Comic Strip Representation: An Analysis Through Visual and Verbal Elements

This study analyzes the representation of visual and verbal elements in comic strips from the 9th-grade English for Nusantara textbook using a deductive content analysis approach. Seventeen comic strips were examined in total. Visual analysis employed Kress and van Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar to investigate representational, interactive, and compositional meanings. Verbal analysis was conducted on fifteen comic strips using Halliday’s transitivity system, focusing on processes, participants, and circumstances; two strips were excluded as they did not meet the criteria for verbal analysis. The results indicate that the comic strips visually depict action-oriented learning, integrate technology, and incorporate cultural elements. Centered framing and offer gaze are utilized to direct students’ attention. Verbally, material and relational processes predominate, presenting characters as active participants within structured social contexts. In contrast, mental and verbal processes are limited, emphasizing observable actions. These findings offer insights into the ways visual and verbal elements construct meaning in EFL textbook comic strips. The emphasis on observable actions and the limited depiction of mental and verbal processes suggests areas of meaning representation that require further investigation.