The Effect of Adapting Stories into Comics with AI on Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation

Abstract

This study examines the effects of AI-generated comic adaptations of literary texts on pre-service English teachers’ reading comprehension and reading motivation in an EFL context. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the study first analyzed quantitative data and subsequently used qualitative data to further elucidate the findings. The participants were 43 first-year pre-service English teachers enrolled in a Reading Skills I course at a state university in Türkiye, assigned to an experimental group (n = 23) and a control group (n = 20). Over a five-week period, the control group read authentic short stories in plain-text format, while the experimental group engaged with AI-adapted comic versions of the same texts. Reading comprehension and reading motivation were measured through pre- and post-test administrations, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with experimental group participants to enrich the quantitative results. ANCOVA findings indicated no statistically significant between-group differences in reading comprehension, although within-group gains were observed for the experimental group. Similarly, mixed ANOVA results revealed no significant effect of AI-generated comics on reading motivation. In contrast, qualitative findings suggested that participants perceived improvements in both reading comprehension and motivation, pointing to a divergence between measured outcomes and learner perceptions.