The IAFOR Journal of Education

Volume III - Issue II - Summer 2015

Online Comic in Mandarin Chinese’s Vocabulary Learning: A Case Studyof Budi Utama Multilingual School in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Nuning Catur Sri Wilujeng and Yu-Ju Lan

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Abstract
This study was aimed to investigate 1) the improvement of CFL elementary-school students’ skillin learning Mandarin Chinese (hereafter referred to as Mandarin) vocabulary through creating
comic without online resources, creating online comics individually and collaboratively, 2) the
CFL elementary-school students’ attitude towards the application of comics in learning Mandarin
vocabulary, and 3) the CFL elementary-school students’ attitude towards the application ofcollaborative activities in learning Mandarin vocabulary. The research design was based on aquasi-experiment using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Three classes participated inthis study: one class was the control group using text-based instruction without online resources;
the other two classes were the experimental groups 1 and 2. In the experimental group 1, students
worked individually on online comic whereas in the experimental group 2, students worked
collaboratively on online comic. All participants were Grade 5 students of Budi Utama
Multilingual School in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The collected and analyzed data included
performances on Mandarin vocabulary, in-class observation, questionnaires, and interview. In
Mandarin vocabulary performances, the experimental group 2 outperformed the other two groups
and the experimental group 1 performed better than the control group. In the students’ attitude,
the experimental group 2 behaved more positively than the two other groups, and the control
group behaved more positively than the experimental group 1.
Keywords: Online comic; Mandarin; collaborative learning; computer supported collaborative
learning (CSCL); technology enhanced language learning (TELL).

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Introduction
At the present, Mandarin is an increasingly popular language to learn around the world and it has
the largest number of people who speak it as their first language. Saville-troike (2006) noted thatthe four most commonly used languages in the world are Chinese, English, Spanish, and Hindi.
In Indonesia, there were more than 620 Mandarin schools between 1965 and 1966. Due to thepolitical problems, most of those schools were forced to close in 1967 (Wen, 1997, p.1). After
reformation began in 1998 under President Abdurrahman Wahid, a new policy was implemented
that would improve the status of Chinese-Indonesians by allowing them to acquire Chinese
names and learn/speak Mandarin.
In early 2000, a number of private multilingual schools were established in Indonesia. Budi
Utama is one of these multilingual schools where three languages (Indonesian, English, andMandarin) are used daily as the languages of instruction. Established in 2007, this is the only
multi-language school in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Mandarin is taught in Budi Utama Multilingual
School from kindergarten to secondary school. Presently, grade 7 is the highest level in that
school. The school uses a Chinese Language textbook (小学华文) from Singapore for teaching
primary school students. The students from Grade 5 who participate in this research have highcompetence in both pronunciation and speaking. According to the interview with one of the local
teachers, some of the students have already achieved level 3 on the Youth Chinese Test (YCT).
The school supports the students to take this Chinese proficiency test which is an internationallystandardized test launched by Hanban in Mainland China. YCT is directed at examining nonnative primary and secondary school students’ capability in applying Chinese language in theirstudies, personal lives, and work. This would mean that the students already have acquired morethan 300 words and characters in their vocabulary (Hanban, 2010). Yet, they still have somedifficulties in dictation and writing Chinese characters, particularly because these students havebeen accustomed to writing in pinyin. These students may attempt to apply techniques used when
they were brought up learning the Indonesian language, which is written using the Latin alphabet.
Therefore, students find it difficult to write Chinese characters (Cook, 2003; Larsen-Freeman &Long, 1991; Jiang, 2008). The use of technology to enhance language learning, especially in
writing Chinese characters (Zhao, 2003) can potentially improve their ability.
Based on the preliminary survey, Grade 5 students at that school stated that they have a PC
computer at home, a laptop, tablet, and/or smart phone. The school also provides a computerclass of two periods a week (total 80 minutes). However, the technology has not been integrated
in supporting their Mandarin language learning. Therefore, many students rely on Google
translate to help them complete their homework assignments.
According to New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report (2012), the workplace isincreasingly collaborative, which subsequently leads to changes in the way student projects are
structured. Moreover, the abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via
internet is increasingly challenging us to constantly refocus on our roles as educators. Therefore,
the education paradigms are shifting to include online learning and collaborative models. As aresult of these conditions above, there consequently will be a new emphasis on more challengebased and active learning in classrooms. In regards to comics as a learning activity, a research
work done by Clark (2000) shows that comics have positive effects on students. Comics engage
our attention and serves as entertainment; moreover, it presents information in a non-threatening
manner. Doring (2002) adds that comics can also be used as stimuli to encourage thinking anddiscussion skills. Other research by Rule and Auge (2005) shows that students who learn using
comics achieve higher test scores and can provide examples of why they enjoy learning in thismanner. By using comics, the students engage themselves in self-motivated practice.

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Mandarin Teaching in Indonesia
According to the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia, Curriculum of 2013 has been
applied throughout the levels of education in Indonesia. Mandarin has the similar status as thoseof local languages and/or foreign languages; therefore, it is integrated into the local content of thesubjects of Culture and Art Crafts (Group B) provided in Table 2-1 (KPK, 2013, p.3). Schools areallowed to teach Mandarin for Grade 5 students up to 5 periods in a week. Each period lasts forroughly 35 minutes. The integrative thematic learning is implemented in this 2013 curriculum.
Table 1. Curriculum 2013 for Elementary School (KPK, 2013, p.3)
Subjects

Time Duration of Learning in a Week
I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Religion and Moral Education

4

4

4

4

4

4

Pancasila and Citizenship Education

5

5

6

4

4

4

Indonesian Language

8

9

10

7

7

7

Mathematics

5

6

6

6

6

6

Natural Sciences

-

-

-

3

3

3

Social Sciences

-

-

-

3

3

3

Culture and Arts Crafts

4

4

4

5

5

5

Sports Science

4

4

4

4

4

4

30

32

34

36

36

36

Group AGroup B

Total

However, the school forms the learning unit, meaning it has the right to develop its own
curriculum based on the needs of the students. It precisely means that the school may reduce or
add the period’s number and/or the time duration of subjects belonging to Group B in Table 1.
Budi Utama School develops its curriculum and gives 7 periods of Mandarin for 5th gradestudents. Each period consists of 40 minutes. There are 3 Mandarin teachers, two of them being
native Mandarin -speaking teachers and only one of them being a local Mandarin teacher. The
component of material and/or language skills is listed in Table 2.
Table 2. Mandarin Teaching Composition for 5 Grade Students
Language Skills/ Contents

Periods per Week Teacher

Mandarin Speaking

3

NativeChinese Culture

2

NativeMandarin Reading and Writing

2

Local

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People in Yogyakarta are either bilingual or multilingual (Margana, 2009). Somehow, Mandarin
is a foreign language to most Indonesians, as it plays no major role in the community and it isprimarily learnt only in the classroom. The students are getting language exposure only during
the school period. During the class break, the students soon switch into Javanese or Indonesianlanguage in oral communication with other students. Therefore, there is a lack of writing activity
using Chinese characters.
Despite this, Budi Utama is flexibly allowed to modify the periods of teaching the subject inGroup B in Table1; however, the language skills listed in Table 2 does not reflect the needs of thestudents. Students encounter more language differences in writing skills rather than otherlanguage skills (Sutami, 2008). Furthermore, since students in Budi Utama are used to using
Hanyu Pinyin, the experiment would consist of both Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin. Thisis also stated by Saville-troike (2006) about the learner characteristic and circumstances.
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning has been found to beneﬁt students in various disciplines as it contributes tostudent learning. Liao (2014) states that the contribution can be divided into two aspects:
academic and social. In regards to the academic aspect, studies ﬁnd that collaborative learningbenefits students in academic achievement, as well as positive attitudes toward the subject matter,
commitment to learning, critical thinking, and problem solving skills (Liao, 2006; Wong &Abbruzzese, 2011; Huynh, Jacho-Chaves, & Self, 2010; McDuff, 2012; Xie, 2011). In terms of
the social aspect, researchers ﬁnd that collaborative learning sharpens and strengthens students’
overall communication skills, such as team working skills, emotional skills, and conﬂict
resolution skills (Jarvenoja & Jarvela, 2009; Prichard, Stratford, & Bizo, 2006; Yates, 2006).
Other advantages are also shown by Liao’s (2014) research towards high school collaborative
learning students in public speaking. The students managed to increase speech efficacy anddecrease their speech anxiety.
Another set of researchers find that collaborative learning that includes groups working together
and peer assistance have been widely used in reading programs to create the necessary intensity
and strong support for learning (Lan, Sung, & Chang, 2007). Collaborative learning (or peerassisted learning) can improve their reading outcomes (Ranker, 2007; Cary, 2004; Liu, 2004).
Collaborative learning does not only promote the development of positive attitudes towards othergroup members and learning material, but also builds social relationships and group cohesion(Kreijns, 2004). CSCL is synchronous cooperation/collaboration through shared workspaces(Baker & Lund, 1996). However, most of the empirical studies using innovative CSCL-specifictools (beyond windows sharing as part of video conferencing periods, etc.) were usually based on
selective experiments that were often conducted in a laboratory (Fischer & Mandl, 2001).
Online Comics
Persha and Nawvi (2004) state that vision is the primary sensory system for most people. Vision
plays an important role in all areas of development, especially the cognitive area, whereintellectual function is the product of this early sensory input through the eyes. Furthermore, thesimplified visual representation and the recurrent plot typical of comics help to elicit children's
interest in them (Jylhä-Laide, 1994). Students have assessed comics positively as they make thecourse more entertaining and make learning easier. They can reduce repetition and allow teachers
to run classes without the need of textbooks. They also make remembering words easy andpromote creative skills and motivate students to learn. In addition, Liu (2004) states that because
comics are highly visual texts, they have been shown to be especially effective for increasing
reading comprehension for second and/or additional language learners. Figure 1 presents an
example of an online comic.

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Figure 1. Example of an Online Comics
Previous comics’ research conducted by France (2010) based on the different foreign language
learning style provides learners with a prototype. An experiment toward high school students
shows that the approach attracts the students to learn foreign languages. The findings shows thatbesides the positive side, however, the online comics have some limiting aspects such as limited
collection, that users cannot easily identify the best characters, the different poses, or different
moods to represent their ideas.
Based on the explanation above and the literature reviews the potential of online comics incollaborative learning in improving vocabulary learning will be confirmed by answering and thefollowing questions:
1. What are the different improvements of CFL elementary-school students’ Mandarin vocabulary
among the three comics creation approaches (paper-based learning, individually online comics,
and collaborative learning online comics)?
2. What are the different attitudes among CFL elementary-school students towards application of
three comic creation approaches (paper-based learning, individually online comics, andcollaborative learning online comics) in learning Mandarin vocabulary?
3. What are the different attitudes of CFL elementary-school students towards the online comics
application between individual and collaborative creation in learning Mandarin vocabulary?
Online Comic in Mandarin Vocabulary Learning
ParticipantsStudents of Grade 5 from Budi Utama Multilingual School were the participants of the research.
There were three classes participating in this study: students in the control group were taught
under a text-based instruction and created comics individually without online resources; those in
the experimental group 1 created online comics individually; and those in the experimental group
2 created online comics collaboratively.

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Table 3. Students’ Profile

Items

Criterion

ControlGroup(N=16)

Individual Collaborative
ComicsLearning(N=14)(N=16)

M

5

7

6

F

11

7

10

9,79 yrs.

10,1 yrs.

GenderAge(in average) 10.07 yrs.

Have computer, tablet, or smart
phone

Yes

16

12

16

No

0

2

0

Experience in using computer,tablet or smart phone in learning
Mandarin

Yes

1

6

7

No

15

8

9

Research Design
The research design was based on the quasi-experiment design. Qualitative and quantitative
approaches have been used to collect and analyze data.
Instruments
Vocabulary Performance Test
A vocabulary performance test consists of both a pretest and posttest. This parallel test between
pre and posttest was developed based on the Student Book and Student Activity Book. It was also
combined with the Standard test YCT and TOCFL beginner level.
Comic Lesson Plan
The lesson plan was arranged based on the school curriculum for grade 5 students (日惹崇德三
語國民學校 課程活動安排表) and Mandarin writing activity for lesson 1 (學習寫字:完成活動本 1 頁到 2 頁寫字練習一課時).

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Table 4. Comic Lesson Plan
Task
Topic

Grammar
Point

Pre-Activity

去野餐

回答這些 疑問詞；什麼時候去?， 去哪裡野餐?，怎
麼去?，跟誰去?，帶了什
麼東西?，看什麼?，幾點
回家?

Control group: teacher distributes paper,and asks the students to create comics;
they can create a story by answering thequestions that have been prepared by theteacher; teacher uses PPT to expose somepictures that would stimulate students increating the story.

Students’ Main Task
Student manuallycreate comics

Example: 1)
The teacher asks the students about theweather of that day,”今天天氣怎麼樣?or
今天天氣好不好? This question tends tostimulate students in creating a story.

1) Students may
answer,”今天天氣很
好” or ,”今天天氣好”2) 去哪裡野餐?
2) Students cananswer “去山下野餐”, “去海邊野餐”or“去公園野餐”
Experiment Group 1: the students need tomove to the computer lab; students operate
the computer in the laboratory and go to
www.toondoo.com to create comics
individually using online resources;
teacher also uses PPT to expose somepictures that would stimulate students increating the story

The students create
comics individually
online on
www.toondoo.com

Experiment Group 2: the students workin small groups; the teacher gives ananimal name to the groups such as 青蛙，貓，蛇子，狗，兔子和老虎; the student
also needs to move to the computerlaboratory, 1 set computer for 1 group; theteacher also uses PPT to expose somepictures that would stimulate students increating the story

The students work ingroups to create thestory. In the group,
students willcommunicate eachother before deciding
the story. Students
also negotiate prior to
making groupdecision.

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Students answer thequestions by choosing
character, background,and accessories
provided in
www.toondoo.com

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Toondoo Online Comics
Toondoo (www.toondoo.com) is a free comic website which will be used as a media source in thelearning of Mandarin during the course of this research. The website says, “Toondoo is a cool,
comic-creating tool from Jambay, a fun site for kids. Jambay is devoted to creating a unique arrayof free and customizable online games of educational value for children of all abilities.”
In-Class Observation List
The observation list was revised from the previous research proposed by Lan, Sung, and Chang(2007). The list consists of three learning-related behaviors and learning-unrelated behaviors.
Questionnaire about Students’ Attitude towards Applying Comic in
Learning Mandarin
The questionnaire is based on Lund (2001) Measuring Usability with the USE. Initially, thequestionnaire was adapted from a document that consists of three dimensions: usefulness,satisfaction, and easiness.
Interview List
There are 6 questions about the application of online comic and collaborative learning.
PC Computers
There were 18 sets of computers in the computer lab which were connected to the internet. On the
keyboard, the Simplified Chinese Language feature has been added to the language choice.
Procedure
To obtain both qualitative and quantitative data, the mixed method has been applied in thisresearch. Figure2 shows the cycles about this mixed method in collecting data.

Figure 2. Mixed Research Model
Data Collection
The quantitative data was collected from scores of students’ pre and posttest vocabulary
performance.

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The qualitative data will consist of 1) students comic creation of two teaching units, 2) a video
recording to document in-class activity, 3) an in-class observation in an observation checklist, 4)
questionnaire, and 5) interview.
Data Analysis
The quantitative data were students’ scores from pretest and posttest on Mandarin vocabulary
performance. A two-way analysis of covariance was conducted, while the covariate is thestudents’ summative score in the previous semester. The score of comics creation will beanalyzed using a one-way Anova. Qualitative data consists of an in-class observation about
students’ behaviors. Data were collected from the video recording, and then rated by two raters,
which is noted on the in-class observation list; later, the data was analyzed by using Chi-Squareanalysis to investigate the comparison between three nonparametric data. Descriptive statistics
were conducted to analyze the qualitative data.
Results
Pretest and Posttest of Vocabulary Performance
Table 4 lists the descriptive statistics results of both pre and posttest. Regarding the scores ofpretest and posttest, the homogeneity test was significant (F(4.790)=.001, p<.05).
Table 5. The Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) of Pretest and Posttest’s Score
Control Group(N=16)

Individual Comics(N=14)

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

Pretest

60.68

17.12

60.00

12.61

60.25

13.65

Posttest

63.43

19.57

62.21

15.64

68.18

11.37

Test

Collaborative
Learning (N=16)

Table 5 presents a summary of the two-way analysis of covariance on students’ scores in pre andposttest of vocabulary performance, with the score of previous semester as the covariates. The
table shows that the interaction effect between test and group is not significant. This means that
there are no differences varied according to levels. The group factor is not significant(F(0.88)=0.41, p>.05). This means that no difference exists between the scores between pretestand posttest in the three groups. The test factor is significant (F(9.67)=0.007, p<.05), meaningthat the grouping of control group, individual comics, and collaborative learning gives
significantly different scores between pre and posttest.
Test within group (1) or control group is not significant (F(0.85)=0.359, p>.05); neither is the test
within group (2) or individual comics group (F(0.48)=0.489, p>.05). This means that both groups
still made some improvements due to the training, yet does not vary. While the test within group(3) or the collaborative learning group is significant (F(7.10)=.009, p<.05), meaning that theexperiment significantly benefited students’ vocabulary performance in the collaborative learninggroup.

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Table 6. Two-Way Analysis of Covariance of Vocabulary Performance
Type III sum
of squares

df

Mean
squareWithin Cells

6037.8485

71.03

Test by Group

135.98

2

67.99

.91

.409

Group

131.97

2

65.99

.88

.419

Group within Test (1)

2.69

2

1.35

.02

.981

Group within Test (2)304.422

152.21

2.14

.124

Test

458.111

458.11

9.67.007**

Test within Group(1)

60.50

1

60.50

.85

.359

Test within Group(2)

34.32

1

34.32

.48

.489

Test within Group(3)504.031

504.037.10.009**

Error

710.7915

47.39

Source of Variation

F

Sig.

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001`
Comic Creation
This section provides the comics creation done by control group, individual comics, andcollaborative learning. First, each comics creation will be scored based on a writing rubric(Jacobs et al., 1981); then, after being scored by two teachers, the final comics score stood as thedependent variable in a one-way analysis of variance.
Comic creations done by the control group, the individual group, and the collaborative learninggroup are then being commented by the teachers and also scored based writing rubric. Figures 3
to 5 show some examples of students’ comic creation and the teacher’s comment based on thewriting rubric.

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Writing Rubrics
Content/ Idea Development

The plot of the unclear scene is delivered. The
female student wanted to tell that after her friend
left. She met a new friend. They became closefriends.
They used 我的 xin* instead of 新.

Organization

Opening, development, and closing is developed,
although was so limited.

Vocabulary/ Word Choice

There was no feeling of expression (難過，開心)Language Use/ Grammar

搬到……*

Mechanics

All sentences were written using Chinesecharacters (except for the word xin*)

Figure 3. Example of Control Group’s Comic Creation

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Writing Rubrics
Content/ Idea Development

The student is a female student. The idea is notabout 搬家, but rather 旅行.
新家破* should be 新加坡.

Organization

There is no completed story.

Vocabulary/ Word Choice

The student mixed 要 and 有; mentioned 新加坡,
真的啊, but no other vocabulary words.

Language Use/ Grammar

我也有去* should be 我也要去.

Mechanics

There is no development in the story. It is also
impossible for people to say goodbye when too
close to the aircraft.

Figure 4. Example of Individual Comics’ Creation

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Writing Rubrics
Content/ Idea Development

The main character is chosen by a male student
Story can be developed a bit longer
Some exclamation word was not written in
Mandarin such as “yipi” or “uh”

Organization

There is an opening, development, but still needs aclosing

Vocabulary/ Word Choice

There is no feeling expression (開心，難過)Language Use/ Grammar

No related story between picture 4 and 5

Mechanics

More Chinese characters are applied in the comics

Figure 5. Example of Collaborative Learning’s Comic Creation
Table 7 presents a summary of the one-way analysis of variance on students’ scores of comics
creation. This analysis is then followed by the post hoc analysis in Table 8.

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Table 7. One-way Analysis of Variance of Comic Creation
Source of Variation

Sum ofSquaresdf

Mean
SquareF

Sig.

Between Groups

428.8262

214.41333.523.000***

Within Groups

275.027

43

6.396

Total

703.85345

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001`
Table 8. Post Hoc Analysis(I) Students_Group

Tukey
HSD

ControlGroup

Individual
ComicsCollaborative
learning(J)
Mean
Students_Group Difference
(I-J)

Std.
Error

Sig.

95% ConfidenceInterval

Lower
Bound

Upper
Bound

Individual
Comics-0.64286

0.925530.768-2.8895

1.6038Collaborative
learning-6.68750*

0.89415 .000***-8.858-4.517

Control Group

0.64286

0.92553-1.6038

2.8895Collaborative
learning-6.04464*

0.92553 .000*** -8.2913-3.798Control Group

6.68750*

0.89415 .000***

4.517

8.858

Individual
Comics

6.04464*0.92553 .000***

3.798

8.29130.768

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001
In-Class Observation
There are 2 categories of students’ behaviors in the classroom: learning related and learning
unrelated behavior (Lan, Sung, & Chang, 2007). In-class observation is based on their activities
in the classroom that has been recorded and then decoded by 2 raters. The Pearson correlation
was 0.000 and it is significant at the 0.01 level.

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Table 9. Chi Square Analysis Result
Value

df

Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)Pearson Chi-Square

495.000

25.000***

Likelihood Ratio

230.067

25.000

Linear-by-Linear
Association

72.0941.000

N of Valid Cases

99

Pearson Chi-Square

500.000

25.000***

Likelihood Ratio

319.851

25.000

Linear-by-Linear
Association

84.0171.000

N of Valid Cases

100

Pearson Chi-Square

400.000

25.000***

Likelihood Ratio

235.901

25.000

Linear-by-Linear
Association

76.320

1.000

N of Valid Cases

100

GroupsControl Group

Individual Comics

Collaborative
Learning

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001
Table 10. The Frequency of the Learning Behavior (in %)Group

Learning-Related Behavior

Learning-Unrelated
Behavior

CreateComicCreatecomic
withdialogue

Createcomic with
dialogue inChinesewriting

PlayingwithothersControl
Group

64.89

12.33

8.47

5.08

6.28

2.94

Individual
Comic

38.13

23.47

10.59

12.5

8.91

6.41

Collaborative
Learning

39.06

29.50

29.41

0.94

0.47

0.63

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

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Moving Playing
aroundalone

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Students’ Perception about Comics Learning
Students’ perspective about Comics learning is presented in Table 11. Based on the mean of eachgroup, the collaborative learning group students show the highest in every dimension. The
individual comics group students show the highest mean at every dimension in comparison withthe control group students. The data also notes that the satisfaction dimension was the highest
mean among the three groups. The control group and individual comics group have the same
preference; that is, usefulness of comics learning has the lowest mean. In regards to thecollaborative learning group students, the easiness was at the lowest dimension.
Table 11. Usability of Comic Learning
Questionnaire Dimensions

Control Group(N=16)

Individual
Comics(N=14)

Collaborative
Learning (N=16)

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

The whole questionnaire

3.122

0.678

3.259 0.652

3.396

0.626

Usefulness

2.990

0.692

3.208 0.649

3.426

0.606

3.185

0.693

3.223 0.692

3.262

0.692

3.188

0.658

3.381 0.597

3.574

0.535

Easiness

Ease of Using
Ease of
Learning

Satisfaction

The questionnaire also provided the essay section. There are 12 students expressing theirsatisfaction in operating online comics; 2 students did not give any other comments. There are 8
students, who also said that the internet connection was too bad, and 1 student said that thecomputer needed to be upgraded; 3 students said they need much more time to create online
comics. In the collaborative learning group, 10 students showed their satisfaction by rating online
comics as being fun and interesting, and that they love working on online comics. 7 students
stated that the internet connection was very unsupported, 7 students mentioned about the limited
time given; 2 students said that online comics was easy, and 1 student declared that online comics
is fun, but a bit difficult.
Interview
Table 12. Interview Reports
Questions

Q1. Can you create comics
using Toondoo?

Individual
ComicsGroup(N=14)

Collaborative
Learning Group(N=16)

Yes

No

Yes

No

100

0

100

0

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Q2. Do you like create
comics using Toondoo?

100

0

100

0

Q3. Do you practiceToondoo at home?

71

29

75

25

Q4. Do you like theactivity?

50

50

54

44

Q5. If you are interested in
Toondoo, will you tell
about it to yourfriends? How?

42

58

75

25

Note *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001`
Conclusions, Limitation, and Recommendations
Conclusions
There is development in students’ Mandarin vocabulary, the collaborative learning group shows
the uppermost result, followed by the individual comics group and control group. The mean
between pre and posttest for the control group is 60.68 and 63.43 respectively; individual comics
group is 60.00 and 62.21 respectively; and collaborative learning group is 60.25 and 68.18
respectively. This performance was also reinforced by their comic creation performance where
the collaborative learning group got the highest score based on the rubric writing score with themean of 5.90, followed by the individual comic group with the mean of 1.14, and the control
group with the mean of 1.02.
Students from three group who created comic in different approaches showed that satisfaction is
the highest dimension (Mean= 3.381). Control group and individual comics students declared thatthe easiness dimension is better than the usefulness dimension. Students from the experimentalgroups stated that they are satisfied about applying online comic in learning Mandarin. The
satisfaction dimension showed the highest percentage (28.26%), followed by the usefulness
dimension (26.80%), and the easiness dimension (22.34%). From the essay section, students alsomentioned about adding some periods of time and increasing the stability of internet connection
during the experiment.
The general attitude among students about collaborative learning was strongly positive. They
managed time to accomplish the task, and showed no signs of distractions such as playing around,chatting with other, etc. For most of the time, they would discuss about which character theyshould choose, how to deliver the story, etc. This attitude also reinforced their comics creation
performance that they can do better than the other 2 groups. Based on the further interview, there
were 5 students who preferred to work individually, 7 students who preferred to work
collaboratively, and 4 students who can work both individually and collaboratively.
These findings mentioned above imply that 1) working collaboratively is more beneficial for the
students to accomplish a project/task, 2) time duration and internet stability are inevitable inonline activity, and that 3) creating story or writing activity is hard for any children of that age.
Limitations
This research does not cover the different preference about male and female students in creating48

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their character in comics creation, nor the different styles between male and female students indelivering dialogue. Some comic creations showed the tendency that male students prefer adding
the animal character into their comic creation, while the female students prefer the female
character to represent them in the story. Male students use more interjection (oh, yipi, wow,
arghhghgh, etc.) than female students. In the future, it will be more sounding if both terms were
included in the research area.
It was the first time for the students to practice typing Chinese characters. Therefore, it is ideal forthe need of more training towards typing Chinese characters. Students were still confused when
they tried to switch into typing Chinese characters, in which case they asked the teacher forassistance. After typing the Chinese character, they still chose which one was deemed the mostcorrect. A student typed xīn 新 jiā 家 pò 破* instead of xīn 新 jiā 加 pō 坡 given the same Hanyu
Pinyin. If only learning strategy was incorporated into this scope of research, the finding would
be more abundant. A student opened Google Translate to know whether his typing was correct ornot; other students checked their textbook to confirm the Chinese character. This phenomenon
implies that even the Hanyu Pinyin system is still needed in learning Mandarin, yet when typing acharacter, there is always another application that they can use to support their writing. Based on
the school curriculum, the higher the level of Mandarin learning, the more writing activity
students will practice.
This research also neglected the learning style of the students. Some students may have visual
style, audio style, or kinesthetic style. For higher level of education, the regrouping based on the
different learning style in creating comics may give better impact not only in learning language,
but also in developing skills in the animation business in the future.
Recommendations
It is recommended for the schools in Indonesia, especially in Yogyakarta, to integrate technology
in learning language, for example apply online learning.
Collaborative learning, especially CSCL, should be applied in daily activity, as it is significantly
beneficial for students to excel in a learning activity, learning behavior, and learning products.

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