Abstract

This quantitative study investigates the impact of integrating Powtoon media into English language education to improve ninth-grade students' narrative text writing skills. The research, conducted in a single class at MTs Muhammadiyah 1 Taman, involved 26 students selected through purposive sampling. Pre-tests and post-tests were administered before and after using Powtoon, with findings indicating a significant enhancement in students' grammar, vocabulary, and narrative coherence. The study highlights Powtoon's potential as an engaging educational tool to address learning challenges and improve language learning outcomes, recommending further content development for future research and teaching practices.

Highlight:

1. Powtoon improves narrative writing.
2. Quantitative study shows effectiveness.
3. Emphasizes need for content expansion.

Keyword: Powtoon media, narrative text writing, language education, ninth-grade students, quantitative study

Introduction

English consists of four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listePning. For junior high school students' English learning to be successful, these skills must be learned while studying the language. One of the most crucial abilities that students must master is writing ability. Particularly writing is not always that easy for academic students, and it requires a lot of practice and study to make the students improve their skill in writing. Teaching writing skills, in Heaton's opinion, can be challenging because it necessitates a mastery not only grammatical and rhetorical strategies but, also conceptual and judging elements [1]. Muliani added that the only ability realized in the written form necessary in the academic field is writing [2]. Writing is a challenging skill to develop. Writing is typically difficult for students, especially writing in English. According to Oshima and Hogue, writing is a skill that both native English speakers and English language learners should study and practice [3]. Since writing is one of the essential skills to master, it needs a particular approach to practice. Writing involves several different elements, according to Hyland, including editing for audience, content, voice, and rhetorical organization [4]. According to White and Arndt students must be able to communicate their ideas in writing. Drafting, structuring, reviewing, concentrating on and coming up with ideas, and evaluating are some stages of writing [5]. Through some difficulties that may be appeared, English teachers need to find solutions to learn writing. Using media is one of the ways that can be chosen to help students to learn writing..

Digital media can be one of the best media that will be used. Video is an interesting one because it contains audio and visual that makes the students interested. According to Brown, using digital video in the classroom greatly helps students make connections between theory and practice [6]. One of the digital videos that can be used is Powtoon. Powtoon is attractive and enjoyable in audio-visual media. Fauziah said the use of handwriting animations, cartoon animations, more colorful transition effects, and simple timing are all possible with Powtoon [7]. Powtoon is made of a short video that gives an explanation through pictures, colors and shapes. Learning through video not only brings information in a different way but also keeps students entertained to prevent boredom. Yuliantini claims that a web-based tool called Powtoon has cartoons, graphics, animation, and images [8]. The teacher can make learning engaging and enjoyable by using Powtoon.

Some researchers did the same research using Powtoon media. One of them is Oktaviani, Mandasari, and maharani; In the previous study, the researchers observed the implementation of Powtoon media using a qualitative method [9]. The researcher discovered that junior high school students' ability to write fiction can be enhanced by using Powtoon media. Meanwhile, another study by Al Fitri, conducted another study and discovered that using videos on Powtoon to learn has an impact on improving reading comprehension of recount texts [10]. Moreover, the study by Marantika found that Powtoon can be utilized to create recount text; to determine whether Powtoon can be used to teach recount text to eleventh-grade students, the researcher used two different classes, one as a control group and the other as an experimental group [11]. Then, a thesis by Khoirul found that teaching through Powtoon media can help the students in second-grade senior high school students to improve their ability to write narrative text [12]. Based on the some researches before, it proofs that there is an effect of using Powtoon in teaching and learning activities. Through the previous research that has been done, the researchers want to conduct new research using Powtoon media, which focuses on the effect of students’ writing skills in the narrative text and combining Powtoon Media with the retelling stories method. The researchers use one single class in ninth-grade junior high school. The difference between my research and the other research is in this study, researches combined powtoon with retelling stories method meanwhile, the other research only use Powtoon without combining with any other method.

The researchers use narrative text because it is based on the learning materials and syllabus in that school. Narrative text is a text that tells the sequence of past events, it has complications or problematic events and then a resolution to solve the problem. Brown stated that narrative is a recounting of an incident or occasion; it tells a story that demonstrates the validity of the argument [13]. Megawati stated that the purpose of a narrative text is to attract the reader with a wonderful imaginary story [14]. The narrative text is written to immerse the reader in a story. Özdemir claimed that a narrator's perspective on an event or series of events is based on place, time, and people [15]. The purpose of narrative text is to entertain or amuse the reader. There are two types of narrative text. There are fictional and nonfictional narratives. A fictional narrative tells the story of an imaginary event that occurred in an imaginary world such as; Folktales, novels, comic books, short stories, fables, legends, and fairy tales. On the other hand, a nonfictional narrative recounts a real person's life. In this research, researchers use a fable as an example of a narrative text. Researchers combined the Powtoon media and retelling stories technique using narrative text. Powtoon shows video about narrative text and researchers explain orally while the video played, then students need to retell the story through some pictures in their worksheet. According to Defrioka, retelling is the process of re-memorizing what we have heard and read. Retelling is one of the effective ways that can be used [16]. Retelling through pictures can help the students to arrange the sequence of the story and to understand the plots and characters inside. Reem stated that retelling is the process of redoing or reconstructing something [17]. Malinee, retelling a story with pictures can be a very effective way to learn a new language. It presents a goal for scaffolding language comprehension learning [18]. According to Morrow, Story retelling appears to use and extend the generative learning model in some ways [19].

Based on researchers’ pre-observation at MTs Muhammadiyah I Taman Sidoarjo on 31st October 2022, it was found that students still have difficulties in learning English, especially in writing. The students found some difficulties in writing, arranging the words, grammar and punctuation in the written text. The teacher also hasn’t applied digital media such as Powtoon video explainers in teaching and learning activities. Researchers chose this school because learning media using Powtoon hasn’t been applied yet. Considering the benefits of using video explainer and the need to improve student’s writing skills, the researchers want to know the effect of Powtoon in teaching and learning activities. Besides that, in the previous study, the researchers only used Powtoon as the treatment and recount text as the material; in this study, researchers combined Powtoon and retelling stories method for the treatment and researchers used a different material that is narrative text. According to Hansen, rather than answering pre-set questions when retelling a story, students should reconstruct the major events and ideas presented in the text [20]. To assist students in writing narrative texts, the researchers used Powtoon as a teaching tool. The narrative text could be well delivered through video explainers such as Powtoon because it has interesting animated features that support the video becoming more attractive. This could be an easier way to explain what is narrative text, the generic structure and the example of narrative text. Therefore, it was hypothesized in this study that using Powtoon media would significantly affect the students in lower secondary school who were writing narrative texts by retelling stories. The research question is formulated as follows: (1) Is there any effect of using Powtoon media through retelling stories on writing narrative text at lower secondary school students?

Method

To find the answer to the research problem, researchers use quantitative method. According to Manurung, quantitative research aims to test objective theories by investigating the relationship between variables [21]. Ary defines the goal of quantitative research is to identify testable, verifiable hypotheses that explain phenomena by demonstrating how they are derived from theoretical premises [22]. The data has taken using pre-experimental design approach in one single class. This research was held around February to March in the second semester in 2022/2023 academic year. The population of this research is using one class in IX-A regular, with 26 students. Researchers use this class because it has been recommended by the teacher. In this case, the researchers used pre-test and post-test design in a single class. The purpose of this study is to determine whether Powtoon media has a significant impact on students' ability to write narrative texts. To get to know the result, the researchers are comparing both pre-test and post-test. The teacher gave a worksheet that contains the sequence of pictures of the story then the students need to retell the story that has been given by the researchers. After shown being Powtoon explanation video about the narrative text, researchers gave a worksheet that contains a sequence of pictures. The students need to retell the story according to their own words.

The population is a set of objects or subjects that will be studied. When studying a population, the researchers focus on one or more characteristics or properties of the object. Andriani stated that characteristic is called variables [23]. In this research, the population used is all the students in the ninth grade of MTs Muhammadiyah 1 Taman. The ninth grade consists of three classes, there are two classes of regular class and one class of ICP class. The regular class uses the following curriculum that has been decided by the government. Whereas, the ICP class uses a particular curriculum. In this study, researchers use one class that is IX-A regular class with 26 students.

The sample is part of the population. Ary defines a sample as a group chosen from a population for observation in a study It means a sample is a group of population for research [22]. The sample is the number of students that have given pre-test, treatment and post-test. Then researchers collected the result of the test sample to know the effect of using Powtoon media for learning to write narrative text. The researchers use purposive sampling which is the English teacher giving recommendation one class as the participant in this research. Therefore, the ninth A of the regular class is the participant in this study.

The researchers use the instrument to collect the data. The instruments are tools that are used by researchers to measure the students’ ability to understand about the material. In this study. The following instruments were used in this study:

A pre-test is given before doing the treatment during the teaching and learning process. A pre-test is done as a brain warm-up to measure students’ initial abilities before the treatment was given to the students. In this study, in the first meeting, researchers gave pre-test worksheets containing pictures with a sequence of events of a fable under the title “The Monkey and The Armadillo”. The students need to retell the picture in the written form according to their own words or understanding consisting of 3 paragraphs with min 100 words.

A post-test is given after the students get treatment from the teacher in the learning process. In post-test researchers compare the result between before and after the treatment was given. In the third meeting, researchers gave a post-test worksheet containing pictures with the title “The Rabbit and The Turtle” The students need to write the story in their worksheet consisting of 3 paragraphs with min 100 words.

Researchers need to prepare some attributes before directly teaching the students such as; lesson plan, validity form, Powtoon video as the media and work sheet. Researchers have to be well-prepared before taking the data. Researchers gave samples of the worksheet and video to the English teacher due to the validity stuff before given to the students.

Researchers have validated the instruments before doing the research such as pre-test and post-test worksheets, media (Powtoon video), and lesson plan to the expert. Researchers have validated in two experts to prove that the instruments are ready to use.

Some criteria about writing skill. The criteria of writing elements according to Hughes [24]:

Tabel 1. Criteria of Writing [1]

The data is collected using a test instrument by the researchers. The researchers gave pre-test and post-test in one single class. The goal is to find how much they can handle before the treatment and after giving the treatment. Then the researchers measure both results. It is to see how well Powtoon media can be used for the students in writing a story, particularly in narrative text.

The steps for collecting the data:

1. The researchers came to MTs Muhammadiyah 1 Taman, Sidoarjo and asked permission to do the experiment at the school

2. The researchers prepare all the instruments that will need.

3. The researchers come to one single class that is the ninth grade regular B with 26 students as a sample.

4. In the first meeting researchers gave the pre-test before giving the treatment.

5. The researchers gave the treatment to the students which is taught by using Powtoon as the media. The treatment was given once in the second meeting.

6. In the third meeting researchers gave a post-test to the students.

7. The researchers analyze the data between pre-test and post-test results.

8. The treatment is visualized as follows:

Figure 1.The Picture of Powtoon [1]

Figure 1 shows the picture of powtoon that has used for the treatment. The video explain about what is narrative text, generic structure of narrative text and example of story using fable.

To know the hypothesis of the effect of using Powtoon media to teach narrative text before and after the treatment, the experiment will be tested using SPSS 26 program, researchers use Mann-whitney test which is the data ‘significant’ of pre-test and post-test is smaller than significant value (0.05) it can be concluded that the research data has shown a significant effect.

Finding and Discussion

Based on the result that already obtained, the data are discussed in detail. Data was gathered through the use of quantitative research. Quantitative data provides a precise count of the students' written results.

Figure 2.Test of Normality [2]

Figure 2 shows the result of normality test for Class IX-A students before and after the treatment. The result of the figure above shows a significant pre-test value of 0.014. and for the post-test value shows a significant value of 0.029. Because the significant value shows the result is smaller than 0.05, it can be concluded that the results of the normality test are said to be abnormal. Because the results show that it is not normal, the Mann-Whitney U test is used.

Figure 3.Mann-Whiteney U Test [3]

Figure 3 shows that there is a significant difference in student learning outcomes between the pre-test and post-test in English subjects in writing narrative text material so that, the hypothesis is accepted. Based on the results that have been obtained, Asymp. Significance (2-tailed) 0.000 which is smaller than significant value (0.05) therefore based on the results that have already obtained, it can be concluded that there is a difference in learning outcomes before and after the treatment application of Powtoon as the learning media. Because there is a significant difference, it is said that there is an influence on the use of powtoon media through the retelling method on learning outcomes in English subjects with narrative text material.

Figure 4.Diagram of Pre-Test and Post-Test [4]

Figure 4 shows that there is an increase in students' writing ability after the treatment. The mean in pre-test results is 13.50 and in the post-test result is 39.50 it shows that there is a significant difference in students’ pre-test and post-test.

Researchers conducted a pre-test activity on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023. Researchers gave test before applying treatment to measure the students’ understanding of how to write a story in narrative text. Meanwhile, the post-test was conducted on Monday, February 6th 2023. Post-test is used to measure students’ understanding through the content of the story after applying the treatment. The practice session is purposed to practice after applying the treatment, so after the treatment was given then researchers gave a worksheet to practice before doing the post-test session. In this study the treatment only done once because the teacher only gives 3 meeting for the experiment. The result obtained the students got a higher score after applying the treatment. Based on the five criteria of writing elements according to Hughes; content, organization, language use/grammar, vocabulary and mechanics, most of the difficulties faced by the students are grammar and vocabulary [24]. Students still have difficulties in arranging sentences with the right grammar. The common mistakes mostly done by the students is grammatical error such as, the narrative text should be written in past tense because it already happened in the past but they wrote it in present tense. Researchers also find some mistakes in punctuation and preposition in their sentences. They also have not been able to choose the right vocabulary to arrange the sentence into paragraphs. Even though the students were allowed to open the dictionary but they still had difficulty to choose the right word. Although in some aspects the students are less but in other aspects they still get the higher score and get improvement than in the pre-test session. Nurdiansyah, Faisal and Sulkipani claim that using and designing technology or media, in particular, can greatly contribute to effective learning for all students and assist them in reaching their full potential regardless of their innate abilities [25]. The students felt excited when received the materials and instruction through an attractive animated video.

The use of digital media gives a good impression and impact on the students. Sahroni, Purwanto and Sumantri stated that in the current era, digital-based media-based learning is indeed very necessary, particularly to accommodate the development of learners who are very familiar with the advancement of technology and information [26]. According to the previous research by Oktaviani, Mandasari, and Maharani the research on using Powtoon to increase English class students' comprehension. Information was gathered through observation, testing, and questionnaires. The findings indicated that university students are interested in using technology in the teaching and learning process. It was found to be extremely beneficial to improve their understanding [9].

In other previous research by Fitri, it focused on teaching reading recount text through Powtoon media. The data was obtained through Classroom Action Research (CAR). The result of the research is Powtoon is a learning media that has proven to be able to affect the improvement of learning outcomes [10]. Using Powtoon to teach the students to write narrative text through retelling stories made them enjoy learning and ease them to write especially in narrative text. Through some pictures that have shown made them easier in writing narrative text on their worksheet. Students get new information that provides information about narrative text in a unique way, so that they are not get bored. Students feel more confident in writing the story according to their understanding and experienced different ways in learning English. Powtoon application was able to provide attractive animated stuff that makes the material well delivered.

Conclussion

The usage of powtoon media through retelling stories in writing narrative text was successful, which it recommended for teachers to improve the students’ writing skills in narrative text. The result shows that post-test score has increased than in the pre-test score. The research that has been done has shown that Powtoon media significantly improved students' ability to write narrative texts. The result obtained the students got a higher score after applying the treatment. Based on the five criteria of writing elements according to Hughes; content, organization, language use/grammar, vocabulary and mechanics, most of the difficulties faced by the students are grammar and vocabulary [24]. Students still have difficulties in arranging sentences with the right grammar. The common mistakes mostly done by the students is grammatical error such as, the narrative text should be written in past tense because it already happened in the past but they wrote it in present tense. Researchers also find some mistakes in punctuation and preposition in their sentences. They also have not been able to choose the right vocabulary to arrange the sentence into paragraphs. Even though the students were allowed to open the dictionary but they still had difficulty to choose the right word. Although in some aspects the students are less but in other aspects they still get the higher score and get improvement than in the pre-test session. It gives different experiences for the students in learning English in a different way. Both teaching and learning activities could go well. Learning media are required to make students interested in studying. Additionally, teachers need more techniques to help students comprehend the material. Powtoon can be one of the effective way to use. According to the result of this study based on SPSS sig (2-tailed) is 0.000 that smaller than the probability is 0.05 (0.000 < 0.05). As a result, it can be shown that using Powtoon through retelling stories can improve students’ writing skill in narrative text. From Powtoon, students can get something fresh and attractive way to improve their skill and get more motivation to learn especially in learning English. Powtoon might be a fun educational tool for both students and teachers than given material in conventional classrooms with the same way. The limitation of this study shows that the content of Powtoon is short. It needs to be completed by giving more explanation inside. The next researcher is recommended to develop the content material to become richer so that, the concept of narrative text can be more detailed.

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