESL) pupils in Malaysia is alarming. The problem thatstands behind this issue is that the pupils are struggling and reluctant to read as advanced technologies and gadgets have surrounded them since they were born. Hence, an initiative to incorporate graphic novels has been carried out by the authors to overcome this problem. By employing the true experimental research design, this study is to investigate the effectiveness of graphic novels in improving primary school ESL pupils’ reading skills. This study employed a quantitative research methodology to gather data for this study. Data were collected from the pretest and post-test and were analyzed using descriptive statistics via the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Wilcoxon tests. There were 30 of Year 3 primary school ESL pupils from one of the prominent government primary schools in Selangor were chosen to participate in this study. According to the findings of the present study, 15 participants of the experimental group who had studied reading through graphic novels did better on the post-test, demonstrating the value of the medium in teaching the reading domain. This study would benefit ESL teachers in planning an effective, interactive, and fun reading lesson to pique the pupils’ interest in reading. It also offers valuable insights for the researchers and policymakers of incorporating graphic novels in reading practices.