Benefits of Visual Aids

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Recent Advances in Educational Technologies

Using Visual Aids as a Motivational Tool in Enhancing Students’ Interest


in Reading Literary Texts
MELOR MD. YUNUS, HADI SALEHI, DEXTER SIGAN ANAK JOHN
Faculty of Education
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 UKM Bangi, Selango,
MALAYSIA
melor@ukm.my; hadisalehi1358@yahoo.com; altruist_boyz@yahoo.com

Abstract:- This study aims to investigate the teachers’ perceptions on the use of visual aids (e.g., animation videos,
pictures, films and projectors) as a motivational tool in enhancing students’ interest in reading literary texts. To
achieve the aim of the study, the mixed-method approach was used to collect the required data. Therefore, 52
English teachers from seven national secondary schools in Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia were selected. Five of the
respondents were also randomly selected for the interview. The analysis of the data indicated that the majority of
the teachers had positive perceptions of the use of visual aids. The use of visual aids enable the teachers to engage
their students closely with the literary texts despite of being able to facilitate students of different English
proficiency level in reading the texts with interest. This aspect is vital as literature helps to generate students’
creative and critical thinking skills. Although the teachers had positive attitudes towards the use of visual aids, the
study suggests that it will be more interesting and precise if it includes students’ perceptions as well.

Key-Words:- Visual aids, motivation, reading, literary text, ICT, ESL

1 Introduction main objective of this study is to analyze secondary


In the Malaysian English context, where English is school teachers’ perceptions on the use of visual aids
officially stated and taught as a second language, as a motivational tool in cultivating students’ interest
learning literature in English is not easy. This in reading literary texts used in the English syllabus.
difficulty arises because learning literature in English The fundamental questions addressed in this study
as a second language (ESL) class always poses many are:
language and cultural obstacles [1]. Thus, since
literature in English has made a serious comeback into 1. What are teachers’ perceptions towards the
the Malaysian classroom, it becomes the foremost task use of visual aids in teaching literary texts?
for the teachers to devise lessons creatively and 2. How can the use of visual aids be integrated
innovatively in order to engage students’ interest in in teaching literary texts?
literary learning and reading. 3. How can the use of visual aids be fully
Today’s students and classrooms are becoming utilized as an effective learning tool in
more diverse and unique each day. The emergence of motivating students to read literary texts?
information and communication technology (ICT) has
made it possible for teachers and students to 2 Benefits of Using Visual Aids in
collaborate with each other in diverse ways [2]. In Teaching Literature
literature classroom, students often encounter There are a number of benefits in using visual aids in
problems in reading and understanding the assigned teaching literature. These benefits are of paramount
literary texts in the literature component. It has been importance in maintaining a good momentum of
proven that secondary school students do not feel reading interest among students. Firstly, using visual
motivated to read literary texts due to lack of language aids in teaching literature creates strong engagement
proficiency and inadequate supply of teaching between students and the texts [5-6]. The use of visual
materials [3-4]. Thus, there is a need to insert the use aids like pictures, videos and projectors encourage
of visual aids in teaching literature in order to trigger students to read texts with interest, which make it
students’ motivation in reading literary texts. The easier for them to understand the abstract ideas in the

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Recent Advances in Educational Technologies

texts [5]. This proves the use of visual aids act as national secondary schools in Kapit, the largest
‘vehicles’ that can be used to enrich and enhance the district in Sarawak, Malaysia. The background of
act of reading [6]. Similarly, in research related to the these teachers ranged from novice to experienced
use of multimedia applications for language teaching teachers and from major to non-major in the area of
and learning literature, it has been stated that the English language teaching. The selection of the
insertion of visual aids in teaching enables authentic respondents was based upon convenience sampling.
communication between students and literary texts The questionnaire items were adopted from
[7]. Thus, it allows the students to have full Subramaniam, Shahizah Ismail & Koo’s (2003) study
concentration on the texts which leads to their and Hwang and Amin Embi’s (2007) study [13-14].
understandability of the story and flow of the texts. Moreover, in order to obtain specific information,
Secondly, students will be more motivated in semi-structured interview was applied in the one-on-
learning literature. The students have no interest in one interview with five respondents. The interview
learning literature due to the difficulties they was guided by a list of questions that were based upon
encounter in the literary texts even though they show the three research questions.
positive attitude towards the implementation of The first drafts of the questionnaire and the
literature in English syllabus [8]. In a study conducted interview protocol were examined by two experts in
by Sivapalan, Wan Fatimah Ahmad & Nur Khairun the field of TESL and ICT to ensure the validity of the
Ishak (2009), the importance of audio visual and other instruments. Moreover, to test the reliability of the
visual aids in enhancing students’ interest in learning instruments, they were piloted on three ESL pre-
literature was shown [9]. For example, the use of service teachers. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was
voice clips in teaching poems is vital because it could calculated (r = 0.70) and showed that the
help students to understand the meaning and the questionnaire was reliable. The respondents’
message of the poems better. Apart from that, the comments were also taken into account for its
insertion of animation of texts and graphics in the improvement. The respondents also had no difficulty
web-based multimedia as a tool to teach literature to answer the interview questions because they were
increases students’ interest in learning and reading clear and understandable. However, some changes
literary texts. were made in the questions for better understanding.
Thirdly, the use of visual aids in literature teaching
helps students to comprehend with literary concepts. 4 Findings and Discussion
Learning literature in English for ESL learners is quite This part discusses the general background of the
challenging. Learners often encounter difficulty in respondents and analysis of the teachers’ perceptions
understanding the literary concepts of the texts [10]. on the use of visual aids.
In order to cope with this learning problem, visual
aids such as graphics, illustrations, pictures, audio, 4.1 General Background of the Respondents
and video can be used to serve as a helpful tool in The respondents were varied in terms of qualification,
facilitating students’ understanding of the literary major of study, teaching experience, literature training
concepts occurred in the texts [11]. The characteristics and English proficiency level. These varieties are
of the visual aids like sound, light and color can actually of utmost importance as they ensure a
trigger and stimulate students’ understanding of the representative balance of respondents’ perception on
texts. Furthermore, learning literature through film the use of visual aids as a motivational tool in
puts struggling readers at less of a disadvantage. It boosting students’ interest in reading literary texts.
was found out that the use of films help students to
visualize clearly the literary theory and cultural
4.2 Teachers’ Perceptions on the Use of Visual
aspects found in the texts [12].
Aids
The analysis of the results showed that the majority
3 Method (96.2 %) of the teachers were in agreement that the
This study used a mix-method approach in which the use of visual aids is relevant and enjoyable. This was
researcher simultaneously collected both quantitative probably because the use of visual aids makes it easier
and qualitative data using a questionnaire and face-to- for the students to understand the abstract ideas in the
face interview. The questionnaire respondents
consisted of 52 English language teachers from seven

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Recent Advances in Educational Technologies

texts. This finding was supported by the interview utilized as an effective learning tool in motivating
data in which a teacher stated that: students to read literary texts. The majority (96.2 %)
of the teachers believed that the use of visual aids
Visual aid is a relevant method to enhance the creates enjoyable learning environment in the
students’ understanding in literary texts. So it is literature classroom. This was probably due to the
a very good method that could be applied by all characteristics of visual aids like sound, light and
the teachers. color that could trigger and stimulate students’ interest
in learning literary texts and thus automatically
Majority of the teachers (96.2%) also demonstrated creates a fun learning environment. Most of the
positive response towards the statement ‘I enjoy respondents also stated that visual aids can be fully
teaching literary texts using visual aids’. These utilized as an effective learning tool as they help
teachers probably had sufficient knowledge on the use students to understand clearly the literary concepts in
of visual aids and realized its importance in attracting the literary texts. This phenomenon was most
those students who were uninterested in reading probably because of the graphics used in the visual
literary texts to fully participate in literature lesson. aids undeniably served as a helpful tool in facilitating
The teachers also believed that the use of visual aids students’ understanding of the literary concepts
could improve students’ performance. It was proved occurred in the texts. Interestingly, this probability
when most of the teachers (94.2 %) were in favor with was supported by Pillai and Vengadasamy (2010) who
the statement ‘I do think the use of visual aids in claimed that the use of graphics, illustrations, pictures,
teaching literary texts can improve students’ audio, and video is a useful tool in assisting students’
performance’. Even one teacher believed that: understanding of the literary concepts in the texts
[11].
Visual aids are really helpful especially in The majority (88.5 %) of the teachers had positive
teaching literature and really help low level perceptions in response to ‘the use of visual aids
proficiency students. arouses students’ understanding of the importance of
literature’. This was probably because the teachers
The majority (92.3 %) of the teachers were in realized that literature helped their students in their
agreement with the statement ‘I find it easier to teach personal growth, cultural enrichment and most
literary texts using visual aids’. Since the literary texts importantly language development [8], [10] & [13].
are often abstract, it made it easier for the teachers to Moreover, most (86.5%) of the respondents
explain the texts through visual aids such as pictures believed that the use of visual aids assists students to
and animation videos. In the interview, even one cope with the complexity of the language used in the
teacher supported this belief that: literary texts. One of the interviewed teachers also
commented that:
Visual aids including movies, video clips or
powerpoint slides somehow enable them to get Videos and pictures allow the students to
the gist of the literature texts. comprehend better because they will be able to
see what is exactly happening in the literary
Overall, it can be interpreted that the majority of texts and they don’t really rely on listening
the teachers have positive perceptions of the use of where they might lose their concentration.
visual aids in teaching literary texts. In other words,
this is a clear indicator that the use of visual aids in Similarly, most (86.5 %) of the respondents
literature teaching is relevant as it meets the needs of believed that the use of visual aids helps the students
the second language learners in reading and learning to cope with cultural elements embedded in the texts.
literary texts. Besides, it is enjoyable to teach using This was probably because the use of audio visual,
visual aids which leads to the improvement in animated videos and films, graphic pictures and other
students’ performance in literature. visual aids helped the students to visualize the texts
clearly. This probability is tallied with what Muller
4.3 The Utilization of Visual Aids (2006) claimed that the use of film for instance, helps
This section presents the findings regarding the the students to visualize clearly the literary theory and
teachers’ perceptions on how visual aids can be fully cultural aspects embedded in the texts [12]. Moreover,

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Recent Advances in Educational Technologies

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