INCREASING READING INTEREST AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH TORAJA FOLK TALES IN COMIC FORM BY UTILIZING CHILDREN AS STORY CHARACTERS

Abstract

Increasing Elementary School Students' Interest in Reading Through Torajan Folktales in Comic Form by Utilizing Children as Story Characters.The reading ability of elementary school students from several studies shows low results. Based on research conducted by PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) in 2011, it was shown that the reading interest of elementary school students in Indonesia was ranked 41st out of 45 countries. This research aims to increase children's interest in reading through Torajan folk tales in the form of comic media, and to develop children's character through the storyline in the comic. This research was designed using Classroom Action Research (CAR). With the subject of fifth grade elementary school students in Rantepao, North Toraja and the object of this research is folk tales in comic form. Data collection was carried out through tests and observations and analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. After conducting learning using comic media, the pretest and posttest results showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). So it can be concluded that the use of comic media has an influence on increasing students' interest in reading.