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IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION AMONG YEAR 5 BUDI PUPILS THROUGH QUESTION AND ANSWER STRATEGY

By:

RABIHAH BINTI ABU BAKAR English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This is an action research using question and answer strategy to improve reading comprehension among five pupils in a primary school in Kuala Lumpur. It aims to determine the effectiveness of this strategy in helping pupils to understand text better. Several data sources were used: a pre-test, a post-test, an exercise for each intervention session, a formative test and an observation checklist. Data collected from these sources were analysed accordingly. Findings of this action research revealed that using the question and answer strategy worked well with the pupils. Their reading comprehension improved and they were able to answer questions based on the read texts. The observation checklist also showed that the pupils were able to participate and respond during discussion time. It proved that when the pupils understood the text, they would be able to participate actively. Key terms: Reading comprehension 1.0 INTRODUCTION Johnston (1981:16) states that “Reading comprehension is viewed as the process of using one’s own prior knowledge and the writer’s cues to infer the author’s intended meaning”. Reading comprehension which is reading with understanding is vital because it help pupils to derive meaning from reading. Without comprehension, reading is simply an action of following words on a page from left to right while sounding them out. So, to know the meaning of the passage read, the reader must read with an understanding of the text. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience I taught English in year 5 Budi (an average class) during phase 3 of my teaching practicum in Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Midah 2. After two or three times of interaction with the class, I realized that my pupils had a problem in reading comprehension. Out of the 33 pupils in the class, only 3 pupils could actually read fluently. The rest of the class needed help and guidance from the teacher to read. Therefore, I decided to find a suitable strategy to be apply in order to help them in making sense of text. When I first gave them a reading comprehension task, they could not do the task well. I gave them a text to read, and from their reading, they had to answer 5 comprehension questions based on the text. From the task, the majority of the pupils could only give 1 correct answer from the 5 questions given. Many of them could not understand even simple words such as “carrying”, “clearing”, “drain”, “grass” and “bench”. Thus, how would they be able to understand the text? Besides that, the length of the whole text and the words seemed not be of their level. Besides choosing a suitable text, guidance in the form of question and answer about the text would help them to develop an understanding of what they had read. 1.2 Related theory/literature

One of the techniques to improve reading comprehension is through question and answer strategy. It involves interaction between the pupils and the teacher as well as the pupils and the printed materials. Hence, the social interaction will help to develop pupils’ way of thinking and understanding the printed materials. The theory related with question and answer is the constructivist theory by Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky believes that the students learn better when they interact with one another in the classroom and teachers are encouraged to create a classroom atmosphere which allows students’ interaction (Santrock, 2010).

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Question and answer during the discussion of the text would help pupils to develop their cognition and understanding of the text. It occurs when the pupils have a chance to talk and share their ideas and answers with the teacher and their classmates. Apart from that, the question and answer technique at paragraph level will help the pupils to understand and comprehend in manageable chunks. This will then enable them to comprehend the whole text better. When it comes to reading comprehension, the interactive model of reading is a suitable model to be used. This model is a combined model between bottom-up and top-down which is usually used in language learning. The interactive model claims to be a successful one by many theorists. According to Coles (1998) “The interactive model has been described by many theorists as one of the most successful models of reading that helps the pupils to decode and comprehend the meaning of a text”. This model predicts that both good and poor readers may use both bottom-up and top-down processes during reading depending on the needs and difficulties at different times. Thus, the teacher can choose either to use the bottom-up and top-down processes of reading during the teaching and learning process. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

Through the teaching and learning process that I went through, I found out that the pupils in Year 5 Budi of SK Taman Midah 2 were rather weak in the target language and could hardly understand material given to them. Some of them were able to just read aloud the text but could not manage to answer questions given. When asked why, they admitted that they could not make sense of the text. This made me think seriously about what could be done to help the pupils. If this issue was not attended to, it would prolong and the pupils would stand to lose because reading comprehension is a vital skill in language learning.

3.0 OBJECTIVE The objective of this action research is to determine if the pupils’ reading comprehension has improved after using the question and answer strategy. Based on the objective stated, this study addresses two research questions:

Does question and answer strategy help the pupils understand text?

How does question and answer strategy improve reading comprehension skill of the pupils in understanding text?

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS I chose five pupils from 5 Budi as participants of my action research because of my interaction time with them. I spent almost one hour every day with them when I taught them English. From my discussion with their English teacher, she agreed that the pupils were weak in the target language. Before I implemented my action research, I tried to look at several areas my pupils were weak in. I found that reading comprehension was the major problem that I had to work on. A research that was conducted on a group of Year 5 students indicated that the subjects were able to read fluently but could not comprehend what was being read (Nor Hashimah Hashim, 2008). I also made other assumptions about my pupils’ weakness in reading comprehension. Could they be weak in their vocabulary as they were unable to pronounce words accurately? Another factor that I assumed was that the materials the teacher used to teach reading comprehension might be not suitable to the pupils’ level. I also assumed that the teaching strategy that had been used before was not suitable with the pupils. Notwithstanding all these, I found that most of my participants were actually unmotivated to read or do exercises on reading comprehension. Hence, through my intervention, it is hoped that it would help them to understand text better. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION Several steps were taken to complete this action research.

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5.1 Data Gathering Methods I collected some data to be analysed in order to answer my research questions. This was done through a pre-test, a post-test, an exercise for each intervention session, a formative test and an observation checklist. 5.2 Preliminary investigation

I began with an observation of the pupils during the teaching and learning process. I noticed that some of the pupils could read (though not very fluently) but they did not fully understand what they read. When I asked them to give an answer to my question, they could not give the correct response although the answer was in the text. I then administered a reading comprehension exercise to the pupils to find out whether my perception from the observation was correct or not. Thus, I gave the pupils a text and asked them to answer the questions given, however no one managed to answer all the given questions correctly. From the 5 questions that I gave, they could only answer 1 question. Hence, to address this issue, I used the question and answer strategy to help them improve their understanding of text.

5.3 Action I used S. Kemmis’ model for my action research. This model works on several cycles and each includes the following steps - plan, action, observe and reflect. In my research, two cycles were carried out. In Cycle 1, I did a pre-test and 1 session of intervention. The pre-test was conducted for 30 minutes in the classroom. The pupils read a whole text and answered the questions that followed. After that, I conducted one session of intervention with the pupils. This, however, did not reveal any marked improvement to the pupils’ reading comprehension ability. Therefore, Cycle 2 had to be activated so that more could be done to help the pupils in becoming better readers. In Cycle 2, I did four sessions of structured intervention each lasting about 15 minutes. After that, I did a formative test with the participants to find out the effect of the intervention. Several observations were conducted by another trainee teacher during the intervention sessions. She jotted down notes which provided extra information on the goings on during the intervention. For the final step, I conducted a post test to see if my pupils had improved and if so by how much. 5.4 Findings The data analysed showed that the strategy was very helpful to improve pupils’ ability in answering reading comprehension questions. The comparison between the pre-test and the post-test scores showed that all the pupils made progress in their reading comprehension as shown in Table 1. All pupils showed improvement except for one who already managed to answer all questions correctly right from the beginning.

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Table 1 Comparison between Pre-Test and Post-Test Marks

Besides that, the analysis on how pupils answered the comprehension questions also showed that the pupils had improved. Table 2 shows the responses from Pupil 1 whereby her response for one of the questions was written in a complete grammatical sentence in the post test. Table 2 Response from Pupil 1

Pre-test: while drinking the juice from the leaves can cure skin problems.

Post-test: The roots are used as a cure for fever while drinking the juice from the leaves can cure skin problems

Comment : -She did not give full answers in the pre-test. She also used small letters at the beginning of the sentence. -She gave full answers for the post-test

The observation checklist also showed that most of the pupils participated actively during the discussion of the paragraph and the text whereas before the intervention they were quite passive. 5.5 Conclusion Improving reading comprehension through question and answer can be an effective strategy for primary schools, in particular for pupils in the classroom where I did my research in. However, the implementation should be well planned in order to yield good results. My pupils showed some improvement after the intervention. What was more fruitful was the pupils’ willingness to participate in the discussions and activities carried out. This would definitely have a multiplying effect on their learning process and help them to make small but important advancements in the classroom.

5.6 Reflection This action research was conducted to identify the effectiveness of using question and answer strategy to improve reading comprehension. Although there are many other strategies that could be used to help the pupils improve in reading comprehension, I chose to use the question and answer strategy instead of other things. This strategy proved suitable as I was able to manage it, control it and eventually help my pupils improve. Although the results achieved helped to answer my research questions, there are still areas that could be improved upon. I am pleased with the findings of my action research. The results showed that my intervention was suitable and was able to help improve pupils’ reading comprehension. However more time should be allocated for the formative test because it involved whole text as compared to the time allocated for the intervention sessions. This would give pupils enough time to read the text to answer the questions. Consequently, it could have yielded clearer results. Besides that, I think that I should have shifted from a teacher centred approach to a more student centred approach so that pupils would be more actively involved in the learning process. As it is, I was the one in control of everything that took place during the intervention. Questions that we discussed were just from me. It would have been better if I had allowed pupils to ask questions too.

Pupils Pre-test Post-test Progress +/-

Percentage of the progress (%) Marks % Mark %

1 3 60% 5 100% +2 40%

2 3 60% 4 80% +1 20%

3 5 100% 5 100% 0 0%

4 3 60% 5 100% +2 40%

5 2 40% 5 100% +3 60%

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6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH I would like to suggest that the next time when there is a similar research, the researcher could plan the use of time more thoughtfully. Proper distribution of time would enable the researcher to put more focus on pertinent areas. This would help to bring about data which could throw more light into the study. Apart from that, it would be good if pupils were given the opportunity to ask questions while the rest of the pupils try to respond when discussions are held. This will help to build on pupils’ critical thinking ability which is in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, under the vision and aspirations of the students. Another suggestion that could be considered for further research is the type of text that could be used. In this action research, I used a factual piece of text. The researcher might consider using a narrative text instead and see if the outcome of the research is similar or different. In other words, it would be interesting to find out the effectiveness of the question and answer strategy through various text types. In summing up, these suggestions for further research could help bring about more interesting data which would help convince other researchers on the usefulness of the question and answer strategy and use it for the benefit of the pupils.

REFERENCES Coles, G. (1998). Reading lessons. New York: Hill and Way. Johnston, P. (1981). Implications of basic research for the assessment of reading comprehension (Technical Report. No 206). Urbana- Champaign: Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois. Nur Hashimah Hashim, Yahya Che Lah. (2008). International journal of the humanities; Vol. 6 Issue 2, 35. The reading comprehension level of primary school pupils. International Humanities Collection. Santrock, J. W. (12 edition 2010). Child development. United State: Mc Graw Hill.

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IMPROVING THE USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS AMONG YEAR 2 ESL PUPILS USING THE DRILLING TECHNIQUE

By:

SEE AI LI

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to improve the use of personal pronouns among Year 2 ESL pupils using drilling technique. Six pupils were selected as the participants from a school in Kuala Lumpur. The focus of this research was to investigate whether drilling technique can help to improve the use of personal pronouns among Year 2 pupils. The results from preliminary investigation suggested that the target group was having problem in using personal pronouns correctly. Thus, an intervention using drilling technique was adopted to help pupils to improve the use of personal pronouns. The research was conducted in two cycles, and three data collection methods were used: tests, observational checklist and document analysis. The results of pre-tests and post-tests in both Cycle 1 and 2 showed that the pupils showed progress after the intervention. The findings from the oral drills using observational checklist revealed that pupils could actually identify the subject in the example given, the gender of the subject and the use of correct personal pronoun to replace the subject. The findings from document analysis also proved that pupils progress in terms of identifying and using personal pronouns. The strength of the research was the involvement of the low proficiency pupils in learning the target language. Even though they were weak in the language, they managed to show improvement in the use of personal pronouns. The limitation in the research was that the focus was limited to only three subject personal pronouns. Key terms: personal pronouns, drilling technique 1.0 INTRODUCTION Grammar is a complex system of rules that governs how speakers make sounds into words and put words into sentences. When we produce a grammatical sentence, it means that we are producing the right sentence in the language. This view is supported by Dutt (2010) who states that “grammar contributes significantly to meaning intended by the speaker or the writer, in the absence of which, severe distortion of the text causes a breakdown in communication.” As for pronouns, it is the group of functional words that uses to substitute nouns to ease communication. Under pronouns, there are personal pronouns which are used to replace the people, animals or things instead of using nouns. Thus, pupils need to have a strong foundation in using personal pronouns in order to speak and write grammatically correct English. 1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience This research study was conducted when I had my teaching experience (practicum and internship). Throughout my teaching experience, I realised that some pupils’ language proficiency was a far cry from what they were supposed to have achieved. Based on my observations during my teaching, I found that some of the pupils were unaware of the correct use of personal pronouns. They were generally using ‘he’ to refer to everyone regardless of whether their friend was a male or female. I strongly feel that the pupils needed to be taught on how to use the personal pronouns correctly since this knowledge is crucial to make sense out of their message delivered.

1.2 Related theory/literature The behaviorist theory views drilling as a language learning strategy that has a profound effect in the second language classroom. This is further supported by Shinya and Ikhsan (2013) stating that “drill is usually used for a habit formation in second language acquisition”. Furthermore, behaviorists like Pavlov and Watson believed that “repetition is seen as important to bring about habit formation and learning…grammar is that part of a language that most closely resembles a habit. (Fries, 1945) In the case of language learning, we can say that with repetition, it becomes a condition where the habit is not yet firmly established. After more repetition, it forms a habit that enables pupils

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to gain proficiency through practice. Therefore, teaching-learning grammar would involve practices that result in habit formation. (Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam and Teh Soo Choon, 2005)

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS This research focused on improving the use of personal pronouns of Year 2 Dynamic pupils. The main reason for me to work on this research was because the pupils were not able to use the personal pronouns correctly. The incorrect use of personal pronouns will lead to miscommunication and confusion to occur. Thus, pupils were needed help to learn the use of personal pronouns to communicate effectively.

3.0 OBJECTIVE

This section presents the objective of my research. 3.1 General Objective The general objective of the research was to improve the use of personal pronouns among lower primary Year 2 pupils using drilling technique. 3.2 Specific Objectives

To find out whether drilling technique was able to help lower Year 2 Dynamic pupils learn the use of personal pronouns.

To investigate how drilling technique had helped lower primary Year 2 Dynamic pupils grasp the use of personal pronouns.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

Six pupils from 2 Dynamic were selected as participants for this study: five boys and one girl. Their language proficiency is from intermediate to low. There pupils were selected by their English teacher based on their lack of grammar knowledge on the use of personal pronouns.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION This section focuses on the data gathering methods that used to collect information regarding the effectiveness of the intervention, the preliminary investigation and the steps taken in carrying out the intervention. Kurt Lewin’s model was adopted in conducting this research. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods There were three data gathering instruments that I have adopted for this action research: tests, observational checklist and document analysis. The pre and post-test design was used because it was the best way to show whether my intervention had an effect on pupils learning. The observational checklist and document analysis were used to gather data to reveal on how my intervention had helped pupils in learning the use of personal pronouns correctly. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation Preliminary investigation was carried out through observations, casual conversations with pupils and also interview with the English language teacher. Based on the data gathered from preliminary investigation, pupils were confirmed ignorant of the use of personal pronouns in speaking and writing. 5.3 Action

Lewin’s model was adopted in this research. The first two stages, identifying general idea and fact finding were done during preliminary investigation stage. Then, it was followed by the planning stage that involved the selection of personal pronouns to be the focus. The intervention was

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implemented in the action stage and the data was collected and analysed after that. Finally, the reflection was done during the evaluation stage. Based on the reflection, an amended plan was constructed for Cycle 2. In Cycle 1, a pre-test was disseminated in the form of multiple choice questions, followed by two sessions of intervention using substitution table. Oral drills session was conducted after each session. During the oral drills, observation was done to collect information which was later recorded in the checklist. At the end of each session, a worksheet was given to the pupils to practice on the use of personal pronouns. The worksheets were collected for document analysis. A post-test were disseminated to the students at the end of Cycle 1. In the second cycle, another pre-test in form of cloze test was administered to the pupils. Two sessions of drilling practices were conducted in this cycle. Pupils were provided a context to practice the use of personal pronouns. During the drilling practices, I modelled to pupils on how to replace the subjects using personal pronouns in the context given. The same cloze test was administered to pupils as the post test.

5.4 Findings Figure 1 below presents the pre-test and post-test scores. The maximum score for pre-test was 5 while the lowest score was just 2. There were 3 out of 6 pupils who scored 5 questions correctly, 1 pupil scored 4 questions correctly, 1 scored 3 questions and only 1 scored the lowest marks with only 2 answers correct. Figure 1: Comparison of pupils’ pre-test & post-test scores for cycle 1 However, for the post-test, the maximum score was 10 whereas the lowest score was 5. There were a total number of 3 pupils who scored 10 which means they scored full marks in the post-test, two pupils scored 6 questions correctly and only 1 pupil scored the lowest marks of 5. The results indicated that the substitution drills provided were effective in teaching pupils the use of personal pronouns. In Cycle 2, the maximum score for the pre-test was 10 while the lowest score was 7 (figure 2). There were 2 out of 6 pupils who filled in 10 blanks correctly, while the other 4 pupils filled in 7 blanks correctly.

Figure 2: Comparison of pupils’ pre-test & post-test scores for cycle 2

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However, for the post-test, the maximum score was 12 whereas the lowest score was 8. A total number of 2 pupils scored 12 which means they scored full marks in the post-test, 1 pupil scored 11, 2 pupils had scored 9 and only 1 pupil scored the lowest marks of 5. The results indicated that the substitution drills in context provided were effective in helping pupils learn the use of personal pronouns. Observational Checklist The findings from the observational checklists were presented below.

Figure 3: Comparison of pupils’ ability in using personal pronouns during oral drills in Cycle 1

The results showed that pupils performed better in the second session of oral drills. During the first session, all the pupils were able to identify the subject from the example. Out of 6 pupils, only half of them managed to fulfill all the aspects in the checklist. However, there were three other pupils who were not able to identify the gender of the subject and use the correct personal pronoun to replace the subject. During the second cycle, somewhat surprisingly, all the pupils were able to fulfill all the aspects in the checklist. Pupils could identify the subject in the example, the gender of the subject and use the correct personal pronoun to replace the subject. The personal pronoun input given to the pupils during the intervention using substitution table seemed to have created a better understanding to pupils on how to use the personal pronouns. Hence, the intervention was helpful in helping pupils to be aware of the use of personal pronouns. Document Analysis

The findings from the document analysis are presented in Figure 3 below.

Figure 4: Comparison of pupils’ ability to use the personal pronouns in cycle 1 worksheets

The results showed that pupils experienced progress in term of using the personal pronouns from session 1 to session 2. In the first session, all pupils did not identify the subjects from the item. In terms of using the correct pronouns, only half of them showed consistency in using the correct personal pronouns to replace the subjects whereas the three other pupils were not able to show consistency in using the correct personal pronouns. However, after the 2 sessions of intervention, all

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the pupils showed an improvement in the use of personal pronouns. In session 2 worksheet, pupils were able to identify the subjects and replace them with the correct personal pronouns. This showed that after 2 sessions of intervention, pupils were able to identify the subjects and use the personal pronouns correctly.

5.5 Conclusion

In conclusion, the results suggested that drilling technique do have an effect of improving pupils’ use of personal pronouns. Perhaps drills should continue to be used. This is where the role of the teachers too is important in which they make that drills to have a place in our language classroom especially for less proficient population of our learners. 5.6 Reflection

The strength of the research was the involvement of the low proficiency pupils in learning the target language. Even though they were weak in the language, they managed to show improvement in the use of personal pronouns. The limitation in the research was the focus was limited to only three subject personal pronouns. It would be good if I had added more subject personal pronouns to be learned by the pupils. Another limitation was that I did not have the luxury of time to provide pupils with more sessions of drills. I believe if pupils are provided with more drills sessions, they can show even better progress. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH After conducting this action research, there are a few aspects that I would like to improve on. One of the aspects is that the scope of focus was too narrow with only three subject personal pronouns, ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘I’. I would like to select a wider scope of focus to get a better insight into the effectiveness of the intervention. Instead of focusing on only three subject pronouns, I can further investigate the effectiveness of the intervention on other types of pronouns such as possessive pronouns and reflexive pronouns. Furthermore, it is also recommended that future research could look into the use of drilling technique on pupils of different language proficiency levels. The pupils in this study were all low proficiency learners. Thus, it would be interesting to find out if the same result applies to pupils who have higher language proficiency levels but still lack in grammar accuracy. The research was carried out on pupils aged eight. A detailed research could also be carried out to investigate the effectiveness of this technique on different age groups. Perhaps the same problem is evident even among pupils of Level 2. It would be interesting to see whether the intervention will work among them. In a nutshell, it is hoped that through this research, other teachers will be aware that drilling does play an important role in teaching pupils the use of personal pronouns, since the results of my research show a positive effect on the pupils’ learning. Therefore, it is recommended for teachers to also look at how drilling can give an impact on pupils in other aspects of English language learning. It would be interesting to find out how teachers could use drills to consolidate pupils’ learning of other grammatical items such as verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. With the reinforced premise, perhaps pupils will be able to use English accurately. REFERENCES Dutt, J. (2010). English grammar made simple. Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.

Fries, C. (1945). The Audio-Lingual method. Retrieved August 16, 2014 from http://alternativeapproachessept2013.com/Audiolingual

Shinya, M. & Ikhsan, H, K, A. (2013). Applying drills to improve language proficiency. Retrieved on

August 16, 2014 from http://repo.lib.ryukoku.ac.jp/jspui/bitstream/10519/4822/1/r-ky_034_02_006.pdf

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THE USE OF PICTURES TO ENHANCE VOCABULARY FOR READING COMPREHENSION AMONGST YEAR 3 IXORA PUPILS WITH LIMITED VOCABULARY

By:

SITI NUR ADLINA BINTI ZAINUDDIN

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This research is conducted to investigate the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary for reading comprehension amongst Year 3 Ixora pupils with limited vocabulary. The participants in this research are five Malay pupils (three boys and two girls). All five pupils have difficulties when it comes to answering comprehension questions because they could not understand the text given. It shows that they have very limited vocabulary. I only picked five pupils with limited vocabulary as my target participants in this research. For the data gathering methods, pre-test and post-test, formative test and questionnaire are used. All the tests are conducted to see whether or not the intervention is successful. The pre-test and post-test marks are compared and the pupils shows improvement in their marks. After each intervention is carried out, a formative test is conducted twice to test the effectiveness of using pictures to enhance vocabulary using comprehension questions based on the text given. The pupils also show improvement in their marks. Next, a set of questionnaire is given to the five pupils to gather information on their preferences towards the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary for reading comprehension. Hence, based on the result shown, the use of pictures can enhance vocabulary as the pupils are able to answer the comprehension questions. Key terms: Pictures, Vocabulary, Comprehension 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Reading is a very important skill to be acquired in all primary and secondary schools in Malaysia. Reading needs to be taught to all the primary and secondary pupils by the English teachers as it is in line with English Language Curriculum Standard (2001) which is to help the pupils to acquire skills to read and comprehend the text more effectively and efficiently. Educational researchers have found that there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success. In other words, a student who is “a good reader is more likely to do well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader” (Shoebottom, 2000). Thus, pupils are more likely to have some knowledge in reading in order for them to succeed academically. During reading lessons, pupils are exposed to linear and non-linear texts after difficult vocabulary has been taught. Then, they need to answer comprehension questions to test their understanding of the text. However, because they lack of vocabulary skills, it is very difficult for them to understand texts that they have read. Hence, vocabulary plays a very important role as a starting point in mastering English language. Without knowing the appropriate vocabulary, it is impossible for the pupils to understand what they have read as well as what have been taught by the teacher. This is supported by Fauziati Endang (2005) where she states that vocabulary is central to language. Without sufficient vocabulary, one cannot communicate or express his or her ideas in both oral and written forms.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience During a reading lesson, I found that the pupils have difficulties to understand what they have read and were unable to answer the comprehension questions given correctly. I took out difficult words from a text and taught them using word cards. Then, I showed the pupils the text and asked them to read after me. After that, I explained to them about the text so that the pupils would be able to answer the comprehension questions later. Before I gave them the task to be completed, I asked them if they had difficulties in understanding certain words but nobody answered my questions and some of them just nodded their head. I gave them the comprehension questions to test their understanding of the vocabulary in the text. Then, I walked around to see how they answered the questions. I saw some of the pupils just stared at the comprehension questions without writing anything and some of them wrote the answers wrongly. It clearly showed that the pupils have difficulties to answer the comprehension questions given because they could not comprehend the

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text. Hence, I wanted to solve the pupils’ problem through the use of pictures that would enable them to enhance their vocabulary so that they could answer the comprehension questions. 1.2 Related theory/literature Pictures have been used to teach vocabulary so that pupils are able to answer comprehension questions. As a result, I chose constructivism theory proposed by Jean Piaget. In the theory of constructivism, pupils learn through adaptation and making meaning from their experiences, then assimilate and accommodate new information into these systems, or schemas (Keller, 2011). Pupils also understand new information by bringing in their prior knowledge through the use of pictures. Hence, the pupils will be able to stimulate their cognitive skills as pictures help them to build background knowledge, access the background knowledge and use it as a bridge to new learning (Rea and Mercuri, 2006, p. 47).

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

This research is based on the problems of the low vocabulary mastery of Year 3 Ixora pupils from a school in Kuala Lumpur. The pupils had problems with vocabulary where they could not understand a lot of words and thus it lead to the difficulties in answering the comprehension questions. The focus of this investigation is about the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary for reading comprehension amongst Year 3Ixora pupils with limited vocabulary.

3.0 OBJECTIVE

The general objective of this research is to determine whether the use of pictures can enhance vocabulary for reading comprehension amongst Year 3 Ixora pupils with limited vocabulary. The research questions are as follow:

a) Does using pictures help in enhancing vocabulary amongst the Year 3 pupils? b) How would the use of pictures help enhance vocabulary?

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

My target participants are five pupils from Year 3 Ixora who have limited vocabulary. I chose three boys and two girls to be my participants as they have very poor vocabulary based on my preliminary investigations.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

After identifying the problems, I decided to use Kemmis’s model to determine whether the use of pictures can enhance vocabulary which then would help the pupils to comprehend a text. Thus in the process of carrying out my intervention which then would help to answer the comprehension questions. There are 2 cycles in this model and there are four stages for each cycle which are plan, action, observe and reflect.

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

Several data have been collected for this research using a few methods which were pre-test and post-test, formative test and questionnaire. The pre-test was gathered to see whether the pupils are able to answer the comprehension questions given before the intervention took place. Then, the post-test was conducted to compare the marksso that the improvement of the pupils can be seen in the differences of marks in pre-test and post-test. Formative test was carried out after the intervention was implemented to test whether or not the intervention was successful. The questionnaire was given out to the five pupils to gather information on their preferences on the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary. The pupils were given choices whether to tick “Yes” or “No”.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary investigation was carried out to identify the pupils’ problem. At first, an English teacher was interviewed to know more about the performance of Year 3 Ixora pupils. The teacher said

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that the pupils have problems in vocabularythat she had to speak in Malay so that the pupils understand the instructions. After that, I observed the pupils’ responses and behaviour when I gave them comprehension exercises. It showed that the pupils could not answer the comprehension questions during reading lessons and I had to discuss the answers with them.They also had difficulties to understand the instructions given and I had to repeat the instructions several times or translate it to Malay so that they understood what I said. Lastly, I checked the pupils’ exercise books and work books to identify their problems. I found out that the pupils had many errors especially in answering the comprehension questions and the teacher needed to correct the answer for them.

5.3 Action

The model used was Kemmis’s model which has two cycles of action. Each cycle consists of plan, action, observe and lastly reflect. The “plan” for cycle one was to inform the five pupils about the intervention, prepare pictures to teach vocabulary and design data collection instrument. For “action”, there were two sessions of reading lessons to implement the intervention. Then, for “observe”,pre-test and post-test and formative assessment were administered and lastly for “reflect”, I looked into the success of the intervention. For the second cycle, the plan was revised to improve more on the pupils’ vocabulary. The pictures were still used for intervention. However, several changes were made to the comprehension questions as the questions were too difficult for them. Other than that, I used questionnaire and designed data collection instrument to collect the data. The questionnaire was designed in two ways, close-ended and open-ended to get data qualitatively and quantitatively. The intervention was carried out in two sessions in reading lessons to get the result of the pupils’ performance. For “observe” and “reflect”, the pre-test and post-test, formative assessment and questionnaire were conducted to reflect on the effectiveness of the intervention.

5.4 Findings

Table 1 shows the marks of five pupils in the pre-test and post-test. In the pre-test, one pupil got 73% which is the highest mark among all pupils. The second highest is 67%. The other three pupils each scored 60%, 40% and the lowest being 33%. While in the post-test, all five pupils showed improvement after the intervention. There was one pupil who managed to get 100% that makes a difference of 80%. The second highest is 87% with the difference of 60%. The other three pupils managed to increase their marks where they were able to get 73%, 67% and 60% with a difference of 20% and 80% respectively. However, information from Table 1 indicates that there was one pupil (P5) progressed well as in the pre-test whereby obtained only 5 marks which is equivalent to 33%. After the intervention, the result improvedfrom 5 marks to 9 marks which is equivalent to 60%. The difference is about 4 marks or 80%.

Table 1

Table 2 shows the differences in marks for formative assessment for session one and session two. The highest mark for session one is 4 marks which was equivalent to 50% whereas the lowest mark is 1 mark which is 13%. Only one pupil scored 4 marks out of 8 marks. There were two pupils who obtained 3 marks which is equivalent to 38%. Another one pupil only managed to get 1 mark out of 8 marks. In session 2, one pupil managed to obtain 7 marks which is equivalent to 88%. The differences in marks are quite big compared to other pupils which was 50%. There were two pupils who got the same marks which are 5 marks or 63% and one pupil got 50% which is 4 marks. The lowest was 38% as this pupil only obtained 3 marks for session two. Generally, all of them improved.

Pupils

Pre-test Post-test Difference in marks

Marks (%) Marks (%) Marks (%) P 1 6 40 11 73 +1 20 P 2 9 60 10 67 +1 20 P 3 10 67 13 87 +3 60 P 4 11 73 15 100 +4 80 P 5 5 33 9 60 +4 80

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Table 2

A set of questionnairewas given to the pupils to gather information on the pupils’ responses towards the use of pictures to teach vocabulary. It was done after the intervention was carried out. All five pupils answered all “Yes”which shows that all of them like pictures very much. Next, five pupils circled “Yes” that shows they like the use of pictures in learning vocabulary. However, there is one pupil that answered “No” where he thinks pictures could not enhance his vocabulary whereas all four pupils circled “Yes” which showed that they agreed using pictures can enhance their vocabulary. The second last question is whether or not the use of pictures can help the pupils to understand the words. All five pupils answered “Yes” where they like the use of pictures and agreed that the pictures help to enhance their vocabulary. The last question is whether or not the use of pictures can help the pupils to understand the words. All five pupils answered “Yes” where they agreed that pictures help them to comprehend the words.

5.4 Conclusion

Throughout this research, I found out that the use of pictures is really helpful to enhance the pupils’ vocabulary whereby they are able to answer the comprehension questions. The pictures can bring back the pupils’ prior knowledge into classroom so that the learning will be more meaningful. Hence, due to the fact that the results of this research has shown positive outcome, the use of pictures to teach vocabulary should be implemented in reading lessons. In addition, reading lessons would be more “enjoyable and memorable with the use of pictures to teach vocabulary” (Harmer,

2001).

5.6 Reflection Based on this research, I had identified a few limitations that could be overcome during the investigation. The first one would be the investigation involved a small-scale classroom only. It would be beneficial to reproduce this research in a large-scale of population. This is because I only used five pupils as sampling to investigate about the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary for reading comprehension. If I investigate this matter into a large-scale, the result might be different and more reliable as there will be more participation from pupils for this research. Next is the data that I have collected is not enough. This is because at first I planned to use the questionnaire to get the data. However, the data was more to answering research question 1. Although there were open-ended questions, it is not enough to support research question 2. Instead of using questionnaire, I should interview the pupils about their perception of the use of pictures to enhance vocabulary. The interview would be more precise to be used to answer research question 2. The data that I have collected was also not enough due to time constraint. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH There are a few suggestions or recommendations for further research. The first suggestion is a researcher can find out if pictures can help improve reading comprehension. The result will be different where the pupils deal with the pictures in the reading text.Another suggestion for further research would be the use of pictures in other areas like in writing activities where the pictures are used to stimulate the pupils’ thinking. In the writing activity, the pupils can use their imagination based on the pictures to write sentences as "a picture paints a thousand words” (Barnard, 1998). According to Keller (2011), pictures can enhance creative imagination among children, thus the creative imagination ignited by the pictures could be transformed into words and sentences. Hence, this could be a great research that can be further studied.

Pupils

Session 1 Session 2 Differences in marks

Marks (%) Marks (%) Marks (%) P 1 2 25 4 50 +2 40 P 2 4 50 5 63 +1 20 P 3 3 38 5 63 +2 40 P 4 3 38 7 88 +4 50 P 5 1 13 3 38 +2 40

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Next is the use of pictures can be implemented in school for other classes, which is not restricted to Year 3 pupils only. The use of pictures to enhance vocabulary can be done for all primary and secondary pupils especially for Year 1 and 2 pupils as they are very imaginative where they depend on visuals rather than words or sentences. Hence, the use of pictures can be implemented for primary and secondary school.

REFERENCES Barnard, F. (1998). A picture is worth a thousand words. Retrieved 17 March 2014 from

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html Fauziati, Endang. (2005). Teaching of English as A Foreign Language (TEFL).

Surakarta: Muhammadiyah University Press.

Harmer, J. (2001). Improving Vocabulary Learning Through The Use Of Image. Retrieved 18 March 2014 from, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm

Keller, D. (2011). Constructivism. Retrieved 19 March 2014 from

http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/19919544/Constructivism Mercuri, S. P. & Rea, D. M. (2006). Research-Based Strategies for English Language

Learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2001). English Language Curriculum Standard. Retrieved 18 March

2014 from, http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/englangdevstnd.pdf Shoebottom, P. (2000). The Importance of Reading. Retrieved March 16 2014, from

http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/read.htm

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USING THE SEMANTIC MAP STRATEGY TO DEVELOP READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AMONG YEAR 3 PUPILS IN A MALAYSIAN CLASSROOM

By:

SITI NURZULAIQA BINTI NOOR AZIZI

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to ascertain that the use of the semantic map startegy has developed pupil’s reading comprehension skills of finding main ideas and supporting details. A total of four Year 3 Cekap pupils were involved in this research. The pupils’ pre-test scores show that the pupils struggled in reading comprehension task that hinder them from acquiring meaning from the reading text. The focus of this research is to help the pupils to develop reading comprehension skills. As such, the use of the semantic map strategy is designed to meet this purpose. A few intervention of reading comprehension lessons using semantic map were conducted. The data is collected from the pre-test, post-test, formative test, observation and interview before and after the intervention. The findings show that pupils’ reading comprehension skills have significantly developed and have eventually helped them in acquiring meaning from reading text after the intervention. Hence, this reinforces the fact that using the semantic map strategy help pupils in developing reading comprehension skills. Key terms: Semantic map, reading comprehension, main ideas, supporting details 1.0 INTRODUCTION The role of reading comprehension skills is important in acquiring meaning from the reading text. A reader comprehends a text by actively constructing meaning internally from interacting with the materials that are read (Anderson and Pearson 1984). Besides that, reading is also a form of communication where information and ideas are exchanged between writer and reader in the act of communicating. “The writer expresses his thoughts on paper with language, using whatever skills and styles he has developed personally” (Harris, 1980). So, when the pupils read they will communicate with the text and try to get the information that they need. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience Throughout my experience in teaching a Year 3 class, I noticed that some of the students struggled very hard to understand the reading text. They could not answer the questions asked orally about the important information in the reading text. This situation indicated that they were not able to identify the main ideas or supporting details of the text. Furthermore, when they were doing the reading comprehension exercise, I found that the students just copied their friend’s answer and they simply wrote anything in the spaces given. Apart from that, the students kept asking me to translate all the reading comprehension questions into Bahasa Malaysia. It was probably because of their limited exposure to the English Language and lack of reading comprehension skills. In addition, after I marked their work, I found that most of the students were still unable to answer the reading comprehension questions correctly. Thus, based on their performance in the exercise given, it was clear that the students were unable to comprehend the reading text as they were weak in reading comprehension skills of finding main ideas and supporting details. The Year 3 Content Standards, (KSSR document, 2012) state that “By the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to demonstrate understanding of a variety of linear and non-linear texts in the form of print and non-print materials using a range of strategies to construct meaning”. This emphasizes the importance of reading comprehension in the Malaysian ESL classroom. 1.2 Related theory/ literature They were several theories related to this research which are the constructivism learning theory and interactive reading model. Constructivism theory deliberates that the readers construct their own understanding of the text based on their prior knowledge. This is related to the interactive reading which focuses eson the process of reading or the product of the reader’s interaction with the

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idea in the text, or the reader’s background prior knowledge during comprehension (Grabe 1991). 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The problem faced by the students was that they could not answer the reading comprehension questions given. Although the questions used were only at the basic level of understanding which required them to identify the main ideas and supporting details. Besides, they also gave some unnecessary answer when answering the reading comprehension questions that demonstrated their understanding of the reading text. It showed that they could not find the main ideas and supporting details of the reading text. Thus, this made me curious to find the best strategy in improving their reading comprehension skills to fulfill the expectation of English Curriculum Standard Year 3 as pupils are expected to demonstrate understanding of a variety of linear and non-linear texts in the form of print and non-print materials using of the range of strategies to construct meaning. 3.0 OBJECTIVES

To determine whether the use of the semantic map strategy help to improve reading comprehension skills in Year 3 pupils and the pupils’ perceptions towards the semantic map strategy in reading comprehension. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS The target participants involved in the research were four students from a Year 3 class. I labeled them as participant 1, participant 2, participant 3 and participant 4. The makeup of the participants was two boys and two girls and all of them are Malays. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION The model used for this research is Kurt Lewin’s model. The cycle consists of a series of steps which includes identifying problems, planning, implementing and reflecting and it usually leads to a second cycle, which incorporates improvements suggested in the first cycle. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods The similar data gathering methods were used in two cycles which included pre-test, post-test, formative tests, observation, and interview. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation I conducted a preliminary investigation to get better and specific information regarding the students ‘reading comprehension problem. Thus, two data gathering methods were used which included observation and document analysis. The observation showed that the students were unable to give correct answers based on their responses in the reading class. The document analysis indicated that the students did not understand the reading text which is reflected through the answers given in reading comprehension questions. 5.3 Actions Before the intervention, a pre-test was administered to get information on the students’ initial performance in reading comprehension skill. After that, the intervention was implemented over a period of four weeks. In the first cycle, I introduced the semantic map as the guidance in facilitating the students in filling information about the text as they were not familiar with the strategy yet. Based on the result gathered from the first cycle, I revised the intervention and made improvement by changing the level of the reading text whereby I use an advanced reading text and they filled the information in the semantic map on their own. After the revision has been done, I implemented the second cycle of the action research with the improvement made. Next, again the students sat for the post-test and were then interviewed.

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5.4 Findings Pre-test and post-test The result gathered from the pre-test and post-test indicated that all students showed improvement in their reading comprehension skills. Table 1 shows the percentage of the scores for each cycle. In the first cycle, majority of the students scores in the post-test were moderate while in the second cycle, most of the students scores also shows improvement. In fact, two particular students achieved a maximum of 100% in the second cycle. This indicated that the use of semantic map strategy has helped the students to improve their reading comprehension skills in finding main ideas and supporting details. Table 1 Result of Pre-test and Post test

Formative Test There is improvement also gathered through the formative test which was conducted after the implementation of the semantic map for each session. The result in Table 2 indicated that the student’s performance increased over the sessions. Moreover, two particular students showed a marked progression whereby they managed to obtain full marks in the third session compared to only 2 correct questions for first session which reflected the lowest scores. Table 2 Improvement of Formative Test Marks

Observation Table 3 shows the improvement of the participants from Session 1 to Session 3. The participants’ behaviors were analyzed in terms of three criteria mentioned. In terms of the first criterion, during Session 1, the average time that all participants used to complete the semantic map is between 9 minutes to 10 minutes. The faster time taken by the participants shows the improvement of participants in answering the questions throughout every session.

Subject Pre Test

Post-Test (Cycle 2)

Post-Test (Cycle 2)

Margin of improvement

P1 50 75 75 25

P2 25 75 75 50

P3 50 100 100 50

P4 25 75 100 50

Participants Session 1 (Marks)

Session 2 (Marks)

Session 3 (Marks)

P1 3 3 4

P2 3 3 4

P3 2 3 4

P4 2 3 4

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Table 3 Result for Session 1 to Session 3

No Activities P1 P2 P3 P4

S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3

1. Is the student able to complete the reading comprehension questions in the time given? (10 minutes)

9

6

5

9

7

5

10

6

4

10

7

5

2. Is the student able to complete the semantic map correctly? (4 out of 4 boxes)

3 3 4 3 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4

3. Is the student able to answer all reading comprehension questions given? (4 out of 4 questions)

3 3 4 3 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4

Interview Table 4 showed the findings collected through a semi structured interview during Cycle 2.This interview was carried out to clarify participants’ perception on the semantic map strategy. I interviewed the 4 participants to obtain the necessary data. Basically, the 4 participants comprised those who achieved high marks and low marks in the test. The interview was conducted after the administration of Post-Test. Each participant was interviewed for 5 to 10 minutes approximately. Table 4 Participants’ Perception Towards Semantic Map Strategy

5.5 Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that the semantic map strategy is effective in helping the students to improve reading comprehension skill of finding main ideas and supporting details. This is supported by Zaid, (1995) who said that, the pupils who use semantic mapping manifest considerable improvement reading comprehension, written expression and vocabulary development. Moreover, it develops awareness of the purpose of reading whereby the students need to locate the main ideas and supporting details in order to fill in the semantic map given. It is crucial because it aids the students to be more focused on the specific parts of text for identification of main ideas and supporting details. 5.6 Reflection

Based on my experience throughout the process of this study, there were strength and limitations that can affect the finding of the research. Firstly, in terms of knowledge, I had learnt and acquired a lot of experience and information regarding the process of conducting an action research. I had learnt on how to conduct the action research in terms of identifying problems, collecting data and analysing the findings. As a future teacher, this experience and knowledge would help me to improve my professional development in school later. In terms of the strength, it can be seen based on the findings and the result of my participants in their reading comprehension skills of identifying main ideas and supporting details. All the participants are able to improve their reading comprehension using the semantic map strategy which enables them to increase their

Participants Excerpt of the interview

P1 ‘ Semantic map helped me in getting idea and answered easily”

P2 ‘hmmmm…. I understand better activate my background knowledge”

P3 “Haaa……now I can think well and get answered easily because of the organization of semantic map”.

P4 “hmmmm… get the more idea and more knowledge”

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interest and concentration in the reading class. In term of weakness or limitation, this study could not be generalized to describe larger ESL context. This is because, the findings are described and discussed with close reference to the ESL classroom involved in this study. This is because only four participants from Year 3 class were involved in this study, which is also another reason of the limitation, as it is not fair to generalize this finding to the general ESL context. 6.0 SUGGESTION This is certainly a topic that deserves further research. Therefore, in order to generalize the result for larger groups, the time should be extended and it should have involved more participants at different levels. This study was only focused on the lower primary pupils which are Year 3. In this sense, in order to determine the effectiveness of the semantic map strategy, I suggest that the strategy be implemented at all primary school levels. This is because I would like to see whether this strategy is applicable to all level of pupils in Malaysia. It is recommended that the semantic map strategy should be exposed to the fullest to all level of pupils not only in the urban area but also in a rural area. Secondly, the scope of this study was only limited to reading comprehension. It is suggested that in future research, the scope should be expanded and be implemented in other skills namely three important skills; writing, speaking and listening. By making the scope wider, I can get a clear view on the exploitation of the semantic map strategy not only in the reading skill but also other skills. REFERENCES Anderson, R.C. and Perason, P.D. (1984). “A schema-Theoretic view of basic processes in reading.” In. Perason, P.D. (ed). Handbook of Reading Research. NewYork: LongmanM Anderson, N. J. (2003). Harris.V.(1980). Literature-based approaches to reading instruction. Review of Research in Education, 19, 269-297. Grabe. (1991).Current development in second language reading research, TESOL Quarterly 25/3: 375-406. Zaid, M. A. (1995). Semantic mapping in communicative language teaching.FORUM, 33(3),6-16. Retrieved December 23, 2006, from http://exchanges.go.com

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IMPROVING YEAR 5 PRIHATIN STUDENTS’ WRITING THROUGH SHARED WRITING

By:

SULAIMAN BIN ALI

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This research aims to improve students’ writing of simple and compound sentences. A total of four students of Year 5 were selected for this research. The students’ scores in their daily exercises and examination showed that they have limited ability in writing simple and compound sentences which in turn hinders their performance in writing. The focus of this research is to help the students develop awareness of grammatical rules and confidence to write simple and compound sentences. As such, the use of shared writing strategy was applied during the intervention to meet this purpose. A few sessions were also conducted with the selected students which aimed to develop awareness of the grammatical rules which will eventually enhance their writing performance. The data was collected from the pre and post-intervention task, interview, document analysis and field notes before and after the intervention. The findings revealed that students’ ability in writing simple and compound sentences have indeed developed together with their confidence level in writing. This eventually helped them in writing simple and compound sentences after the intervention. Hence, this reinforces the fact that using shared writing helps students in developing their ability to write simple and compound sentences.

Key terms: Grammatical rules, simple sentence, compound sentence, shared writing

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Writing is the major common medium by which students establish and present their knowledge (Parilah M. Shah, Wan Hamiah Wan Mahmud, Rosseni Din, Aminuddin Yusof and Khalid Mat Pardi, 2011). It is considered to be one of the most difficult skills students are expected to master (Engemann & Gallagher, 2005). Even in our Malaysian context, the problem of writing in the second language has been quite prevalent. Studies on the written work of Malaysian ESL learners have shown that their writing often lacks vivid or interesting elaboration and displays frequent language mistakes throughout (Parilah M. Shah et. al, 2011). In some Malaysian classrooms, many teachers complain that students hesitate to write and leave their writing half done because they have the perception that writing is difficult. Thus, they fail to take more effort to develop their writing (Parilah M. Shah et. al, 2011).

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

During the teaching and learning hours, the researcher found that some students seemed to lack the confidence when asked to construct sentences based on a given stimulus. Some of them showed vacant and puzzled look when faced with the writing task. “Saya tak tahu lah Sir nak buat macam mana, susah la (I do not know how to do this Sir, it is too hard). Besides that, students are struggling to write on their own and that compounds the writing problem as the students in fact need assistance from more knowledgeable other (MKO) in order to be able to perform.

Besides the problem above, based on the observation during teaching and learning experience, the researcher found that the students were not able to create and write even simple sentences. For instance, when they were asked to create simple sentences in the writing tasks, most of their answers would be in a jumbled up form. For instance, the researcher once got them to describe the picture of a dog chasing the wolf using simple and compound sentences and a few of the students wrote in this way, ‘the dog if wolf ran of eat wolf’(see Appendix A). Most of them could not even differentiate or single out the subject and predicate in the sentences which became apparent when the researcher asked them questions related to the sentences. This knowledge is crucial to form simple and compound sentences.

Consequently, the researcher found two pressing issues. Firstly, the researcher realized that the students still have low ability in creating and writing simple and compound sentences. They needed to be taught how to identify and to become aware of how simple and compound sentences

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are constructed. They needed to know that a sentence must have subject, verb and object. Secondly, the researcher reevaluated the manner in which the students do their writing and found that they mostly had to struggle on their own as they wrote. It is hoped that through shared writing strategy, the students will be able to improve their ability in sentence writing and also provide them with MKO to give them more confidence when it comes to writing.

1.2 Related theory/literature

In order to figure out the best way to overcome the problem of this study, the researcher used Vygotsky theory of sociocultural theory and will be supported by collaborative learning strategy. Vygotsky (1978) in Lantolf and Appel (1994), through his sociocultural theory, stated that learning is a social practice in which the learners actively construct meaning in the learning process. Adopting sociocultural theory allows us to examine language learning as a social practice, consider students as active participants in constructing learning processes, and investigate the interaction between different factors involved (Kao, 2010). Teachers play an important role in ensuring that the students’ learning is internalized through reasoning and engagement (Mercer, 1995) in which the teacher actively engages in creating a comfortable social setting in the classroom that encourages the learners to interact with each other and continue to actively make meaningful learning experiences

Collaborative learning meanwhile as a pedagogy more effectively models language as a socially constituted medium and knowledge as a social product than individual writing does (Smit, 1989). It is suitable for this research because when effectively structured and guided, learning groups can help students improve their mastery not only of particular subject areas or academic skills, such as writing, but also increase their general cognitive skills and their engagement with and interest in learning (Ede & Lunsford, 1990) as it mirrors the social nature of language and writing (Smit, 1989).

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

From the teaching and learning experience, the researcher found the students seemed to have the problem of writing simple and compound sentences as they were not familiar with the grammatical rules. They were not explicitly exposed to the rules to allow the students to develop the awareness. It was a necessity for them to connect with the curriculum specifications because the curriculum specifications for Year 5 requires them to write using at least simple language. By the end of Year 6, as they leave school, they are expected to have mastered some writing skills, thus making it more significant for them to acquire basic sentence level writing.

Apart from that, the strategy also provided opportunity for students to have MKO with them, allowing them to better develop their writing skills. It also allowed the students to improve their confidence as the teacher was always there to help scaffold their writing.

3.0 OBJECTIVE

The general objective of this research was to improve Year 5 Prihatin students’ writing through shared writing and the specific objectives were to find out whether shared writing has improved Year 5 Prihatin’s students’ writing ability and how shared writing has improved their writing ability.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

Four students from Year 5 Prihatin of Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Melaka were involved in this research. The selection of these four students was done because of the writing problem that they were facing. Their sentence construction ability was in dire need of improvement. It was also relevant because they would be moving to Year 6 the following year and would be facing UPSR exam where they would be required to perform in writing tasks and to master writing tasks by the end of the Year 6. Thus these two features were strongly taken into consideration when the participants for the action research were selected.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The researcher has adopted Laidlaw and Lewin’s action research model which was very well in line with the action research. Based on the model, there are several stages that need to be taken for

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action research which are identifying an aspect of the educational practice to improve, planning an action, implementing the action, collecting the data and reflecting on the action. The following actions were taken during the research:

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

Four different kinds of instruments were used in this research: pre and post-intervention task, interview, document analysis and observation to help the researcher to collect the data.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

In order to identify the problem and students’ particular areas of needs, the researcher conducted observation using field notes, document analysis and also interview with the English teacher and the students. The data collected further proved that the students were really having difficulties in writing simple and compound sentences.

5.3 Action

After conducting the preliminary investigation, the researcher conducted his first intervention using shared writing for Cycle 1. There were two session conducted for the intervention and each session lasted for an hour. In Cycle 2, the researcher conducted a minor adjustment to the original intervention in Cycle 1. The researcher decided to allow the students to work collaboratively where they were divided into two pairs and they must brainstorm and discuss ideas on their own as the teacher facilitated their learning.

5.4 Findings

Pre and post-intervention task (Cycle 1)

Table 1 Pre and Post-Intervention Task Result for Cycle 1

Table 1 shows the comparison of students’ pre and post-intervention task results. The results show an improvement in students’ sentence writing. The pre and post-intervention task required the students to create 8 sentences. During the pre-intervention task, no participant was able to score full marks while in post-intervention task, 2 out 4 students (50%) were able to score full marks (8 correct sentences) The highest mark for pre-intervention task was 5 while the lowest stood at 2 marks. Meanwhile, for the post-intervention task, the highest mark was 8 and the lowest mark was at 6 which shows that the students were improving in their ability to write sentence.

Participant Pre-Intervention Post-Intervention Differences

Marks

% Marks % Marks %

Student A 3/8 37.5 7/8 87.5 +4 +50

Student B 5/8 62.5 8/8 100 +3 +37.5

Student C 5/8 62.5 8/8 100 +3 +37.5

Student D 2/8 25 6/8 75 +4 +50

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Pre and post-intervention task (Cycle 2) Table 2 Pre and Post-Intervention Task Result for Cycle 2

Participant Pre-Intervention Post-Intervention Differences

Marks

% Marks % Marks %

Student A 4/10 40 8/10 80 +4 +40

Student B 5/10 50 8/10 80 +3 +30

Student C 4/10 40 7/10 70 +3 +30

Student D 2/10 20 5/10 50 +3 +30

Table 2 shows the comparison of the students’ pre and post-intervention task results for Cycle 2. The results show consistent improvement in students’ ability to write sentence. The pre and post-intervention task for this Cycle 2 is the same as in Cycle 1. However, this time, they were required to create 10 sentences as compared to 8 sentences in Cycle 1. During the pre-intervention task, no students were able to score full marks and the same findings were also obtained for post-intervention task. The highest mark for pre-intervention task was 5 while the lowest was 2 marks. In post-intervention task, the highest mark was 8 and the lowest mark was at 5 which again shows improvement in terms of students’ performance.

Interview

Based on the responses from the students in the interview session, they all agreed that shared writing helped them in developing the grammatical awareness in sentence writing. The students claimed that the knowledge of the rules of sentences helped them to improve their simple and compound sentences. Besides that, all of the students also agreed that the intervention helped by providing them with MKO which was crucial in helping them to be more confident in writing.

Field notes

Based on the observation conducted, the researcher found that shared writing did help the students improve their ability to write sentences as it allowed the students to construct the sentences collaboratively with the teacher apart from with their peers. During the intervention, it was observed that the students showed confidence as the teacher was always with them guiding them to create a sentence, giving them the opportunity to indulge with sentence construction and to give the impression that they actually came up with high quality sentences. This gave them the confidence to keep contributing ideas throughout the intervention as seen during the observation.

Document analysis

The documents analyzed were the students’ written piece of work which was taken after the intervention. The findings from their work showed improvement as the intervention allowed the students to understand and make use of the grammatical input gained prior to the intervention. The results showed that the students were able to understand the input taught and apply the different ways of putting words together to make meaningful sentences. This was after the input was given to them which further proved the fact that the students need to be aware of the grammatical rules to be able to learn how to transfer their knowledge of grammatical concept to written language (Chin, 2000),

through shared writing which had actually helped them to improve.

5.5 Conclusion

The intervention aimed to develop their ability in writing simple and compound sentences. Based on the findings gathered and the analysis, it could be concluded that the shared writing strategy used was highly effective and the objective of the study was achieved. The findings have answered both Research Questions 1 and 2.

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5.6 Reflection

From the results gathered in this research, the shared writing strategy appears to be effective in helping students develop the ability and understanding to write simple and compound sentences. Also, after conducting this action research, it can be concluded that this study could be used in our classroom during the teaching of English. This is because, shared writing has been seen to be of benefit to especially low proficiency students. The teacher can take the opportunity to try different strategies. For instance, the teacher can establish a purpose or topic and let the students construct a letter or write a direction for the low proficiency students. The students can be allowed to sit in a group and discuss amongst themselves to see whether they can better comprehend the writing tasks. Besides that, it is also recommended that this research should be given more time to allow a researcher gather extensive data. Writing actually involves a lot of processes in which it cannot be perfected within a short frame of time. To better measure the effectiveness of this research, a researcher may conduct a research over a few months or a year to allow for better analysis of students’ development.

6.0 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

In order to improve, what the researcher should do is to get another teacher-researcher to help control the class or to help jot down important instances related to the research. For example, the researcher can give him/her checklist on what to observe during the intervention and let him/her jot down the important points of the intervention. This will allow the researcher to focus more on the group and give the chance to conduct the intervention during the researcher’s teaching and learning hours.

Apart from that, it remains to be explored whether shared writing would be a useful strategy in other contexts as the researcher did not have the opportunity to test the strategy on students from other levels. Besides that, this research only involved 4 students from the selected class. It remains to be seen whether the same strategy will work for the whole class.

REFERENCES Chin, B. A. (2000). Sadlier Oxford. Retrieved from http://people.uwplatt.edu/:

http://people.uwplatt.edu/~ciesield/graminwriting.htm

Gallagher, A. J. (2005). The Ontario Action Researcher. The Genesis of a Hybrid Writing Instructions Approach

James P. Lantolf, G. A. (1994). Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research. Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Kao, P.-L. (2010). ARECLS. Examining Second Language Learning: Taking A 113-131.

Lisa S. Ede, A. A. (1990). Singular Texts/plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing. Southern Illnois University.

Mercer, N. (n.d.). Learning for life in the C21st: Sociocultural perspectives on the future of education. . Developing Dialogues , 1-22.

Parilah M. Shah, W. H. (2011). World Applied Sciences Journal 15 (Innovation and Pedagogy for Lifelong Learning): 08-11, 2011. Self-Efficacy in the Writing of Malaysian ESL Learners, 8-11.

Smit, D. W. (1989). Composition Theory for the Postmodern Classroom. Some Difficulties With Collaborative Learning, 69-81.

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THE USE OF SONGS TO INCREASE YEAR 4 BESTARI STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS LESSON OF A PRIMARY ESL

CLASSROOM

By:

THEEVHIYAA A/P CHANDRASEKARAM English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to investigate the use of songs to increase Year 4 Bestari students’ motivation to participation in the Language Arts classroom of a primary ESL classroom. The study also examined the the perceptions of students on the use of songs to increase their motivation to participate in the ESL classroom.The participants in this study were four students of Year 4 Bestari who came from the low to middle income group and had very low proficiency in the English language. Though they were able to understand the language they did not have sufficient knowledge to speak or create a simple sentence independently in the English language. When a song is used in the lesson, the students will be able to show motivation to participate through their participation during the Language Arts lesson. This study exemplifies how teachers can use songs to increase students’ motivation to participate in a Language Arts lesson of a primary ESL classroom. Findings showed that the students found the use of songs enhanced their motivation to participate in the classroom. Their interview reviewed that the use of songs was pertinent to the increase in motivation to participate in them each time a Language Arts lesson was conducted. Three dominant themes that emerged from their behavior in the video recording of the lesson were on task behavior, participating voluntarily and engaged in personal interest. Therefore, it can be concluded that using songs in the Language Arts classroom is a useful strategy in enhancing students’ motivation to participate in a primary ESL classroom. Key terms: Songs, Language Arts, Motivation, Participation 1.0 INTRODUCTION

English is taught as a second language in all Malaysian primary and secondary schools. Language Arts is a newly introduced component in the primary education in the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) standard document. 1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience

During the teaching and learning in class, the researcher observed that the students lacked motivation to learn the English language. They took a long time to respond to the teacher and instructions had to be repeated several times before they could give an answer to the questions posed. Their responses were mostly one word answers which the researcher had to make sense of. The students only understood the instructions given to them but were not able to respond back in English. When questions were posed in class, only a handful of students attempted to participate while the rest seem uninterested and stared blankly. In order to overcome this problem, the researcher tried various strategies to motivate them to participate in class. However, most of these attempts were in vain as the students still remained passive. The researcher realised that she needed to bridge this gap and help her students to overcome the lack of motivation to participate during the ESL lesson. 1.2 Related Literature

This chapter includes a discussion of empirical studies conducted by previous researchers in the field of motivation in SL learning and the use of songs to increase students’ motivation to participate in SL learning. The humanistic theory of motivation is linked to achievement and education but it also has implications on students welfare and well-being though it is concerned mainly with fulfilling their basic needs. Known as the Father of Humanistic Psychology, Abraham Maslow, in his motivation theory states that man’s behavior is controlled by both internal and external factors (Azizi Hj. Yahaya, 2013).

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Research on the role of motivation in SL learning has been influenced by the work of Canadian psychologist R.C. Gardner who defines motivation as “the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction to experience the activity” (Gardner, 1993, p.54).Turner and Patrick (2004) concur that participation is likely to contribute to learning, as well as evidence of student motivation to learn. They further state that there are a number of ways that students’ can participate overtly, including offering their ideas and thoughts spontaneously, volunteering to answer questions, answering questions when called on, demonstrating at the chalkboard, talking to peers or the researcher about tasks, and completing written work. These are behavioural indicators which show students’ motivation to participate in the classroom.

The concept of using songs in the classroom has been found to have positive effects on the classroom climate (Roszainura Setia, 2012). Based on the literature on teaching English through the use of songs, classroom activities that are designed with songs were found to be interesting and motivating for students at the primary level (Komur, Sarak and Sekar, 2005). 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

In this chapter, the issue of lack of motivation to participate while learning English amongst

students will be highlighted. The students whom the researcher taught are from the first class. Although they are from the first class, they lacked proficiency in the English language. These students do not seem to be motivated to participate each time an English lesson was conducted in class. The researcher found that the students were not responsive enough when the researcher conducted an English lesson. They felt threatened to utter a word in English due to their lack of motivation to participate. Every time there was an English lesson, the researcher had to question them several times or prompt them repeatedly in order for them to participate in the lesson. In short, some of the students of Year 4 had trouble participating in the English lessons. 3.0 OBJECTIVES

This section outlines the general and specific objectives.

3.1 General objective

This research study is guided by a general objective which is to investigate if ESL learners are motivated to participate in the classroom through the use of songs. 3.2 Specific objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate:

If students feel motivated to participate when songs are used in the primary ESL classroom.

How students are motivated to participate when songs are used in the ESL classroom.

The perceptions of students on the use of songs to increase their motivation to participate in the ESL classroom.

4.0 TARGET GROUP/ PARTICIPANTS

The participants of the study were four students from Year 4 Bestari, comprising two boys and

two girls. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The following actions were taken to conduct the action research:

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

This section deals with the research design and methodology adopted to gather data.

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Video recording

The video recording provided the researcher with information related to participants’ non-verbal behaviours, location, and movement which the researcher was not able to take notice of while teaching Questionnaire

In designing the questionnaire, the researcher chose to adapt items from the Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) questionnaire by Tahaineh (2013) from the International Review of Social Science Journal, to form the items in the questionnaire which the researcher prepared for the participants. Interview

A semi-structured interview was conducted after every lesson. These interviews were conducted with only the four participants who had been identified since the beginning of the research. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

The preliminary investigation was conducted through a survey. 5.3 Action

The following actions were taken to conduct the action research in two consecutive cycles of action research. Planning

After a few lessons, the researcher realised that her students had problems participating in the classroom. The researcher carried out a few lessons by using a variety of teaching aids in order to investigate what type of activities or materials will increase their motivation to participate in the English language classroom. The researcher realised that the students participated actively every time songs were used in the lesson. Action

A lesson was conducted without the use of song and another lesson was subsequently conducted with the use of a children’s song in Cycle 1 and an action song in Cycle 2. The interview questions were improved in Cycle 2. A video recording was done when the lesson was conducted in both cycles. The questionnaire was given to all the four participants after the lesson only in Cycle 2. Observation

The video recording of the lesson conducted in Cycle 2 was scrutinized carefully to observe the On Task (OT), Participate Voluntarily (PV) and Engage in Personal Interest (EPI) behaviour in students. The interview was transcribed. The results of the questionnaires were also taken into consideration. A comparison was made based on both the lessons conducted; one with the use of an action song and the other without the use of a song. Reflection

Based on the data collected, the researcher reflected by analysing and interpreting the data collected to identify if the objectives of the research were achieved and the research questions answered. 5.4 Findings

This chapter will elaborate on the findings obtained.

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Video Recording

In both Cycle 1 and 2, during the lesson without the use of songs, it was observed that all four participants copied down the exercises given on the board as instructed by the researcher. This was the only OT behaviour that they showed throughout the whole lesson. Participant A (PA), Participant B (PB), Participant C (PC) and Participant D (PD) did not show any other OT behaviours in the lesson and continued to copy down the exercise given on the board by the researcher. During the lesson, three participants, PA, PB, and PD stood up to read the poem that was introduced by the researcher while PC showed behaviour of participating freely when he volunteered to lend his book to the researcher during the lesson. Throughout the lesson, all four participants were observed to be engaged in their own personal interests.

In both Cycle 1 and 2, during the lesson with the use of songs, all four participants PA, PB, PC and PD were observed to be OT when they read the lyrics out aloud, followed the actions that the researcher made as she introduced the action verbs, sang the song energetically with the actions and made the animal tags. They were seen to be on task and followed every instruction given by the researcher by closely looking at her throughout the lesson. During the lesson also, all four participants PA, PB, PC and PD were observed to participate freely when they voluntarily raised their hands to answer the researcher’s questions, volunteered to come to the front to demonstrate the action verbs taught and asked the researcher if they could sing the song once more. However, in Cycle 1, the EPI showed by students was more evident and they were distracted during the lesson while in Cycle 2 it reduced tremendously. Even though there was EPI in the lesson where a song was used in Cycle 2, those behaviours observed in the participants were for more necessary matters such as easing themselves and sharpening their pencils compared to in the lesson without the use of song where the EPI observed were more detrimental and disruptive in nature. Interview

Based on the interview carried out with the participants after conducting the lesson without the use of songs in both Cycle 1 and 2, all four participants agreed that they did not feel motivated to participate in the lesson. However based on the interview carried out with the participants after conducting the lesson with the use of songs in Cycle 1 and 2, all four participants agreed that they felt motivated to participate in the lesson. Questionnaire

Figure 5: Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) questionnaire by Tahaineh (2013)

The questionnaire conducted with the participants shows the perception of the participants on

their level of motivation to participate during the lesson. In the lesson without the use of songs in Cycle 2, all four participants were not motivated to participate or use the English Language while in the lesson with the use of song in Cycle 2 all four participants were motivated to participate and use the English language. 5.5 Conclusion

This study provides a snapshot of how the use of songs helps in increasing the motivation of pupils’ to participate in the ESL classroom. The primary task of this study was to unmask the richness

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and complexities of the use of songs and its relevance to the motivation of pupils’ to participate in the classroom. The study was exploratory, qualitative and based on grounded theory. In Chapters 5 and 6, an in-depth analysis of how respondents responded to the use of songs in the classroom can be found. The results of this analysis were depicted on a matrix table as a way to study the emerging themes that were seen in the data gathered. Consequently, it can be said that songs have a lot of qualities supporting its significance in language teaching. Songs are good learning materials to design language tasks. Songs naturally motivate pupils and they can evoke a positive atmosphere in the ESL classroom. Lightbrown, P.M & Spada, N. (1999) state that “If we can make our classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the atmosphere is supportive and non-threatening, we can make a positive contribution to students’ motivation to learn” (p.6). The outcomes of the data that I have collected show that the use of song motivates participants’ to participate in the classroom. 5.6 Reflection

This chapter will elaborate on the strengths and the limitations found in this study. There were instances of success and limitations that the researcher experienced when carrying out this study. The success of this study is the findings of the study which shows the effectiveness of using songs to increase pupils’ motivation to participate in an ESL classroom. This research would help bring about change in many classrooms in the Malaysian context where English is learned as a second language. On the other hand, the limitations found in this study concerns the logistical issues which include technical problems in the classroom. The second limitation found in this study concerns time management. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Based on the reflection done after the study was conducted, the researcher would like to provide a few suggestions for further improvements in future researches. The use of songs in the ESL classroom to increase pupils’ motivation to participate has been shown to be effective. The first recommendation that the researcher would like to make is to conduct research in using songs in the ESL classroom when other skills are taught too. The second recommendation that the researcher would like to suggest is that the use of songs can be further explored and exploited in vocabulary building, oral communication and writing. Thirdly, research could also be done on the effects of song in helping students to improve their memory in English. REFERENCES Azizi Hj. Yahaya. (2013). Abraham Maslow: The Needs Hierachy. Retrieved 18 February, 2014 from http://eprints.utm.my/6091/1/aziziyahbrahamMaslow.pdf Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. NY: Basic Books. Tahaineh, Y.(2013). Jordanian Undergraduates' Motivations and Attitudes towards Learning English in EFL Context. International Review of Social Sciences and Humanities Vol. 4, No. 2 (2013), pp. 159-180 Turner J. C. and Patrick H. (2005). Motivational influences on student participation in classroom learning activities, Teachers College Record, 106(9), 1759-1785. Roszainura, S., Rozlan A. R., Gopala, K. S. N., Aileen, F., Norhayati, H., Elangkeeran, S...Norhafiza, A. S., (2012). English Songs as Means of Aiding Students’ Proficiency Development. Asian Social Science Journal, 8(7), 270-274. Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1999). How languages are learned. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Komur, S, Sarak, G, & Sekar, H. (2005). Teaching English Through Songs. Retrieved 19

February,2014fromhttps://www.academia.edu/5397386/ TEACHING_ENGLISH_through_songs

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USING JAZZ CHANTS TO IMPROVE YEAR 4 DELIMA AVERAGE STUDENTS’ USE OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

By:

ABIGAIL TSEN MAY JEAN English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to investigate the effectiveness of jazz chants in improving Year 4 students’ use of Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA). Due to the mother tongue interference of Bahasa Malaysia (BM), students often grapple with SVA as this grammar rule is absent in BM but is vital in the English language. The focus of the research was to determine whether jazz chants helped the students improve their use of SVA, and how it helped students in learning the grammar item. The intervention was carried out on 6 students identified from 4 Delima. The methods used to collect data were through tests, observations, and interviews. Based on the test scores, it was found that jazz chants were able to improve students; use of SVA. After observations throughout the intervention, students were able to identify the subjects and verbs, memorize the SVA rules, and correct their own or their peers’ SVA mistakes with varying degrees of proficiency. The students also reported that jazz chants helped them in memorizing and comprehending SVA rules better. The findings indicate that students enjoy jazz chants because it is rhythmic, which makes more receptive to repetition and drilling, and thus reinforcing the grammar item. Further research could be conducted on a larger sample with students of different levels of proficiency and gender, using jazz chants to teach other aspects of grammar or language skill, or even other methods to teach SVA. Key terms: Jazz chants, Subject-Verb Agreement 1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is noticed that while many students in the Malaysian ESL classrooms are able to communicate in English to some degree, they often make some glaring grammatical mistakes (Radika & Mahmud Hasan Khan, 2013). In the Malaysian KSSR curriculum, grammar is taught explicitly beginning from Year 3 onwards when students are more familiar with the language so that students ‘be given the opportunity to develop an awareness of grammar’ (MOE, 2012). One of the objectives of the KSSR curriculum is that students should be able to ‘use correct and appropriate rules of grammar in speech and writing’ (MOE, 2012). Despite that, students in the KSSR curriculum still make mistakes even after learning grammar explicitly since Year 3. Pintner (2006) points out that while the deliberate teaching of grammar is necessary, students need the opportunity to use the language. In other words, they need to be drilled and to practice using the grammar item taught. This probably explains why grammar rules are not internalized in the students even though they have been taught those same rules. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

During my practical teaching, I have often met students who can communicate in English quite well, but riddled with grammar error which is surprising for students of their proficiency. The ability to be both fluent and accurate means that one is communicatively competent (May, 2014), which is the ultimate goal of learning a language. Clearly this balance is not seen in the students mentioned above, who are fluent speakers and writers, but with poor grammar. After a few lessons with the class 4 Delima, I noticed that even the proficient students made lots of simple grammar mistakes. Extensive research has shown that some of the most problematic areas in English grammar among Malaysian ESL leaners are ‘determiners’ besides ‘subject-verb agreement’ and copula ‘be’ (Nor Hashimah et al., 2008). As Chung Siaw Fung (2005) notes, some teachers in Malaysia still rely on the traditional teaching practices of drilling and teaching grammar in isolation. This could be why “the response of most students across all levels to the same question about grammar: ‘boring’” (Kettle, 2008). So even though the students have been taught grammar explicitly, they are still unable to use the correct grammar in their work.

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1.2 Related theory/literature

Behaviourism is the leading theory for this research as it involves reinforcement of Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) through jazz chants. Jazz chants are repetitive, but “without the boredom and demotivation of uncontextualized repetition” (Graham, 2011). Jazz chants allowed the students to practice using SVA in a fun and engaging way. Jazz chants are also “stretches of real language put into a rhythmic framework” (Forster, 2006), so this relates to Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory, specifically the musical leaner. These learners prefer the transfer of information through sound and rhythm (Smith, 2002, 2008), and the rhythm in jazz chants facilitates the learning of SVA by lowering the affective filter (TEFL-C, n.d.). As jazz chants use real language, it is also related to the communicative approach which focus on the use of language in a real context (Reza Raissi & Fazirah Mohd Nor, 2013). Last but not least, the cognitive-code learning theory is implemented in this research, where the there is a conscious study of the language rules, before applying and practising the rules in a meaningful context (Richards & Rodgers, 1986). The cognitive-code theory and behaviourism are the driving theories of this research, whereby students are explicitly taught the grammar rule, then given drills and exercises to reinforce SVA. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The focus of this research is to determine if students’ grasp of SVA can be improved through the use of chants as the intervention. This occurs because of interference form the students’ first language. BM is not a language that utilises the SVA rule. On the contrary, English does (Maros et al., 2007; Nor Hashimah et al., 2008). Incorrect use of SVA causes the sentence to fragment and loses its meaning. This jeopardises the coherence of the message, and is a stumbling block in effective oral and written communication. With this in mind and to adhere to the objectives stated in the curriculum that students should be able to use appropriate and correct rules of grammar in speech and writing (MOE, 2012), the focus of this action research is on improving students’ use of SVA their writing would reflect better grammar in terms of SVA. 3.0 OBJECTIVES

This section outlines both the general and specific objectives 3.1 General Objective

This study aims to improve the subjects’ use of SVA through jazz chants. 3.2 Specific Objective

Also known as the research questions, they provide the framework for this research:

Are jazz chants able to improve students’ use of SVA?

How does jazz chant improve students’ learning of SVA? 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

The targeted group of this research is a Year 4 class in an all-girls national type primary school. The majority of the students are from medium to high socio-economic backgrounds. As such, most of the students are fairly proficient in English. Only some students have a limited command of English, and thus considered prime candidates for this research. The nine subjects chosen for this research all have a weak grasp of SVA. However, due to such unforeseen circumstances and absenteeism, the first cycle of the research had six participants, while the second cycle only had five participants. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The action research was modeled on Stephen Kemmis’ model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process. Each cycle has four steps, which are planning a change, implementing the action, observing the process and consequences of the change, and reflecting on these processes and consequences.

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5.1 Data Gathering Methods

For this research, three methods were used to gather data to answer the research questions. They are tests, which involve both pre-test and post-test, observational checklist, and interviews. The purposes of tests were to measure students’ use of SVA before and after the intervention, to see whether the intervention was successful or not. Observational checklist was used to determine frequency of the desired behaviours, then to chart behaviour patterns and make comparisons in the student. Interviews were conducted to gather information related to the research objectives, to identify relationships and variables, and was used in conjunction with other methods. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary investigation was conducted using observation, document analysis, and diagnostic test. Observation was carried out in class to identify the less proficient students, while document analysis was done to identify the less proficient students who consistently made SVA errors. Finally a diagnostic test was given to assess and find out those students who had the weakest grasp of SVA when they made the most numerous SVA errors. 5.3 Action

Both cycles had a similar action plan. Before the start of the intervention, the pre-test is administered. Then, the jazz chants were given to the students, and the researcher led the students in chanting the jazz chants. After that, the SVA rules are introduced and explained by the researcher. Students have to identify the subjects and verbs that occur in the jazz chants, then do some exercises given. The identified behaviours are observed and recorded while the students are doing the practices given. In the second session, the students were given new chants, SVA rules were recalled, then students were drilled and practiced using SVA. Students’ behaviours were again recorded. At the end of the cycle, the students had to complete the post-test, then interviewed to find out how jazz chants helped them in learning SVA. 5.4 Findings Tests

Figure 1 Students' Test Results for Cycle 1 & 2

The graph above demonstrates the scores and progress of the students before the intervention,

after Cycle 1, and finally after the intervention at Cycle 2. With the exception of S2, the rest of the students show a steady improvement in marks since they started the intervention. While S2 did decline in the middle, nevertheless she managed to improve after all. Therefore, the data from the test results answers the first research questions in that jazz chant does improve students’ mastery of SVA. Student 6 was absent for Cycle 2 so her results were only till Cycle 1. Observation

All the students improved in SVA through the behaviours observed, though they were able to do it with varying degrees of skill and proficiency. While they did not know anything about SVA before the intervention, they were familiar and knew what it was at the end of the intervention. They were able to chants the jazz chants, and all of them were actively engaged in the lesson when jazz chants were used, thus it can be concluded that they enjoy learning SVA using jazz chants. Besides that, all

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of them could identify the subjects and the verbs, and remember the SVA rules, though some of the students occasionally forgot the rules. They could also identify their own or their peers’ SVA errors, so we see that the students have improved in their learning of SVA. Interview Table 1 Codes & Themes of Interviews

Theme Memorization Comprehension

Code

Enjoyment

Rhythm & Movement Real Language Drilling / Repetition Explicit Teaching

Recall Grammar Point

Jazz chants helps students to learn SVA through memorization and comprehension. For the

theme of memorization, the enjoyment of jazz chants plays a big role in influencing the drilling and recalling of SVA. As the students find jazz chants engaging and fun, they did not mind the repetitive chanting of constant drilling. Also, their enjoyment of jazz chant is another reason they can easily recall the grammar point. The rhythm and movement when clapping is the main reason why students enjoy jazz chants. On the comprehension theme, the real language used in jazz chants means students find it easy to understand the text, which makes them more receptive to learning SVA as the chants are within their linguistic experience. Explicit teaching of SVA through jazz chants also improve students’ learning of SVA, as the students find jazz chants an enjoyable method of learning SVA. In short, the enjoyment derived from jazz chants through rhythm and movement, the repetitive nature of chants and the real language used in chants makes students more receptive to learning, and thus improving students’ learning of SVA. 5.5 Conclusion

Jazz chants improve students’ learning of SVA by providing an enjoyable and conducive environment for learning through rhythm and movement. The repetitive chanting of jazz chants, coupled with the rhythm inherent in chanting, helps drill the sentences and grammar point. This leads to better memorization of the SVA rules. The real language used in the chants also allows students to relate to the chant and makes it easy for comprehension. This means that students can relate to SVA in a familiar context and facilitates understanding. With all these factors, students showed that they improved their mastery of SVA by getting better at identifying the subjects and verbs, remembering the SVA rules and identifying and correcting SVA mistakes. 5.6 Reflection

“Rhyming and chanting combine two necessary phenomena for learning a language: the system of language and pleasure” (Jin Zhang, 2011). It is the enjoyment students obtain from jazz chants that made this intervention so successful, as the rhythm and simplicity in jazz chants makes the drilling of SVA meaningful for the students. The drawback of this research is the question whether the students understood SVA better because of jazz chants, or explicit teaching. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

A larger number of participants comprising different levels of proficiency and gender should be included for further research. This is to allow for a more generalized and less biased findings. More sessions could be conducted to test the effectiveness of the jazz chant approach in teaching and learning SVA. Besides that, this research could be replicated with other grammar aspects or language skills as the power of the jazz chants may be tapped into enhancing other skills.

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REFERENCES Chung, S. F. (2005). A communicative approach to teaching grammar: Theory and practice. The

English Teacher, 34, 33-50. Forster, E. (2006). The value of songs and chants for young learners. Encuentro, 16, 63-68. Graham, C. (2011). Creating chants and songs. Oxford: Oxford. Jin Zhang (2011). Jazz Chants in English Language Teaching. Theory and Practice in Language

Studies, 1(5), 563-565. Kettle, M. (2008) Teaching Grammar: Rethinking the Approach. In H. Gaudert (Ed). The Teaching of

Grammar (pp. 175-190.) Malaysia: Sasbadi-Malaysian English Language Teaching Association.

Maros, M., Hua, T. K., & Salehuddin, K. (2007). Interference in learning English: Grammatical errors

in English essay writing among rural Malay secondary school students in Malaysia. Jurnal e-Bangi, 2(2), 1-15.

May, O. B. (2014). Communicative Competency: Accuracy vs. Fluency. Retrieved August 19, 2014

from from http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of%20bilash/accuracy%20fluency.html

MOE. (2012). Year 3 Dokumen Standard Bahasa Inggeris. Retrieved from

http://www.kssronline.com/p/kssr.html Nor Hashimah, J. Norsimah, M. A., & Kesumawati, A. B. (2008). The mastery of English language

among lower secondary school students in Malaysia: A linguistic analysis. European Journal of Social Sciences, 7(2), 106-119.

Pinter, A. (2006). Teaching young language learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reza Raissi & Fazirah bt Mohd Nor. (2013). Teachers’ perceptions and challenges regarding the

implementation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Malaysian secondary schools. Proceeding of the Global Summit on Education 2013, 875-884. Retrieved from http://worldconferences.net/proceedings/gse2013/papers_gse2013/236%20Reza%20Raissi%20&%20Fazirah%20bt%20Mohd%20Nor.pdf

Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description

and analysis. US: Cambridge University Press. Smith, M. K. (2002, 2008). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Retrieved

September 23, 2014 from http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/

Subramaniam, R., & Khan, M.H. (2013). Explicit Grammar Instruction in Communicative Language

Teaching: A Study of the Use of Quantifiers. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 9(1), 43-73.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Children (TEFL-C). (n.d.). Teaching through songs and

chants. Retrieved from http://www.tefl-c.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Unit_14_Teaching_Through_Songs_and_Chants-May-2009-B.pdf

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ENGAGING YEAR 5 BRILLIANT (INTERMEDIATE) PUPILS’ PARTICIPATION IN STORYTELLING SESSIONS USING HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

By:

ADILAH BINTI FAZILAH

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

Hands-on activities require pupils to engage in the education process using multiple senses, including sight, hearing and touch. Since hands-on activities also known as multisensory learning, the hands-on teaching strategy engages the senses in a way that promotes learning comprehension on multiple levels. Thus, this study aims at finding out if hands-on activities are helpful to use during storytelling sessions to engage pupils’ participation in the storytelling sessions. The rationale for carrying out this study is to give useful information and understanding to the readers on the use of hands-on activities in the storytelling sessions. A total of 3 male and 4 female pupils were involved in the study as respondents. During the storytelling activities, the pupils’ participation was assessed. Data were collected from the respondents using video recording checklist, student Engagement rubrics, and structured interviews. Data were analysed descriptively using transcriptions, tables, and graphs to address the stipulated research questions. From this research, I found that, my attempts to engage the pupils’ participation throughout the storytelling sessions using hands-on activities did improve generally. The results also show that pupils enjoy carrying out hands-on activities and it does boost their confidence to participate in the storytelling sessions. These results raise important issues about the design of pedagogical tools and activities as well as the need to gather data to assess their effectiveness.

Key terms: engaging, pupils’ participation, pupils, storytelling sessions, hands-on activities 1.0 INTRODUCTION Storytelling is an oral activity where language and gestures are used in a colourful way to create scenes in a sequence .However, to conduct an effective storytelling session, there are many aspects that teachers have to consider. One of the main aspects that teachers have to consider is to engage the pupils’ participation in the storytelling session. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

The latest teaching experience was when I did my practicum in Semester 7. During that time, I noticed many issues related to teaching practices, strategies, and methods. One of the issues that is consistent in the classroom is the lack of pupils participation and their evident boredom as well as loss of focus. From my experience in conducting storytelling sessions, the pupils exhibited short attention span especially if the session took up more than 10 minutes. The pupils started to lose their focus, resulting in them talking to each other and paying attention to the story. Thus, when I asked them what the story was all about, only handful of them could answer it. This situation really frustrated me as a teacher. In addition to my observations during the practicum, most of the teachers used the text book and asked pupils to read the story or read the text in the text book. This traditional way of teaching often results in pupils losing their interest and concentration.

1.2 Related theory/literature

Hands-on activities engage pupils mentally as they conceptualise abstract lessons through the use of relevant concrete objects and activities. Supporting this theory of greater interest and enjoyment in hands-on learning, satisfaction ratings have shown that pupils tend to express more enjoyment and satisfaction from hands-on learning than traditional learning (Walberg, 1986). Another study that focused on hands-on activities was done by Ward, Sadler, and Shapiro (2008), who found that hands-on learning groups significantly outperformed traditional learning groups in an astronomy curriculum. Results showed that pupils in the hands-on ARIES group performed significantly better on

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post-tests, which consisted of open-ended questions about the topics covered, than pupils in the traditional group (Ward, Sadler, & Shapiro, 2008).

In addition, Saunders and Shepardson (1987) assigned Standard 6 pupils in introductory science classes to concrete instruction and formal instruction groups, which are comparable to hands-on and traditional groups, respectively. This study indicates that, even on standardised assessments, hands-on learning is more beneficial than traditional learning. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The issue in this research was identified by the researcher when conducting a storytelling session during practicum phase 3 (Semester 7). The researcher found out that the target group consisted of pupils that have short attention span and hardly participated in the session carried out by her. Those situations are really upsetting since they disturb the teaching and learning process and made the learning environment dull. Thus, the researcher took the initiative to use hands-on activities during storytelling sessions to see the effectiveness of this intervention in engaging the target group’s participation. Hands-on activities are activities the teacher can use during a storytelling session. 3.0 OBJECTIVE 3.1 Specific objectives: 1. Help pupils to more actively participate in storytelling sessions through hands-on activities 2. The effectiveness of hands-on activities in storytelling sessions in order to help in engaging

pupils’ participation during storytelling sessions. 3.2 Research questions: 1. Do hands-on activities help in engaging pupils’ participation during storytelling sessions? 2. How can hands-on activities help pupils to participate actively during storytelling sessions? 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS This research was conducted on seven intermediate 11 years old pupils from Year 5 Brilliant class. They are three male and four female pupils from the second class out of six classes in a primary school in Cheras. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION For this action research, I have been using Kemmis’s Model as the guide for me to conduct the research. First a plan is made after identifying the problem or the area of improvement. Then, once the plan has been put into practice, it is observed. Here, the teacher who has conducted the plan puts it into practice and also keeps an eye that how it is followed. The pupils, upon whom the plan has been put into practice are undergoing the process of change or improvement. Now, since the teacher has been observing the act; makes observation and reflects on the same. If the necessary changes or improvements are not made then the plan is being revised and then is again put into action. Then again, it has been observed and reflected upon. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

To answer research question one, “Do hands-on activities help in engaging pupils’ participation during storytelling sessions?”, I used a video recording checklist of my storytelling sessions (Appendix A) and the data are cross- checked with information gathered from pupil engagement rubrics (Appendix B).These rubrics served as self-evaluation forms where pupils were given specific criteria, to rate themselves according to the following items: posture, thoughts, participation, and story activities (responses). For research question two, “How do hands-on activities help pupils to participate actively during storytelling session?”, I used structured interview with the 7 pupils.

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5.2 Preliminary Investigation

I had conducted a storytelling session to teach listening and speaking skills in Year 5 Brilliant during my practicum. The results from this session were not really impressive, since I found out that most of the pupils lost their focus in the middle of the session. The responses that I got from the pupils were disappointing as they did not respond in the way that I expected. The pupils showed short attention span. They started to talk among themselves and disturbing each other when the storytelling sessions went into 15-20 minutes.

5.3 Action

The Figure 1 above shows the summarized action plan in this research based on the Kemmis’s model. This research was carried out in two cycles, Cycle 1 and Cycle 2.

5.4 Findings Engagement Rubric

0

1

2

3

4

5

Ave

rage

Pu

pils

' Rat

ings

Items

Without

Cycle 1

Cycle 2

Action- Carried out the selected

hands-on activities (Sticky Paper

Notes & Story Statues

Observe

- Collected the data

- Analysed the results

Revised Plan (Cycle 2)-Changed the hands-

on activities

Action- Carried out the new hands-on

activities that suit the pupils’ level

Observe

- Analysed the data - There are improvement in the

results

Reflect - Cycle 2 is a success based

on the results from the data

collected

Plan-Identified the best hands-on

activities to use and the data

collection methods

Reflect

- Identified the problems - Plan for improvements in Cycle 2

Figure 1: Cyclical Diagram of Cycle 1 and Cycle 2

Figure 2: Comparison of pupils’ participation in storytelling session without intervention in Cycle 1 and

with intervention in Cycle 2

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The improvement in Figure 2 proves that the use of hands-on activities during the storytelling sessions can engage the pupils’ participation during the sessions. There is a significant difference between the results in the Engagement Rubrics before and after the intervention. Based on this comparison graph, the researcher identified that the pupils’ participation showed positive improvement during the storytelling sessions. Video recording checklist The checklist consists of several items which are positive body language, consistent focus, verbal participation, student confidence, and fun and excitement. Table 3 Comparison of Pupils’ Behavior during Storytelling Sessions without Intervention and with Intervention in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2

Analysis from the above table showed that hands-on activities are really effective to engage

pupils’ participation in the storytelling session. It is evident that cycle 2 shows marked improvement in positive body language with 71% of the participants recording a high while only 43% of them recorded a high in cycle 1. An interesting point to note is that 86% of them were consistently focused throughout the storytelling sessions in cycle 2 compared to 14% in cycle 1. Although there was high, medium and low verbal participation in cycle 1, only high and medium participation was noted in cycle 2. Cycle 1 revealed that 3 out of 7 pupils showed low confidence and 5 out of 7 of them exhibited excitement. However, an obvious relationship is evident in the findings about pupils’ confidence and the fun and exciting elements in cycle 2. 100% of the pupils displayed high confidence in cycle 2 and 100% of them were excited in the storytelling sessions. Structured interview Pupils found the storytelling session with hands-on activities interesting. This is evident in the following excerpts of cycle 1 and 2:

Researcher: Awak rasa menarik tak aktiviti tadi? Interesting tak? (Is this work interesting to you?) Pupil 4,5,6,7: Interesting! Pupil 2: Menarik (Interesting) Pupil 1: Boleh la..(It’s okay)

5.5 Conclusion

The research findings therefore indicate a strong demand for hands-on activities to be incorporated in storytelling sessions as they promote effective learning of the English language.This is apparent in the positive body language displayed by pupils. Using hands-on activities will also boost pupils’ confidence to verbally participate in the fun and exciting lessons.

Items

Percentage (%) Comparison of behavior

Without Intervention,

and With Intervention in Cycle 1 &

Cycle 2

High Medium Low

Without Interven

tion

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

Without Intervention

Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Without

intervention

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

With Intervention With Intervention With Intervention

Positive Body Language

28% 43% 71% 28% 43% 28% 28% 28% 0 Improved

Consistent Focus

14% 14% 86% 57% 57% 14% 28% 28% 0 Improved

Verbal Participation

0 28% 43% 28% 0 57% 100% 43% 0 Improved

Student Confidence

28% 14% 100% 43% 0 0 72% 43% 0 Improved

Fun and Excitement

0 71% 100% 14% 86% 0 14% 14% 0 Improved

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5.6 Reflection

As a result of this experience I have come to value conducive environment in the classroom. This has changed how I deliver the curriculum, evaluate student work, schedule my day, and arrange the physical space in my classroom. I have found the action research process to be a valuable personal growth experience. After I have carried out this research, I find that I am more excited about teaching than ever. I have a renewed sense of purpose. 6.0 .SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Teachers can use hands-on activities that include arts during storytelling session. These may include drawing, crafts, and visual. Then, dramatisation can be used to introduce the story or to understand the story better. These visual representations arouse curiosity, stimulate ideas and focus pupils when introducing a story. In addition, my research is limited to an investigation of only 7 Year 5 pupils. A larger participant size may produce more conclusive results and lend greater validity to the findings. It would also be interesting if another area for future research could be more longitudinal studies on effectiveness of hands-on activities in engaging pupils’ participation from primary to secondary and post secondary institutions.

REFERENCES Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and

Qualitative Research (3rd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall Saunders, W. L., & Shepardson, D. (1987). A comparison of concrete and formal science

instruction upon science achievement and reasoning ability of sixth grade pupils. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 24(1), 39-51.

Walberg, H. J. (1986). Synthesis of research on teaching. In M.C. (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 214-229). New York, NY: Macmillan.

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ENHANCING YEAR 5 JAZZ STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION SKILL IN FINDING MAIN IDEAS AND SUPPORTING DETAILS THROUGH MIND MAPS

By:

ASHA NURJANNATUL BINTI ABD NASSAIR

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This action research aims to enhance my Year 5 Jazz students’ reading comprehension in finding main ideas and supporting details through mind maps. This study was conducted on nine students. Analysis of the observation and field notes showed that the students were having difficulties in identifying main ideas and supporting details based on the text they read. The focus of this study is to find out whether the mind map strategy is able to develop my students’ reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and supporting details. A few intervention sessions were carried out in the classroom which aimed of helping them to identify important details based on the reading text which eventually improved their reading comprehension skill. The data was collected through the pre-test and post-test, observational checklist, document analysis of the students’ work and also questionnaire. The findings revealed that students’ reading comprehension skill have showed great improvement and mind maps strategy used were able to help Year 5 Jazz students in identifying appropriate main ideas and supporting details from the reading text after the implementation of the intervention. Hence, the use of mind maps strategy helped students to enhance their reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and supporting details. Key terms: enhancing reading comprehension, main ideas and supporting details, mind maps 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Kurrikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) has been implemented in school since 2012.

KSSR strives towards a more holistic development where it focuses on several aspects which are the content structure, pedagogical aspect, time frame and assessment method. In English language learning, our government emphasizes on pupils’ mastering the basic language skills to enable them to communicate effectively in a variety of contexts that is appropriate to the pupils’ level of development. There are four basic language skills that need to be mastered by the pupils in the primary school which are listening and speaking, reading, writing and grammar.

To be more specific, one of those aspects is the mastery of English in terms of the ability to

understand a range of text for information and enjoyment in reading skill. Pupils need to acquire the reading skill starting from an early age itself in the primary school. Reading is a multifaceted process that develops with practice. These basics must be mastered but at the same time reading comprehension should be emphasized in the process. Readers will have to utilize their intelligence, knowledge and experience as well as language to enable them to understand the text. According to Grellet (1981) reading is an active skill because reading also goes beyond assimilation as it requires the reader to contribute his own experiences and thoughts based on the text.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

Throughout my teaching and learning session, I encountered several problems in conducting

my reading lesson. I found that some of the students in Year 5 Jazz have still not mastered the reading comprehension skill of finding main ideas and supporting details. I gave them a factual text. After reading the text, I asked questions such as “What is the main idea in the first paragraph?” but the students were unable to respond and state the ideas and topic of the text. The students responded to my questions with, “I don’t know” or “I do not know where to find the answer”. Thus, I could see that they did not know how to locate the details of the text and they were unable to give correct answers to the questions that I have asked. Thus, in the way to enhance students’ reading comprehension skill, I decided to carry out a study to identify whether mind map strategy helps to enhance students’ reading comprehension skill.

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1.2 Related theory/ literature

In this research, I used Piaget theory of cognitive development (1970) and Schema theory to overcome the problems faced by the Year 5 Jazz students. These theories were related to the strategy of mind maps that I implemented in my research. Based on Piaget’s theory, the schema is the basic building block of intelligent behaviour which is a way of organizing knowledge. Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and described how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of the world, where we use both to understand and to respond to situations. Thus, when the students had an understanding about the text that they read, they would be able to identify the important details in order to answer reading comprehension questions correctly.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The curriculum specification and syllabus state that “By the end of their primary schooling,

pupils should be able to 3.8.4 Read and understand simple factual texts by answering comprehension questions in relation to main ideas and supporting details. Based on this statement, it shows that students need to master the reading skill in finding main ideas and supporting details and give students the opportunity to explore and understand the structure of the text. Many people assumed that Year 5 students have mastered this reading comprehension skill but unfortunately some of Year 5 Jazz students in this school are still having difficulties with this reading skill. They will be left behind because they are unable to acquire the learning input that they are supposed to learn. Thus, it is very important for students to understand and master this reading comprehension skill in relation to finding main ideas and supporting details because they will be sitting for UPSR examination in Year 6. Furthermore, by introducing this reading comprehension skill, it provides opportunity for Year 5 students to examine text structure which consequently would develop their writing skills or higher level comprehension skills.

3.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The aim of this action research is to identify whether mind maps strategy can enhance Year 5

Jazz students’ reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and supporting details.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS The participants of this action research are the students from the Sekolah Kebangsaan

Suriamas and the target participants of my action research are from Year 5 Jazz class. The class has an enrolment of nine students which are five male students and four female students. They are low proficiency students in English language.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

This action research was conducted based on Lewin’s model (1946) and Laidlaw’s model

(1992). Based on this model I have to identify the problem followed by fact finding, planning of action, implementing action and reflection to identify the effectiveness of the mind maps strategy used.

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The data gathering methods that were used in this action research were tests (pre- test and post-test), document analysis, questionnaire and observation checklist. All the instruments were used based on the criteria of suitability and reliability to this action research.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary investigation was conducted through classroom observation, document analysis of

students’ test and worksheet and also interviewing of the English teacher. The data collected from these methods proved that the students have problem in identifying main ideas and supporting details which causes difficulty in comprehending the text. In order to ensure the improvement in the students’ reading comprehension skill, mind mapping is a suitable strategy that can be used during the reading lesson in the English classroom. Mind map is a representation of radiant thinking, utilizing lines,

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colors, characters, symbols, images, pictures or keywords to associate and integrate, visualize the learned concept and maximize brain potential.

5.3 Action

The intervention was conducted in two cycles during the English lesson in the classroom. I

used factual texts as the reading materials in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. After conducting the preliminary investigation, I conducted the first intervention sessions of cycle 1 which was using flow maps and the students need to complete the boxes provided based on the text given. After they read the text, I guided them to do the mind maps for two sessions and the last session, I gave them no guidance to complete the mind maps given.

In Cycle 2, I made some modifications of the story map where I used a different type of mind map which is brace map. Before I started the intervention sessions, I gave them guidance on how to complete the mind maps. After they read the text, I guided them to do the mind maps for two sessions and in the last session, I gave them no guidance to complete the mind maps given. Then, I compared the students’ results based on the data that I had collected.

5.4 Findings In this section, I will discuss the findings of my action research. Pre-test and Post-test (Cycle 1)

. Figure 1: Comparison of students’ marks in the pre-test and post-test in Cycle 1.

The bar chart above clearly indicates that my Year 5 Jazz students have improved greatly in

their reading comprehension skill after I had implemented the mind map strategy. However, the bar chart also shows that S2 and S3 only showed a little improvement where they scored 60% in the post-test compared to the other students who managed to score 80% -90%. S1 and S2 did not manage to score high marks because they were still having difficulties in finding main ideas and supporting details. During the intervention, I found that they were still struggling to complete the blank spaces in the mind maps because they could not manage to find the correct supporting details to support the main ideas from the text that they read.

Pre-test and Post-test (Cycle 2)

Figure 2 : Comparison of students’ marks in the pre-test in Cycle 1 and post-test in Cycle 2.

The comparison of students’ marks and percentages in the pre-test (Cycle 1) and post-test

(Cycle 2) is tabulated in table and graph. Each student showed improvement in the post-test in Cycle

0

50

100

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9

Perc

en

tag

e (

%)

Number of students

Difference of marks between the pre-test and tthe post-test

Pre-test (%)

Post-test (%)

0

100

200

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Number of students

Difference of marks between the pre-test (Cycle 1) and the post-test (Cycle 2)

Pre-test (%)

Post-test (%)

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2 compared to the pre-test in Cycle 1. The highest marks and percentage in the post-test is come from S7 and S8 who have shown great improvement. They have scored 100% in the post-test compared to their marks in the pre-test which is 50% and 60% respectively. It proves that the strategy used is able to help my students’ ability in finding main ideas and supporting details correctly.

The second highest mark is from S1, S4, S5, S6 and S9. They have scored 90% in the pot-test

compared to their marks in the pre-test where S1, S4 and S9 have scored 40% in the pre-test while S6 has scored 50%. It proves that the percentage of their marks increased to 50%. Next, S2 and S3 have also shown their improvement in their learning where they scored 80% in the post-test and the different in marks increased to 50%. From the differences of students’ marks in the pre-test (Cycle 1) and the post-test (Cycle 2), it can be concluded that the intervention strategy that I conducted, which is the used of mind map is able to help my students enhance their reading comprehension in finding main ideas and supporting details.

Document Analysis

Document analysis which is students’ work has being analyzed based on the scoring rubric. The data shows that majority of the students were able to extract information correctly after the implementation of the mind map strategy. In Cycle 1 of session 1, all of the nine targeted students were required to complete their works where they were able to complete the mind maps and I categorized them into good level. In session 2, there were seven students who were able to complete their mind maps and I categorized them into good level while two students showed poor level. Then in session 3, most of the students’ works could be categorized into excellent and good students.

For Cycle 2, I also analyzed students’ work based on the same rubric. From the results, I found

that six students were able to achieve the good level while three students could not complete the mind maps. It is because I changed the type of maps used in Cycle 2. Moreover, they were not familiar with the structure of the mind maps. In session 2, all of the nine students showed great improvement in their works and they managed to achieve the good level. In session three, all of the students showed excellent level in their works where they were able to identify the correct main ideas and supporting details in the information text.

Checklist

The observer observed each student in the classroom. The nonparticipant observer was focusing on the students’ learning behavior based on the requirement items in the checklist. There are two issues which emerged from the behaviours observed by the nonparticipant observer. The first issue is the notation of students’ positive attitude and interest. All students showed their confidence and they also maintained their eye-contact during the explanation given for them. The second issue is the students’ ability in completing the mind maps. Students who were seated in the front of the classroom were able to underline the specific information needed to write them in the mind maps. It proves that the students were able to identify the main ideas and supporting details in the text that they have read.

Questionnaire

The students’ opinion towards the mind maps were analyzed by using quantitative analysis

method. The data displays the students’ opinion about the mind maps strategy used based on the questionnaire given to each student. Based on the results above, I found that most of the students gave positive opinions towards the strategy used based on their answers in the questionnaire. The results prove that all of the students like to have mind maps during their reading lesson because they were able to understand the text well and were able to enhance their reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and details from the text that they have read. 5.5 Conclusion

From the data that I collected, I found out that the students showed great improvement in their reading comprehension skill. The students were able to identify the main ideas and supporting details in answering comprehension questions after they completed the boxes in the mind maps. From the results shown in the pre-test and post-test in both cycles, all of the students showed good

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progress. As a result, the strategy of using mind maps was able to enhance my students’ reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and supporting details and the students were able to better comprehend the text. 5.6 Reflection

This action research has given me the opportunity to evaluate the implications and also

limitations of my research study that could be improved for future research. One of the implications is that the students were more interested to learn English. After I had introduced the mind maps strategy, I found that their achievement in English language had improved. It can be seen from the post-test results in Cycle 2. Other than that, the students were also able to actively participate in the class activity during the implementation of the interventions. They were smiling and they showed excitement to complete the mind map given. Another implication that I managed to identify is the ability to provide the students with the tool to understand the text. When the students could comprehend the text thoroughly, they will be able to answer comprehension questions without much trouble.

The limitation was that some of the students who were struggling with this strategy took more

time to complete the task given. Because of that, it affected the students who managed to easily find the main idea and supporting details. For those that were struggling, I provided more modelling on these concepts. Other than that, I had to give extra additional practice for them before proceeding to the next lesson. Other than that, the limitation of this study is that some of the students tend to copy every word in the sentences and write them in the mind maps. Then, I again explained and modelled to them how to complete the mind maps correctly which I taught them about the keywords that can be used. It takes more time for me to correct students’ works because the students were still not familiar with the use of mind maps in the reading lesson. 6.0 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This research has successfully proven that the use of mind maps strategy was able to enhance

students’ reading comprehension skill in finding main ideas and supporting details. As such, it would be interesting to further this research by providing oral questioning technique during the reading lesson. This oral questioning could begin by using suitable questions to be asked before, during and after the students read the text. According to Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam and Soo Choon (2005), one of the suitable types of questions that we can use are open-ended questions because the students will be able to give verbal responses that are elicited through comprehension questions. By doing this strategy, this allows the student to find necessary information and it also teaches the student the essential skill of looking back and re-reading text to find necessary information.

Other than that, researcher can use the mind maps strategy when they are reading from the

fictional or non-fictional text. In the next research, the students could be exposed to other types of maps such as story map to be used in the fiction reading text. Other than that, the researcher can also introduce this mind maps strategy to other subject such as Science subject. They can use this strategy to teach topic such as identifying parts of human body or part of plants. They were already familiar with this strategy. After the students were exposed with the strategy, they will be able to understand the important details in the lesson. It could also help students’ to enhance their creative and critical thinking skill. REFERENCES Grellet, F. 1981. Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kitoa, Kathleen S. (1990). Textual Schemata and English Language Learning. Cross Currents, Issue

3, 147-155. Lewin, K. (1946). Action Research and Minority Problems, Journal of Social Issues, 2: 34-46. Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam & The Soo Choon, (2005). ELT Methodology: Principles

and Practice. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

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USING SHARED READING TO IMPROVE YEAR 5 JASMINE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION LEVELS

By:

ERNA MALIA BINTI ISA

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of shared reading to improve 5 Jasmine students’ reading comprehension. The focus of this research is to find out the extent shared reading can help the students to read the texts at a higher level of understanding. For this purpose, the researcher has chosen to implement shared reading as an intervention in her reading lessons. A diagnostic test conducted reveals that the students responded poorly to higher order reading comprehension questions even though they are relatively proficient in English. 5 students who did not respond satisfactorily to higher order reading comprehension questions in the test have been selected to be the subjects in this study. The data gathering methods used are pre and post–tests, formative tests, and audio-visual recordings. The transcribed audio-visual recordings are analysed to look at teacher-students and student – student interactions during the shared reading sessions. The findings reveal that the students have improved in terms of their reading comprehension levels. The analysis of the interactions showed that through shared reading, the teacher has many opportunities to interact with the students and this has helped to trigger higher order thinking among the students. There are also opportunities for student – student interactions and this has encouraged the students to think at a higher level of comprehension.

Key terms: Shared reading, reading comprehension levels, interactions

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Our education system has put an emphasis that by the end of primary schooling, students

should be able to read and understand different kinds of texts (from print to electronic sources) for

enjoyment and information (MOE, 2013). However, many students in Malaysia have problems in

comprehending reading texts at higher order reading comprehension levels. This is supported by the

recent PISA results that reveal Malaysian students are at the 54th rank among 74 countries (MOE,

2013). 44% of the participants from Malaysia were not proficient readers, and this affects their ability

to apply their knowledge in real-world settings (MOE, 2013). As the aspiration of education in

Malaysia is to excel in international assessments, the ability to comprehend texts among students

needs to be improved.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

In the last teaching practice, the researcher went to an all-girls trust school in Kuala Lumpur.

The researcher was assigned to teach 5 Jasmine where the students are of mixed ability in terms of

their proficiency in English. In the reading lessons, the researcher noted that the students were

unable to respond critically to higher order reading comprehension questions. For instance, when the

researcher asked the students to relate the story to their life, they responded by reproducing the

answers directly from the story. They could not relate it to their life. The researcher felt puzzled

because the students were generally proficient in English. It was concluded that the pupils were

having problems in comprehending texts at higher order levels of inferential, evaluation and

appreciation.

1.2 Related theory / literature

Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory together with the interactive approach of reading

formed the framework for this study. Social constructivism theory deals with social interaction that

helps learning. Santrock (2010) suggested that students learn best through social interaction. In

relation to the study, the teacher plays the role as the more knowledgeable other and facilitator in

helping the students to comprehend the reading texts critically.

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The interactive approach to reading involves a combination of bottom-up and top-down

processing in comprehending the reading text either alternately or at the same time, Aebesold &

Field (2007). Through the interactive reading process, students understand the text by bringing in

their prior knowledge and making connections with the text.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The issue of concern in this research was that students generally have problems in

comprehending reading texts in a second language especially when it concerns higher order reading comprehension level. The students have problem in comprehending the reading texts critically and this would hinder their learning and development. Thus, the researcher had chosen shared reading to improve the students’ higher order reading comprehension levels.

3.0 OBJECTIVE

This section outlines the general and specific objectives of this action research.

3.1 General objective The general objective of the research is to improve students’ reading comprehension levels

using shared reading.

3.2 Specific objectives

To find out whether shared reading help 5 Jasmine students to improve their reading

comprehension levels.

To understand how shared reading might improve 5 Jasmine students’ higher order reading comprehension levels.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

Five students from year 5 Jasmine were selected as participants of this study. They were all

girls and they are proficient in the targeted language. However, they displayed poor performance in higher order reading comprehension levels.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

In this study, the researcher implemented Kurt Lewin model of action research which

comprising of ‘identifying a general idea, fact finding or reconnaissance, general planning of action and developing first action plan, implementing the first action step, evaluation, and revising the general plan’ (McNiff, 2013).

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The researcher had used two data gathering methods namely; tests (a pre-test, post–tests

and formative tests) and audio-visual recording. These instruments were used because of its

effectiveness in obtaining the intended data for this study (McNiff, 2013).

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

The researcher conducted a preliminary investigation to get a specific information regarding

the students’ reading comprehension problem. Two data gathering methods were used which were a

diagnostic test and an interview session with the English teacher. The findings reveal that the

students were having problem in responding in higher order levels of reading comprehension

questions.

5.2.1 Diagnostic test

A diagnostic test conducted reveals that 29 students responded poorly to higher order reading

comprehension questions even though they are relatively proficient in English.

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5.2.2 Interview

An interview session with the English teacher reveals that the students generally do not

respond critically to the reading texts. To the teacher, this trend is worrying as it may result in the

students not being able to understand the text beyond the literal level.

5.3 Action

Before carrying out the intervention, the researcher administered a pre-test to gather a

baseline data on the students’ performance in reading comprehension. The intervention was carried

out in two cycles. The first cycle involved two sessions of shared reading where the researcher

encouraged the students to make predictions based on the cover page and the title of the story. While

reading, the researcher paused at certain points, and encouraged students to think critically through

the use of questions and cues. It triggered multiple ways of interaction involving teacher – students

and student-student to arrive at possible answers or reasoning with regards to the story read. After

that, the students sat for a post-test. The researcher improved on the intervention before

implementing it in cycle two. The improvement involved adding more higher order questions and

cues.

5.4 Findings

5.4.1 Pre and Post – test results

Figure 1 : Students improvement of marks before and after the intervention

Figure 1 above shows the analysis of students’ marks on pre-test and post-test. As can be

seen in Figure 1 above, after the interventions in both cycles, the students have shown a great

improvement. Student A and D show the most improvement of marks from 0% to 71%. Whereas

student B has obtained 100% marks after the intervention. For student C and D, they have improved

their marks from 43% and 14% to 86% and 71% respectively. The students have shown good

improvement after the intervention. It shows that shared reading has helped students to improve their

reading comprehension levels. Refer to table 1 below for the details of the students’ increment of

marks.

0

29

43

0

14

71

100

86

71 71

0

20

40

60

80

100

A B C D E

Comparison of students' marks in pre-test and post-test

Pre - Test Post -Test

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Table 1

The overall increment of students’ marks after 2 cycles

As shown in table 1 above, students A, B and D have shown the most improvement with a

71% increase in marks. Student E shows moderate improvement with an increment of 57% and

student C shows the least improvement with 43 % increment in marks. Overall, all students have

shown some improvement after the intervention.

Formative tests

Table 2

Comparison of overall marks obtained by students in Formative Assessments

Table 2 shows a comparison of marks obtained by the students based on the formative

assessments given. Students B, D and E show the most improvement with a difference of 57%.

Student C shows moderate improvement with an increase of 43% and student A shows the least

improvement with an increase of 28%. Based on the averaged marks obtained by the students, there

is a good improvement in responding to the higher order reading comprehension questions by

increasing their marks from 40% to 89%. Thus, it shows that the students have developed their ability

to comprehend the reading texts at higher order.

5.4.2 Audio-visual Recording

Table 3 Frequency of Students’ Responses to the Questions and Prompts.

Students

Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Overall Increase

Pre –

test

% Post -

test

% Post -Test

% (post-test cycle 2 – pre–test cycle 1)

Marks %

A 0 0 4 57 5 71 +5 71

B 2 29 5 71 7 100 +2 71 C 3 43 5 71 6 86 +3 43

D 0 0 2 28 5 71 +5 71 E 1 14 3 43 5 71 +4 57

Pupils Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Difference in marks

Marks % Marks % Marks %

A 3 43 5 71 +2 +28. B 3 43 7 100 +4 +57 C 4 57 7 100 +3 +43 D 2 28 6 85 +4 +57 E 2 28 6 85 +4 +57

Average score

40% 89%

CYCLE 1 CYCLE 2

Student Session 1 Session 2 Session 1 Session 2

A 5 6 8 8

B 7 10 13 14

C 6 8 10 12

D 7 9 11 13

E 4 7 8 8

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Table 3 above shows the frequency of students’ higher order responses during the shared reading transcribed from the recordings. The finding reveals that student B has participated the most in the interactions during the shared reading sessions. This could be seen by the gradual increase of responses shown by her. There are 7 responses from student B. The second one would be student C and D where they have increased their responses to 12 and 13 respectively. Student E and A have shown the least number of responses with an increment of only 3 and 4 times respectively.

The results show that the interactions during the shared reading sessions have helped the students to improve their reading comprehension levels. The interactions led either by teacher or the students themselves have triggered the students’ critical thinking. The types of questions and cues posed also play a vital role in helping the students to read the text at a higher level of understanding.

5.5 Conclusion

Based on the research, it can be concluded that shared reading helps students to improve their reading comprehension levels. The interactions that occurred during the shared reading sessions are the prominent factor in improving the students understanding. This is further supported by Vygostky as cited in Santrock (2010) who states that students learn best through interaction. The use of questioning and prompting is shown to be the trigger for students to think critically. Tomasek (2009) suggested that the use of prompts to connect students’ prior knowledge with the reading text, allows students to have the opportunity to think critically the topics. In relation to the current research, the findings have shown that shared reading does help students to improve their higher order reading comprehension levels. 5.6 Reflection

The strategy of using shared reading is effective to be used in improving students’ reading

comprehension levels. Students showed good improvement in their reading comprehension levels. However, there was a limitation of the study. From the study, the researcher realised that domination issue had occurred. For instance, there were two students dominated the discussions. It was difficult for the researcher to evaluate the interactions of the students. It would be better if the researcher could overcome this issue by encouraging those who dare not to speak to voice out their thoughts. It is to enhance the effectiveness in evaluating the pupils. Taking turns in providing feedback could help but there would be another issue that may arise, for instance the validity of the feedback given. They could copy their friends answer.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Future researchers could implement shared reading by looking closely at student-student

interactions in text comprehesion. Researchers could encourage and prompt students to think

critically by providing more challenging cues and questions. Apart from that, future researchers could

use shared reading to study students’ engagement in a lesson.

REFERENCES Hyland, F. (2005, November 12). Shared reading : the concept of shared reading. Gulfnews, pp. 1-12. Jitendria, A. K., & Gajria, M. (2011). Main Idea and Summarization Instruction to Improve Reading

Comprehension. In R. E. O'Connor, & P. F. Vadasy, Handbook of Reading Interventions (pp. 198-219). New York: The Guilford Press.

MOE. (2013). Malaysia education blueprint 2013 - 2025. Putrajaya: Kementerian Pendidikan

Malaysia. Santrock, W. J. (2010). Child Development. Singapore: Mc Graw Hill. Tomasek, T. (2009). Critical reading : using reading prompts to promote active engagement with text .

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education , 127 - 132. McNiff, J. (2013). Action Research : Principles and Practice. Oxon: Routledge.

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ENHANCING YEAR 3 WAJA STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY LEARNING USING VISUAL MATERIALS

By:

FAREEZ BIN HAMDAN

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT This research aims to ascertain the effectiveness of using visual materials to enhance the vocabulary learning of five remedial students of class Year 3 Waja. The focus of the research was to help students recognize and remember the content vocabulary that they have learn as they are going to encounter these words in a certain topic/unit. The results gathered in the preliminary investigations showed that five students were having problems in recognizing and remembering the vocabulary that they have learnt. Visual materials is one of the strategy that can be used to enhance vocabulary learning of the students as they are going to be drilled with the words for about four or five times. The visual materials that had been used in this research were pictures and real objects. Findings showed that the use of visual materials helped in enhancing the vocabulariy learning of the students as they were able to recognize and remember for longer the vocabulary learnt. The students were also actively involved in the learning process as they wanted to talk about the pictures that they had seen. Therefore, the use of visual materials is an effective strategy to enhance vocabulary learning as the students can recognize and remember the vocabulary better and use them during the learning of a certain topic/unit. Key terms: content vocabulary, visual materials, vocabulary learning 1.0 INTRODUCTION

In this section, I will reflect on my teaching experience regarding the topic of my research,

which is students’ problem due to lack of vocabulary. Then, I will discuss the related theories that underpin my study. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience Year 3 Waja usually learn vocabulary in context as their teacher will explain the vocabulary while the students are reading the text. However, I saw that the students could not really remember the vocabulary as they tend to forget it and asked again and again the meaning of the vocabulary when they encountered the vocabulary during the exercise or task given. As I reflected over the teaching and learning event above, I started to think that the students were not given enough drill or practice about the vocabulary. We need to remember that the primary value of drill techniques lies in the opportunity they provide to draw students’ attention to elements of the language (Kerr, 2013). Besides that, I also noticed that the students were not given enough drills about the vocabulary as they encountered them in the reading session. Providing students with sufficient examples could be one of the ways that can help the students to recognize and remember the vocabulary and use them for the content of the unit/topic. 1.2 Related theory/literature

The behaviourist theory of learning provides teachers with a set of principles and easy to

implement classroom procedure (Chitravelu et al, 2005). One of the methods in teaching vocabulary is through drilling. The most basic kind of drill is a repetition drill and the key to its success is for the students to know exactly what it is they should be repeating (Kerr, 2013). There are many ways to drilling new material. According to Hermione (2014), using a variety of drilling methods in your classes will help make this portion of the lesson more interesting and keep students focus.

The other theory that i underpins this study is bottom-up approach. In the bottom-up approach, students first need to go through a transitional phase where they are given the chance to develop automaticity in letter recognition and word identification (Anderson, 2005). Taking a bottom-up

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approach to ESL/EFL learning and teaching can help unravel some of the complexities involved in becoming a proficient reader. In order to go beyond the primary level in ESL/EFL studies, a bottom-up approach to learning and teaching is absolutely necessary (Flynn, 2005). In my context, I use the bottom-up approach to directly teach the word first, and then they can move on to the pictures / visuals that have been provided. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

Through my observation, the problem that my students faced in reading is due to the lack of vocabulary. After asking my cooperating teacher and also my students, I have come to the conclusion that they cannot really recognize the vocabulary because they did not get enough drill in order to help them remember the vocabulary. This problem, the lack of vocabulary (content words) becomes an issue because students need to understand the words that they have read so that they can use the words later for many purposes such as reading and speaking. In KSSR, reading is one of the skills that are emphasized in the syllabus as this skill is important for students to master for their future needs.

One of the ways to enhance my students’ vocabulary learning is through the use of visual

materials. According Allen (1999), if teachers use visual materials, students learning will be better than the time when they use other materials. I also believe than the use of visual materials such as pictures is an effective way and may produce good results. 3.0 OBJECTIVE

The general objective of this research is to enhance Year 3 Waja students’ vocabulary learning using visual materials while the specific objective is to examine if visual materials help to enhance Year 3 Waja students’ vocabulary learning. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

I have chosen five remedial students (three boys and two girls) as my target participants because they have the most significant problems in recognizing vocabulary. As reading is one of the skills that primary school students need to master, I can focus on my target students as I am teaching them. Moreover, I can plan a proper intervention for them. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

I have followed Lewin & Laidlaw’s (1992) adapted model for my research. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods.

Four different kinds of instruments were used in this research. Tests (pre-test and post-test), observation, formative assessment and interviews were employed to collect data. All the instruments were used due to its purpose and its effectiveness so that the intended data could be collected. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

In carrying out the preliminary investigation, I have chosen observation, document analysis and interview as my data collection method. This preliminary investigation helped me to provide data and evidence was used to narrow down my research area which is students’ vocabulary learning. 5.3 Action

In cycle 1, My intervention was conducted over three sessions, and the duration for each session was about 40 minutes. I introduced the students to 10 words over each session, and in each session I used word cards. The vocabulary in each session will cover different units/topics in the syllabus. I wanted the students to recognize and remember the vocabulary that they were going to learn for each unit/topic in the syllabus. I drilled the students with word cards least three or four times so that the students can recognize and remember these words.

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In Cycle 2, I made some adjustment in my intervention by using visual materials (pictures and real objects) with word cards to teach the students. I let the students talk about the pictures or the real objects first, before I introduced them the words using word cards. The duration for each intervention in this cycle is similar with Cycle 1, which is 40 minutes and there were also three sessions. I drilled the students for at least four times to ensure the students really know and recognize each vocabulary so that they will better remember the content vocabulary. 5.4 Findings Pre-test and post-test Table 1 The Differences in Marks between Pre-Test and Post-Test in Cycle 1.

Students(S) Pre – test Post – test Differences in marks

Marks Percentage Marks Percentage

S1 10/30 33.30% 13/30 43.30% +3 S2 9/30 30.0% 13/30 43.30% +4 S3 12/30 40.0% 16/30 53.30% +4

S4 13/30 43.30% 18/30 60.0% +5

S5 6/30 20.0% 6/30 20.0% 0

From Table 1, we can see that there are differences in marks between pre-test and post-test

results for the intervention. There are improvements in Student 1 (S1), Student 2 (S2), Student 3 (S3) and Student 4 (S4) marks while only Student 5 (S5) showed no improvement in his test result. Only two students managed to get marks over 50% after the intervention had been conducted. It shows that this student might need a better intervention plan so that we can see a more significant improvement in his test result. Table 2 The Differences in Marks between Pre-Test and Post-Test in Cycle 2

Students(S) Pre – test Post – test Differences in marks

Marks Percentage Marks Percentage

S1 12/30 40.0% 24/30 80.0% +12 S2 10/30 33.30% 21/30 70.0% +11 S3 12/30 40.0% 25/30 83.40% +13 S4 14/30 46.70% 26/30 86.68% +14 S5 8/30 26.70% 14/30 46.70% +6

Table 2 above shows the results of the marks of the students for pre-test and post-test in Cycle

2. We can see that the students show a more significant improvement in their test results and four of them were able to score more than 50% in the test. Only S5 needed more help in recognizing and remembering the words. However during this time, S5 looked more interested in answering all the questions. All the students were able to answer the post-test questions after the intervention plan had been conducted. It shows that the intervention in Cycle 2 had somehow helped the students to recognize and remember the words. Moreover, all the students were able to answer all the questions within the given time.

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Observation Table 3 Students’ Behavior during the Intervention Session

Observation on students’ behavior S1 S2 S3 S4 S5

The student smile and are excited when they look at the pictures shown by the teacher.

/ / / / /

The student is able to answer questions given by the teacher.

/ / / /

The student gives quick responses to the pictures that they see by saying they had seen the picture before.

/ /

The student talks to his/her friends about the pictures/real objects that they see.

/ / / / /

The student completes the exercises given by themselves without asking teacher or friends.

/ / / /

The student keeps walking around the class to ask for answers.

/ /

Table 3 above shows students’ behavior during the third session in Cycle 2. Most of them gave

positive responses and showed positive attitude during the intervention especially when I showed the visual materials (pictures/real objects) to the students. I saw only two students kept walking around the class to seek answers for the exercises in Session 3. All of them were excited when I showed them the words with the pictures/real objects. Formative assessment Table 4 The Total Marks of the Students after the Exercises

Students (S) The total marks of the students’ exercises after each session

Session 1 Session 2 Session 3

S1 10/10 10/10 10/10 S2 10/10 10/10 10/10 S3 10/10 10/10 10/10 S4 10/10 10/10 10/10 S5 8/10 8/10 10/10

Based on Table 4 above, it shows almost all of the students were able to answer correctly all

the exercises after each session. This is because they were still able to remember the words with the pictures that they had just learned. Thus, the students could remember and recall the words and pictures after they had been given enough drills about the words. 5.5 Conclusion

Based on the findings above, I can conclude that visual materials are one of the ways that can be used to enhance the vocabulary learning of the students. Teaching vocabulary is actually not an easy task. The students need to remember the vocabulary so that they can use them for learning the content of certain topic/unit. If they still cannot recognize the words, they may have problems in understanding the things that the teacher teaches in that certain topic. By letting them to see the pictures or real objects as one kind of reinforcement, the students will get better word recognition skill for the words that they are going to learn which will aid them in understanding the reading text. 5.6 Reflection

Based on my research, I personally think that young children need much practice and drills in order to help them master certain things as what had been said by Nagy (2005) that students need

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multiple exposures to words in multiple contexts before they understand, remember, and apply them. As what I have done, I wanted my students to recognize certain words in English so that they will get a better understanding about the topic or the unit that they are going to learn. So, I feel that it is important to try something in order to help the students remember and recognize words. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

It is important for students to learn vocabulary for content learning. However, students usually encounter new words or vocabulary from the things that that they read such as books, comics, magazine and also newspaper. Thus, in the future, trying to find ways in helping the students to learn vocabulary is important not just for content learning, but also for reading comprehension. The students cannot comprehend the text if they do not know the meaning of most of the words in the text. In future, we may try to use pictures or other materials and strategies in helping students improve or enhance their reading comprehension through word recognition skill. By doing this way, we can figure out which methods can really suit the students in this country improve on their comprehension skills so that all the things that they are going to read become more meaningful and purposeful. REFERENCES Anderson, D. (2005, June). Bottom-Up Strategies. Retrieved February 11, 2014, from Reading

Literacy: http://www.admc.hct.ac.ae/hd1/documents/Reading%20Literacy-1.pdf

Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S., & Choon, T. S. (2005). ELT Methodology : Principle and Practice.

Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

Flynn, R. (2005). Using English. Retrieved February 11, 2014, from Taking a Bottom-up Approach to

Lerning and Teaching English: http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/000267.html#KURFtYA0wt5llo4M.99

Hermione. (2014). Busy Teacher. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from How to Drill: Drilling Activities for

Your English Classroom: http://busyteacher.org/3812-how-to-drill-drilling-activities-for-your-english.html

Kerr, P. (2013). One Stop English. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from Minimal resources: Drilling:

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/minimal-resources/vocabulary/minimal-resources-drilling/146558.article

Nagy, W. (2005). Why vocabulary instruction needs to be long-term and comprehensive. New Jersey:

Erlbaum.

Porter, P., & Margeret, G. (1992). Communicating Effectively in English: Oral Communication for Non-

natve Speaker. Boston: Heinle Publishers.

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USING COMIC STRIPS IN SHARED READING OF FACTUAL TEXTS TO IMPROVE YEAR 3 UTARID REMEDIAL PUPILS’

READING COMPREHENSION

By:

MUHAMMAD HIRDZI BIN ZAINAL ABIDIN English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to ascertain that the use of comic strips in shared reading of factual texts to improve Year 3 Utarid Remedial Pupils Reading Comprehension. There were total of 8 students involved in this research. The preliminary investigations results showed that the participants have problems in comprehending a factual text that is being presented in a wordy, lengthy and linear form. The focus of this research is to help the students in improving their comprehension skill of cause and effect on factual texts. As such, series of comic strips were designed to be implemented in the action cycles to meet this purpose. The data were collected from the pre-test and post-test, formative test, observational checklist, and students’ survey form. The findings gathered and analyzed from the instrument methods revealed that students’ comprehension skills of cause and effect on factual texts have indeed developed and improved their reading comprehension after the intervention. Thus, this substantiates the fact that by using comic strips in shared reading of factual texts does improve Year 3 Utarid remedial students reading comprehension. Key terms: Comic Strips, Dual coding Theory, reading comprehension, factual texts. 1.0 INTRODUCTION

One of the language skills thatisconsistently being an issue in English Language learning in our

Malaysian primary school context is reading. As the goal of reading is to extract meaning from text, students need practice inboth decoding and reading comprehension skills. Recently, there has been growing interest in children who can read accurately but have poor comprehension. Therefore this research is dedicated in helping the students to improve their level of reading comprehension skills through specific actions and intervention.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

This Action Research was intended to improve Year 3 Utarid students’ comprehension of factual texts in shared reading by using comic strips. Through my experiences, most of the low proficiency learners that I encounter faced the same problem when it comes to understanding factual texts. The problem faced by the low proficiency students is mainly focused on their comprehension skill of cause and effect, and the students lack the ability to make the relationship between the cause and effect in a factual text. Therefore I dedicated myself in helping the students to read and comprehend more effectively. Since reading is about the readers and the texts, the way that the text is being presented to the readers will affect their comprehension in a significant way. A factual text that is being presented to the students in an uninterestinglinear form can result in lower comprehension than a text with visual supports and creative presentation.

1.2 Related theory/ literature

In order to figure out the best way to overcome the problem of this study, I used the Dual Coding Theory proposed by (DCT) Paivio and Sadoski, (1986) in supporting my comic strips to compliment and help to achieve the theoretical framework of the theory. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The problem that I found and encounter with the students is, they have difficulties in comprehending a factual text in shared reading that is being presented in a linear form. They seem to face difficulties in understanding the cause and effect relationship in the text, which results in becoming a barrier for them to understand the text as a whole. This problem most probably happened

207

because of the lack of textual assistance in reading comprehension. Through some observations and survey with the teachers and also the students, the reason why they were unable to comprehend the text is because, they have this issue of not being introduced to the factual text in an effective way which may help them to understand the particular text better. Moreover, it is demotivating for remedial students to read materials in English language especially if it is in a linear form and lack visual support. Therefore, in relation to the problem, the Dual Coding theory (DCT) (2006) suggests that comprehension can be improved by presenting both visual and lexical form. Consequently, this study focused on determining if using comic strips in shared reading of factual texts could help to improve students reading comprehension. 3.0 OBJECTIVE

This section outlines the general and specific objectives of this research. 3.1 General Objective

The general aim and objective of this research is to find out if the use of comic strips of factual texts in shared reading help to improve Year 3 Utarid remedial pupils’ reading comprehension.

3.1 Specific Objective

The specific objective of this research is to find out if the use of comic strips in shared reading helps the students to comprehend the cause and effect relationship in a factual text and how does the comic strips help the students in improving their comprehension skills of factual texts. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

A total number of 8 students from Year 3 Utarid of Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Saujana were involved in this research. There were 4 boys and 4 girls respectively and one of the the girl is an Indian while the rest are all Malays. All of the participants were chosen specifically based on their proficency level and their achievement level in English subject. These 8 students were identified as remedial students based on the preliminary investigation made for selection of participants.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The following actions were taken to conduct this research: 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

Four different kinds of data gathering instrument were used in this research: pre-test and post-test, formative test, observational checklist and student survey form. All of the instrument were used due to their purpose and effectiveness so that the intended data could be collected.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

In order to determine pupils’ particular areas of needs, I used the method of classroom observation, teacher and students’ survey and also document analysis. All the data collected from the methods validate that the students really had problems in comprehending cause and effect relationship in factual texts. 5.3 Action

After conducting the preliminary investigation, I conducted my first intervention that was to pesent a fatual text using comic strips in Cycle 1. The steps of the cycle started with the drawing and making of comic strips and also the preparation of data gathering instruments. The second step involved the implementation of the comic strips in my lessons and administering the tests to collect the data. In the final step, I reflected on the strategy that I used to find the areas that can be improved.

Cycle 2 involved the same steps as the previous cyle but with some modification and improvement of the intervention which was the creation of the comic strips using an online comic

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strips software (www.bitstrips.com) rather than drawing the comic manually. After the steps and data were collected, I concluded the research by reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy that I had used. 5.4 Findings

In this section, the findings of the data gathered through the instrument that I have implemented in both of the cycles are presented.

Pre-test and Post test Table 7 Differences between Pre-Test and Post-Test in Cycle 2

Pupils

(P)

Pre-Test Post-Test Differences (%)

Marks Percentage (%)

Marks Percentage (%)

Marks Percentage (%)

P1 3/5 60% 5/5 100% 3/5 5/5 = +2 +40.00 P2 3/5 60% 4/5 80% 3/5 4/5 = +1 +20.00 P3 2/5 40% 5/5 100% 2/5 5/5 = +3 +60.00 P4 3/5 60% 5/5 100% 3/5 5/5 = +2 +40.00 P5 1/5 20% 5/5 100% 1/5 5/5 = +4 +80.00 P6 3/5 60% 5/5 100% 3/5 5/5 = +2 +40.00 P7 4/5 80% 5/5 100% 4/5 5/5 = +1 +20.00 P8 3/5 60% 4/5 80% 3/5 5/5 = +1 +20.00

Table 2 Level of Progression

Level of progress

Number of pupils Percentage

Progress 8 100% No progress 0 0%

Regress 0 0%

From the Table 1 presented above, we can see the differences of result between pre-test and

post-test. All the students managed to achieve better results in the post-test compared to the pre-test. P1, P4 and P6 show improvement from 60% to 100%. Meanwhile, P2 and P8 managed to improve from 60% to 80%. P3 and P5 show marked improvement of 40% to 100% and 20% to 100% respectively. Lastly, P7 shows the improvement of 80% to 100% which means P7 percentage of increment is 20%. Furthermore, the mode of percentage marks increment is 20% and 40% respectively and the median of percentage increment is 40%. The mean of the results data is accumulated as 40% average.

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Formative Test Figure 1: Graph on Students’ Performance of Cycle 2 in All Three Session of Formative Test

The above figure shows the tabulated results of the formative tests during Cycle 2 in all the three session of the course of intervention. From the graphs, we can see that it has been systematized in a way that it shows the progress and the percentage of total marks allocated for each of the students in the three sessions. P1, P3 and P7 managed to consistently achieve the excellent marks of 100% throughout all the three tests. Meanwhile, the rest of the students, P2, P4, P5, P6, and P8 were all able to improve from the first to the last test. This shows that all of the participants of the tests had successfully accomplished the purpose of the test and proven the effectiveness of the strategy used. From the quantified data shown, we can see that, almost all of the students managed to achieve the marks of 100% at the end of the session, this indicate that the comic strips did help the students to improve their ability to answer the type of comprehension question that requires them to relate the cause and effect relationship in the reading material. Overall, we can say that the graphs showed us the quantitative data to validate the first research question which is does the use of comic strips the intervention helps to improve students reading comprehension on formative assessment scale in general.

5.4.3 Observational Checklist

Using an observational checklist, observations were made during the course of intervention by

my colleague. From the data, I found that the target participants showed positive improvement in terms of the issues that I had categorized in the checklist which were; their engagement in terms of body language, participation and also their responses during the intervention. It is encouraging to see that the students showed these changes as it helped to answer research question 2 which is how the comic strips does help them to understand a factual text more comprehensively based on their engaging body language, promising participation and active responses.

5.4.4 Students survey form

This survey was given in order to see the students’ perspective on their responses to the materials used in the shared reading activities. This enabled me to further clarify the data in the observation that was made using the checklist. Based on the results that I obtained, it is definite to conclude that the students’ level of engagement and focus toward the given strategy is high because they found that the materials used were engaging and the related activities were enjoyable. Overall, based on the students survey form, all of the students were satisfied with the material and enjoyed the activity conducted.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8

TOTA

L P

ERC

ENTA

GE

MA

RK

S

PARTICIPANTS

SESSION 1

SESSION 2

SESSION 3

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5.5 Conclusion

The intervention was designed with the aim to develop students’ comprehension skills of factual texts. The findings of the research have answered both Research Question 1 and 2, demonstrating that using comic strips is effective in helping remedial students to comprehend factual texts better.

5.6 Reflection

Through the course of my action research, I realized some strengths and a few limitations in regard of the intervention. The strength of my intervention is that comic strips offers many beneficial features that will bring down the barrier that many students face in reading a text especially on factual texts that seem to be limited in its presentation. Thus by using this approach, I can provide the students with much more interesting, interactive, creative and effective ways of making my students interested in their reading material as well as understand their reading material better. The limitations of using this intervention is that, in organizing, creating and preparing the materials, a teacher need extra time, cost and the necessary skills to use the software.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

It would be interesting and intriguing to conduct further research by using the comic strips in different contexts such as to teach vocabulary or grammar as the comic strips itself proved to give the students better comprehension through the visualizations of understanding an input as small as word recognition to wider context like tenses or sentence constructions. Other than that, I can also widen the use of this intervention to teach other language skills like writing, listening or even speaking.

REFERENCES Paivio, A. &Sadoski. (1986). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Paivio, A. (2006). Mind and Its Evolution; a Dual Coding Theoretical Interpretation, Mahwah, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

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ENHANCING YEAR 4 ARIF PUPIL’S SIMPLE SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION SKILL USING SUBSTITUTION TABLES WITH PICTURE CUES

By:

NOR JULAIHA BINTI SHAMSUDDIN English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This study aims to overcome the problem of not able to construct simple sentences among Year 4 Arif pupils in one of the co-ed school in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. There were 10 pupils who were chosen as the participants in this study. They were identified through preliminary investigations that were carried out, which included a diagnostic test. These pupils faced difficulty in constructing simple sentences as most of them have low level of English proficiency. Data gathering in this study utilises instruments such as tests – pre-test, post-tests and formative tests, observation checklists and teacher’s logs. The intervention strategy used was the substitution tables with picture cues. The study which adopted the action research design was carried out in two cycles. Each cycle consists of four sessions over a period of two months. The results showed pupils’ significant improvement in constructing simple sentences. The data collected from observation and teacher’s logs showed that pupils were more confident and had had better understanding in constructing simple sentences by using substitution tables with picture cues. The findings displayed a positive outcome that the implementation of substitution tables with picture cues is an effective tool in enhancing pupils to construct simple sentences as well as developing their writing skill. Drills using the substitution table was very effective in improving the pupils’ memory in constructing simple sentences accurately.

Key terms: simple sentences, substitution table and picture cues

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Writing is one of the basic skills that should be acquired by primary schools pupils by the end of 6-year schooling. Pupils should be able to master it so that they will be able to face the challenge of learning the language in secondary schools. 1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience

During my attachment to a school around Kuala Lumpur for teaching practice, I was assigned to teach English Language to Year 4 Arif. After a few lesson with the class, I noticed that the pupils were weak in all basic skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. I observed that the pupils were reluctant to write when asked to do so. Due to the lack of proficiency, they hesitated to try and did not have enough confidence when a writing task was assigned. When asked, the general response was that writing was the most stressful activity as they did not know how to write even simple sentences.

1.2 Related Theory/literature

Skinner (as cited by Santrock, 2010) views language as a form of behaviour and language learning as a process of habit formation. The behaviourist theory emphasizes more on repetition and drillings. Repetition is seen as important to bring about habit formation and learning (Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam and Teh Soo Choon, 2005). Behaviourist theory tells that in learning pupils need a lot of drilling from the teacher in order to understand the language that are being taught before they can produce it own individually.

According to Vygotsky although children might learn some concepts through their every day life, they would not develop thought or skills using symbolism, such as speaking, reading and writing without adult modelling, help and instruction (as cited in Woolfolk, 2010). This means that the children would not learn independently but can go on to achieve next stage with the help and guidance from others. This shows that teacher’s roles in helping the pupils to learn the language are very important. In agreement with this, Widininggrum (2009) mentioned that teachers have to help, encourage and provide learners with many opportunities.

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All the above discussed theory of learning and literature suggest that the substitution table is one of the ways to make sure that the pupils are trained to write accurately. Fewer errors will be made for the grammar as they are fully controlled by teacher. Nesamalar Chitravelu et al. (2005) is in support of this when she mentioned that there are writing tasks that provide pupils practice in writing error-free sentences or paragraphs on a given topic. She defined that controlled writing is characterised by maximal teacher input and minimal pupil input. Pupils do not contributing ideas; neither do they organize their writing. Though seemingly outdated, this is useful technique for encouraging writing among beginners who have little knowledge of English grammar and limited vocabulary.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

This research focuses on enhancing Year 4 Arif’s pupils’ simple sentences construction skills as writing is being emphasis as one of the basic skills that need to be acquired by pupils. It is observed that the low proficiency pupils make many mistakes in writing, misused of vocabulary and grammar in the ESL classroom. Due to this, pupils were struggling with the ability to construct simple sentences. According to Goh Lay Kuen (2012), making simple sentences have proved to be the basic skill before pupils are able to make compound and complex sentences. By giving opportunities to carry out a piece of writing in classroom with the help from teacher will assure better writing and better learning for pupils. They can go further to write a paragraph and then essay if they are able to make simple sentences as a basic knowledge of writing. I felt restrain about this issue as writing is the skill most pupils are least proficiency in. After reading on related literature in this aspect of language teaching, I had decided to use substitution tables with picture cues drills as an intervention strategy in enhancing the pupils’ simple sentence construction skills.

3.0 OBJECTIVE

This section will present both general and specific objectives of the study.

3.1 General Objective The general objective of this research is to enhance Year 4 Arif pupils’ simple sentence

construction skill using substitution table with picture cue.

3.2 Specific Objectives a) To investigate if substitution tables with picture cues can enhance simple sentence construction

skill of Year 4 Arif pupils. b) To determine how the use of substitution tables with picture cues in teaching simple sentence

construction skill is able to enhance Year 4 Arif pupils’ simple sentence construction skill. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

This study focuses on 10 pupils from Year 4 Arif whom I had identified through diagnostic tests in the preliminary investigation. This class is the fourth and last class in Year 4 according to their ranking of academic achievement. The pupils are low achievers in English language based on the result of previous School-Based Assessment and their low scores in the diagnostic test. There are eight boys and two girls for my target participants. The selection of these 10 pupils was also based on their English Language teacher’s recommendation.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

This section will explain about data gathering methods used in the research, action taken in the intervention, findings, conclusion and reflection for the research.

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

In this study, I had used qualitative and quantitative data gathering methods: tests, observation checklist, and teachers’ logs. I had decided to use teacher-made tests for my research. These tests include pre-test, post-tests and formative test. These tests were used to compare the performance of pupils before, during and after intervention run (Shuttleworth, 2014). I also gathered data through structured observation. An observer was there when I was conducting the session to

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observe the pupils’ behaviour using a checklist. This observation was carried out in every session. Apart from that, I also keep a teacher’s logs to triangulate my observation data. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

The identified problem was based on some preliminary investigations carried out. A diagnostic

test was administered to ascertain pupils’ current level of writing ability, and the interview with English Language teacher was to further confirm pupils’ writing ability. The teacher also suggested that lots of drilling and repetition needed to be done if the pupils were expected to write. The issue of concern was than validated, and an intervention strategy that involved drill is also suggested. 5.3 Action

I have adopted Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Model in my study. This model consists of seven steps. The first step taken was identifying a problem in my educational practice. There was a significance problem which is inability of Year 4 Arif pupils in constructing simple sentences. Analysis of data gathered in the preliminary investigation helped me in choosing my participants. A pre-test was conducted before the intervention aimed to validate the identified problem. I planned to solve the problem by using substitution table with picture cues. This strategy would be conducted in four sessions in which every session would take about 60 minutes. Different sentences would be introduced in different sessions. I had chosen the theme of sea animals for Cycle 1 as it is included in English Year 4 syllabus. The data gathering instruments such as tests, observation checklist and teacher’s logs were planned to be used. The intervention was conducted as what had been planned.

Evaluation was made in order to know the effectiveness of the strategy used. The data

gathered were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. I found that the strategy was able to enhance pupils’ simple sentences construction skills even though there was slightly improvement in participants’ marks for post-test compared to pre-test. Based on the reflection that was done, Cycle 2 was conducted in order to improve on my strategy by using substitution tables with colour words. I also gave more drills as I pulled the participants out from the normal classes. There were also four sessions in this cycle where the theme was focused on the solar system. 5.4 Findings

Findings in this study indicated that substitution tables with picture cues helped in enhancing

pupil’s simple sentence construction skill. The marks obtained by all the participants in the Post-test Cycle 2 showed significance improvement in participants’ ability to write simple sentences compared to the marks in Post-test Cycle 1(refer to Figure 1).

Figure 1. Comparison between Pre-test, Post-test Cycle 1 and Post-test Cycle

Figure 2 and Figure 3 below show the results of formative tests in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. It showed that good achievement by all pupils for all sessions carried out in both cycles. Even though each sessions has different sentences, but they were still able to construct the accurate sentences with the help of the substitution tables and picture cue. Each session was aided by picture cues.

0

20

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10

Nu

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of

corr

ect

an

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Participants

Comparison between Pre-test, Post-test Cycle 1 and Post-test Cycle 2

Pre-test

Post-test Cycle 1

Post-test Cycle 2

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Figure 2: Results of formative tests in Cycle 1 Figure 3: Results of formative tests in Cycle 2

Findings from observation checklists, most of the participants show positive responses towards writing simple sentences. The observable behaviours such as participants were eager to try constructing simple sentences themselves without teacher’s shows that learning was took place. This could be seen when the participants were excited and raise hand to volunteer completing the writing simple sentences in front of the class. It demonstrates that the participations’ engagement in writing simple sentences was increased. Consequently, it enhances pupils’ confidence in writing simple sentences. This can be supported by teacher’s logs where participants had big smile on their face while completing the given task.

Apart from that, picture cue were proven as a major contributor in order to help pupils to

construct simple sentences. It aided pupils’ learning in remembering which suitable sentences to be used. Participants showed “a glazed look” when the teacher informed them about topic to be learnt (cited from Teacher’s logs). Later on, they were attracted by the picture shown and understood what the teacher was talking about. They could remember the sentences when the teacher pointed at the pictures. This shows that picture cue helps to arouse participants’ interest in writing simple sentences. According to Henkel (2012), “cues enhance the attention or focus of learners by restricting what they need to think about.” Consequently, picture cue plays an important role in directing pupils’ attention what is focused by the teacher.

5.5 Conclusion

The ability of a teacher to identify the learning problem of her pupils and is of vital importance. This study has given me hands-on experience in identifying the problem in my class. It helps in addressing the problems with an intervention to make sure that the teaching and learning process is successfully conducted. The intervention of using substitution tables with picture cue was correctly chosen as it helped to enhance Year 4 Arif pupils in constructing simple sentences. According to Punitha Gopal (2014), “Substitution table is a traditional pattern practice drill to instil repetition learning.” Even though substitution table is a traditional method, it is still very useful in teaching and learning.

Based on the study, it appeared that drilling given by teacher helped to improve pupils’ memory in memorising the correct pattern of simple sentences. It happened as the teacher kept repeated the same sentences structures to the pupils and they were able to memorise it. These findings reflected Chitravelu et al. (2005) claims that repetition is seen as important to bring out habit formation and learning. It was this that led to accuracy and fluency building in writing. Thus it is very helpful in training the pupils to write the simple sentences with error-free in terms of accuracy.

In carrying this study I actually know that in a second language classroom, repetition is very

important. Taking consideration the context of Malaysia where English is not the first language to be encouraged, it is very relevant in using substitution table with picture cue to drill pupils in constructing simple sentences.

5.6 Reflection

There were some strengths and limitation to this study. One of the strengths is that the strategy used was able to enhance pupils’ simple sentences construction skills. The findings shows that participants preferred this method of teaching and learning as most of them were able to write simple

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sentences through the intervention of using the substitution table with picture cues. By teaching writing using substitution tables with picture cue, the teacher support pupils’ ability to produce grammatically correct sentences. All participants were able to write simple sentences correctly at the end of the sessions. It can leads in applying the usage of substitution table in teaching of grammar.

However, there were limitations in this study. The participants had problems when it came to the session with longer sentences. The participants took time to memorise these sentences thus it demotivate them to learn. I could have chosen short sentences to be introduced to them as my participants have low English proficiency. Other limitations are the environment of the study. I should conduct my study with only my targeted participants rather than with the whole class started from Cycle 1. It somehow influenced the engagement of my participants. My participants felt that they were ignored by me as I also need to drills on other pupils. This leads to the disruptive behaviour took place and learning could not take place. There was significance improvement in the marks of Post-test Cycle 2 compared Post-test Cycle 1 (refer to Figure 1) as I conducted my study by focusing only on ten participants. This shows that having to teach 10 targeted participants will make the session at ease because there were not so many pupils to be focused on.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

It is suggested that a teacher to use the strategy of using substitution tables with picture cue in teaching compound sentences and complex sentences. Teachers can also apply it in sentence combining to teach pupils to write a piece of essay or paragraph.

I would strongly recommend for others to narrow down the focus of enhancing simple sentences construction skills from subject and predicate to other sentence structure for instances subject+verb+object or subject+verb+compliment. This is because it is easier for pupils to memorise the pattern if the grammar is taught explicitly rather then implicit grammar teaching. Apart from that, this method is suitable to be applying in teaching of grammar as the sentence that the pupils will construct is grammatically correct. For instance the rules of subject-verb-agreement can be taught by teachers easily if they use this strategy.This strategy is very useful in teaching of structures speaking. The pupils can be given a reading extract where they need to complete the blanks in order to answer others questions. This also can develop pupils’ thinking skills of when they need to comprehend the context of the given picture in the table in order to speak about it.

In conclusion, the strategy of using substitution tables with picture cue in constructing simple

sentences can be replicate to suit the classroom context. REFERENCES Goh Lay Kuen (2012 ). A Practical Guide To Writing Your Action Research. Puchong: Penerbitan

Multimedia Sd. Bhd. Henkel, S. A. (2012, February). Rationale for Cues. Retrieved from Instructional Cues:

http://people.bethel.edu/~shenkel/TeachingMethods/CueInfo/Cues.html Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam & Teh Soo Choon. (2005). ELT Methodology: Principles

and Practice. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. Punitha Gopal. (2014, February 26 ). Writing Simple Sentences. Retrieved from The Magic

Table:http://slim.ukm.my/sellmas/ViewStrategy.aspx?rsid=196&stratid=4 Santrock, J. W. (2010). Child Development (12th Edition ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Shuttleworth, M. (2014, March 16). Pretest-Posttest Designs. Retrieved from Explorable:

http://explorable.com/pretest-posttest-designs Widininggrum, R. (2009). Controlled Writing As A Class Exercise For Beginner. Creative Strategies

For Teaching English. Semarang. Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (Eleventh ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

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ENHANCING HIGHER ORDER READING COMPREHENSION SKILL OF NARRATIVE TEXT AMONG YEAR 5 INTELEK PUPILS USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

By:

NUR FARAHIN BINTI AHMAD SABRI

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to enhance higher order reading comprehension skills of narrative text among Year 5 Intelek pupils. 40 Year 5 pupils in a school in Kuala Lumpur were chosen for this study. The selected intervention strategy was using graphic organizer. The research focus was to determine whether the use of these graphic organizers while reading narrative texts was able to help the pupils to master higher order reading comprehension skills. The research was also aimed at finding out how the graphic organizer had helped enhance pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills. Data gathered from pre-test and post-test, formative test, observation checklist, questionnaire, interview and teacher’s log were analysed either quantitatively or qualitatively. The results showed that the pupils were able to use the graphic organizers correctly, and successfully answered higher order reading comprehension questions given. As a conclusion, the use of graphic organizers was able to help to enhance pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills. Key terms: graphic organizers, narrative text, higher order reading comprehension skills

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Based on the Year 5 English Language Curriculum for Primary School (2003), the pupils are supposed to be able to read the English words and sentences fluently, with correct pronunciation and intonation as well as comprehending the texts.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

During the practicum session from January to April, I was attached to a school in Kuala Lumpur. The school assigned a Year 5 class to me to teach the English Language. In my reading class, I noticed that the pupils were able to answer lower order oral questions, however, most of them were unable to answer oral questions about the characters’s feeling and give opinion about events in a story, which were all higher order questions. I need to help them by asking simple questions to lead the pupils to answer the higher order questions.

There are many ways to solve this problem. However, for the purpose of this study, I decided to utilize the graphic organizers as the intervention strategy to help pupils to master the skill of higher order reading comprehension.

1.2 Related theory/literature

The most prominent taxonomy of higher order reading comprehension is the Barrett’ Taxonomy

(Marshall, 2010) which includes five levels of reading comprehension: Literal comprehension, Reorganization, Inferential comprehension, Evaluation and Appreciation. Both Literal comprehension and Reorganization are considered as lower order reading comprehension skills, while Inferential comprehension, Evaluation and Appreciation are considered as higher order reading comprehension skills. To be able to do this, the pupils should be able to construct new knowledge and use their cognitive ability. The use of graphic organizers in academic field is firmly grounded on cognitive theory, specifically from Ausubel’s study (as cited in Hannum, 2005). Later, it evolved visually, making the theory related to it changed to constructivism, because the user construct new knowledge through interaction in a learning environment (Wills, 2005), which in this case, is between the graphic organizer and the reading text, thus making the formal a suitable intervention strategy to enhance higher order reading comprehension skills.

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2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The research focus was on determining whether the use of graphic organizer while reading

narrative texts was able to help the pupils to master higher order reading comprehension skills. The research was also aimed at finding out how the graphic organizer had helped enhance pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills. 3.0 OBJECTIVE

Objectives play a crucial role in a study as they summarize what the study aims to achieve at the end. The general and specific objectives of this study is presented below. 3.1 General Objective

To enhance Year 5 Intelek pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills using graphic organizers.

3.2 Specific Objectives

There are two specific objectives to be achieved in this research. They are as follows:

To enhance pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skill of narrative text using graphic

organizers

To determine how using graphic organizers in teaching reading is able to enhance pupils’

higher order reading comprehension skills of narrative text

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

This study involved 40 pupils in Year 5 Intelek from one of the schools in Kuala Lumpur. The 40 pupils are make up of 19 boys and 21 girls. It was an advance class, with upper intermediate to high proficiency level dominance, based on their end-of Year English Language result. The pupils were chosen based on their preliminary investigations conducted which were diagnostic test, document analysis and interview with their English Language teachers.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

This study adopts the action research model by Stephen Kemmis. It’s spiral model includes

planning, action, observing and reflecting. Preliminary investigation was conducted before the intervention to help me to be certain of the problem identified. After reading of related literature on the problem identified, I decided to use graphic organizers as the intervention strategy. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

Six different methods of data collection were utilised in this study. They were pre-test and post-test, formative test, observation checklist, questionnaire, interview and teacher’s log. These data gathering methods were used during the intervention and the data gathered were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. These methods were also selected for this study as it would yield data that could fulfill the objective set. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Three data gathering methods were used to ascertain the problem faced by the pupils, and to shake lights on an appropriate intervention strategy. They were diagnostic test, interview with teachers and document analysis. Diagnostic test was administered on all 40 participants to find out their ability to answer different levels of reading comprehension questions. Only 43.81% of the pupils were able to answer higher order reading comprehension questions. Interview sessions were conducted with two teachers; the pupils’ current and previous English Language teachers. Both

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teachers agreed that the pupils have not master higher level reading comprehension skills. The document analysis done on the pupils’ task sheet showed that all of them were able to answer questions derived from lower order reading comprehension level, but performed poorly with questions of higher level of reading comprehension.

5.3 Action

For this study, I had chosen four reading comprehension skills to focus on. Therefore, there were four different graphic organizers used (predicting, visualizing, summarising and expressing emotion). During the first cycle, these four graphic organizers were introduced in different sessions. Each session took 60 minutes. Using the same story throughout the cycle, the graphic organizer for predicting was introduced in the first session, both graphic organizers for visualising as well as summarising were introduced in second session and the graphic organizer for expressing emotion was introduced in the third session. At first, the story was introduced and followed by the graphic organizers. Steps to complete the graphic organizers was modelled and demonstrated orally. During the second cycle, changes were made to the number of sessions: from three sessions to four sessions, by separating the graphic organizers for visualising and summarizing to two different sessions. This time, instead of discussing orally, modelling and demonstration was done using a big graphic organizers on the board. 5.4 Findings

Data gathered was analysed and discussed in reference to the objective set. To deal with research objective one, data from the pre-test and post-test result, formative test and observation checklist were triangulated Pre-test and post-test

Pre-test was administered before the intervention and two post-tests were given after intervention. They were conducted in two cycles, respectively. Table 1 Level of Progression for Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 based on Pre-Test and Post-Test Results.

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

No. of pupils

Percentage (%)

No. of pupils

Percentage (%)

Progress 36 90 40 100 No

progress 3 7.5

- -

Regress 1 2.5 - -

The comparison of two tests showed that all the pupils (100 %) showed improvement after two

cycles. This means that strategy used, the graphic organizers, was effective in enhancing pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills. Observation checklist

Observation was done with the help from other observer using checklist. Based on the result, average number of pupils who completed the graphic organizers correctly increased from 82.5 % to 87.5% in the second cycle. The ability to complete the graphic organizer correctly shows their understanding on the story read and they were able to comprehend the narrative text in higher order using the graphic organizers.

Second research questions; How do graphic organizers help to enhance higher order reading comprehension skills of narrative texts among Year 5 Intelek pupils?, was answered using data gathered from three different methods which were questionnaire, interview and teacher’s log.

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Formative test

The test was conducted after every session. A short story and a graphic organizer were given to all pupils to be completed. Based on Table 2, average percentage of the pupils who completed the graphic organizers correctly increased from 67% (Cycle 1) to 93.8 % (Cycle 2). This improvement showed that the pupils managed to use the graphic organizer in comprehending a narrative text.

Table 2 Result of formative test

Types of Graphic Organizers

No. of pupils Improvement Cycle 1 Cycle 2

Predicting 30 10 39 1 +9 Visualizing 27 13 38 2 +11

Summarizing 17 23 35 5 +18 Expressing Emotion 33 7 38 2 +5

Average No. 26.8 13.3 37.5 2.5 % 67 33 93.8 6.3

Questionnaire

Questionnaire with 8 items was distributed to all 40 pupils after the intervention. Based on the result, 92.5% of the pupils agreed that they were able to understand a narrative text better using graphic organizer. Pupils (87.5%) agreed that it was easier to remember details using graphic organizer therefore it helped more in learning. When the pupils were able to remember details in the story, it would help the pupils to enhance the higher order reading comprehension skills. Interview

An interview session was conducted with six of the pupils. They were chosen based on their result during post-test. Two of them scored highest, two intermediate and other two scored lowest. The interview was conducted individually with structured questions. The interview sessions were recorded and transcribed. Based on the data gathered, I could see that all the students agreed that the use of graphic organizer helped them to understand the story better and this helped to enhance the pupils’ reading comprehension skill. According to the pupils, the graphic organizers helped them to recall, know more about the story line and the characters as well as voice out their emotion about the story and the characters. Other than that, they were able to visualize the situation in the event with the help of the graphic organizer. Teacher’s log

Logs were kept after every session as a record of what happened in the class during the intervention. After the data was analysed, it was shown that the pupils were able to understand the story better when they completed the graphic organizer correctly at the end of the session. During the sessions, pupils were able to understand and recall the story introduced. Other than that, they were able to state the characters, what the story is about, and what had happened after an event. Modelling technique used during the intervention was effective in helping the pupils to understand on how to use the graphic organizers. 5.5 Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to enhance the pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills. The text emphasized was narrative text and the intervention was graphic organizers. The intervention aimed to enhance pupils’ higher order reading comprehension skills which were predicting, visualizing, summarising and expressing emotions. After a variety of data were gathered and analysed, it could be concluded that the intervention – the graphic organizer – was highly effective in enhancing pupils’ higher order reading comprehension.

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5.6 Reflection

There are strengths and weakness in the study conducted. One of the strengths is that the strategy used was very effective to the pupils. The result shows that the pupils were able to answer higher order reading comprehension question of narrative text after the intervention. Other than that, they were able to categorise ideas better using graphic organizers. The pupils used the details in the narrative text and form new knowledge based on the graphic organizers.

The weakness is that the pupils were lacking in vocabulary which hinders their ability to complete the graphic organizer. Although the pupils knew what to write, they were not able to write them down. The pupils constantly ask for translation for meaning from their mother tongue words. This means that the pupils were able to think of the answers but the vocabulary hindered them from writing independently. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

For future research, there are a few suggestions can be done by the future researchers as the continuation of the study. One of the suggestion is that to conduct a research using the similar strategy to enhance other higher order reading comprehension skills such as inferring, making judgement, cause and effect and many more.

Other than that, this study only focused on narrative text. The researcher suggest that the future researhers to used other types of reading text such as factual text using similar strategy. In addition, the graphic organizers can be used to enhance other basic skill. Using this strategy, researcher would like to suggest to future researchers to use the strategy to enhance writing skill among the pupils. REFERENCES Curriculum Standard Document English Year 5. (2003). Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Ministry of

Education.

Hannum, W. (2005). David Ausubel's Theory. Retrieved February 24, 2014, from Theory

Fundamental: http://www.theoryfundamentals.com/ausubel.htm

Marshall, P. (2010). K12 Reader. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from Reading Comprehension and

Higher Order Thinking Skills: http://www.k12reader.com/reading-comprehension-and-higher-order-thinking-skills/

Wills, S. (2005). The Theoretical and Empirical Basis for Graphic Organizer Instruction. In E. Ellis,

Graphic Organizers. Alabama: The University of Alabama.

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IMPROVING YEAR 4 CEMERLANG PUPILS’ PRONUNCIATION OF VOICELESS DENTAL FRICATIVE CONSONANT SOUND THROUGH READING ALOUD

By:

NUR WAHEDAH BINTI ABD RAHMAN

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT The purpose of this action research was to help pupils from Year 4 Cemerlang in improving their pronunciation skill using reading aloud strategy. In doing this, the pupils will be able to pronounce words correctly. This research involved five pupils from one of the primary schools in Kuala Lumpur. The chosen participants were three boys and two girls. The preliminary investigation showed that pupils have problems in pronouncing words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. The researcher used pre-test, post-test, formative tests and teacher’s diary to collect data. The results from pre-test showed that four pupils only scored below 30% and one pupil scored 0%. The researcher conducted two cycles of action research and the results of the post-test showed that all the five pupils improved with scores between 80-100%. This finding revealed that the use of reading aloud strategy helped pupils improve their pronunciation of words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. Their results in the three types of tests administered reflected good improvement. Three dominant themes identified from the teacher’s diary were active participation, pronunciation practice and the use of drilling and they showed the suitability of using reading aloud strategy in improving the pupils’ pronunciation. Therefore, it can be concluded that using reading aloud strategy is helpful in improving pupils’ pronunciation. A suggestion for further research is by using reading aloud strategy to improve other skills such as listening, speaking and reading. This strategy can also be used with other difficult consonant and vowel sounds, songs and nursery rhymes to improve pronunciation. Key terms: reading aloud, pronunciation, short story 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Pronunciation is a fundamental aspect that is important in learning English language. Pronunciation is assumed to be an essential component of oral skills, where the oral skills will enable learners to convey their thoughts and ideas clearly in speech when they pronounce words correctly and observe correct stress and intonation. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

During the practicum in one of primary schools in Kuala Lumpur, the researcher found that the

pupils have difficulty in pronouncing words during reading aloud sessions. The pupils were trying hard to utter the words and they mispronounced the words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. For example the word ‘three’ - /θri/ became ‘tree’ - /tri/. The researcher also found that learning pronunciation in class was not done regularly because the teacher emphasized on other components of English, such as writing, reading and grammar. This information was gathered from the interview with the pupils. The teacher herself confirmed that she did not regularly focus on pronunciation in the classroom. She only corrected her pupils whenever they mispronounced words during their English lessons. 1.2 Related theory / Literature review

There is a variety of methods as well as theories that can be applied to help pupils improve

their pronunciation problem. In this study, the researcher has identified behaviourist theory as a support for the intervention. Behaviourist theory focuses on habit formation. The intervention focuses on reading aloud which is a form of drilling. This is supported by Fraser (2001) who claims that drills are successful in helping pupils to learn the language. Reading aloud is one of the methods used to drill the pupils in repeating the correct pronunciation of words. Shaw (2002) and Huang (2010) had proven that reading aloud strategy was successful in helping pupils with their pronunciation problem.

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2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION

The main focus for this research was on the pronunciation of words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. The pupils could not pronounce words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/ correctly. In relation to this, the pupils tend to pronounce the /θ/ sounds as /t/ sound not the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ sounds. Kanokpermpoon (2004) noted that, “in many cities, there is a noticeable tendency for this sound to go a bit off the rails: voiceless ‘th’ becomes ‘t’, ‘mouth’ therefore is pronounced ‘mout’. The mispronunciation of words made by the pupils tends to give different meaning based on the words. For example, the word like /thin/ should be pronounced /θIn/, the researcher heard like /tIn/, so the researcher gave them the meaning of the word as ‘tin’ or ‘can’. In this case, it can cause misunderstanding. Consequently, this study focused on determining if the reading aloud strategy carried out during the teaching and learning have improved Year 4 Cemerlang pupils’ pronunciation of words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. 3.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 3.1 General objective

The general objective for this research is to improve Year 4 Cemerlang pupils’ pronunciation of

words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. 3.2 Specific objective

The specific objective for this research is to improve Year 4 Cemerlang pupils’ pronunciation of

words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/ through reading aloud strategy. 4.0 TARGET GROUP / PARTICIPANTS

This research involved five Year 4 Cemerlang pupils; two girls and three boys from Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Segar, Kuala Lumpur. These five pupils have the most significant problems in pronunciation. The pupils were also chosen based on their results in English Language examination. 5.0 ACTION PLAN

The action plan model adapted for this research is Kemmis and McTaggart’s Model (1988). The model comprises four steps: namely planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The researcher used several instruments such as pre-test and post-test, formative tests, teacher’s diary and audio recording with checklist in order to identify the problem faced by the pupils and to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The researcher has chosen reading aloud strategy to improve pupils’ pronunciation. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The data gathering methods involved in this research were quantitative and qualitative

methods. There were five types of data gathering methods used during the implementation of the intervention which were pre-test, post-test, formative tests, audio recording with checklists and teacher’s diary. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary investigation was carried out to identify pupils’ problem and find out the causes to

the problem. Below are the preliminary investigation methods: a. Diagnostic test b. Observation field notes

Analysis of the diagnostic test showed that 40% or 6 out of 15 pupils who really have pronunciation problem of words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. Based on the observation field note,

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lack of drilling in pronouncing the correct pronunciation was not done regularly by the teacher during the teaching and learning process. 5.3 Action The first cycle was carried out in 8 weeks starting from the pre-test, three sessions of intervention and post-test. The second cycle was carried out in 4 weeks including pre-test, two sessions of the intervention and post-test. For the teaching and learning process, the researcher used a short story which consisted of words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. The story was quite long for the pupils to read and the researcher decided to reduce the length of the story. The researcher allocated 15 minutes to teach them the correct pronunciation of words and 15 minutes for reading session which the researcher read the short story first and pupils repeated after her. She drilled the pupils until they could pronounce the words during the reading aloud sessions.

The researcher also wrote a teacher’s diary to record the flow of the activity, the pupils’

responses and participation of pupils and some personal thoughts. From the diary, the researcher came up with the emerging themes. During the reflecting stage, the researcher reflected the process of the activity and how it was conducted. Strengths and weaknesses were identified. Some suggestions for the betterment of the activity were also included. 5.4 Findings Pre-test and post-test (Cycle 1) Table 1 Comparison between Pre-Test and Post-Test for Cycle 1

Table 1 shows the comparison between pre-test and post-test scores. Overall, the pre-test scores showed that 12% of the words with voiceless dental fricative were correctly pronounced from all the five pupils. This number went up to 94.7% in the post-test. The results show that the use of reading aloud strategy was very effective in improving pupils’ pronunciation. The difference in scores was 82.7% Pre-test and post-test (Cycle 2) Table 2 Comparison between Pre and Post Tests for Cycle 2

Table 2 shows the comparison between pre and post test scores for Cycle 2. Pre-test and post-test in Cycle 2 comprised 20 words where there were five more new words added and the total number of the words became 20. All the five pupils could not pronounce correctly and the results for pre-test remained the same. But after the researcher administered the intervention, the pupils showed

Pupil Pre-test Post-test Difference in scores

Score % Score % Score %

P1 4/15 26.7 14/15 93.3 +10 66.7 P2 0/15 0 14/15 93.3 +14 93.3 P3 2/15 13.3 13/15 86.7 +11 73.4 P4 1/15 6.7 15/15 100 +14 93.3 P5 2/15 13.3 15/15 100 +13 86.7

Total - 12 - 94.7 - 82.7

Pupil Pre-test Post-test Difference in scores

Score % Score % Score %

P1 14/20 70 19/20 95 +5 25 P2 14/20 70 18/20 90 +4 20 P3 13/20 65 17/20 85 +4 20 P4 15/20 75 18/20 90 +3 15 P5 15/20 75 18/20 90 +3 15

Total - 71 - 90 - 19

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their improvement although they did not get full scores. Overall, the pre-test scores showed that 71% of the words with voiceless dental fricative were correctly pronounced from all the five pupils and this was increased to 90% in the post-test. From this result, it also showed the effectiveness of using reading aloud strategy to improve pupils’ pronunciation. Teacher’s diary Teacher’s diary was done by the researcher as one of the data gathering methods after every session. This was tabulated in table qualitatively according to the themes that emerged from the diary. Table 3 Emergence of Themes from Teacher’s Diary

Table 3 shows themes that had been identified from the diary in Cycle 1 and 2 namely pupils’ participation, pronunciation practice and the use of drilling. The excerpts showed that the reading aloud strategy was effective in helping to improve pupils’ pronunciation of the voiceless dental fricative/θ/. 5.5 Conclusion In conclusion, reading aloud strategy has improved the pupils’ pronunciation especially in pronouncing words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/. According to Dyna Ariyani (2011), “reading aloud could help the students in solving the problem when they have difficulty in pronouncing” (p.32).The results of the data analysis showed that the strategy used was highly effective and the objectives of the research were achieved and the research questions answered. 5.6 Reflection The researcher hopes that the results of this research can be used to help English Language teachers to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning of pronunciation to help pupils to gain confidence in English Language communication. In relation to this, Joanne Rajadurai (2006), who said that “students also frequently pointed out that good pronunciation gave them confidence, enhanced their self-image, and ensured that they would not be laughed at” (p. 43).Hopefully this research can be a reference point and guidance for teachers because the researcher has proven that reading aloud strategy can help to improve pupils’ pronunciation.

Themes Excerpt from teacher’s diary

Pupils’ participation They worked with each other in practising the correct pronunciation of the drilled words.

They kept asking me the correct pronunciation and repeat the drilled words many times.

The pupils gave their cooperation and attention during the sessions.

I showed word by word to the pupils and pupils volunteered to pronounce the words.

Pronunciation practice

One of the pupils was able to remember all the drilled words in correct pronunciation.

One pupil was struggling to pronounce the drilled words correctly because he has difficulty to put his tongue between his teeth.

Pupils repeated the words many times.

The use of drilling I drilled the pupils until they could get the correct way to pronounce voiceless dental fricative /θ/ words.

I drilled the pupils one by one because some of the pupils have difficulty to practise the correct way in pronouncing words with voiceless dental fricative /θ/.

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6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Based on the research that has been carried out, below are the suggestions for further research:

Reading aloud should be adapted to practise other skills such as reading, and conversation Reading skill can develop new vocabulary and syntactic awareness. Reading aloud strategy can also be used in the teaching of writing skills and this can improve pupils’ spelling.

Reading aloud also can be used with other difficult consonant and vowel sounds for pupils.

For further research, pronunciation of words with /i:/, /I/, /u/ and /ʊ/ sounds in terms of vowel length discrimination can be the focus. Reading aloud helps to improve pupils’ awareness and understanding of the interference of different sound systems in English pronunciation.

Instead of using short stories during the teaching and learning, songs and nursery rhyme are also suitable as one of the strategies to help pupils in improving pronunciation. Songs and nursery rhymes can help pupils’ pronunciation because they usually contain repeated words and teachers can observe pupils’ progression in pronunciation.

REFERENCES Dyna Ariyani (2011). Improving Students’ Pronunciation by using Reading Aloud in Junior High

School. Language and Arts Journal, Volume 3(3), 11. Fraser, T. (2001). Teaching and learning L2 pronunciation: Understanding the effectiveness of

socially constructed meta-language and critical listening in terms of a cognitive phonology framework. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, Volume 10, 45-55.

Huang, L. (2010). Reading aloud in the foreign language teaching. Asian Social Science, 6(4), P148. Joanne Rajadurai (2006). Pronunciation issues in non-native contexts: A Malaysian case study.

Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, Volume 12, 43. Kanokpermpoon, M. (2004). “English fricatives: A problematic area of Thai students’ pronunciation”.

Cultural Approach, Volume 4(7), 61-76. Shaw, B. R. (2002). The phonological development of Malaysian English Speaking Chinese Children:

A normative study. New York: University of Canterbury.

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IMPROVING VOCABULARY AMONG YEAR 2 CEKAL PUPILS THROUGH SIGHT WORD APPROACH

By:

NUR YUSRINA BINTI NAZAHA English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research is to determine if the use of the sight word approach is able to help improve vocabulary among year 2 pupils. 10 pupils were identified to participate in this action research. The preliminary investigation showed that the pupils were not able to master their sight words nor were they able to read and recognize words. Thus, flashcards, and flashcards with pictures were used to help the pupils. The research was conducted in two cycles and three data gathering methods were used namely; a pre-test and post-test, a formative test and a teacher’s log. The pupils showed a marked improvement based on the results from the pre-test and post-test and this was consistent with the formative test. The teacher’s log was used to see the effectiveness of the approach based on pupils’ behaviour and participation throughout the intervention. The results of this research showed that the use of flashcards and flashcard with pictures were effective and appropriate in helping to improve Year 2 pupils’ vocabulary.

Key terms: vocabulary, sight words

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Vocabulary is a very important foundation for pupils when they go to school for formal education. In fact, “first grade students are expected to improve in oral reading fluency by fifty words over the course of the school year,” (Molock, nd, p.6). However, many of my pupils were not able to read most of the words when I conducted my class during phase 3 of my teaching practicum. This led me to come out with my action research in order to help my pupils to overcome the problem of vocabulary by using the sight word approach.

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience It has always been my practice to provide some guidance to my pupils when they have to read a text. I would begin by introducing and explaining the meaning of each new word to the pupils so that they do not get lost in the middle of the lesson. However, with my pupils in this action research, most of them were not able to read and pronounce words accurately. They also did not know the meanings of many words. They lacked the basic skill of word recognition and if nothing was done to help them improve, they would face great difficulty later. As their teacher, I felt that it was necessary to take action in order to help my pupils overcome this problem. 1.2 Related theory/literature This research took into consideration the use of the behaviorist theory where much drilling of words was carried out. According to Skinner, drilling is a teaching strategy that involves the repetition of a desired action through memorization. My pupils were repeatedly asked to read out the 15 words that I had chosen from their word list until they could recognize the words, pronounce them accurately as well as know their meanings. The information to be learned was presented in small units for according to Woolfolk (2010, p.210), this “procedure simply breaks skills and processes down into sub skills and sub process – small steps to success”. In other words, before the pupils would be able to read sentences, they need to learn to read and identify the words. This was to help them to master the skills of recognizing words before they would be able to face the challenge of a bigger task. This action research also looked at the bottom up theory of reading, also known as small chunk process. Pupils need to know the small details first before moving to main ideas or concepts (Nuttal, 2005). Hence, the movement from smaller units to bigger ones would aid the pupils’ understanding of print.

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2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The research focused on improving vocabulary among year 2 Cekal pupils through the use of sight word approach. The issue that had led me to work on this research was the pupils inability to master their sight words. They were not able to recognize words and derive meaning from these words. 3.0 OBJECTIVE The objective of this action research is to determine the effectiveness of using the sight word approach in order to help pupils to read and identify words. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS 10 pupils from 2 Cekal were chosen for this action research. They were not able to read and understand the chosen words during the topic “Read Me a Story”. Out of the 10 pupils, three were quite proficient learners, where they could understand English fairly well as compared to the rest of the class. Four were intermediate learners and the other three, slow learners who could not understand any word in English at all. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The following are some of the steps taken in order to complete the research.

5.1 Data gathering methods Several data gathering methods were chosen for my action research namely a pre-test, a post-test a formative test, and a teacher’s log. The pre-test was used before the intervention and the post-test was used after the intervention. During the intervention, formative test was used to check their understanding as well as to see whether my intervention had helped to enhance their knowledge regarding all the 15 words. The teacher’s log, however was used to record the pupils’ behaviour as well as their participation during the intervention sessions. 5.2 Preliminary investigation In order to identify the problem, I used two methods namely, observation and interview. First, I observed the pupils during a reading lesson and jotted down information that would be useful for me to get a further understanding about their problem. I also interviewed the English teacher in charge to find out more about the pupils and the challenges that they faced during the teaching and learning sessions. 5.3 Action In Cycle 1, a pre-test was conducted to measure the pupils’ schemata and their ability to read words. The pupils were required to read 15 words using flash cards. In between, the pupils’ behaviour and participation were observed and recorded. In Cycle 2, picture cards were used in the drilling of words. This was to help strengthen the pupils’ understanding of the meanings of the words. Phillips (2012, p.6) stated that the use of flash cards with pictures would help the pupils to recall the words that were used. It also helped to improve their accuracy and speed when reading the words. After the intervention, their ability and understanding were measured through a formative test. Lastly, a post-test was conducted to measure their improvement after the intervention.

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5.4 Findings Results from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed by comparing the scores of the pupils as shown in Table 1. Each pupil regardless of their proficiency had shown a huge improvement. The percentages for the number of words that they could read, before and after the intervention, is a testimony of their improvement. The use of flashcards and flashcards with pictures helped the pupils to see the correct spelling besides being able to listen to the correct pronunciation by the teacher for every session. Stuart (2000, p.472) had conducted a research and “found that sight word vocabulary is most effectively taught explicitly, out of context, through flashcards, rather than through reading the words in books or through a mixed strategy of reading words in books together with the prior presentation of key words on flash cards”. Table 1 Comparison between Pre-Test and Post-Test

Besides that, the pupils were also able to do the formative test given successfully. All of them were able to obtain full marks by matching correctly all the 15 words. This was probably due to the fact that the constant drilling of words had helped them to remember the words well. They were able to recall the words that they had learnt while doing the formative test. On the other hand, through the use of the teacher’s log, I could clearly see the change that took place in term of pupils’ behaviour and participation. At the beginning of the intervention, the pupils were very passive and they often looked very restless. They were not able to participate and concentrate during the intervention. However, their behaviour changed gradually as they were able to adapt to the intervention especially during Session 2 and 3. The pupils were able to participate and showed confidence when they read the words aloud with the correct pronunciation. 5.5 Conclusion The data collected from this study showed that the method used to teach sight words helped to improve pupils’ vocabulary. The results of this research indicated that the use of flash cards and picture cards were effective and appropriate in helping to improve Year 2 pupils’ vocabulary. This showed that teaching the words individually helped to enhance their ability in learning new words. 5.6 Reflection One challenge faced in this research was time constraint. It would be more helpful if I would be able to conduct the intervention on a long term basis. In such a short time the pupils were able to show improvement towards word recognition which in turn helped them in their learning. Hence, it would have created a bigger impact if I were to conduct the intervention on a long term basis in order to help the pupils to master all the sight words for Year 2. 6.0 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH The first aspect is in terms of the number of words chosen for the word list. An increase in the number of words covered should expand the pupils’ mastery of words which should prove useful for them to make continuous progress. In other words, pupils’ exposure to more sight words would help them enhance their vocabulary.

Pupils Pre-test Post-test

P1 2 13% 15 100% P2 10 67% 15 100% P3 6 40% 15 100% P4 12 80% 15 100% P5 2 13% 15 100% P6 13 87% 15 100% P7 13 87% 15 100% P8 7 47% 15 100% P9 6 40% 15 100% P10 13 87% 15 100%

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The second aspect is to vary the strategies used when using sight words. There needs to be more research regarding the strategies used in teaching sight words with different learning styles to cater to the needs of different pupils. According to McElheran (2010, p.31) teachers need to be aware of “…the learning styles of individual students and the fact that different strategies work better for different students. What works for one student might not necessarily work for another and as a teacher you need to build a repertoire of strategies that encompasses at the very least auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic approaches”. Hence, it would help to cater to individual differences among the pupils. REFERENCES Nuttal, C. (2005). Teaching Reading Skills. Macmillan Publishers

McElheran, M. (2010). Learning and Applying Sight Vocabulary in Context. Molock, D. S. (n.d.). The Use of High Frequency Words to Improve Oral Reading Fluency. 1-41.

Phillips, W. E. (2012). Methods for Sight Word Recognition in Kindergarten. Georgia Educational Research Association, (pp. 1-37). Savannah, Georgia. Stuart, M. (2000). Sponge like acquisition of sight vocabulary in beginning readers? Journal of Research in Reading, 23(1), 12-27. Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

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USING SHARED READING TO DEVELOP YEAR 5 MUTIARA VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

By:

NURUL ADELIYA BINTI ZAINUDDIN English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to develop the students’ vocabulary level using shared reading. This study involved five students with average level of proficiency in one of the schools in Sungai Besi. Preliminary investigation showed that these five students displayed a number of mistakes in the vocabulary work throughout the reading lesson. The researcher used three methods in gathering the data during the study, namely; the tests, structured journals and also the students’ checklist. The result gathered from the students’ pre-tests was not impressive enough since all five students only managed to score 29.3% of the total scores. The researcher used two cycles in this study. At the end of the second cycle, it showed that all five students managed to show a great improvement from the pre-tests to the post-tests. Three students managed to achieve more than 90% in the scores for the post-tests, while another two students managed to achieve between 72% - 77% for the post-tests. Based on the results from these pre and post-test, the structured journals and the students’ checklist, it showed that using shared reading enables the students to develop their vocabulary knowledge. For the suggestions of improvement, the researcher suggests that shared reading should be developing other aspects as well, namely; pronunciation, reading comprehension and conversation. Key terms: Shared reading, vocabulary 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Wassman and Rinsky (1993) defined reading as the most useful skill for students to develop the feeling of satisfaction in understanding a text in many ways. As proposed by Chitravelu (2005), understanding a text involves understanding of the language in which it is written. Thus, the first requirement of reading includes having the knowledge of the words itself. In order to make sense of what is read the person needs to understand the language rather than only sounding it out. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience

During the teaching and learning process, the researcher faced a problem on students’ inability of giving the correct definitions on the words provided to them. The researcher carried out a vocabulary work in order to identify the students’ problem in depth. The students only know most of the high frequency words such as ‘happy’, ‘great’, ‘balloon’, ‘window’ and some other words. These students could not understand words that we thought were easy for them. The reason why they do not understand the text is because of the lack of knowledge on words that can be found in the text. When this happened, the objectives of the reading lesson cannot be achieved. This is because the students could not make meaning to what he or she reads. This will definitely hinder the students to understand the real purpose of reading which is to get the information from the text. 1. 2 Related theory/ literature

Cognitive theory was used in solving the problem faced by the students. Woolfolk (2010) stated that cognitive approach views learning as an active mental process of acquiring, remembering and using knowledge. It also emphasizes on information processing as the human mind’s activity of taking in, storing and using information. Besides that, the researcher used bottom up approach where the students need to recognize the words that they do not understand and find the meaning in order to relate it to the context that they are reading.

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2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The focus of the study emphasizes on the vocabulary level of the students who are in average level of proficiency in giving the correct definitions for the words provided using shared reading strategy. The students were having difficulties in giving the correct meanings of the words in the reading text that they encountered. Thus, the researcher planned a suitable strategy that will enable the development of the vocabulary level of the students; which is using shared reading. 3.0 OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of using shared reading in developing the students’ vocabulary knowledge, the objective of this study was formed as followed; Objective

The specific objective of this study is to improve students of Year 5 Mutiara vocabulary knowledge using dictionary in shared reading. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS This study involved five students from Year 5 varying from average to low level of proficiency. These students include three boys and two girls. These students have problem in giving the correct meanings on the words provided. Besides that, these students come from Year 5 Mutiara which uses the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR) syllabus. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

The following actions were taken to conduct this study. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

There were three different instruments used in this study. Tests (pre-test and post-test), structured journals and students’ interview were used to help the researcher to collect the data. All instruments were used due to its purpose and its effectiveness so that the intended data could be collected. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary investigation needs to be done beforehand in order to carry out the intervention. With the help of the preliminary investigation, the problem that the students faced will be identified. The preliminary investigation was carried out in order to identify the problem faced by the students. There were two instruments used during the preliminary investigation;

i. Observation – reading lesson ii. Informal interview – the subject teacher (English)

Analysis of preliminary investigation i. Observation – reading lesson

From the reading lesson that was conducted, the students did not manage to understand the

idea of the text given. During the vocabulary work, the students were not able to give the correct meanings of the words provided. Besides that, they could not answer the reading comprehensions prepared. These students could not answer the questions well because they could not understand the meaning of the text prior to having lack of knowledge about the words they encounter.

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ii. Informal interview – the subject teacher (English language)

All in all, the teacher claimed that the students could not read independently. The teacher

needs to model the reading to the students, explains each phrase as well as the words that they rarely encounter or else, the students will not understand the reading text. The students only understand the high frequency words. Besides that, the teacher also explained that the students will be using their own dictionaries to locate the meaning of some words if they still could not understand the teachers’ explanation. 5.3 Action

After the preliminary investigation, the researcher used shared reading strategy to develop the vocabulary among the pupils. The researcher selected suitable stories that were simple yet interesting to be used during the reading session in order to get the students’ attention. The researcher allocated one hour for each reading session since the students needed to get a thorough and interactive reading session. The researcher carried out pre-tests session with the students. For the pre-tests, the researcher prepared 30 words for the students to give the correct meanings.

In order to identify whether the strategy used was to develop students’ vocabulary knowldege, the researcher prepared two instruments in collecting the data. Throughout the intervention, the researcher carried out an observation on the students’ behaviour and also students’ checklist for the students to respond. Based on the observation, the researcher reflected in the structured journals on the students’ behaviour during the intervention. There were 3 items reflected through the use of the journals; namely the students’ engagement with print, frequency of the words heard and whether the students managed to retell the stories heard. There were six items in the students’ checklist. These items were based on what were needed in order to develop students’ vocabulary level through shared reading. The researcher also carried out post-tests session after the intervention was done. 5.4 Findings Pre-test and Post-test

The Result Obtained From Pre and Post-Test

Figure 1: The Result Obtained From Pre and Post-Test

Structured Journals Based on the results obtained from the structured journals that were reflected by the researcher, shared reading was able to help the students to develop their vocabulary level. Based on the three criteria listed, the students were able to engage with the prints in the story books, managed to retell the stories heard and also the words listed in the reading text were familiar to the students.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5

Pre Test

Post Test

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Students’ Checklist Based on the results, it showed that the students adhered to the items listed in the checklist. These items were based on what were needed in order to develop the students’ level of vocabulary using shared reading. It showed that the pictures managed to help the students in understanding the words and stories better, most words were familiar to the students and they understood most of the words and last but not least, the students manage to use the words to retell the stories. 5.5 Conclusion

The use of shared reading helped the pupils’ vocabulary development and it showed a positive impact to the students. The effectiveness of this strategy was proven as the objectives were achieved and also the research questions were answered. The students’ vocabulary knowledge had successfully improved as reflected based on the results from the pre-test and post-test from both Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. The students’ behaviour during the intervention also could be seen through the data from the structured journals and also the students’ checklists. 5.6 Reflection This study is hoped to benefit other teachers and also the researcher in improving the teaching and learning process within the classroom. This study is also hoped to guide other teachers as it is proven that using shared reading enables the students to develop their vocabulary knowledge. Besides that, shared reading gives the ability to provide the students with the understanding of the text. When the students are able to understand the text thoroughly, it will not give them any problem in reading comprehension. This, at the same time, will provide the students some knowledge on the content of the story or text that they read or being read to. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Based on the study that is carried out, there were few suggestions to be made for the future research. The suggestions include:

Shared reading strategy should be developing other aspects The researcher suggests that shared reading should be developing other aspects, namely; pronunciation, reading comprehension and conversation.

Usage of different types of stories Since the students demand a lot of excitement in learning, the researcher suggests that the intervention should be using a variety of stories, namely; stories with action and fables themed. At the same time, it will also attract their attention to give full participation and cooperation during the intervention. REFERENCES Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S., & Choon, T. S. (2005). ELT Methodology Principles and Practice.

Selangor Darul Ehsan: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

Wassman, R., & Rinsky, L. A. (1993). Effective Reading in a Changing World. USA: Prentice Hall. Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology: Implications of cognitive approaches to peer learning for

teacher education. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

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ENHANCING YEAR 5 BERLIAN STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION OF NARRATIVE TEXTS USING GRAPHIC ORGANISERS

By:

SITI MAISARAH AISYAH BINTI DAHALAN

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to enhance the reading comprehension of narrative texts among the Year 5 Berlian students through the use of graphic organisers. This action research was also relevant with the current needs of the Malaysian primary school curriculum regarding the growing exposure of narrative texts. The focus was on the plot and the characteristics of the characters in narrative texts with the use of flow and bubble map to address those aspects respectively. The subjects were eight students from Year 5 Berlian with the weakest reading comprehension of narrative texts. The data were gathered through pre-test and post-test, formative assessment, document analysis, and questionnaire. The findings showed that the use of graphic organisers enhanced the students’ reading comprehension of narrative texts. The graphic organisers also helped the students to sequence the events, organise the events, connect the events, explain the characters, connect the characters with their characteristics, and memorise the events and characterisation. However, there are still rooms for improvement regarding the use of flow map to help the students in seeing the connection of the events clearly. Key terms: Reading comprehension, narrative texts, graphic organisers, plot, characteristics of characters, flow map, bubble map

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The relevance of this action research with the Malaysian primary school curriculum is firstly

because of the addition of Language Arts for level 1 and Contemporary Literature for level 2 in the KSSR curriculum. For example, the Year 2 and Year 3 students are expected to be able to respond to characters in stories with guidance while the Year 4 students are expected to be able to respond to literary texts regarding the characters, place, time, and values. Because of the growing exposure of such texts in our curriculum, it is becoming more important for the students to have a good reading comprehension of narrative texts for the sake of their academic performance as well as their personal development.

Secondly, it is because of the requirement for the reading skill in the learning outcome or

content standard of KBSR and KSSR curriculums respectively. In KSSR for Year 1 to Year 4, students are expected to be able to read independently for information and enjoyment. In KBSR for Year 5 and Year 6, students are expected to be able to read widely and independently. Based on personal and professional experiences, when students are given a choice to read independently and for their own enjoyment, mostly would prefer to read stories which is a form of narrative text rather than any other types of text.

1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience

During my semester 6 practicum, I thought Year 4 students with low to average English

language proficiency. I found a specific problem among the students where they have a repetitive difficulty to successfully complete reading comprehension tasks based on narrative texts.

After further investigation, I found that they always got the sequence of the events or plot in

narrative texts mixed up. It was probably due to their weak recalling skill because narrative texts have a series of events such as the beginning, problem, climax, resolution and ending which is quite a lot of information to be remembered at a time.

I also found that they could not extract the characteristics of the characters very well. At first I

thought that it was because of their limited vocabulary knowledge so later in my lessons, I always made sure to expose the vocabulary from the narrative texts before the texts were given and I also

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made the effort to match the vocabulary with their proficiency level. However, the problem was still there. Hence, I came to the conclusion that they were rather weak in analysing narrative texts in order to get the characteristics of the characters because authors could also describe them indirectly so students need to be able to read in between the lines.

1.2 Related Theory / Literature

The theory related to this action research is Jean Piaget Cognitive Theory. The theory is, “. . .

concerned with the development of a person’s thought processes” (Cherry, 2014). It is relevant with this action research because the students were supposed to be able to comprehend narrative texts well at their age, but they were still unable to do so. During my reflection, I reflected on the Year 4 students’ problem while during my action research processes, I worked on the Year 5 students who also had the same problem which showed that they were rather weak in comprehending narrative texts at their age. That is why graphic organisers come in handy to organise the students’ thoughts into a more concrete ideas. There was also an almost similar action research conducted on 2011 by Ardhi Eka Fadhilah where it was found that the use of graphic organisers do enhance the students reading comprehension on narrative texts to a certain extent.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The focus of this action research was regarding the students’ reading comprehension of

narrative texts. The core of the problem was regarding their inability to understand the plot and characteristics of the characters. It became the focus of this action research due to the increasing needs in the Malaysian primary school curriculum that would affect their academic achievement and also personal development because a part in the objectives of the KBSR and KSSR curriculums stated that, “. . . pupils are also encouraged to read extensively outside the classroom with m inimal teacher guidance” (Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam, The Soo Choon, 2005, p.84).

3.0 OBJECTIVE 3.1 General Objective

The general objective of this action research is to help the students from class 5 Berlian in

enhancing their reading comprehension of narrative texts. 3.2 Specific Objective

The specific objective on the other hand is to enhance the reading comprehension of narrative

texts regarding plot and characteristics of characters by using graphic organisers.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS The target group of this action research were the Year 5 Berlian students. Eight students from

the classroom comprised four girls and four boys were chosen as the participants of this action research. Those subjects were chosen based on the preliminary investigation and the analysis of the subjects’ personal files. The preliminary investigation involved a diagnostic test and document analysis while the analysis of the students’ personal files involved the subjects’ last year English final examination result, overall achievement percentage, and the parents’ socio-economic status (SES) that could probably contribute to their weak reading comprehension of narrative texts regarding the English language. All of those subjects were chosen because they were the weakest among the other students in the classroom regarding reading comprehension of narrative texts as well as the English language proficiency, and it was hoped that the intervention would help their problem.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The data gathering methods used during the first cycle of the action research’s intervention

were the pre-test and post-test, formative assessment, document analysis, and questionnaire. During the second cycle, only the pre-test and post-test, formative assessment, and questionnaire were

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used. They were chosen for this action research because the pre-test and post-test would be able to determine the effectiveness of the intervention while the rest of the methods would be able to determine on how the intervention helped the subjects with their problem.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

The preliminary investigation was done through a diagnostic test by using comprehension

questions and document analysis of the students’ comprehension exercise book. It was done in order to identify the subjects for this action research and the specific situation of their problem. From the eight subjects, two of them have more problems regarding the characteristics of the characters, four have more problems regarding the plot, and another two have problem in both aspects. 5.3 Actions

The actions taken in this action research were based on the steps from the Kurt Lewin’s Action

Research Model which are identifying problem, fact finding, action planning, taking action, evaluating action or reflection, and followed by the amended plan for the next cycle of the intervention. Figure 1 shows the actions taken for each stage in each cycle.

Figure 1: Actions

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Only the use of flow map to enhance the subjects’ reading comprehension of narrative texts regarding the plot was continued to the second cycle because there were still some improvement that could be done to enhance its effectiveness. The use of bubble map to enhance the reading comprehension regarding the characteristics of characters was already successful, so it was not continued to the second cycle.

5.4 Findings

The findings of this action research derived from the data gathered from the pre-test and post-test, questionnaire, document analysis, and formative assessment.

. Figure 2: Pre-test and Post-test Scores

From Figure 2, it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement regarding the

subjects’ reading comprehension of narrative texts due to the increase in the range of correct answers and the number of subjects who got all correct answers from pre-test cycle 1 to post-test cycle 2. Table 1 Themes Emerged from Questionnaire

No. Theme Cycle 1 Cycle 2

1 Sequence of events Successful Successful 2 Organisation of events 25% successful 87.5% successful 3 Connection of events 12.5% successful 62.5% successful 4 Explanation of characterisation 75% successful - 5 Connection of characterisation Successful - 6 Memorisation events and characterisation Successful Successful

From Table 1, the use of bubble map was found to help the subjects in explaining the

characteristics of the characters better and sees the connection of the characters with their characteristics more clearly thus it was not further continued to the second cycle because it was already successful. However, the use of flow map was continued to the second cycle in order to improve its ability to help the subjects to organise the events in narrative texts better and to see the connection of events more clearly. It was proved to be more effective after the intervention was amended.

The formative assessment and document analysis regarding the characteristics of the

characters supported the findings from the questionnaire in terms of the connection of characterisation and the explanation of characterisation respectively. The formative assessments for the plot on the other hand supported the questionnaire in terms of organising events and seeing the connection of events.

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5.5 Conclusion

The use of flow map and bubble map do enhanced the students’ reading comprehension of plots and characteristics of characters in narrative texts respectively. Those graphic organisers also helped the students to sequence the events, organise the events, connect the events, explain the characters, connect the characters with their characteristics, and memorise the events and characterisation. That was because, “As part of the reading process, graphic organisers can help a student comprehend what he has read and make comparisons to other pieces of writing” (Morin, 2014).

5.6 Reflection

The strength of this action research was the use of bubble map because it was able to successfully help the subjects with their problem right away in the first cycle of the intervention. The weakness on the other hand was the use of flow map to see the connection of the events clearly. Even though after the intervention was amended based on the findings from the first cycle, the end result regarding that particular aspect still had some rooms for more improvement.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Among the suggestions for further research regarding this topic would firstly be that the other aspects such as the contents or language of narrative texts should also be taken into consideration while adapting a narrative text to improve the amended plan in the second cycle. Secondly, other elements of narrative texts such as the theme, setting or point of view should be looked into in order to thoroughly enhance the reading comprehension of narrative texts. Finally, the use of flow and bubble map should also be exploited with other types of text so that their functions can be expanded and not restricted to one type of text only.

REFERENCES Ardhi Eka Fadilah (2011). Using Graphic Organizer to Improve the Narrative Comprehension of the

Students of Class VII. Retrieved September 7, 2014, from karyailmiah.um: http://karya-ilmiah.um.ac.id/index.php/sastra-inggris/article/view/19450

Cherry, K. (2014). Cognitive theories of development. Retrieved March 8, 2014 from

psychology.about.com: http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentecourse/a/dev_cognitive.htm

Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam, Teh Soo Choon. (2005). ELT methodology principles

and practice second edition. Selangor: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. Morin, A. (2014). What is a graphic organizer? Retrieved March 8, 2014 from childparenting.about:

http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/a/graphic_organizer_def.htm

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USING JIGSAW READING TO ENHANCE READING COMPREHENSION AMONGST YEAR 3 GEMILANG PUPILS

By:

SITI ZABEDAH BINTI MAT DESA

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT This research aims at identifying the effects of using jigsaw reading strategy in enhancing Year 3 pupils’ reading comprehension.Preliminary investigations such as observation and document analysis are carried out in order to find out the level of pupils’ comprehension ability. The preliminary findings clearly show that they were not able to answer comprehension questions correctly. For the purpose of this research, jigsaw reading strategy is used as an intervention strategy. 9 pupils from year 3 Gemilang were selected as target participants.The target participants were divided intotwo groups, the ‘home group’ and the ‘expert group’.Data is collected through pre-test and post-test, formative tests, observation using field notes, and document analysis in both Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. The findings from the quantitative data from the pre and post-test, and formative tests show improvement in pupils’ comprehension ability in both the cycles whereby most of them score between 75% and above. The findings from the observation field notes indicate that cooperative skills in jigsaw reading strategy are more effective in narrative texts. The analysis of the field notes show the abilities of the target participants to share ideas, ask questions, encourage other members to give ideas, listen positively and respond to others, take turns to speak and stay on the task. These aspects help to develop cooperative learning among the participants as well as their engagement toward the tasks. It also improves their listening, communication, and problem-solving. Therefore, the overall findings show that jigsaw reading strategy is an effective intervention in enhancing reading comprehension among target participants.

Key terms: Jigsaw reading strategy, cooperative learning, reading comprehension 1.0 INTRODUCTION Reading is basically a process from word level to sentence level because reading is not regarded as a simply acquiring meaning from written symbols; it is a difficult process which involves comprehension and interpretation of ideas symbolized by the written or printed page. This is because through reading, pupils acquire new ideas and knowledge, obtain needed information, relax the minds, and improve our command of language and vocabulary. Furthermore, the content standards of reading in KSSR English Syllabus (Curriculum Document Standard, 2012,p.16) clearly states the importance of reading comprehension. Therefore, in order to achieve the above mentioned abilities, a lot of emphasis is given to pupils to develop their reading skill. This emphasis is important because reading would be meaningless if pupils cannot understand what they have read. Hence, it cannot be denied that reading comprehension is an essential skill to acquire and master so that pupils can become independent and competent readers. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience During my phase 3 practicum, the class that I taughtis made up of pupils of mixed abilities. One of the major challenges that the pupils face in performing reading comprehension tasks is that they were not able to grasp or understand the meaning of words in English. Secondly, I also observed that those pupils who performed badly in reading comprehension seem to have limited working memory. This is because language comprehension places heavy demands on working memory resources. Representations of words and sentences must be held in memory while other aspects of the text or discourse are processed and background knowledge is activated and integrated (Kintsch& Rawson, 2005). This retention becomes even more difficult especially if pupils are learning a second language.

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1.2 Related theory/ literature In addressing the problem identified, the Social Constructivist theory by Vygotsky is employed as the basis of this research. In this theory, he implies that people need to socialize rather than working alone (Smith, 1975). When people interact with each other in small groups, they exchange thoughts, express feelings and share experiences together (Smith & Elly, 1995). This is similar to cooperative learning which is ‘the instructional use of small group so that pupils work together to maximize their own learning and each other’s learning’ (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1990). Moreover, according to researchers, cooperative learning succeeds because it allows pupils to explain material to each other, to listen to each other’s explanation, and to arrive at joint understandings of what has been shared (Yager, Johnson & Johnson, Snider, 1985). 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The focus of this research is to find out pupils’ ability in comprehending reading texts because reading requires understanding and meaning-getting (Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha and T.S Choon, 1996). However, the scenario in Year 3 Gemilang shows otherwise. The pupils in this particular class had problems in comprehending reading texts. Based on the identified problem, the researcher decided to use jigsaw reading strategy as an intervention in order to enhance the pupils reading comprehension skill. By using this strategy, it is also hoped that pupils’ will develop to become independent learners. 3.0 OBJECTIVE 3.1 General Objective The general objective of this research is to enhance reading comprehension through the use of jigsaw reading 3.2 Specific objective The specific objective of this research is to determine whether the use of jigsaw reading can enhance pupils’ achievement in reading comprehension 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS This research only involves nine participants, comprising of six boys and three girls from Year 3 Gemilang. Table 1 below provides a detailed description about the target participants. Table 1.0 Background Information of the Target Participants

Participants Gender Race Proficiency in English

P1 Male Chinese Moderate P2 Male Chinese Moderate P3 Female Malay Moderate P4 Female Malay Moderate P5 Female Malay Moderate P6 Male Malay Moderate P7 Male Indian Moderate P8 Male Malay Poor P9 Male Malay Poor

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION This action research is based on Stephen Kemmis Model. According to the model, there are four steps of actions that need to be considered. They are planning, acting, observing and reflecting. Before carrying out this research, preliminary investigations were conducted to investigate Year 3 Gemilang pupils’ competencies in the focus area.

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5.1 Data Gathering Methods This research involved qualitative data sources and quantitative sources. For quantitative data, there were pre-test and post-test, formative tests, while for qualitative data, there were observation using field notes, and document analysis of a graphic organizer. 5.2 Preliminary Investigations In order to investigate this problem, two methods were used. They were observation and document analysis. The observation revealed that pupils had difficulty in understanding the vocabularies although the vocabularies were explained using contextual clues. Apart from that, only a small number of them could identify the main ideas from the passage and answered the comprehension questions correctly. Next, the document analysis of pupils’ previous comprehension exercises also showed that their answers to the open-ended comprehension questions were mostly incorrect. 5.3 Action The intervention was conducted in two cycles outside the English lesson. In Cycle 1, factual texts were used and the findings showed that the jigsaw reading strategy did not really help the target participants to work cooperatively which hinder the aims of jigsaw reading strategy that promotes cooperative learning. Hence, the researcher improvised the strategy by using a narrative text. By changing the text, participants showed better understanding because they had to work together to discuss the sequence of the story correctly. In implementing the jigsaw reading strategy, participants were divided into two groups known as ‘home group’ and ‘expert group’. The procedure and implementation of the jigsaw reading strategy is described in table 2.0: Table 2.0 The Procedure and Implementation of the Intervention Strategy in Cycle 2

Stage Activities

Set induction 1. Introduction to the topic. 2. Introduce the vocabulary from the text.

Step 1 1. Participants in the ‘home group’ get different parts of the text.

Step 2 1. Participants discuss the different parts of the text in the ‘expert group’.

2. Participants write the information in the graphic organizer provided

Step 3 1. Participants return to their ‘home group’. 2. Participants sequence their part of the text and explain to

the group members of the ‘home group’ about their part. 3. Participants answered comprehension questions

Closure 1. Discussion of the answers

5.4 Findings In confirming whether jigsaw reading helps to enhance pupils’ reading comprehension, the results from pre-test and post-test and formative test taken from Cycle 2 were triangulated. Pre-test and pot-test The results of the pre and post test shows that most of the participants scored above 75% which is regarded as an ‘excellent’ category. This means that jigsaw reading helps to enhance their ability in reading comprehension.

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Table 3 Pre-Test and Post-Test Result in Cycle 2

Level Pre-test Cycle 2 Post-test Cycle 2

Num. of pupils

Percentage (%)

Num. of pupils

Percentage (%)

Excellent 4 44.44 9 100 Good 3 33.33 - -

Average - - - - Weak 2 22.22 - -

Formative tests The marks from the formative tests conducted in sessions 1, 2 and 3 of the second cycle were calculated to measure the improvement made by the target participants. The results were analyzed in order to establish whether the target participants have understood the text better after participating in the jigsaw reading strategy. Figure 1 below shows the improvements of marks in Cycle 2.

.

Figure 1: Marks from formative test in Cycle 2

The findings from the formative tests show improvement in marks for most of the target participants. This indicates that their ability to comprehend and understand the text has improved. Observation Based on the observation field notes, it is evident that jigsaw reading strategy can enhance pupils’ reading comprehension. This is because jigsaw reading strategy encourages cooperative learning among the participants, enhance pupils’ engagement towards their learning, and improve their listening, communication and problem solving skills as well. This was evident through the target participants sharing of ideas, asking questions, encouraging other members to give ideas, listening positively and responding to others, taking turns to speak and staying on the task given. Document analysis The document analysis of the graphic organizer shows that most of them were progressing towards a better level. This is evident when 3 of them progressed from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’, and two progressed from ‘fair’ to ‘good’. This progression reveals how cooperative learning among group members through jigsaw reading helps to improve reading comprehension. 5.5 Conclusion Finding from the research had showed positive impacts on pupils’ reading comprehension. This is because after the findings of this research wereanalysed, there was an increment in the target participants’ abilitiesin answering comprehension questions as manifested by the increasing marks in the tests and document analysis. Moreover, jigsaw reading also encourages cooperative learning as evident in the fieldnotes taken during observation that jigsaw reading strategy helps to promote interaction among target participants. They become more helpful and friendly with other group members. This is supported by Vygotsky’s theory, which mentions that people need to socialize rather

0

2

4

6

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9

session 1

session 2

session 3

score

participant

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than working alone (Smith, 1975) He believes the learner constructs his or her own knowledge by interacting with other individuals. 5.6 Reflection In the process of completing this action research, there were strengths and limitation encountered. First and foremost, in conducting the research, jigsaw reading increases contact between participants, give them a shared basis of similarity (group membership), engages them in pleasant activities together, and have them work towards common goals especially to understand the text that they read. Nevertheless, the researcher also faced limitation which was time constraint. This constraint limited the participants’ cohesiveness and participation in group work activities, because participants needed time to get along with each other in order to learn the skills, conceptually and behaviourally. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This research has proven it effectiveness in terms of the intervention strategy used in order to enhance the target participants’ reading comprehension ability. It would be beneficial to replicate this study on a larger or different population. This could perhaps produce different results as well as making the research more reliable. A different set of data collection methods could also be used. For example, interview can be a good way to elicit pupils’ responses, other than just relying on the observation, document analysis, and tests. REFERENCES Curriculum Document Standards for English Year 3 (2009). Ministry of Education Gough, P. B. (1972). One second of reading. In J. F. Kavanaugh, & I. C. Maltingly (Eds.),

Language by ear and eye (pp. 331-358). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Johnson, D.W, Johnson, R.T &Holubec, E.J. (1990). Circles of learning: Cooperation in the

classroom. Minnesota: Interaction Book Company. Kintsch, W., & Rawson, K. A. (2005).Comprehension. In M. J. Snowling& C. Hulme (Eds.), The

science of reading: A handbook (pp. 209-226). Malden, MA: Blackwell. NesamalarChitravelu&SarathaSithamparam&TehSooChon(2005). ELT Methodology

Principles and practice.Oxford FajarSdn.Bhd. Smith, F (1975). Comprehension and Learning: Theory, Research and Practice (2nd Edition).

USA: Allyn & Bacon Smith, J.W.A &Elly, W.B (1995).Learning to Read in New Zealand. Wellington: Longman. Yager, S., Johnson, R., Johnson, D. W., & Snider, B. (1986). The impact of group processing on

achievement in cooperative learning groups. Journal of Social Psychology, 126, 389-397.

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USING POPULAR SONGS TO IMPROVE THE PUPILS’ PRONUNCIATION OF VOICELESS DENTAL FRICATIVE (Ө) IN YEAR 4 ZAMRUD

By:

TUAN MOHD AZHAR BIN TUAN IBRAHIM

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This research aimed to identify the effectiveness of using popular songs in improving the pupils’ pronunciation and how it helped them to improve their pronunciation. This study focused on a specific consonant sound which was voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound. For the purpose of this study, A pupil with low level of proficiency and 4 other pupils were identified through purposive sampling from Year 4 zamrud. Preliminary investigation was conducted using several methods such as observation and oral test. The result showed that all identified pupils were having problem pronouncing English words.There were three instruments employed in order to measure the effectiveness of using popular songs in improving the pupils’ pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound which were test, observation checklist and logs. The research was conducted in two cycles.The pupils were required to pronounce a list of words in the pre-test and post-test in both cycles.In the pre-test, none of the pupil managed to pronounce the words with the voiceless (Ө) sound correctly. A post-test was carried out after the intervention sessions in Cycle 2 showed that all pupils improved in their scores. There were three pupils who managed to score more than 70% and two pupils managed to score 64.3% and 28.6% respectively.The data collected from the observation checklist and the logs showed how the popular songs helped pupils to improve their pronunciation. The data collected in both methods showed that the activities incorporated with popular songs helped the pupils in improving their pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound. Key terms: pronunciation, popular songs 1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Reflection on teaching experience During the final phase of practicum in one of the schools in Kuala Lumpur, the researcher found

that the pupils had problem in their pronounciation of English words. The researcher noticed this problem when the pupils kept repeating the same mispronunciation eventhough the teacher had modelled the correct pronunciation for a few times. This problem happened because of their confusion with the irregularities in spelling and pronunciation of English words. 1.2 Related theory/literature

Social cognitivist theory was used in solving the problem faced by the pupils. This theory

believes that external factors such as models and instructional strategies affect pupils’ learning (Woolfolk, 2010). So, popular song was chosen as a model of pronunciation for the pupils. Besides that, the researcher used intuitive-imitative approach which emphasizes the learner’s ability to listen to and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the intervention of any explicit information (Brown, 1994). So, based on the theory and approach selected, this research focuses on the imitation of the target sound using the popular songs provided by the teacher. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

The researcher found that there are a few areas of pronunciation problems faced by the pupils. However, the researcher decided to focus on a specific sound which was voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound. The pupils had problem in pronouncing the sound because it does not exist in their mother tongue. The researcher chose popular songs as an intervention to help them in learning the correct pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound. The popular song was chosen to provide a non-threatening environment for the pupils to learn pronunciation with enchanting rhythms and melodies in the song. The song also served as a model for pupils to imitate the modeled pronunciation.

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3.0 OBJECTIVES 3.1 General objective

Using popular songs to improve the pronunciation of pupils in Year 4 Zamrud. 3.2 Specific objective

Using popular songs to improve the pupils’ pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound among pupils in Year 4 Zamrud. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

This research involved five pupils in year 4 Zamrud in one of the schools in Kuala Lumpur.

There were three boys and two girls. One of the boys was categorised in low proficiency level and the others were average. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

There were a few instruments used this research. This was carried out based on Stephen

Kemmis’s Model. The researcher used popular songs to help pupils to improve their pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative (Ө) sound. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The instruments used in collecting the data were tests, observation checklist and logs. These instruments were used to see the pupils’ improvement in their pronunciation and how the popular songs helped them to improve thier pronunciation. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation

The researcher had carried out a few observations during the and learning lesson within the classroom to identify the pupils with pronunciation problem. Besides that, an oral test was carried out with the target pupils to find out the specific aspect that they had problem with. 5.3 Action

I had adopted Stephen Kemmis’s model (1986) to help me in conducting this research. It involved several steps which were plan, action, observe and reflect. This reseach was conducted in two cycles. In Cycle 1, three sessions were carried out by using three different songs. These songs were used to model the correct pronunciation to the pupils. In each session, pupils were introduced to the song. The song was repeated for a few times to model the target pronunciation. The pupils were required to recognise the word with the voiceless (Ө) sound and practise the sound. In Cycle 2, the other three different songs were used in three different sessions. The same procedure was done in Cycle 2 with several additional activities such as cloze test, discussion of the cloze test and reading the lyrics with the correct pronunciation. These activities were done to increase the effectiveness of the intervention. 5.4 Findings Test

In Cycle 1, there were 10 words introduced to the pupils using three popular songs. None of the pupils managed to pronounce the voiceless (Ө) sound correctly. After the intervention sessions, S2, S3 and S5 improved in their test scores with the increment of 40%, 70% and 70% respectively. However, S1 and S4 showed no improvement as they did not manage to pronounce any of the words correctly.

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In Cycle 2, another four words were introduced to the word list in cycle 1. After the intervention sessions, all pupils showed improvement in their pronunciation including S1 and S4. This showed that the activities that were carried out helped the pupils to practise and remember the target sound.

Observation

The observation was done to see how the popular songs helped the pupils to improve their pronunciation. It was done based on the aspects in the checklist. The data collected in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 were compared to see the differences in remarks. Table 1 The Differences in Remarks of the Checklist between Cycle 1 and Cycle 2.

Observation

Aspects In Checklist Difference of Remarks

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

A3: Does the song provide enough chance to practise the target sound?

- “21 Guns” modelled a clear pronunciation of the /Ө/ sound.

- The words with the /Ө/ sound were repeated in the songs.

-“For the rest of my life” did not model the correct pronunciation of the target words and teacher asked pupils to make correction.

A5. Do the pupils imitate the pronunciation modelled by the teacher/songs?

- pupils showed less interest in this aspect

-Discussion of answers of cloze test helped teacher to get pupils to imitate the correct pronunciation.

A6: Do the pupils practise the target sound repeatedly?

- Pupils tend to feel bored as the song was repeated for several times.

- S3 and S5 tend to practise more than the others.

-Reading the lyrics of the song. -Recognising words from the song -Fill in blanks by listening to songs -Discussion of answer for cloze test

A8: Do the pupils recognise the target sound in words (initial/ medial/final)?

- Teacher helped pupils in the first session

- Pupils were able to recognise the words with the target sound based on the spelling regardless of voiced (δ) or voiceless (Ө) consonant.

-Pupils were able to recognise the words with the target sound based on the spelling regardless of voiced (δ) or voiceless (Ө) consonant without the teacher’s guidance.

These were 4 aspects that were different between cycle 1 and cycle 2. These aspects helped

me to recognize how the popular songs helped the pupils to learn and improve their pronunciation. It showed that the additional activities incorporated with songs helped pupils to improve their pronunciation. Logs

The logs were another data collection method used by the researcher. It was used in each session of the intervention. The data collected in both cycles were summarized. After that, the researcher analyzed and compared the data based on the methodological principles in teaching pronunciation (Parish, 1977).

The 4 principles were :1) everything that the teacher does co-involve pronunciation, 2)correction of the pupils’ pronunciation, 3) the ability of the pupils to absorb the correct pronunciation and 4) the amount of the time that the teacher puts into specific pronunciation explanation and exercise. These principles helped the researcher to see how the pupils learn pronunciation in each cycle.

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5.5 Conclusion

It can be concluded that popular songs can be used to model the /Ө/ sound to the pupils. However, the nature of the popular songs which do not have many repetitions of words provided less opportunity for the pupils to practise the /Ө/ sound. This led them to forget the correct pronunciation of the words with the target sound. Besides that, the popular songs with lengthy lyrics were quite difficult to be used to draw the pupils’ attention to the target sound. So, activities incorporated with the song are needed to help pupils to recognize and practise the target sound. Thus, it can be concluded that popular songs incorporated with other activities help pupils in improving their pronunciation of voiceless dental fricative /Ө/ sound. 5.6 Reflection

The teacher’s guidance is required to help pupils to learn the target sound using the popular songs because it contains less repletion of the target sound. This requires teachers to repeat the song for a few times to provide enough practice for the pupils.

The popular songs chosen should be familiar to the pupils so that it will attract their attention.

This will also affect the time allocation as the pupils need some time to familiarize the song that they have not heard before.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

In future research, there are a few improvements that can be done to increase the

effectiveness of the research in improving the pupils’ pronunciation. Instead of only focusing on voiceless consonant, the popular songs can be used to differentiate between voiced and voiceless consonant sounds. This can also be done by using dictionary as it guides pupils with phonemic symbols for pronunciation. Besides that, the data collection methods used in this research can be improved to increase the validity. As example, observation can be done on each pupil to see how they learn the target sound. As repetition is important to get pupils to practise the target sound, using jazz chant or nursery rhymes can help pupils to learn the target sound.

REFERENCES

Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. San

Francisco State University: Prentice Hall Regents. Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. London: Falmer

Press. Parish, C. (1997). A Practical Philosophy of Pronunciation. In A. Brown, Teaching English

Pronunciation: A book of reading (pp. 104-112).New York: Routledge. Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (7th ed.). The Ohio State University: Pearson.

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USING PICTURES WITH SUBSTITUTION DRILLS TO DEVELOP YEAR 4 BERLIAN’S STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT SIMPLE SENTENCES

By:

VICKNEASVARIE A/P RAMAMUTHIE

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to develop Year 4 Berlian’s students’ ability in writing grammatically correct simple sentences through the use of pictures with substitution drills. The findings from the preliminary investigation showed that the students could not generate ideas and put the ideas into grammatically correct simple sentences. Thus, pictures were used to teach students to generate ideas, while, substitution drills were used to teach the structure of simple sentences. The use of pictures with substitution drills were also used to teach the students the important grammar rules that are necessary to write a grammatically correct simple sentence. The research was conducted in two cycles, and three methods were used to collect data; tests, observation checklist and document analysis. In the pre-test, three students obtained 20% and three students obtained 0%. However, at the end of Cycle 2, the post-test scores increased whereby four students obtained 100% and two students obtained 80% and 60% respectively. The increase in scores proved that the use of pictures with substitution drills have helped the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences. The findings obtained from the observation checklist and document analysis showed that the intervention have helped the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences in terms of choosing appropriate subject and verb, word order, subject-verb agreement (SVA) and articles. In conducting this research, I learned that writing problem can be solved if appropriate instructional strategy is used. However, time constraint was one of the limitations of this research, which resulted in insufficient drilling of the grammar rules like subject-verb agreement (SVA) and articles. One of the suggestions for further research was a research solely on SVA or articles can be done so that sufficient drilling can be given to the students in learning to write grammatically correct simple sentences. Key terms: grammatically correct simple sentences, pictures, substitution drills 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Writing is considered as one of the most important language skills. It is important because being proficient in writing helps the second language students (ESL) in enhancing their overall language proficiency (Bello, 1997). Through writing, students experiment with words, phrases and sentences, which reinforce their grammar and vocabulary knowledge. Thus, their overall language proficiency will be enhanced. Writing is also given importance in the primary schooling system, where, by the end of Year 6, students should be able to write a range of texts using various language styles and forms (Dokumen Standard dan Kurikulum Pentaksiran, 2013). 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience In the first two weeks of teaching, I realised that the students were facing problems in writing. When writing tasks were given, they could not generate ideas to write. I had to prompt them with ideas to write. The sentences that the students wrote contained many grammatical errors causing the meanings to be affected. Students’ exercise books and worksheets were examined to understand in depth the students’ problems in writing. 1.2 Related theory/literature This research was conducted using the Behaviourist theory. Behaviourist theory’s main concern is habit formation. Skinner believes that “habit formation” is important in ensuring successful learning of the second language (Brooks, 1960). I realised I need to instil the habit of forming sentence structures in the students so that they can produce grammatically correct simple sentences. This is where, substitution drills were used as a tool to teach the students the correct structure of simple sentences according to the four simple sentence patterns chosen, namely, Subject + verb

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(SV), Subject + verb + object (SVO), Subject + verb + complement (SVC) and Subject + verb + indirect object + direct object (SVOO). There are seven simple sentence patterns but only four were focused due to time constraint. This research was also conducted using the Constructivist theory, where the main concern is active learning. Piaget believes that “active learning” atmosphere should be created in order for second language learners to learn the language successfully (Bull, 2009). An active and student-centred learning environment was created through the use of pictures. This is where, the students had to brainstorm ideas based on the pictures, and the ideas were then used to teach them build simple sentences based on the substitution table. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The research focused on developing the writing skills of the Year 4 Berlian students in English language. The issue that has led me to work on this research was the students’ poor ability in writing simple sentences. The students were not able to write grammatically correct simple sentences and they needed the teacher’s help to write. 3.0 OBJECTIVE 3.1 General Objective: The general objective of the research was to improve the writing ability of the Year 4 Berlian students in English Language. 3.2 Specific Objective: The specific objective of the research was using pictures with substitution drills to develop Year 4 Berlian students’ ability in writing grammatically correct simple sentences. Pictures with substitution drills was the strategy used to help the students in writing grammatically correct simple sentences. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS Six students who had problems in writing grammatically correct simple sentences were chosen as the participants. They are averagely proficient in the English language where translations had to be used at times. The students are from Malay ethnic group where their mother tongue is Bahasa Malaysia. All the six students are from poor social economic family background, and most of them are staying at the flats around the school. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION This section focuses on the steps taken in carrying out the intervention, and the data collecting method used to collect information regarding the effectiveness of the intervention. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods Three data gathering methods were used to collect data. They were tests (pre-test and post-test), observation checklist and document analysis. Pre-test and post-tests were given to the students to know whether the intervention helped the students in writing grammatically correct simple sentences. Whereas observation checklist and document analysis were used to collect data on how the intervention had helped the students in writing grammatically correct simple sentences. 5.2 Preliminary Investigation Preliminary investigation was carried out through two methods; diagnostic test and document analysis. Students were given diagnostic test where they had to write five simple sentences on the topic ‘My Holiday’. Students’ exercise books and worksheets were collected and their writings were examined. From the results obtained in the preliminary investigation, six students were identified as participants for the research.

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5.3 Action

Kemmis’ model was used in conducting this research. The first stage, plan, involved the selection of pictures and sentence patterns to be focused. The intervention was implemented in the action stage, and data was collected and analysed in the observation stage. Finally, reflection was made based on the information obtained.

In cycle 1, a pre-test was conducted, followed by three sessions of intervention. In the first session single pictures from the topic ‘Rosemary and the Four Gutsy Gnomes’ were pasted on the board, and substitution tables focusing on SV and SVO sentence patterns were drawn. Students brainstormed ideas based on the pictures, and the ideas were used to help the students build simple sentences from the substitution tables. After that, drilling was done whereby each student had to build a simple sentence from the substitution tables based on a picture. During the drilling session, observation was done to collect information, which was later recorded in the checklist. Worksheets containing pictures and empty tables with lines were given to the students. The worksheets were collected for document analysis. In the second session, single pictures from the topic ‘Be Safe’ were used and the sentence patterns were SVC and SVOO. In the third session, a composite picture from the topic ‘Rosemary and the Four Gutsy Gnomes – Birthday Party’ was used and all the four sentence patterns were focused. The procedures for both the sessions were same as in the first session. Finally, a post-test was given to the students.

In the second cycle, compound subjects were introduced in teaching the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences. Two sessions were conducted in this cycle, and SVO and SVC sentence patterns were focused. In session 1, single pictures from the topic ‘Unity in Diversity’ and in session 2, single pictures from the topic ‘Good Values’ were used. The same post test was given to the students after the intervention.

5.4 Findings Pre-test & Post-test scores

Figure 1: The increase in the students’ performance across the tests conducted. In the pre-test, three students obtained 20% and three obtained 0%. The post-test in Cycle 1 showed three students obtained 100%, one student obtained 80% and two students obtained 40%. The comparison of the pre- and post-test scores showed that there was an improvement in the students’ performance. In Cycle 2, four students have obtained 100% and two students have obtained 60% and 80% respectively. The increase in scores showed the effectiveness of the intervention in helping the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences.

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Observation checklist Table 1 The Overall Analysis of the Students’ Performance for each Grammar Aspect in Both Cycles

The findings from the observation checklists showed that there is an improvement in the

students’ writing. The use of pictures with substitution drills have helped the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences in terms of four aspects; choice of subject and verb, word order, SVA and use of articles. All the students showed quick improvement in choosing appropriate subject and verb, and arranging words into the correct order of the simple sentence structure. However, in terms of writing simple sentences without SVA errors and using articles correctly, the students improved but it was slower compared to choice of subject and verb, and word order. Document Analysis

Figure 2: The overall percentage of students who could use the four categories correctly in writing grammatically correct simple sentences.

The findings from the document analysis supported the findings from the observation checklist. The intervention has helped the students in writing grammatically correct simple sentences through these four aspects. All the students showed 100% immediate mastery of using appropriate subject and verb, and word order in both the cycles. In terms of SVA and correct articles usage, the percentage of improvement increased across the session but slower compared to choice of subject and verb, and word order. 5.5 Conclusion In conclusion, the use of pictures with substitution drills was effective in developing the students’ ability to write grammatically correct simple sentences. Pictures gave the students ideas to write, while, substitution drills helped in mastering the sentence structure of a simple sentence. The use of pictures with substitution drills also helped the students in learning the grammar aspects that are important in producing grammatically correct simple sentences.

Session Cycle 1

No. of students Cycle 2

No. of students

Aspect 1 2 3 1 2

Choice of Subject, Verb 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6

Word order 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6

Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) 2/6 4/6 4/6 3/6 5/6

Use of Articles 1/6 0/6 6/6 - 4/6

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5.6 Reflection One of the implications of this research was appropriate instructional strategy should be used. Writing is considered as a difficult skill to teach, but, Tan Hui Mien (2008) stated that the teaching and learning process of writing can be made easier if teachers use appropriate instructional strategy. In this research, the use of pictures with substitution drills made the process of teaching and learning to write grammatically correct simple sentences easier for the students. Besides, good selection of pictures played a role in ensuring the effectiveness of the intervention. As mentioned by Y. Nirmala (2013), pictures that students could understand and interpret easily should be used in order to make the process of writing easier and fun. In this research, pictures were selected based on the topics in the textbook, which the students have learned. Their prior knowledge on the topics helped them in brainstorming ideas and writing grammatically correct simple sentences. One of the limitations of the research was time constraint, which resulted in insufficient drilling. The intervention was carried out during the English lesson where, one hour was used to implement the intervention and collect data. This left the researcher with only 10 minutes to drill the students to write grammatically correct simple sentences, which was insufficient. The second limitation was error analysis. The researcher did not correct and explain a particular student’s error in front of the whole class, instead, it was done individually. So, the other students were not able to learn from each other’s mistakes as some of the students repeated the same errors that their friends made in the worksheet. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Any researcher who aims to work on students’ writing problem can conduct a research solely on SVA or articles. The researcher can read up in depth on why ESL students face problem in these two aspects, and find a suitable strategy to overcome this problem. Improving the mastery of SVA and articles can help the students in writing grammatically correct simple sentences. This is because Tan Hui Mien (2008) mentioned that explicitly teaching on salient grammar points will enhance the students’ writing in the second language. Thus, researchers should drill the students on these aspects, and the sufficient practices provided could contribute in the development of writing skill.

Next, a researcher should include error analysis or immediate feedback when the students are building simple sentences in front of the class. The researcher should “show where the error was and give a clue as to how to correct the error, or directly providing the correct form” to the whole class (Tan Hui Mien, 2008, p. 6). Students can also be given the opportunity to correct their friends’ error. “Error treatment including error feedback by teachers is a necessary component of L2 writing instruction” (Tan Hui Mien, 2008, p. 6). Thus, error analysis should be done in front of the class as it allows students to pick up the grammar rules.

REFERENCES Bello, T. (1997). ERIC Digest: Improving ESL Learners' Writing Skills. Washington DC: ESL Literacy Education. Brooks, N. (1960). Behaviorist Theory on Language Learning and Acquisition. New York: Harcourt,

Brace and World. Bull, G. R. (2009). Constructivism and Active Learning. New York: West Point. MOE. (2013). Dokumen Standard dan Kurriulum Pentaksiran. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from Ministry of Education: http://jpwpkl.moe.gov.my/download/phocadownload/sektor/spm/upm/malaysiaeducationbluep rint.pdf Tan Hui mien. (2008). A study of EFL learners’ writing errors and instructional strategies. Unpublished thesis. Y. Nirmala. ( 2013 ). Teaching writing using picture stories as tools at the high school level: the movement from other regulation to self-regulation . Language in India. Volume 13 ISSN 1930 2940 , 32-197.

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USING STORYTELLING TO INCREASE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN YEAR 2 JASMINE LISTENING AND SPEAKING CLASSROOM

By:

YUSHANTHINI A/P SATHASIVAM English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This action research aims to investigate the use of storytelling in increasing the engagement level of students in Year 2 Jasmine listening and speaking classroom. The focus of the investigation is to identify if the use of storytelling strategy in the listening and speaking classroom can increase student engagement in terms of verbal and non-verbal behaviours. A preliminary investigation conducted shows that the students are not fully engaged in the teaching and learning activities. The five participants in this research are identified from Year 2 Jasmine based on their low level of engagement in the listening and speaking classroom. Audio-visual recordings and a series of semi-structured interviews are used as data collection methods. The findings show high frequencies of non-verbal behaviours displayed by students and they are more active verbally in terms of responding to the teacher’s questions and peer-initiated talks. They are also more active in producing self-initiated talk during the storytelling sessions. Results from the interview show that students perceive the use of storytelling positively. They feel it can increase their understanding through the teacher’s delivery and they also feel that storytelling promotes peer interaction, creates fun and develops their interest in learning. Suggestions for further research are to conduct storytelling using different genres of stories, to use storytelling in teaching other language skills and to incorporate the use of ICT in storytelling. Key terms: Storytelling, student engagement

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Student engagement indicates the extent students are committed in their learning. Highly engaged students exhibit positive attitudes towards instructional practices and they participate actively and enthusiastically in the educational activities. “Psychologically, engaged learners are intrinsically motivated by curiosity, interest, and enjoyment, and are likely to want to achieve their own intellectual or personal goals” (Jablon and Wilkinson, 2006). In the Primary School Standard Curirculum (KSSR) which was introduced in 2011, active learning is emphasized. “Lessons, which emphasise meaningful contexts and the integration of language skills, allow pupils to learn by doing in fun-filled activities (Dokumen Standard Kurikulum Sekolah Rendah, 2011). It shows that student engagement is emphasized strongly in the Malaysian primary classrooms as it encourages meaningful and student-centered environment for learning. 1.1 Reflection of teaching experience I carried out a three-month teaching practice in one of the leading trust schools in Kuala Lumpur. This school is an all-girls’ school and there are about five hundred students and most of them are of average proficiency level. I was assigned to teach English language in Year 2 Jasmine and in my listening and speaking lessons; I came across a repeated problem of students not being fully engaged in their learning. They went to the toilet frequently, whispered and giggled, threw paper planes, searched for things under the desks, passed things around, played with their friend’s hair and submitted incomplete work. It was hard to get the students to engage both verbally and non-verbally in the listening and speaking classroom. 1.2 Related theory/literature The theory that provided the framework for this study is Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory. He believed that learners learn better when they interact with one another as they can collaboratively construct knowledge and make meaning through sharing and discussing with their more capable peers or teachers who are known as More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). The MKO are teachers or students who have better understanding of the skills and knowledge. They help the students to complete the tasks which they cannot solve independently and this relates to the next

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theme in the theory which is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).It is the level that students cannot master independently and could only be attained under the assistance of MKO which is known as scaffolding. As mentioned by Santrock (2010), “teachers should create a classroom atmosphere that allows classroom interaction”. This is because such classroom atmosphere will help students develop their cognition and understanding as they talk and share ideas with their teachers and peers who are seen as the MKO. This atmosphere can be initiated through storytelling as it promotes interactions between teacher and students as they discuss and share their views on the stories. The use of storytelling supports the idea of MKO, ZPD and scaffolding whereby the teacher and more knowledgeable peers can help the students to be engaged in the tasks. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS The focus of this research was on student engagement in the listening and speaking classroom. “Student engagement is an essential ingredient in the success of English Language Learning and it is closely linked with students’ academic achievement” (Saeed and Zyngier, 2012). Moreover, listening and speaking skills are crucial for students as they acquire language initially through listening and speaking in the language. Students need practice to talk naturally and listen to spoken language in acquiring the second language. Research suggests that children need many opportunities to both talk and listen with teachers and peers in order to gain the language skills valuable for their success in reading and writing. (Developing Listening and Speaking Skill, 2002). 3.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

This section outlines the general and specific objectives.

3.1 General Objective

This action research aims to investigate the use of storytelling in increasing the engagement level of students in Year 2 Jasmine listening and speaking classroom. 3.2 Specific Objectives Specifically, the objective of this research is to investigate whether storytelling helps to increase student engagement both verbally and non-verbally in the listening and speaking classroom. It also aims to identify students’ perception towards the use of storytelling in increasing their engagement level in the listening and speaking classroom. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

The 5 participants in this action research were from Year 2 Jasmine. The participants were from different ethnic groups. They were low proficiency students and needed frequent translation in their first language during the lessons. They displayed a low level of engagement in the activities in the listening and speaking classroom.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

This section discusses the data gathering methods, the preliminary investigation and the action taken in this research. It also presents the findings, conclusion and reflection of this action research.

5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The data gathering methods that were used in this action research were audio-visual recordings and a series of semi-structured interviews. Audio-visual recordings were used during the intervention to observe students’ non-verbal behaviours and to record their verbal interaction. Semi-structured interviews were carried out after the intervention to investigate the students’ perception towards the use of storytelling in increasing their engagement in the activities.

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5.2 Preliminary Investigation

A preliminary investigation was carried out before conducting the action research to refine the focus of the research and to collect data on the problem identified. The data collection methods were a structured classroom observation, a student survey and unstructured interviews. The observation was carried out to study the students’ verbal and non-verbal behaviours using a student engagement checklist. A survey was carried out by distributing questionnaires to the students to assess their engagement level in the listening and speaking classroom. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the 3 teachers who were teaching Year 2 Jasmine to find out the problems that they faced with regards to student engagement. The findings from the investigation showed that student engagement problem existed in the classroom.

5.3 Action

In Cycle 1, the intervention was carried out using storytelling in one lesson and using interactive reading aloud in another lesson. Both the lessons were done using a similar story and they were conducted to compare the students’ engagement levels in two different activities. The lessons were video recorded. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the participants individually after the intervention. In Cycle 2, the listening and speaking lesson with the use of storytelling was conducted based on the improved plan. The lesson without the use of storytelling was conducted using an interactive reading aloud. Both the lessons were done using different stories and they were recorded. A focus group semi-structured interview was carried out after the intervention with all the participants.

5.4 Findings

Checklist

Figure1: A comparison of non-verbal behaviours during the listening and speaking lessons with and

without the use of storytelling

Figure 1 above shows the results from the analysis of non-verbal behaviours of all the five students from the listening and speaking lessons with and without intervention. All the five students displayed 15 pre-determined non-verbal behaviours without the intervention. However with the intervention; they showed a much improved frequency of non-verbal behaviours. The findings show that all five students displayed higher non-verbal behaviours with the intervention.

Discourse Analysis of students’ interaction

Figure 2: Frequency of students’ interaction without the use of storytelling

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Figure 2 shows the students’ verbal engagement without the use of storytelling in the listening and speaking classroom. It shows that the students’ verbal engagement is low. Students seem to be passive and are rather detached from the interaction in the classroom For example, Student 3 and Student 4 have recorded 5 in total under the ‘no response’ category. Hence, it shows that students are passive during listening and speaking classroom without intervention.

. Figure 3: Frequency of students’ interaction with the use of storytelling

Figure 3 shows findings of students’ verbal engagement in the listening and speaking lesson

with the use of storytelling. It shows that the students’ verbal engagement with the use of storytelling is high. This is apparent among the five students as most of them showed high inclination in sharing with their friends. For example, Student 2 and Student 5 both engaged in peer initiated talk more than eight times and responded to the teacher more than six times. This evidently shows that when the storytelling is carried out, students become actively involved in the interaction. Interview

From the interview, it is found that students felt storytelling enhances their understanding in learning. They also felt storytelling promotes interaction, creates fun and enjoyment in the classroom. In general it can be concluded that students have a positive perception towards the use of storytelling in increasing their engagement in the listening and speaking classroom. 5.5 Conclusion The use of storytelling can increase student engagement both verbally and non-verbally in the listening and speaking classroom. Storytelling should be carried out as it creates a good platform for interaction to take place. Storytelling creates a safe and supportive environment especially for low proficiency students. The verbal support from the teacher and their more capable peers encourages them to participate and speak. Thus, they become more interactive to express their views. However, storytelling should be implemented using different types of stories with appropriate length to suit the students’ proficiency level. Teacher’s delivery must be taken into consideration during storytelling. Teachers should encourage students’ involvement by asking them to repeat phrases, act out movements and by asking questions to keep them engaged. It also should be implemented using simple props to increase students’ interest. 5.6 Reflection The strategy of using storytelling is effective in increasing student engagement in the listening and speaking classroom. Students displayed high frequencies of positive non-verbal behaviours and interacted well with the teacher and peers in the classroom. Nevertheless, it can be further improved by having a proper guideline in conducting the storytelling. This is because I conducted the storytelling without any set of guidelines and merely based on my experience. Hence, I did not have a regular pattern when I carried out my storytelling sessions. There were also others limitations in this research in terms of the genres of stories used whereby it was limited to only folktales and fables and the intervention was carried out in limited sessions.

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6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH For further research one of the suggestions is to carry out the research with more sessions to identify the long term effectiveness of a story-based approach in the listening and speaking classroom. This research can be replicated to study other language skills apart from listening and speaking. Further research also can include more genres of stories like fantasy, legends, myths and local stories. Also, ICT should be included in the storytelling sessions to fulfill our curriculum needs which emphasizes on the use of ICT in the classrooms.

REFERENCES Developing Listening and Speaking Skill. (2002). Developing Listening and Speaking Skill. Retrieved

August 30, 2014 from www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/early/teachingouryoungest/page_pg6.html. Dokumen Standard Kurikulum Sekolah Rendah. (2011). Dokumen Standard Kurikulum Sekolah

Rendah. Retrieved July 29, 2014 from

http://web.moe.gov.my/bpk/kssr_docs/03%20Bahasa%20Inggeris/01%20DSK%20English%20

Y1-%20SK.pdf

Jablon, J. R. & Wilkinson, M. (2006). Using Engagement Strategies to Facilitate Children’s Learning

and Success. Retrieved August 14, 2014 from

https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200603/JablonBTJ.pdf

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Child Development. (12th ed).New York; McGraw-Hill.

Saeed, S. & Zyngier, D. (2012). How Motivation Influences Student Engagement: A Qualitative Case Study. Journal of Education and Learning, 1(2), 252-267.

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USING MIND MAP TO ENHANCE LOW PROFICIENCY STUDENTS’ COMPREHENSION IN DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION

By:

ZAHARATUL NADIA BINTI MOHAMED YUSOF

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This research is carried out to investigate the effectiveness of mind map to enhance low proficiency students’ comprehension in descriptive information. This research takes place in a school in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, which involves eight low proficiency students. From the preliminary investigation through observations and interviews, researcher finds that teachers are using translations in explaining descriptive information and students memorize rather than making understanding of the information learnt. Researcher conducts an intervention to using mind map to investigate whether mind map able to help students in enhancing their understanding of descriptive information. The data was collected using observation checklist, document analysis and teacher’s log. The findings from the research has proved that the use of mind map was able to enhance students’ understanding of descriptive information by organizing students’ thoughts of the descriptive information learnt by using the mind map. The suggestions for an improvement of this research would be larger number of participants in the research, extended time provided for the research to be conducted, more variety in data collection methods and using mind map for different type of information. Key terms: mind map, comprehension, descriptive information 1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the Malaysian English classroom, the teacher often translates any type of information so that their students would understand better. However, it yet does not meet the objectives of the education system in Malaysia. According to MEB (Preliminary Report Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025), 2012, “…upon leaving school, the student should be able to work in both a Bahasa Malaysia and English language environment.” By using translation in getting the students to understand the descriptive information given, the teacher is preparing the students to have bilingual competency when they leave the school. However, the excessive use of translation in explaining descriptive information to students would hinder the development of English language in students. According to an article entitled “Medium Instruction” in British Council (2014), “teaching the language, or educational content, through the target language increases the amount of exposure the learner gets to it, and the opportunities they have to communicate in it, and therefore to develop their control of it.” The more the learners had been exposed to the target language, the more they will learn as they will be familiar with the language as they try to comprehend the information given in the target language. 1.1 Reflection on teaching experience It was found that there was one learning problem that the students faced during the lessons. In the lessons that were carried out in a classroom, the researcher found out that the students were having difficulties in completing the task given to them. The tasks given to the students were related to what they have learnt earlier. The problem was that the students were having difficulties in understanding the information given to them as they could not complete the task related to the information given. The students could not reproduce the words that they learnt earlier due to their habit of memorising the words instead of understand it. The researcher also found out that the students were depending on translation given by their teachers in understanding the information. In this research, the information that the researcher would be focussing on in identifying students’ problem is descriptive information which was the type of information that students were having problem in understanding the meaning.

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1.2 Related theory/literature The key words in a mind map usually in the form of graphics or words. This will assist the teacher to help the students to comprehend descriptive information as it would help the students to understand what is the descriptive information is all about. This is supported by Poh Swee Hiang (2006), who thought that mind map helps in writing notes quickly and avoid repetition of words. This shows that the use of mind map could help the students to visualize their own notes of the descriptive information without the need of the teacher to translates and explain the information in mother tongue. When the teacher uses mind map to make better understanding of the descriptive information, it gets the students to see and assimilate the information well. According to Piaget in Adolescence (2010), the students will be able to first to fit with the information before revisiting the information for the new experience to be assimilated in the existing information stored. Through equilibrium process, students would be able to stabilize between the existing information with the new one. Therefore, in the aspect of understanding and comprehending the descriptive information, the students would be able to do tasks related to the information that they have learnt. 2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS This research is focused on enhancing students’ comprehension of descriptive information through the use of mind map. This is based on the issue identified where the students were not able to comprehend the descriptive information given by the teacher as the teachers tend to use translation in explaining the descriptive information. Besides that, the students memorize the information given by the teacher without making an understanding of the information. 3.0 OBJECTIVE 3.1 Main objective

The main objective is to get the students to comprehend the descriptive information given to them with the help of mind map. 3.2 Focused objective

The focus objective of this research is to check whether the mind map is able to help the students to understand the descriptive information without the need of the teacher to translate the information.

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS The target participants in this research were the 8 low proficiency students from a Year 4 class. This research focussed on this group of students which was not able to comprehend the descriptive information that was given that hindered them from completing tasks given to them. These group of students consisted of 3 girls and 5 boys who scored the lowest in the class and has low proficiency in English. These students are also depending on the translation given by their teacher to get them to understand the information. 5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION The researcher has used several instruments in the research that is observation checklist, document analysis and also teacher’s log to check the effectiveness of the intervention. The researcher has chosen to use mind map as the intervention in enhancing students’ comprehension of descriptive information in the classroom. 5.1 Data Gathering Methods

The researcher collected the data in the research by using three different data gathering

methods. The methods are observation checklist, document analysis and teacher’s log. These data were then analysed by tabulating the data from the emerging issues that were identified from the data gathered.

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5.2 Preliminary Investigation The researcher carried out two methods in the preliminary investigation in order to identify the factors that caused the students to be unable to comprehend the information given to them especially during lessons. The methods were observations that were done in two different lessons which one lesson was conducted by the researcher and another lesson was conducted by another English teacher and also an interview with a teacher which was the students’ English teacher in the school. 5.3 Action There is only one cycle done in the research. In the first stage of the cycle, a lesson was planned based on the topic selected and a mind map was designed to be use in the intervention. The intervention was done in the next stage where the mind map is used after the descriptive information was explained and introduced to the students. The mind map is used during the practice stage of the lesson and the students brainstormed the descriptive information using the mind map. Observation was done in the next stage where the data is analysed by tabulating the data according to the issues emerged from the data. At the end of the cycle, a reflection was done by reflecting on the effectiveness of the mind map and the weaknesses identified in the cycle. 5.4 Findings

Observation checklist Table 1 Data Collected from the Observation Checklist

Students S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8

Items Frequency of time

Students participation 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 Able to recall information clearly

3 3 2 2 2 3 2

Mix the information 1 1 1 1 Asked for teacher’s help 1 2 Able to complete the task 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Shows any negative behaviour

1 2 1

By using the items that I identified to analyse the data, it was found out that majority of the students were able to give their full participation in the lesson. This was tabulated based on the two stages in the lesson that is before intervention and while intervention. The researcher also found that seven out of 8 students were able to recall the information of the insects that they learnt earlier using the mind map. However, there were 4 students who showed the act of mixing the information while recalling the information of each of the insects learnt. This data was tabulated based on the while using mind map stage. Document analysis Table 2 Data Analysis of Document Analysis

Pairs Number of correct answers (out of 12 blanks)

Percentage (%)

S1 and S2 11 91.6 S3 and S4 12 100 S5 and S6 11 91.6 S7 and S8 10 83

Total percentage of correct answers in the task 91.5

According to the data gathered, all of the students were able to achieve 91.5% of correct answers in the task given by the teacher. Only a group of students who did not manage to achieve

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90% of correct answers in the task with the least percentage of the correct answers among the 4 groups that was 83%. This indicated the percentage of students’ understanding of the descriptive information of the insects through the task given to them. From the result obtained from the data, it can be seen that the use of mind map did help the students in order to prepare themselves for the task in term of getting the students to understand and master the descriptive information they had learnt. Teacher’s log Table 3 Total Number of Students based on each Issue Identified

Issues Number of students

Students’ participation Positive (+) 8 Negative (-) 4

Students’ attention Positive (+) 6 Negative (-) 3

Based on the data that the researcher had analysed, it was found out that all of the students were able to give positive participation in the lesson. This is shown through their fully participation given throughout the lesson before the intervention, during the intervention and also after the intervention was done. This also showed that students were able to give cooperation to the teacher to participate in the lesson during the intervention and also after the intervention was done. However, the results also showed that about 4 students who were negatively participated in the lesson. This showed that although the students were positively participated in the lesson, there were still some students who participated negatively. From this result gathered from the findings, it could be see that the students were still able to participate positively although some students were negatively participated in the lesson. From the data analysis above, it was found out that 6 out of 8 students were able to pay attention to the teacher during the lesson. The students showed their attentiveness by listening to the teacher’s explanation of the descriptive information using audio clips of the insects sound and also by listening to the teacher’s questions during the intervention itself which the students were required to answer to be able to complete the mind map of the insects. However, it was discovered that 3 students did not give their attention during the lesson. This could be seen before the intervention in the lesson. Therefore, it could be concluded that the students were still able to pay attention to the teacher although some of the students were not paying attention and tried to disturb the students who were attentive. 5.5 Conclusion Majority of the students were able to enhance their understanding of descriptive information through the use of mind map during lesson. The effectiveness of the mind map could be seen through the analyses that were done in the research. Moreover, students were able understand descriptive information with the help of the teacher to further enhance their understanding rather than just giving descriptive information and expecting students to be able to understand the information given by themselves. 5.6 Reflection In order to overcome the problem of students could not comprehend what they are learning; teachers came out with strategies in using mind maps to help the students to cope with difficult information that need good understanding. However, the skill of using mind map to help primary school students to have a better understanding of information they received still being less used by the teachers. In this research, an attempt was made to find out the effects mind map would make when used in teaching second language subject in primary school. Convincing positive effects were revealed in this research which shown in the data collected from the research which support the need of mind map to be used in primary school to help the students to enhance their understanding in descriptive information.

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6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH One of the suggestions is larger number of participation in the research to obtain better results. Besides that, a suggestion of extended time for the research also included so that the researcher would have the time to complete the whole research thoroughly. Using more variety of data gathering methods also was suggested in for the future research so that more data could be obtained for more accurate result from the intervention. The last suggestion is that to use the intervention in enhancing the students’ comprehension in other type of information besides descriptive information as it would yield far more variety of results for the research. REFERENCES Developmental Education Master Plan 2006-2010. (2006). Putrajaya: Kementerian Pelaajaran

Malaysia. N/A,. (2014). Medium of instruction. TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Retrieved 9 August

2014, from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/medium-instruction Poh Swee Hiang. (2006). Kemahiran Berfikir- Kurikulum Kursus Persediaan Program Sarjana Muda

Pendidikan. Kuala Lumpur:Kumpulan Budiman Sdn. Bhd. Steinberg, L. (2010). Adolescene. United States: McGraw-Hill Education.

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INTERACTIVE READING ALOUD TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION OF YEAR 2 DELIMA PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

By:

SYAIMAA BINTI ABD HALIM English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

Interactive Reading Aloud is a time when the teacher reads a piece of quality writing aloud to the whole class, stops at planned points to ask questions that elicit student response, and conduct interactive activities which helps pupils comprehend texts better. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not Interactive Reading Aloud is an effective tool in improving pupils’ reading comprehension. This cross-sectional action research study, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, was carried out among eight female Year 2 intermediate pupils in a selected primary school in Kuala Lumpur. The materials used during the interactive reading aloud sessions were adapted narrative texts which were presented to the pupils in the form of big books. Tests were administered as a tool to measure the outcome of the study. The results of the pre-test and the post-test revealed a marked improvement (100%) in comprehension ability among the pupils. Likewise, the formative tests conducted at the end of every interactive reading aloud session also showed that all the pupils managed to comprehend what they read. This study also showed an increase in all measured aspects of classroom participation (verbal and nonverbal response). In short, interactive reading aloud has been proven to be effective as it improved the comprehension ability of the target group. This teaching method is highly recommended to be used by primary school teachers where different genres of reading texts could be used as materials, and may be applied to pupils in the rural areas as well. Key terms: interactive reading aloud, reading comprehension, quantitative, qualitative 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Early literacy instruction today consists of at least two basic approaches. Koshy (2005) noted that there is decoding; the skill of being able to see a squiggly line, immediately identifying it as a letter, and blend or attach it to the sound made by the next squiggly line. There is also comprehension; often understood as using words and pictures in a text to help you grasp what a sentence, passage, or book is trying to tell you. The 2006 National Curriculum which states that primary school pupils should be addressed with basic literacy skills which will lead on to enabling pupils to become independent readers. In light of this, I strongly believe that teachers should use the best approach in teaching reading to primary school children to help them become fluent readers.

1.1 Reflection of teaching experience

I taught Year 2 pupils in an urban school which was formerly known as an English medium school and it is well known that the type and depth of knowledge they offered were superior to that of the vernacular schools. Somehow, the school still retains its old glory and recently named as one of Malaysia’s High-Performing Schools (Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi), hence its pupils are expected to be excellent both academically and in co-curriculum. . Quite a large number of pupils in the school have an English speaking background.

The class I taught was the first class, and their English proficiency level is beyond average. The reason I decided to focus my action research on reading comprehension was because I sensed a problem when I carried out a reading lesson with the pupils for the first time. I went into class with a short story. But when it came to reading the text, some pupils were passive and looked as if they were not interested in reading the text. There were a few pupils who did not get any of the questions correct and this made me wonder if I had not given enough scaffolding and discussion about the story during the pre-reading stage.

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1.2 Related literature/ theory

This research is based on Vygotsky’s learning theory of socio constructivism. According to this theory, each child has his or her own zone of proximal development for the myriad higher order thinking skills he or she must develop (Eun & Lim, 2009). This is in line with the purpose of conducting interactive reading aloud which is to improve pupils’ difficulty of understanding a reading text with the support from the teacher and peers. The classroom should include rich interactions and collaborations among researchers and children around a variety of interesting texts (National Reading Panel, 2000; Ruetzel & Cooter, 2008).

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

Reading without understanding relates to low scores (Dickenson, 2001). I needed to improve how she taught reading comprehension to Year 2 Delima pupils because some of them were not meeting benchmark standards of being in the first class in this particular school. I used interactive reading aloud as a way to scaffold pupils before they independently read. This method of instruction constitutes a shift from the traditional teacher-centered classrooms to student-centered learning. 3.0 OBJECTIVE The general objective of the research was to improve the reading comprehension among intermediate Year 2 Delima pupils. The specific objectives of this research were to see whether interactive reading aloud can improve pupils’ ability to comprehend reading texts and find out how interactive reading aloud activities improved pupils’ participation in the classroom. 4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

The research was carried out among eight female Year 2 intermediate pupils in a selected primary school in Kuala Lumpur. The pupils were all Malays and were from low economic families. They achieved 40% and below in the diagnostic test administered and were found to be passive and demotivated during reading lessons.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION I conducted the action research by following the stages of the Kemmis & McTaggart’s action research model which are planning, taking action, observing, and reflecting.

5.1 Data gathering methods

I used two types of data gathering methods; tests and observation. Three types of tests were administered; a pre-test, post-tests and formative tests. A pre-test was given to the pupils before the research was carried out, while post tests were carried out at the end of Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. At the end of every intervention, formative tests were given to the pupils to test their comprehension of the text read. The comprehension questions for the tests were based on Barrett’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Difficulty of Questions; Literal comprehension, reorganization, and inferential comprehension.

The second method of data collection was through observation. This method was carried out by using an observation checklist, as well as video recordings. I am a participant in the research, as I was involved in the interactive reading aloud sessions. Hence, an English language teacher was invited to observe a few sessions of the intervention and an observation checklist was prepared to guide the teacher on aspects that I wanted to pay attention to during the intervention. The video recordings were used to capture greater accuracy of pupils’ behaviour and participation during the interactive reading aloud sessions. 5.2 Preliminary investigation I conducted a preliminary investigation to find out the abilities of the Year 2 pupils I taught through tools such as observation, interviews, a diagnostic test, and a document analysis.

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5.3 Action

The reading materials used during the interactive reading aloud sessions was adapted narrative texts which were presented to the pupils in the form of big books with pictures. In cycle 1, I conducted three sessions of the interactive reading aloud in the while reading stage of a reading lesson. While I read aloud, I did a lot of thinking aloud to show pupils that they should not merely read, they should read and think. I also used props and discussed on pictures in the book when appropriate. I also paused at times to ask questions and clarify pupils’ understanding, as well as to highlight and discuss the events which could make them understand the story better. Another way of many the intervention interactive was by making pupils a part of the story using actions, repeated dialogues, and asking the pupils to make sound effects. At the end of the stories, I revisited key ideas in and summarized the stories. Formative tests were administered after the interactive reading aloud sessions. For Cycle 2, basically, I conducted the same strategy but adaptations were made to the conduct of the interactive reading aloud method to improve the intervention. In cycle 2, I posed questions which were more to initiate pupils’ inference, opinion, views, and thoughts of the stories read. 5.4 Findings

Data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.

Tests

. Figure 1: Comparison of pupils’ pre-test and post-test scores

Based on the graph above, we can see that all the pupils show good improvement in

answering comprehension questions as they made gains from the pre-test to the post-tests. At the end of Cycle 1, most of the pupils displayed an increase of 40% from what they scored in the pre-test. P5 and P7 did extremely well with a 60% increase of marks from the pre-test to the post-test in Cycle 1.

For Cycle 2, six out of eight pupils show 60% improvement in the post-test compared to the

pre-test. Pupil 7 stands out compared to the other pupils as she has the highest progress with an increase of 80% in her Post-test at the end of Cycle 2. The only pupil who did not show much increase in test results is Pupil 4, with only 40% increase in marks in both the post-test in Cycle 1 and 2. However, 40% can still be considered a good progress. In short, 100% of pupils made progress from the pre-test to the post-test at the end of Cycle 1 and Cycle

0

20

40

60

80

100

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8

Pretest

Post-Test 1

Post-Test 2

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Table 1 Results of formative tests in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

Session A (5 Qs)

Session B (5 Qs)

Session C (5 Qs)

Session D (5 Qs)

Session E (5 Qs)

Literal

Comprehen-sion

Re-

organization

Literal & Inferential

Comprehen -sion

Literal & Inferential

Comprehen -sion

Literal & Inferential

Comprehen -sion

P1 4 5 5 5 5 P2 5 5 5 5 5 P3 5 5 3 4 5 P4 4 3 3 3 3 P5 5 5 4 5 5 P6 5 5 4 5 5 P7 5 5 5 5 5 P8 5 5 4 4 5

% of pupils with perfect

scores

75

87.5

37.5

62.5

87.5

The aim of the intervention was not to get pupils to get perfect scores in the formative tests, but to see if it can improve pupils’ overall reading comprehension ability. From table above we can see that many of the pupils could not answer when they had to answer inferential comprehension questions administered during Cycle 1. However, we can clearly see that in Cycle 2 pupils’ improved in answering inferential comprehension questions. It can be concluded that the interactive reading aloud sessions in Cycle 2, which was improvised from Cycle 1, helped pupils tackle inferential comprehension questions as the percentage of pupils who had perfect scores increased (from 35.7% to 87.5%) compared to the number of pupils with perfect scores in answering inferential comprehension questions in Cycle 1. Observation I analyzed the observation checklist by organizing the items in the checklist into issues which was set before conducting the research. The findings from the observational checklists showed that pupils’ participation and response increased, and the pupils' nonverbal behaviour showed positive attitude and interest.Video recordings were used to collect data during Cycle 2. The additional of this instrument was because targeted pupils’ specific behaviour could not really be seen through the use of the observation checklist by an external observer. From the video recordings, there were concrete evidence of the issues mentioned above and evidence of teacher-pupil interaction and peer interaction, which made the reading aloud interactive. 5.5 Conclusion Interactive reading aloud has been proven to help improve reading comprehension (Miller, 2010). Similarly, this research has pointed to the same fact as interactive reading aloud has been proven to be an effective method in improving pupils’ reading comprehension ability.The Year 2 Delima pupils were able to read and pronounce words but some of them could not answer comprehension questions based on reading texts. This situation spurred the researcher to try the interactive reading aloud method to improve pupils overall reading comprehension levels as well as achieve the aim to ascertain if pupils reading comprehension improved using this method and to see if pupils participated better in the reading lesson. Additionally, the pupils were very quiet in class during reading lessons which was taught by the teacher using the traditional method which is merely reading through a reading text with pupils and then pupils independently read once again before answering comprehension questions.But during the intervention, the pupils were actively engaging and participating in the classroom.Researchers and classroom researchers advocate that engaging students in extension activities as part of a read-aloud is good practice because the read-aloud event provides a beneficial context for students to see how language works (Cunningham &Allington, 2007; Gunning, 2010). This

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is because engaging with text requires active thinking and reflecting, which enhances comprehension; therefore, activating and making use of cognitive resources can enable understanding of texts. 5.6 Reflection Interactive reading aloud has been proven to be an effective method to improve pupils’ reading comprehension but as in any research, there were also limitations during the conduct of this research. Time constraint is another factor which limited the number of sessions in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. Because of the lack of time, the external observer could not observe the researcher once during the first cycle and only once during the second cycle. In addition, pupils’ absence delayed the planned time for both cycles because the intervention could not be done with one pupil as there would be no peer interaction, which is one of the most important factors to the success of the research. Finally, one difficulty I faced was to temporarily set aside biasness towards interactive reading-aloud and made a concerted effort to be aware of those biases that could influence the analysis and interpretation of the data. 6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH During the interactive reading aloud sessions, Icould discuss more with pupils regarding the pictures of the big book and use more of pupils’ background knowledge to increase pupils understanding of the story (Hansen & Pearson, 1983). Further research could also be based on the teacher reading aloud with students, instead of reading to students, as suggested by Blok (1999). In this research, only narrative texts were used as materials, further research may use other types of reading texts such as poems, recipes, or non-fiction and explore how far interactive reading aloud help students understand different texts. A final suggestion is to carry out the intervention in rural areas in Malaysia to see its effectiveness on pupils compared to the setting of this research, which was in an urban school. REFERENCES Blok, H. (1999). Reading to young children in educational settings: A meta-analysis of recent

research. Language Learning, 49, 343-37 1.

Eun, B. & Lim. H.S. (2009). A Sociocultural View of Language Learning: The Importance of Meaning- Based Instruction. TESL Canada Journal, 27 (1), 13-26.

Hansen, J., and Pearson, D. (1983). “An Instructional Study: Improving Inferential Comprehension of Good and Poor Fourth-Grade Readers.” Journal of Educational Psychology 75: 821–829.

Koshy, V. (2005) Action research for improving practice.A practical guide. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Miller, C. (2010). Engaged interactive read aloud.Maupin House Publishing and TLA, Inc. Ratnawati, M.Asraf& Ismail, S. Ahmad (2003).Reading in a Foreign Language. Volume 15, No. 2,

Promoting English language development and the reading habit among students in rural schools through the Guided Extensive Reading program. International Islamic University

Reutzel, D.&Cooter, R. (2008) Teaching Children to Read: The teacher makes the difference. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Ltd.

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MENINGKATKAN DAYA TAHAN KARDIOVASKULAR DALAM KALANGAN MURID TAHUN 5 MAJU MENGGUNAKAN LATIHAN PARCOURSE

Oleh:

ADILAH BINTI MUHAMED KAMIL

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian tindakan ini telah dijalankan untuk melihat keberkesanan latihan parcourse bagi meningkatkan tahap keupayaan daya tahan kardiovaskular. Subjek kajian adalah 10 orang murid Tahun 5 yang terdiri daripada enam orang lelaki dan empat orang perempuan yang dikenal pasti mempunyai masalah semasa tinjauan awal dijalankan. Subjek kajian telah menjalani intervensi dengan melakukan latihan parcourse. Kaedah pengumpulan data yang digunakan ialah ujian pra, pasca serta borang pemerhatian. Ujian pra dan pasca dengan menggunakan ujian Bleep digunakan untuk melihat peningkatan subjek kajian. Selain itu kadar nadi selepas latihan juga diambil untuk mengetahui jika daya tahan kardiovaskular subjek kajian meningkat. Data dianalisis menggunakan graf bar dan dalam bentuk peratus. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan semua subjek meningkat dari segi kemampuan stage dan shuttle serta mempunyai penurunan kadar nadi. Hasil kajian memberi implikasi bahawa latihan parcourse dapat meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular subjek. Cadangan pengkaji untuk kajian masa hadapan ialah untuk mempelbagaikan aktviti dalam latihan serta jangka masa intervensi yang perlu dilanjutkan melebihi empat minggu. Kata kunci: Latihan parcourse, daya tahan kardiovaskular, ujian Bleep. 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Semasa menjalani praktikum di sebuah sekolah di Selangor, pengkaji telah mendapati bahawa murid-murid Tahun 5 Maju mempunyai daya tahan kardiovaskular yang lemah. Pengkaji mendapati bahawa murid-murid lesu, letih dan lemah ketika melakukan aktiviti melibatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular iaitu high knee, buttkick dan burpee. Daya tahan kardiovaskular merupakan salah satu komponen kecergasan fizikal berasaskan kesihatan yang bertujuan untuk menguji daya ketahanan fizikal seseorang individu dalam jangka masa yang panjang. Daya tahan kardiovaskular dikaitkan dengan kebolehan seseorang itu melakukan beberapa siri latihan secara berterusan tanpa rasa letih (Johnson and Nelson, 1986). Terdapat pelbagai kaedah yang boleh digunakan untuk membantu murid-murid meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular serta prinsip latihan yang boleh diaplikasikan sesuai dengan tahap kebolehan murid. Oleh itu, pengkaji telah menggunakan prinsip latihan FITT (frequency,intensity,type,time) dalam kajian ini.

2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Melalui pemerhatian pengkaji sepanjang menjalani sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran, kebanyakan murid Tahun 5 Maju tidak mampu untuk melakukan aktiviti yang melibatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular dengan baik. Ini kerana apabila pengkaji mengambil kadar denyutan nadi murid-murid selepas aktiviti, kadar nadi adalah tinggi. Daya tahan kardiovaskular adalah penting kepada setiap murid-murid kerana dengan mempunyai daya tahan kardiovaskular yang tinggi, murid-murid dapat melibatkan diri dalam semua jenis sukan yang memerlukan daya tahan kardiovaskular yang tinggi seperti larian jarak jauh, bola sepak, ragbi sentuh dan sebagainya.

Selain itu, murid yang berjaya meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular juga dapat melakukan aktiviti yang dirancang oleh guru dengan baik dan menyebabkan murid berasa gembira serta bersemangat untuk mengikuti aktiviti Pendidikan Jasmani selain daripada melibatkan diri dalam aktiviti sukan di sekolah. Dengan daya tahan kardiovaskular juga dapat membantu murid-murid untuk kelihatan menarik dengan mengawal berat badan, membina otot, membina postur tubuh yang baik seterusnya menjadikan otot jantung dan salur darah kuat (Corbin & Lindsey, 2005).

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3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN 3.1 Objektif Umum

Meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular dalam kalangan murid Tahun 5 Maju melalui latihan parcourse. 3.2 Objektif Khusus Meningkatkan tahap daya tahan kardiovaskular murid Tahun 5 Maju melalui latihan parcourse selama empat minggu.

4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN Kajian tindakan ini telah dijalankan ke atas murid Tahun 5 Maju iaitu kelas yang diajar oleh pengkaji bagi mata pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Pengkaji telah memilih 10 orang subjek kajian di mana mengikut pemerhatian pengkaji, subjek kajian adalah lemah tahap daya tahan kardiovaskularnya dan yang telah gagal dalam ujian SEGAK bagi komponen Ujian Naik Turun Bangku. Subjek terdiri daripada enam orang subjek lelaki dan empat orang subjek perempuan. Subjek kajian yang telah dipilih oleh pengkaji juga terdiri daripada murid-murid normal yang tidak mempunyai sebarang kecacatan fizikal, mental serta tidak mempunyai penyakit kronik dan mempunyai rekod kesihatan yang baik. 5.0 PELAKSANAAN TINDAKAN

Pengkaji telah menggunakan dua jenis instrumen iaitu ujian dan pemerhatian. Ujian yang dijalankan ialah ujian pra dan pasca iaitu Ujian Bleep manakala pemerhatian ialah borang pemerhatian kadar nadi subjek kajian yang diambil selepas Ujian Bleep pra dan Ujian Bleep pasca untuk melihat tahap daya tahan kardiovaskular subjek kajian meningkat serta membuktikan keberkesanan latihan intervensi yang dijalankan. 5.1 Cara Mengumpulkan Data Dua jenis instrumen yang digunakan ialah ujian dan pemerhatian. Pengkaji telah memilih instrumen ini kerana kesesuaian serta keperluan instrumen ini dalam membantu pengkaji menjalankan kajian ini selain daripada mudah untuk ditadbir. 5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Awal

Pengkaji telah menggunakan kaedah ujian sebagai salah satu cara pengumpulan data. Subjek kajian seramai 10 orang telah terlibat untuk melakukan ujian amali ini. Bagi melaksanakan ujian ini, pengkaji telah menggunakan ujian pra dan pasca. Data bagi kedua-dua ujian ini dianalisis menggunakan peratus dalam bentuk graf bar. 5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

Untuk membantu subjek kajian meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular, pengkaji telah merangka satu kaedah latihan berbentuk parcourse yang dijalankan selama empat minggu dengan kekerapan latihan tiga kali seminggu. Terdapat lima stesen yang disediakan dan intensiti latihan semakin bertambah dari minggu ke minggu. Prinsip latihan FITT digunakan agar latihan yang dijalankan lebih berkesan dan memberi impak.

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5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Rajah 1. Graf bar perbezaan skor ujian pra dan ujian pasca PETUNJUK: SL: Sangat Lemah L: Lemah SB: Sederhana Bawah SA: Sederhana Atas B: Baik

Berdasarkan graf, terdapat tujuh orang subjek kajian yang menunjukkan peningkatan dari segi kategori pencapaian berdasarkan norma ujian Bleep, iaitu S1, S2, S4, S6, S7, S8, dan S10. Walaupun terdapat tiga subjek kajian yang tidak menunjukkan peningkatan dari segi kategori dan tahap bagi kedua-dua ujian pra ke ujian pasca iaitu S3, S5 dan S9, tetapi subjek kajian mempunyai peningkatan dari segi stage dan shuttle.

Pemerhatian

Peningkatan ini merupakan satu peningkatan yang positif bagi pengkaji kerana telah dapat membuktikan bahawa latihan intervensi yang diberikan oleh pengkaji kepada subjek kajian dapat membantu meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular.

Rajah 2. Graf bar kadar nadi subjek ujian ketika ujian pra dan ujian pasca.

Berdasarkan graf bar diatas, graf menunjukkan bahawa terdapatnya penurunan dari segi kadar nadi subjek kajian di ujian pasca berbanding dengan kadar nadi ketika ujian pra. Penurunan

SL SL

SL

L

SL

LSA

SL

SB

SA

LL

SL

SB

SL

SB

B

L

SB

B

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10

Fre

kue

nsi

sko

r

Subjek kajian

PERBEZAAN SKOR UJIAN PRA DAN UJIAN PASCA

Ujian Pra

Ujian Pasca

13.7%11.5%

4.5%

12.8%4.1%

10%

18.1%

7.9%6.2%

22.3%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10

Kad

ar N

adi

Subjek Kajian

Graf Bar

UJIAN PRA

UJIAN PASCA

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yang paling ketara telah dicatatkan oleh S10 manakala S5 menunjukkan kadar penurunan yang paling sedikit. Penurunan kadar nadi ini menjadi satu indikator bahawa subjek kajian mempunyai peningkatan daya tahan kardiovaskular. 5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Rumusan dapatan dibuat untuk menjawab persoalan kajian dengan menggunakan data daripada keputusan kajian. Hasil dapatan kajian yang diperolehi menunjukkan bahawa terdapat peningkatan positif bagi subjek kajian. Hasil kajian yang diperolehi juga menunjukkan keputusan instrumen ujian Pra dan ujian Pasca iaitu Ujian Bleep meningkat berbanding ujian Pra sebelum subjek kajian menjalani intervensi. Semua subjek kajian telah menunjukkan peningkatan yang positif kerana terdapatnya peningkatan dari segi stage dan shuttle. Contohnya, subjek S7 yang mengalami peningkatan dari stage 5 shuttle 2 kepada stage 6 shuttle 9 dan S10 yang mengalami peningkatan dari stage 5 shuttle 4 kepada stage 6 shuttle 7.

Ini membuktikan bahawa, intervensi yang telah dijalankan iaitu latihan parcourse mampu

membantu subjek kajian dalam meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular. Hal ini bertepatan dengan kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh Clive et.al (2012). Hasil kajiannya menunjukkan bahawa latihan parcourse berkesan dalam meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular dalam kalangan pelajarnya kerana subjek kajian perlu berlari ke arah setiap stesen dan di setiap stesen terdapat lakuan dan aktiviti yang dapat meningkatkan daya tahan kardiovaskular. 5.6 Refleksi

Terdapat beberapa kekuatan dan kelemahan yang dapat dipelajari sepanjang proses kajian ini dijalankan. Oleh itu, beberapa cadangan penambahbaikan diberikan untuk memantapkan lagi kajian yang bakal dijalankan pada masa hadapan. Kekuatan yang dapat dikenal pasti sepanjang menjalankan kajian ini ialah perancangan dan pengurusan masa yang berkesan kerana semua aktiviti yang dirancang dapat dijalankan mengikut perancangan yang telah dibuat dan intervensi yang dijalankan dapat menarik minat murid kerana terdapat aktiviti yang pelbagai dan terdapat aktiviti yang menyeronokkan mereka.

Selain itu, aktiviti yang digunakan dalam intervensi memerlukan penggunaan alatan yang banyak untuk dilaksanakan menjadi satu masalah kepada pengkaji kerana perlu mengangkat semua alatan yang perlu digunakan ke kawasan intervensi setiap kali sesi intervensi dijalankan.

6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA Antara cadangan yang boleh dikemukakan ialah untuk menjalankan kajian lanjutan. Kajian lanjutan yang boleh dilakukan ini perlulah ditambah baik serta dilanjutkan tempoh sesi intervensi antara 6-8 minggu kerana jika lebih lama tempoh intervensi, peningkatan subjek kajian akan lebih ketara. Cadangan yang kedua ialah pengkaji boleh menukar aktiviti di setiap stesen latihan parcourse dan memvariasikan lakuan tersebut setiap minggu agar latihan parcourse menjadi lebih menarik. Cadangan yang ketiga ialah untuk meningkatkan kekerapan latihan contohnya, peningkatan kekerapan latihan ketika di minggu kelima dan ke atas menjadi kepada 4-6 kali seminggu. Cadangan yang keempat ialah menyarankan kepada guru PJ untuk menggunakan latihan parcourse ketika sesi PdP PJ selaras dengan cadangan aktiviti di dalam buku Teks Pendidikan Jasmani Tahun 5 bagi tajuk daya tahan kardiovaskular. Cadangan yang kelima ialah untuk menggunakan prinsip latihan yang digunakan dalam kajian ini dan menukarkannya kepada komponen kecergasan yang lain.

272

RUJUKAN Clive P. R., Venkatesan A.G., Chidambaraja S. (2012). Effect of parcourse training and interval

training on leg strength cardio-respiratory endurance and vital capacity. International Journal of Health, Physical Education and Computer Science in Sports. 7 (1), 10-12.

Corbin, C. B. & Lindsey, R. (2005), Fitness for life (5th ed). University State Of America. Human

Kinetics. pg.103-106

Johnson, B. L., & Nelson, J.K. (1986). Practical measurements for evaluation in physical education.

(4th ed.). Minnesota: Burgess Publishing.

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MENINGKATKAN KETANGKASAN MELALUI LATIHAN DRILL DALAM KALANGAN MURID LELAKI TAHUN 5 DELIMA

Oleh :

AHMAD HAFIFI BIN RUSDI

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian tindakan ini dijalankan untuk mengukur dan melihat keberkesanan Latihan Drill empat minggu terhadap peningkatan tahap kecergasan ketangkasan murid lelaki Tahun 5. Satu kajian tindakan telah dijalankan untuk mengatasi masalah kecergasan ketangkasan dalam kalangan murid lelaki Tahun 5 dengan menggunakan Latihan Drill. Seramai lapan orang murid Tahun 5 telah dipilih sebagai subjek dalam kajian ini. Kesemua subjek terdiri daripada lelaki. Instrumen ujian Shuttle Run 10m digunakan pada proses tinjauan awal dan ujian Illinois digunakan sebagai instrumen pada ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Tinjauan awal mendapati Latihan Drill selama 4 minggu digunakan sebagai latihan intervensi kajian. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan berlaku pengurangan masa dalam ujian Illinois pada ujian pasca berbanding ujian pra. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa Latihan Drill selama 4 minggu sangat berkesan dalam membantu subjek meningkatkan tahap kecergasan ketangkasan. Kata Kunci : Ketangkasan, Latihan Drill, Ujian Illinois 1.0 PENDAHULUAN Berdasarkan pemerhatian dan refleksi yang dijalankan semasa sesi praktikum fasa ketiga di sebuah sekolah rendah daerah Seri Kembangan, Selangor, pengkaji mendapati murid tidak dapat melakukan aktiviti ketangkasan dengan baik. Hal ini terjadi kerana murid di dalam kelas pengkaji tidak dapat melakukan aktiviti yang dirancang di dalam rancangan pengajaran harian pendidikan jasmani iaitu aktiviti Lompat Kuadran dan aktiviti Skip dan Tukar Arah. Ini mengakibatkan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran tidak berjalan dengan lancar dan objektif pengajaran pada hari tersebut tidak tercapai. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Isu kajian yang telah dikenal pasti ialah tahap kecergasan ketangkasan murid lelaki Tahun 5. Masalah telah dikenalpasti sewaktu proses pengajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Ketika melakukan aktiviti semasa proses pengajaran berlangsung, murid tidak dapat mengubah arah dengan laju dan ini mengakibatkan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran tidak berjalan dengan lancar. Ini menunjukkan tahap ketangkasan mereka berada pada tahap yang rendah. Di dalam kehidupan seharian, ketangkasan merupakan elemen yang sangat penting di dalam permainan. Sebagai contoh, di dalam permainan bola sepak, seorang penjaga gol haruslah mempunyai tahap kecergasan ketangkasan yang baik. 3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN 3.1 Objektif Umum

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan meningkatkan ketangkasan melalui latihan Drill dalam kalangan murid lelaki Tahun 5 Delima. 3.2 Objektif Khusus Objektif khusus kajian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan ketangkasan melalui latihan Drill dalam kalangan murid lelaki Tahun 5 Delima.

274

4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Seramai lapan orang murid telah diambil sebagai subjek kajian. Murid yang terpilih adalah murid Tahun 5 Delima dan semuanya terdiri daripada lelaki sahaja. Ini kerana di sekolah tempat pengkaji berpraktikum, guru lelaki akan mengajar murid lelaki manakala guru perempuan akan mengajar murid perempuan bagi mata pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani bagi murid tahap 2. Subjek dipilih berdasarkan tahap pencapaian yang lemah dalam tahap kecergasan ketangkasan di dalam ujian Pra yang dijalankan iaitu Ujian Illinois. 5.0 TINDAKAN YANG DIJALANKAN Pengkaji telah menggunakan beberapa instrumen seperti pemerhatian carta alir dan ujian diagnostik untuk membantu mengenal pasti masalah yang berlaku dan untuk melihat keberkesanan latihan intervensi yang dijalankan ke atas subjek kajian. Pengkaji telah memilih untuk menggunakan kaedah latihan Drill untuk meningkatkan ketangkasan. 5.1 Cara Pengumpulan Data

Dua instrumen yang digunakan oleh pengkaji semasa menjalankan tinjauan awal ialah pemerhatian carta alir dan ujian diagnostik. Pengkaji telah memilih instrumen pengumpulan data ini dengan berasaskan kesesuaian serta keperluan instrumen ini dalam membantu pengkaji menjalankan kajian ini. 5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Awal

Pengkaji telah menggunakan instrumen ujian sebagai cara untuk pengumpulan data. Bagi melaksanakan ujian ini, pengkaji telah menggunakan dua jenis ujian iaitu ujian Pra dan ujian Pasca. Data bagi kedua-dua ujian ini akan dikumpulkan dan perbezaan dari segi masa peratus penurunan masa akan dinilai. 5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

Ujian yang dijalankan adalah Ujian Illinois (Lucy dan Hasted, 2006). Sebelum menjalankan ujian pra, segala prosedur telah dijelaskan kepada murid dan demonstrasi yang diberi oleh pengkaji adalah untuk menambahkan kefahaman murid bagi menjalankan ujian tersebut. Demonstrasi dilakukan adalah bagi memastikan murid dapat melakukan ujian dengan baik dan sempurna agar pengkaji dapat menilai dan mengambil masa setiap murid untuk direkodkan bagi membandingkan masa dengan ujian pasca. Dalam ujian yang dijalankan, masa larian diambil sebagai data bagi kajian ini dan skor ditentukan melalui masa tamat larian. 5.4 Keputusan Kajian

.

Rajah 1 Graf perbandingan masa ujian pra dan ujian pasca

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

A B C D E F G H

Mas

a

Subjek

Ujian Pra

Ujian Pasca

275

Rajah 1 menunjukkan graf perbandingan masa kesemua subjek kajian yang diperolehi

semasa ujian pra dan ujian pasca.Berdasarkan rajah yang dipaparkan di atas, subjek menunjukkan peningkatan masa di dalam Ujian Illinois. Ini dapat dilihat ke atas kesemua subjek yang telah terlibat di dalam kajian ini. Berdasarkan ujian pra dan ujian pasca dapat disimpulkan di sini bahawa latihan intervensi selama empat minggu yang dijalankan ke atas kesemua subjek kajian adalah berkesan kerana terdapatnya peningkatan iaitu penurunan masa di dalam ujian pra dan ujian pasca. 5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Rumusan dapatan dibuat untuk menjawab persoalan kajian dengan menggunakan data daripada keputusan kajian. Dalam kajian ini juga dilihat setiap subjek menunjukkan peningkatan gred masing-masing. Objektif bagi kajian ini telah tercapai dan terbukti apabila berlaku peningkatan iaitu penurunan dari segi masa dalam Ujian Illinois yang telah dijalankan. Secara kesimpulannya, persoalan kajian pertama dapat dijawab dengan menggunakan data yang diperoleh daripada instrumen pengumpulan data. Kajian ini telah berjaya dilaksanakan dan mencapai objektif yang telah ditetapkan. 5.6 Refleksi

Pada awalnya, sebelum latihan intervensi dilaksanakan, pengkaji mendapati bahawa ramai murid Tahun 5 sangat lemah di dalam ketangkasan. Setelah latihan intervensi dijalankan selama empat minggu iaitu Latihan Drill, terdapat perubahan yang ketara di dalam tahap kecergasan ketangkasan murid. Sesi intervensi yang dijalankan nyata memberikan kesan terhadap perlakuan subjek kajian dalam ujian pasca. Dengan ini, diharapkan agar proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran bagi mata pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani akan berlangsung dengan jayanya tanpa terganggu dan dapat mencapai objektif pengajaran.

Pengkaji telah mengenal pasti kelemahan di dalam kajian ini. Antaranya adalah perancangan haruslah dirancang dengan baik dan rapi. Ini kerana, setiap kajian yang dijalankan harus dilakukan dengan tersusun dan terus menerus tanpa henti. Latihan intervensi yang dijalankan tidak boleh terhenti walaupun berlaku perkara yang tidak menduga. Antaranya adalah faktor cuaca iaitu hujan. Pengkaji harus merancang dengan baik dan memikirkan idea tentang penyelesaian masalah yang berlaku tersebut. Pengkaji harus membaca dengan lebih banyak lagi tentang pengurusan dan perancangan agar kajian yang dijalankan di masa hadapan akan menjadi lebih baik lagi. 6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA

Pada kajian seterusnya, terdapat beberapa cadangan penambahbaikan yang boleh dilakukan oleh pengkaji sebagai kesinambungan daripada kajian ini. Antara cadangan yang boleh dilakukan sebagai penambahbaikan bagi meningkatkan lagi keberkesanan dalam kajian seterusnya ialah menambah tempoh latihan intervensi. Selain daripada itu, pengkaji juga mencadangkan agar latihan Drill untuk meningkatkan ketangkasan ini dijalankan dengan lebih awal lagi pada murid iaitu pada umur 9 tahun. Tambahan lagi, pengkaji mencadangkan agar latihan Drill ini ditambahbaik lagi dengan memasukkan Pattern Agility Drill dimana latihan ini menggunakan angka sebagai arah untuk melakukan larian. Dengan menggabungkan huruf dan angka dimana latihan yang pengkaji jalankan iaitu Latihan Drill menggunakan huruf akan dapat menambahbaik lagi tahap kecergasan ketangkasan murid murid. RUJUKAN

Chow Fook Meng, & Jaizah Binti Mahamud. (2011). Kajian tindakan: konsep & amalan dalam pengajaran. Puchong: Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd Cissik, J. (2004). Sport Speed ang Agility Training Monterey, CA: Coaches Choice Publications. Dawes, J. (2010). Agility training for the general populations. Wellness Article. 20; 5-6

Rosinah Binti Edinin. (2011). Penyelidikan tindakan, kaedah dan penulisan. Kuala Lumpur: Freemind

Horizons Sdn. Bhd.

276

MENINGKATKAN KETANGKASAN DALAM KALANGAN MURID TAHUN 5 AMAL MENGGUNAKAN LATIHAN AGILITY LADDER

Oleh:

AISYAH BINTI JAMAL Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini dilaksanakan untuk menilai keberkesanan latihan agility ladder untuk meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid Tahun 5 Amal. Seramai lapan orang subjek kajian dari Tahun 5 Amal telah terlibat dalam latihan intervensi. Subjek kajian telah menjalani latihan menggunakan agility ladder selama empat minggu. Ujian lari ulang alik 10 meter digunakan sebagai instrumen untuk ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Data dikumpul melalui ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif iaitu min dan peratus dalam peningkatan penurunan catatan masa. Keputusan kajian mendapati kelapan-lapan subjek kajian telah berjaya menunjukkan penurunan masa dalam ujian pasca berbanding ujian pra. Hasil kajian memberi implikasi bahawa latihan menggunakan agility ladder mampu meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid-murid Tahun 5 Amal. Kata kunci: ketangkasan, agility ladder, Ujian lari ulang alik 10 meter. 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Semasa menjalani Praktikum Fasa Ketiga di salah sebuah sekolah di sekitar Selangor, beberapa masalah telah dikenal pasti oleh pengkaji semasa mengajar tajuk permainan ragbi sentuh. Proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran dijalankan ke atas murid-murid Tahun 5 Amal. Pengkaji dapat mengenal pasti masalah ini berdasarkan pemerhatian yang tidak berstruktur yang telah pengkaji lakukan semasa proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran sedang berlangsung. Masalah yang paling ketara yang pengkaji telah kenal pasti adalah semasa permulaan sesi pengajaran iaitu bermain Galah Panjang. Pengkaji mendapati bahawa beberapa murid tidak dapat mengubah arah dan mengelak daripada disentuh oleh rakan mereka. Permainan kecil dalam fasa kemuncak adalah bercorakkan perlawanan ragbi sentuh yang sebenar. Semasa perlawanan berlangsung, pengkaji mendapati sebilangan murid lelaki dan perempuan masih tidak dapat mengelak daripada disentuh oleh rakan mereka. Pada sesi pengajaran dan pengajaran yang seterusnya, pengkaji telah mengenalpasti masalah yang sama dalam tajuk pembelajaran pada hari tersebut iaitu ketangkasan. Murid-murid dikehendaki melakukan pelbagai aktiviti ketangkasan dalam permainan kecil seperti mencabut ekor, lari ulang alik 10 meter, lari zig-zag dan juga bermain belalang dan belatuk. Dapati semasa aktiviti mobiliti pergerakan iaitu permainan mencabut ekor, murid-murid mempunyai sangat lemah ketangkasan ketika mengelak daripada dicabut ekor. Semasa melakukan aktiviti ketangkasan seperti larian zigzag, murid berlari dengan perlahan kerana mereka masih keliru dengan susunan kon iaitu susunan zig-zag. Sungguhpun begitu, terdapat segelintir murid yang tidak tangkas apabila berlari bertukar arah dan terus ke kon yang menuju seterusnya. Semasa aktiviti kemuncak, murid-murid bermain Belalang dan Belatuk. Permainan ini memerlukan ketangkasan yang tinggi. Murid-murid perlu mengelak daripada ditangkap oleh ahli kumpulan lain dan berusaha untuk menyelamatkan diri dengan pergi ke kawasan yang selamat (sarang). Melalui pemerhatian yang telah dijalankan, terdapat beberapa murid yang tidak dapat mengelak daripada ditangkap oleh ahli kumpulan lain.

2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Fokus kajian adalah untuk meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan melalui latihan agility ladder. Individu yang mempunyai tahap ketangkasan yang tinggi dapat memberi kelebihan kepada diri mereka sendiri dalam kehidupan. Semasa sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran berlaku, subjek kajian tidak menunjukkan tahap pencapaian yang baik kerana tidak tangkas apabila bertukar arah semasa aktiviti bermain galah panjang, lari ulang alik, bermain ragbi dan berlari zig-zag menyebabkan objektif pengajaran dan pembelajaran pengkaji tidak tercapai. Murid yang mempunyai tahap ketangkasan yang tinggi dapat membantu mereka dalam meningkatkan prestasi dalam sukan yang mereka ceburi. Menurut Keller (1942) dalam Siti Rohaizat (2004), individu yang mempunyai ketangkasan yang lebih pantas akan lebih berjaya dalam permainan individu (perseorangan).

277

3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

3.1 Objektif Umum Objektif umum kajian ini ialah meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid Tahun 5 Amal. 3.2 Objektif Khusus Meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan dalam kalangan murid-murid Tahun 5 Amal dengan menggunakan latihan agility ladder. 4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Kajian ini melibatkatkan seramai lapan orang murid Tahun 5 Amal yang berusia 11 tahun. Kelapan-lapan subjek kajian yang telah dipilih dan semuanya berada dalam kategori lemah. Selain itu, subjek kajian ini terdiri daripada empat orang lelaki dan empat orang perempuan. Di samping itu, subjek kajian tersebut dilihat dari aspek bentuk tubuh badan di mana enam orang daripada subjek kajian adalah ektomorf dan dua orang subjek kajian adalah endomorf. 5.0 PELAKSANAAN TINDAKAN Pengkaji telah menggunakan instrument ujian sepanjang kajian dijalankan. Pengkaji menggunakan Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter bagi ujian pra dan ujian pasca untuk membantu mengukur tahap ketangkasan subjek kajian dan melihat hasil intervensi yang telah dijalankan ke atas subjek kajian. Pengkaji telah memilih untuk menggunakan latihan agility ladder sebagai rawatan kepada subjek kajian untuk meningkatkan ketangkasan mereka. 5.1 Cara Mengumpulkan Data

Pengkaji telah menggunakan instrumen ujian iaitu Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter dalam kajian yang dijalankan. Ujian pra yang dijalankan adalah bertujuan bagi mengumpul data awal yang berkaitan. Dalam ujian pra yang telah dijalankan, pengkaji menggunakan Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter bagi menilaikan perkembangan ketangkasan subjek kajian sebelum menjalani intervensi. Data yang berbentuk catatan masa akan direkodkan ke dalam borang skor ujian pra yang telah disediakan. Setelah menjalani intervensi selama empat minggu, ujian pasca dijalankan untuk mengumpulkan data terhadap subjek kajian data catatan masa semua subjek kajian direkodkan ke dalam borang skor ujian pasca yang telah disediakan. Menurut O’shea (1976), kajian yang menetapkan ujian pra dan pasca sesuai bagi mengetahui keberkesanan latihan yang dijalankan kepada subjek kajian. 5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Masalah

Pengkaji telah menggunakan kaedah ujian sebagai salah satu cara pengumpulan data. Subjek kajian seramai lapan orang telah terlibat dalam melaksanakan ujian ini. Bagi melaksanakan ujian ini, pengkaji telah menggunakan ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Data bagi kedua-dua ujian ini dianalisis menggunakan peratus dan min dalam bentuk jadual dan graf. 5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

Tindakan yang dijalankan untuk meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan ke atas lapan orang subjek kajian (empat orang lelaki dan empat orang perempuan) yang didapati lemah dalam ujian T dengan menggunakan latihan menggunakan agility ladder sebagai intervensi. Aktiviti-aktiviti yang dilaksanakan adalah run through, shuffle run, lateral run, in-out shuffle dan snake jump. Pengkaji melaksanakan kelima-lima aktiviti dalam setiap sesi latihan. Latihan intervensi dijalankan tiga kali dalam seminggu.

278

5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Rajah 1. Graf bar perbezaan masa antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca (Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter) Rajah 1 menunjukkan graf bar tentang perbezaan masa bagi ujian pra dan ujian pasca yang telah dilaksanakan. Berdasarkan graf tersebut, kesemua subjek kajian telah menunjukkan penurunan masa dari ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Perbezaan masa yang paling ketara adalah S7 iaitu 13.1 saat dan 12.3 saat bagi ujian pasca. Perbezaan masa antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca bagi S7 adalah 0.8 saat. Manakala S5 menunjukkan perbezaan masa paling sedikit dengan 0.1 saat.

Rajah 2. Graf bar min antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca

Rajah 2 menunjukkan graf bar berkaitan dengan perbandingan min antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Min antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca adalah 12.4 saat dan 12.0 saat. Ini menunjukkan terdapat peningkatan penurunan dari segi masa antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca iaitu 0.4 saat.

11.911.6

12.3

11.9

1312.7

13.112.9

11.7

11.1

11.911.7

12.9

12.3 12.3 12.4

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S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8

Masa (

s)

Subjek Kajian

Perbezaan Masa Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca(Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter)

Ujian Pra

11.8

11.9

12

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12.2

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12.5

Ujian Pra Ujian Pasca

Min

(s)

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Min antara Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca

Min

279

Rajah 3. Graf bar peningkatan pengurangan masa (%) antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca Rajah 3 menunjukkan graf bar tentang peratusan peningkatan pengurangan masa antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca bagi Ujian Lari Ulang Alik 10 meter. S7 menunjukkan peningkatan peratus yang paling tinggi dengan 6%. Seterusnya, S2 yang mengalami peratus peningkatan sebanyak 4.3%. Manakala S3, S6 dan S8 dengan peratus peningkatan sebanyak 3.3%, 3.1% dan 3.9%. Seterusnya, S1 dan S4 masing-masing menunjukkan peningkatan sebanyak 1.7% selepas menjalani latihan intervensi selama empat minggu. S5 mempunyai peningkatan peratusan yang paling sedikit dengan peratus peningkatan sebanyak 0.8%. Jadual 1 Bilangan murid mengikut peratusan peningkatan pengurangan masa

Bilangan subjek kajian Peningkatan pengurangan masa (%)

1 > 6.0 1 4.0 – 4.9 3 3.0 – 3.9 2 1.0 - 1.9 1 0 – 0.9

Berdasarkan analisis yang telah dilakukan terhadap rajah di atas mendapati hanya seorang

subjek kajian mempunyai peningkatan pengurangan masa yang paling tinggi iaitu sebanyak 6% ke atas. Seterusnya, terdapat seorang subjek kajian yang berada dalam lingkungan peratusan 4.0% hingga 4.9% dengan mengalami peratus peningkatan sebanyak 4.3%. Manakala terdapat tiga orang subjek kajian yang berada dalam lingkungan peratusan 3.0% hingga 3.9% iaitu peratus peningkatan sebanyak 3.3%, 3.1% dan 3.9%. Seterusnya, terdapat dua orang subjek kajian yang berada dalam lingkungan peratusan 1.0% hingga 1.9% dengan menunjukkan peningkatan sebanyak 1.7% selepas menjalani latihan intervensi selama empat minggu. Seorang subjek kajian yang berada dalam lingkungan peratusan 0.9% mempunyai peningkatan peratusan yang paling sedikit dengan peratus peningkatan sebanyak 0.8%. 5.5 Rumusan kajian

Berdasarkan interpretasi data yang telah dijalankan didapati bahawa terdapat peningkatan dalam tahap ketangkasan subjek kajian menggunakan latihan menggunakan agility ladder. Hasil dapatan kajian juga menjawab persoalan kajian yang telah dikemukakan di awal kajian.

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Peningkatan PenguranganMasa (%)

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5.6 Refleksi

Kekuatan yang dapat dikenal pasti sepanjang kajian ini dijalankan adalah dari aspek pencapaian objektif kajian itu sendiri. Penggunaan latihan agility ladder dapat meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan dalam kalangan murid Tahun 5 Amal. Selain itu, penggunaan alatan dan lokasi untuk menjalankan intervensi juga sesuai dan selamat. Alatan yang digunakan berada dalam keadaan yang baik. Penggunaan kawasan atau lokasi yang selamat juga amat penting dalam menjalankan intervensi supaya intervensi yang dapat berjalankan dengan lancar mengikut perancangan yang telah ditetapkan. Di samping itu, latihan menggunakan agility ladder merupakan aktiviti yang mempunyai kelainan dan memberi keseronokan kepada subjek kajian. Ini adalah kerana mereka tidak pernah didedahkan atau melakukan aktiviti yang berunsurkan latihan bagi meningkatkan tahap kecergasan mereka. Namun begitu, masih terdapat beberapa kelemahan yang timbul sepanjang kajian ini dijalankan. Antaranya adalah dari aspek pengurusan masa. Pada minggu pertama intervensi, pengkaji tidak dapat mengurus masa dengan baik di mana semasa melakukan intervensi. Selain itu, latihan intervensi yang dijalankan sepanjang bulan Ramadhan menyebabkan subjek kajian tidak dapat memberikan komitmen ke tahap yang maksimum. Tambahan pula dengan cuaca yang panas dan menyebabkan subjek kajian cepat berasa letih dan memerlukan rehat yang mencukupi. 6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA

Sebagai lanjutan kepada kajian ini, pengkaji boleh menjalankan kajian mengenai perbandingan jantina antara murid lelaki dan murid perempuan terhadap ketangkasan. Ini adalah kerana tahap keupayaan murid mengikut jantina adalah berbeza-beza. Di samping itu, latihan intervensi ini juga boleh dimasukkan ke dalam sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran serta dalam kokurikulum. Guru boleh menggunakan agility ladder sebagai latihan untuk meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid. Latihan menggunakan agility ladder dapat membantu prestasi sukan sekolah ke arah yang lebih baik. Di samping itu, penyelidikan untuk murid-murid sekolah rendah perlu diperbanyakkan lagi supaya guru-guru dapat menyelesaikan masalah yang timbul dalam sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Namun begitu, bukan sahaja tugas guru itu sendiri untuk membaiki amalannya malah ianya satu aktiviti kolaboratif yang dilakukan di sekolah dalam kalangan rakan sejawat untuk menyelesaikan masalah harian, masalah sebenar yang berlaku di sekolah ataupun sebagai cara untuk memperbaiki institusi dan meningkatkan pencapaian murid (Ferrance, 2000 dalam Kartini Abdul Mutalib, Ahamad Shabudin Yahaya, Rosli Sahat & Badrul Hisham Alang Osman, 2012). Selain itu, kajian yang perlu diteruskan adalah berkaitan dengan kecergasan fizikal murid pada usia kanak-kanak lagi. Penyelidikan tentang kepentingan kecergasan bagi komponen pelakuan motor amat perlu dijalankan agar kehidupan harian murid lebih cergas dan mudah bersedia menghadapi pelajaran dan bersukan. RUJUKAN Kartini Abdul Mutalib, Ahamad Shabudin Yahaya, Rosli Sahat & Badrul Hisham Alang Osman.

(2012). Menguasai penyelidikan tindakan: untuk PISMP dan DPLI. Hulu Kinta: IPG Kampus

Ipoh.

O’Shea, J.P. (1976). Scientific principles and methods of strength fitness (2nd ed.). Massachusetts:

Addson Welsley Publication Co.

Siti Rohaizat Binti Abdul Wahab (2004). Kejadian Terhadap Tahap Ketangkasan Pemain-Pemain Bola Sepak Pasukan Johor (PBNJ), Sebelum Dan Selepas Mengikuti Program Latihan Fizikal. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor.

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MENINGKATKAN KUASA EKSPLOSIF KAKI MURID LELAKI TAHUN 5 MUTIARA DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN KAEDAH LATIH TUBI

Oleh :

MOHAMAD ADIB BIN AZMI

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian tindakan ini dijalankan untuk melihat keberkesanan kaedah latih tubi bagi meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki murid-murid. Subjek kajian terdiri daripada sepuluh orang murid iaitu kesemuanya murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara. Subjek dipilih berdasarkan kegagalan semasa melakukan lompatan melepasi palang lompat tinggi. Fokus kajian ini adalah untuk menilai samada kaedah latih tubi dapat meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki. Tinjauan awal telah dilaksanakan melalui analisis ujian diagnostik dan senarai semak. Intervensi kaedah latih tubi telah dijalankan oleh subjek kajian selama empat minggu. Data telah dikumpulkan melalui ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Hasil analisis data mendapati bahawa kesemua subjek kajian telah menunjukkan peningkatan kuasa eksplosif kaki melalui ujian lompat jauh berdiri. Keputusan ujian menunjukkan bahawa kaedah latih tubi sangat berkesan dalam membantu murid meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki mereka. Kata kunci : Kuasa Eksplosif Kaki, Lompat Jauh Berdiri,Kaedah Latih Tubi 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Sepanjang tempoh praktikum fasa tiga di Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Sungai Besi Indah di

Seri Kembangan, Selangor dari 27 Januari 2014 hingga 25 April 2014, pengkaji telah diberi peluang mengajar Pendidikan Jasmani di bawah tunjang kemahiran, pengkaji mendapati ramai murid dari kelas 5 Mutiara telah menunjukkan kesukaran melakukan aktiviti melompat tinggi gaya pelana semasa aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran kemahiran lompat tinggi. Murid-murid tersebut bukan sahaja didapati mengalami kesukaran melompat dalam situasi praktis malah juga dalam situasi pelakuan penuh lompat tinggi gaya pelana. Pemerhatian lanjutan pengkaji juga mendapati pelakuan lompatan adalah betul tetapi kuasa lompatan sangat lemah menyebabkan murid tidak mampu melompat melepasi palang.

Melalui kajian ini, pelbagai pendapat baru berjaya diwujudkan bagi membantu meningkatkan

mutu amalan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di sekolah. Seterusnya, pendekatan yang lebih efisien seharusnya didedahkan bagi menolong murid-murid yang tidak dapat menguasai kemahiran yang dipelajari. Contohnya, kelemahan murid dalam membuat lompatan dalam lompat tinggi yang mana melibatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki. Permasalahan ini boleh dibaiki melalui beberapa aktiviti latih tubi yang dirancang mengikut kesesuaian tahap kebolehan mereka. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Berdasarkan pengalaman dan pemerhatian pengkaji semasa fasa praktikum, pengkaji

mendapati bahawa murid-murid tidak mampu menguasai kemahiran lompatan dalam pembelajaran lompat tinggi. Sekiranya murid masih tidak mampu menguasai kemahiran asas sewaktu sekolah rendah, kebarangkalian murid untuk tidak menguasai kemahiran yang lebih sukar adalah tinggi. Hal ini akan menyebabkan perkembangan lakuan motor kasar mereka terbantut atau lambat. Hal ini selari dengan pendangan Gabbard (2008) yang menyatakan kanak-kanak pada usia 6 hingga 12 tahun sepatutnya sudah mula berada di fasa memantapkan kemahiran sukan seperti berlari, melompat, melontar, menangkap, melantun, menyepak dan mengelecek.

Jadi, sebagai penyelesaiannya pengkaji menggunakan kaedah latih tubi untuk diterapkan

kepada subjek kajian bagi meningkatkan tahap keupayaan kuasa eksplosif kaki mereka semasa intervensi. Aktiviti-aktiviti latih tubi yang dirancang dalam sesi intervensi selama empat minggu dapat menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi oleh subjek kajian pengkaji seterusnya meningkatkan keyakinan mereka di dalam kelas dan juga untuk menyertai aktiviti sukan dan permainan.

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3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

Objektif kajian/soalan kajian akan membincangkan mengenai objektif umum secara

keseluruhan, manakala objektif khusus adalah secara spesifik.Bahagian ini juga akan menerangkan tentang persoalan kajian. 3.1 Objektif Umum Secara keseluruhannya, kajian yang dijalankan adalah untuk meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara dalam lompat tinggi melalui kaedah latih tubi. 3.2 Objektif Khusus Objektif khusus bagi kajian ini adalah bertujuan untuk mencapai objektif berikut:

Murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara dapat meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif melalui kaedah latih tubi yang dijalankan.

Murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara berjaya melompat melepasi palang dengan ketinggian ditetapkan iaitu 0.9 meter.

4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Dari aspek bilangan murid, pengkaji hanya memilih murid yang betul lemah kuasa eksplosif kaki iaitu seramai 10 orang murid Tahun 5 Mutiara. Aspek jantina pula, pengkaji memilih murid lelaki sahaja bagi mendapat keberkesanan intervensi adalah bersih. Aspek kelemahan bermaksud kelemahan murid dalam membuat lompatan iaitu kuasa eksplosif kaki yang lemah semasa membuat lompatan.

5.0 TINDAKAN YANG DIJALANKAN

Pengkaji telah menggunakan beberapa instrumen seperti pemerhatian dan ujian diagnostik untuk membantu mengenal pasti masalah yang dihadapai dan untuk melihat hasil intervensi yang telah dijalankan ke atas subjek kajian. Pengkaji telah memilih untuk menggunakan kaedah latih tubi untuk meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki. 5.1 Cara Pengumpulan Data

Dua instrumen yang digunakan oleh pengkaji semasa menjalankan tinjauan awal ialah ujian

diagnostik dan pemerhatian. Pengkaji telah memilih instrumen pengumpulan data ini dengan berasaskan kesesuaian serta keperluan instrumen ini dalam membantu pengkaji menjalankan kajian ini. 5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Awal

Pengkaji telah menggunakan kaedah ujian sebagai salah satu cara pngumpulan data.

Kumpulan sasaran iaitu murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara telah terlibat dalam melakukan ujian ini. Bagi melaksanakan ujian ini, pengkaji telah menggunakan dua jenis ujian iaitu ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Data bagi kedua-dua ujian ini akan dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan skala peratus peningkatan. 5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

Ujian yang dijalankan adalah Lompat Jauh Berdiri atau Standing Broad or Long Jump (Johnson

& Nelson,1986). Sebelum menjalankan ujian pra, segala prosedur ujian yang dipilih dalam kajian ini seperti Lampiran 1 dijelaskan kepada subjek dan demonstrasi yang diberi oleh pengkaji menambahkan kefahaman subjek kajian. Satu demonstrasi telah dilakukan oleh pengkaji supaya subjek kajian dapat melakukan dengan lakuan yang sempurna dan memperolehi skor yang baik. Dalam ujian yang dijalankan, jarak lompatan diambil sebagai data bagi kajian ini dan skor ditentukan melalui jarak lompatan yang berjaya dilakukan.

283

Pelaksanaan program intervensi latihan latih tubi dilaksanakan selama empat minggu. Pengkaji memilih aktiviti daripada pliometrik dan bebanan. Antara aktiviti yang dijalankan di dalam kitaran intervensi adalah seperti Hurdles Jump, Squat Jump, Rings Jump dan One Leg Jumps. Kepelbagaian latihan tersebut akan mengelakkan rasa bosan dan jemu subjek kajian untuk terus menjalani intervensi. Dalam satu minggu, variasi latihan telah diterapkan. 5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Rajah 1 Graf Perbandingan Jarak Lompatan Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca Sepuluh Orang Subjek

Rajah 1 menunjukkan graf perbandingan perbezaan jarak lompatan kesemua subjek kajian yang diperolehi semasa ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Berdasarkan rajah yang dipaparkan di atas, peningkatan jarak lompatan di dalam ujian lompat jauh berdiri dapat dilihat ke atas kesemua subjek yang telah terlibat dalam kajian ini. Berdasarkan ujian pra dan ujian pasca dapat disimpulkan bahawa latihan intervensi selama empat minggu yang dijalankan ke atas kesemua subjek kajian adalah berkesan kerana terdapatnya peningkatan jarak lompatan dalam ujian pra dan ujian pasca.

5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Rumusan dapatan dibuat untuk menjawab persoalan kajian dengan menggunakan data

daripada keputusan kajian. Kajian ini melibatkan tempoh intervensi selama empat minggu. Ia membuktikan bahawa kaedah latih tubi yang dipilih sebagai intervensi untuk meningkatkan kuasa eksplosif kaki murid-murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara ini adalah berkesan.

5.6 Refleksi

Pengkaji telah mencari pelbagai bahan dan sumber rujukan di perpustakaan negara dan serta

di perpustakaan institut bagi mendapatkan maklumat yang disaran oleh pensyarah kepada pengkaji. Hasilnya, pengkaji telah pengkaji telah mendapat pelbagai bahan dan maklumat yang berguna sebagai rujukan semasa menjalankan kajian dan menyiapkan laporan. Kajian yang dilaksanakan dalam meningkatkan tahap keupayaan kuasa eksplosif kaki murid lelaki Tahun 5 Mutiara ini telah dapat dijalankan oleh pengkaji dengan mencapai objektif umum dan objektif khusus serta persoalan kajian pada awal kajian ini. Melalui kajian ini didapati penglibatan subjek kajian dalam intervensi berkaitan dengan jenis aktiviti yang berfokus yang mudah dilaksanakan, tidak terlalu membebankan mereka disamping tiada paksaan daripada pengkaji.

Walaubagaimanapun, kelemahan yang dikesan adalah subjek cepat bosan dengan aktiviti

yang dilakukan secara berulang-ulang. Selain itu, terdapat subjek tidak suka kepada aktiviti yang berbentuk latihan kerana aktiviti sedemikian terikat dengan peraturan dan prosedur yang perlu dipatuhi. Subjek lebih gemar kepada aktiviti bermain kerana ia menimbulkan keseronokan kepada mereka.

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6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA

Pada kajian seterusnya, terdapat beberapa cadangan penambahbaikan yang boleh dilakukan oleh pengkaji sebagai kesinambungan daripada kajian ini. Antara cadangan yang boleh dilakukan sebagai penambahbaikan bagi meningkatkan lagi keberkesanan dalam kajian seterusnya ialah dengan menggunakan variasi latihan latih tubi dengan mengaplikasikan latihan pliometrik dan latihan bebanan dalam latihan latih tubi mengikut kesesuaian umur bagi menghasilkan prestasi yang memberangsangkan di samping mengelakkan kecederaan jika latihan yang diadakan terlalu sukar terhadap subjek yang dikaji.

Selain itu, aktiviti latih tubi yang sedia ada boleh ditukar dengan aktiviti lain yang melibatkan

penggunaan alatan contohnya leg press. Ia dilakukan secara berpasangan dan boleh menarik minat dan meningkatkan tahap keterujaan subjek bagi mengikuti sesi intervensi.

RUJUKAN Johnson,B.L., & Nelson,J.K. (1986). Practical Measurements For Evaluation In Physical Education.

New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Gabbard, C.P (2008). Life long motor development (5th ed.). St. Francisco: Pearson Education.

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MENINGKATKAN KETEPATAN HANTARAN BOLA RAGBI KE SASARAN DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN KAEDAH LATIH TUBI BAGI MURID TAHUN 5 BESTARI

DALAM PERMAINAN RAGBI SENTUH

Oleh:

MOHAMAD EMIR HAFIF BIN JALIL Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian tindakan ini dijalankan untuk meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi ke sasaran dengan menggunakan kaedah latih tubi bagi murid tahun 5 Bestari dalam permainan ragbi sentuh. 10 orang murid daripada kelas 5 Bestari telah dipilih sebagai peserta kajian yang terdiri daripada 5 orang lelaki dan 5 orang perempuan yang mendapat skor terendah dalam ujian pra hantaran bola ragbi. Peserta kajian telah menjalani latih tubi hantaran bola ragbi selama empat minggu dengan tiga kali sesi latihan setiap minggu. Selepas 10 kali sesi latihan, peserta kajian telah menjalani ujian pasca ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi dan kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi dan skor setiap peserta kajian telah dikumpul dan dinalisis. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan kesemua peserta kajian menunjukkan peningkatan atas ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi tangan dominan dan bukan dominan serta kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa kaedah latih tubi adalah berkesan dalam meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi ke sasaran dalam permainan ragbi sentuh. 1.0 PENDAHULUAN Penyelidikan tindakan dijalankan oleh guru di dalam kelas atau di sekolah dengan tujuan untuk memperbaiki amalan guru (Kartini Abdul Mutalib, Ahamad Shabudin Yahaya, Rosli Sahat & Badrul Hisham Alang Osman, 2012). Untuk kajian ini, pengkaji mengkaji kesan latih tubi terhadap ketepatan hantaran tangan dominan dan bukan dominan yang dilakukan oleh peserta kajian dalam permainan ragbi sentuh. Sepanjang tiga bulan sesi praktikum di sebuah sekolah dalam daerah Ampang, Selangor Darul Ehsan pengkaji telah mengajar Tahun 5 dan murid tidak dapat mencapai objektif pengajaran dan pembelajaran iaitu melakukan hantaran pendek searas bola ragbi menggunakan tangan dominan dan bukan dominan dengan teknik yang betul tepat pada sasaran dalam jarak 3 hingga 5 meter sekurang- kurangnya 3 daripada 5 percubaan dengan jayanya. Ini kerana hantaran yang dilakukan tidak tepat ke sasaran, penguasaan kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi murid yang lemah dan penguasaan peraturan hantaran bola ragbi oleh murid agak lemah. Teori yang mendasari kajian pengkaji adalah berdasarkan teori Model Tiga Peringkat Fitts dan Posner. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Dalam kajian ini kegagalan murid melakukan hantaran yang tepat kepada sasaran melalui tangan dominan dan bukan dominan menjadi fokus kajian pengkaji. Masalah ini timbul adalah kerana kegagalan murid menguasai kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi dan kelemahan hantaran bola ragbi pada kedua-dua arah dominan dan bukan dominan. Justeru itu, pengkaji telah memilih kaedah latih tubi bagi meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola pada kedua-dua belah arah iaitu dominan dan bukan dominan dalam permainan ragbi sentuh kerana menurut Mills (1985) cara terbaik untuk meningkatkan kemahiran mana-mana elemen permainan adalah melalui latih tubi, dengan mengulangi selalu dan dengan cara yang betul. 3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

3.1 Objektif Umum

Meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi kesasaran arah dominan dan bukan dominan dengan menggunakan kaedah latih tubi bagi murid tahun 5 Bestari dalam permainan ragbi sentuh.

286

3.2 Objektif Khusus

o Meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola tangan dominan dan bukan dominan ke sasaran dalam permainan ragbi sentuh bagi murid tahun 5 Bestari dengan menggunakan kaedah latih tubi.

o Meningkatkan kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi dalam permainan ragbi sentuh bagi murid

tahun 5 Bestari dengan menggunakan kaedah latih tubi.

4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Kajian ini melibatkan 10 orang murid tahun 5 Bestari dan mereka terdiri daripada lima lelaki dan lima perempuan. Peserta kajian dipilih daripada skor yang paling lemah dalam ujian diagnostik dalam tinjauan awal. Selain itu, peserta kajian dipilih kesemuanya berumur 11 tahun kerana pada peringkat ini, peserta kajian sepatutnya mempunyai kemahiran motor asas yang baik. Menurut Gabbard (2008), kanak - kanak diusia 6 hingga 12 tahun sepatunya sudah mula berada di fasa memantapkan lagi kemahiran sukan mereka. Tetapi berdasarkan keputusan ujian diagnostik menunjukkan peserta kajian lemah dan pengkaji telah memilih 10 orang tersebut sebagai kumpulan sasaran.

5.0 PELAKSANAAN TINDAKAN

Untuk menjalankan kajian ini, pengkaji telah mengunakan beberapa instrumen seperti pemerhatian dan pengujian untuk membantu mengenal pasti masalah yang dihadapi dan untuk melihat hasil intervensi yang telah dijalankan terhadap peserta kajian. Pengkaji telah memilih kaedah latih tubi sebagai intervensi untuk membantu menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi oleh peserta kajian dalam kajian ini. Intervensi telah dijalankan selama empat minggu bagi melihat kerbekesanan intervensi terhadap peserta kajian. 5.1 Cara Mengumpul Data / Maklumat Dua instrumen yang digunakan oleh pengkaji semasa tinjauan awal iaitu, pemerhatian berstruktur menggunakan senarai semak yang diadaptasi daripada butiran mengajar jurulatih oleh Phil Larder (1988) untuk melihat lakuan yang dilakukan peserta kajian dan ujian hantaran bola ragbi lima meter kiri dan kanan oleh Rugby Skill Assessment, Rugby Football Union & New Zealand Rugby Union Academy (2007) untuk melihat peringkat pencapaian peserta kajian. Untuk melihat kerbekesanan intervensi yang telah diberi pengkaji telah membuat pemerhatian berstrukur menggunakan senarai semak yang sama dan mengunakan ujian hantaran bola ragbi lima meter daripada The Rugby Football Union (2006) semasa ujian pra dan ujian pasca untuk mengumpul data dan dinalisis untuk melihat keberkesanan intervensi. 5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Awal Melalui analisis tinjauan awal ini, pengkaji dapat mengenal pasti peserta kajian yang lemah dalam ketepatan hantaran ke sasaran dan dapat mengenalpasti kelemahan pada arah dominan dan bukan dominan peserta kajian semasa membuat hantaran. Berdasarkan kelemahan peserta kajian, pengkaji dapat membantu peserta kajian melalui intervensi yang akan dijalankan. Keputusan analisis telah dijadualkan. Kesemua peserta kajian yang mengikuti ujian ini adalah menggunakan tangan kanan sebagai tangan dominan dan terdiri daripada lima orang lelaki dan lima orang perempuan. Peringkat pencapaian terbahagi kepada tiga iaitu hantar arah dominan sahaja (peringkat 1), hantar kedua-dua arah tetapi kuat dan tepat pada arah dominan (peringkat 2) dan hantar kedua-dua arah dan tepat pada kedua-dua arah dengan lakuan betul (peringkat 3).

287

Jadual 1 Analisis tinjauan awal

Bil Peserta Kajian Jantina Tangan dominan Pencapaian

1 PK 1 Lelaki Kanan Peringkat 1 2 PK 2 Lelaki Kanan Peringkat 1 3 PK 3 Lelaki Kanan Peringkat 1 4 PK 4 Lelaki Kanan Peringkat 1 5 PK 5 Lelaki Kanan Peringkat 2 6 PK 6 Perempuan Kanan Peringkat 1 7 PK 7 Perempuan Kanan Peringkat 1 8 PK 8 Perempuan Kanan Peringkat 2 9 PK 9 Perempuan Kanan Peringkat 1 10 PK 10 Perempuan Kanan Peringkat 1

5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah Untuk menangani masalah latihan intervensi telah dirancang, dua aktiviti telah dipilih iaitu aktiviti pass in square dan pass in pairs. Aktiviti ini telah dipilih kerana kedua-dua aktiviti ini melibatkan hantaran bola ragbi. Dengan kedua-dua aktiviti ini membolehkan peserta kajian melakukan ulangan hantaran yang banyak selari dengan konsep latih tubi. Jadual 2 Jadual tindakan menangani masalah.

Minggu Hari Sesi latihan Ulangan latihan

1

Selasa UJIAN PRA

Khamis Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Jumaat Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

2

Selasa Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Khamis Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Jumaat Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

3

Selasa Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Khamis Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Jumaat Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

4

Selasa Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Khamis Dril 1

( 5 minit ) Rehat

( 2 minit ) Dril 2

( 5 minit) Rehat

( 2 minit ) 2

Jumaat UJIAN PASCA

Nota : Dril 1 = pass in square Dril 2= pass in pairs

288

5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Pemerhatian Berstruktur

Rajah 1: Carta bar peningkatan lakuan peserta kajian

Berdasarkan jadual kesemua peserta kajian menunjukkan peningkatan. Peserta kajian dua dan empat menunjukkan peratusan peningkatan lakuan hantaran bola ragbi. Peratusan peningkatan oleh kedua-dua peserta kajian ini adalah yang terbesar sebanyak 50% peningkatan mereka. Peratusan peningkatan yang kedua besar yang ditunjukan oleh peserta kajian 5,6,8 dan 10 adalah sebanyak 37.5%. dan peningkatan peratusan yang sedikit ialah peserta kajian 1,3,7 dan 9 iaitu sebanyak 25%.

Ujian Ketepatan Hantaran Bola Ragbi 5 Meter

Berdasarkan carta bar, menunjukkan kesemua peserta kajian menunjukkan peningkatan

dalam ketepatan hantaran pada kedua-dua belah tangan, iaitu dominan dan bukan dominan.Secara keseluruhannya peserta kajian menunjukkan peningkatan prestasi yang amat memberangsangkan. Ini merangkumi peningkatan tentang kemahiran dan ketepatan hantaran peserta kajian semasa membuat hantaran ragbi dalam permainan ragbi sentuh. 5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Rumusan dapatan dibuat untuk menjawab persoalan kajian dengan menggunakan data daripada keputusan kajian. Persoalan kajian yang pertama ialah adakah latih tubi dapat meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi ke sasaran melalui hantaran tangan dominan dan bukan dominan murid tahun 5 Bestari. Persoalan kajian yang pertama terjawab berdasarkan keputusan kajian pada Rajah 2 dan Rajah 3 yang menunjukkan kesemua peserta kajian memberi peningkatan yang positif selepas intervensi latih tubi diberikan. Manakala persoalan kajian yang kedua ialah adakah kaedah latih tubi dapat meningkatkan kemahiran hantaran bola ragbi dalam permainan ragbi sentuh bagi murid tahun 5 Bestari? Persoalan kedua terjawab berdasarkan hasil kajian yang telah di tunjukkan pada Rajah 1 yang menunjukkan kesemua peserta kajian menunjukkan peningkatan yang positif terhadap lakuan hantaran bola ragbi. Dengan hasil kajian ini pengkaji dapat membuat kesimpulan bahawa kaedah latih tubi dapat meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran dan lakuan yang betul dan ini bertepatan dengan cadangan Mills (1985) yang mencadangkan bahawa cara terbaik untuk meningkatkan kemahiran mana-mana elemen permainan, adalah melalui latih tubi, dengan mengulanginya selalu dan dengan cara yang betul.

0

5

10

PK1 PK2 PK3 PK4 PK5 PK6 PK7 PK8 PK9 PK10

PRA

PASCA

0

2

4

6

PK

1

PK

2

PK

3

PK

4

PK

5

PK

6

PK

7

PK

8

PK

9

PK

10

Pra

Pasca

0

2

4

6

PK

1

PK

2

PK

3

PK

4

PK

5

PK

6

PK

7

PK

8

PK

9

PK

10

Pra

Pasca

Rajah 2 Keputusan ujian pra dan pasca tangan kiri Rajah 3 Keputusan ujian pra dan pasca

tangan kanan

289

5.6 Refleksi

Keputusan akhir kajian ini telah menunjukkan bahawa melalui kaedah latih tubi, peserta kajian dapat meningkatkan ketepatan hantaran bola ragbi dalam permainan ragbi sentuh. Kekuatan kajian pengkaji berdasarkan usaha pengkaji untuk meningkatkan ketepatan dan kemahiran hantaran pada kedua-dua belah tangan. Dengan mementingkan pada kedua-dua belah tangan, kemahiran peserta kajian akan seimbang dan menjadi seorang yang berkemahiran tinggi. Kebanyakan jurulatih tidak mementingkan aspek kedua-dua belah tangan kerana beranggapan tidak memberi kesan kepada prestasi. Kekuatan kajian ini, dapat memberi gambaran kepentingan penguasaan kemahiran pada kedua-dua belah tangan. Sepanjang menjalankan kajian ini, terdapat juga kekangan yang telah pengkaji lalui. Antara kekangan yang pengkaji lalui ialah, pengkaji sukar untuk mendapat pelepasan peserta kajian daripada pihak sekolah dan ibu bapa disebabkan ketika kajian ini dijalankan adalah ketika bulan puasa. Ini menyebabkan kesukaran pelepasan peserta kajian. Setelah menerangkan dan menyakinkan pihak sekolah dan ibu bapa tentang latihan yang akan diberi dan tujuan kajian ini dijalankan, barulah mereka bersetuju untuk memberi kerjasama dengan memberi kebenaran untuk melaksanakan intervensi terhadap peserta kajian 6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA Pada bahagian ini, pengkaji telah menyatakan cadangan-cadangan penambahbaikkan yang dapat diberikan perhatian dalam meningkatkan kualiti kajian tindakan ini pada masa akan datang. Cadangan pengkaji ialah melanjutkan tempoh intervensi. Dengan melanjutkan tempoh intervensi kemungkinan peserta kajian akan dapat menunjukkan prestasi pada tahap maksimum disebabkan pengulangan latih tubi yang lebih banyak lagi. Menurut Currie (1989) telah menunjukkan bahawa memanjangkan tempoh kajian tindakan dapat memantapkan lagi kemahiran hantaran lob dalam kajian beliau. Oleh itu, cadangan pengkaji untuk memanjangkan lagi tempoh menjalankan intervensi adalah wajar untuk mencapai prestasi peserta kajian pada tahap maksimum. RUJUKAN Currie,G.(1989). Optimizing racquethead-shuttle interaction for an affective overhead forehead clear in badminton. A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Education Mcgill University,Montreal,Quebec.

Gabbard , (. P. ( 2008). Lifelong motor development ( 5 th.ed). San Francisco : Pearson Benjamin Cummings. Kartini Abdul Mutalib, Ahamad Shabudin Yahaya, Rosli Sahat, Badrul Hisham Alang Osman (2012). Menguasai Penyelidikan Tindakan : Untuk PISMP dan DPLI. Hulu KintaInstitut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Ipoh.

Mills ,R.(1985). The Pocket Guide To Badminton Tactics. London : Bell & Hyman. Mok Soon Sang (2008). Psikologi Pendidikan dan Pedagogi , murid fan alam belajar. Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd. Phil Larder, 1988. The Rugby League Coaching Manual. Heinemann Kingswood. Rugby Skill Assessment, 2007 .Rugby Football Union & New Zealand Rugby Union Academy. The Rugby Footbal Union (2006). Rugby Skill Award. Twickenham: Rugby House.

290

MENINGKATKAN KETANGKASAN MURID TAHUN 4 MENGGUNAKAN PERMAINAN BERUNSUR SERANGAN DALAM PENDEKATAN TEACHING GAMES FOR UNDERSTANDING (TGfU)

Oleh:

MOHAMMAD FIRDAUS BIN SHOLIKHIN

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid Tahun 4 Azam dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP) Pendidikan Jasmani. Ketangkasan adalah satu kemahiran yang kompleks berkaitan dengan multidirectional yang menggabungkan variasi kepada halaju dan manipulasi momentum. Kajian ini telah dijalankan di sebuah sekolah kebangsaan di daerah Hulu Langat, Selangor. Pengkaji telah menjalankan intervensi dengan menggunakan pendekatan Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) kategori sasaran bagi mengatasi masalah kumpulan sasaran kajian ini. Intervensi dalam kajian ini telah dilaksanakan selama tiga minggu dengan 10 minit bagi satu sesi semasa proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran berjalan. Satu instrumen kajian telah digunakan iaitu Ujian Lari Ulang-alik 10 Meter dalam menilai tahap ketangkasan subjek kajian untuk Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan peningkatan dalam usaha subjek kajian untuk mencatat masa terpantas bagi kedua-dua ujian tersebut. Dapatan ini menunjukkan bahawa pendekatan Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) dapat meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan bagi murid Tahun 4 Azam. Justeru, pendekatan TGfU memang sesuai digunakan semasa proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani di sekolah. Kata Kunci: Ketangkasan, Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), ujian lari ulang-alik. 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Pendidikan Jasmani adalah merupakan satu proses pembelajaran yang menyeluruh yang merangkumi semua aspek domain seperti psikomotor, kognitif, afektif, sosial dan emosi. Melalui Pendidikan Jasmani pelajar akan diberi ruang untuknya mencuba dan mengalami sendiri pengalaman semua aktiviti fizikal yang dijalaninya. (Pettitor, dalam Wee Eng Hoe 2005). Pendidikan Jasmani berupaya menyediakan kanak-kanak untuk mengamalkan gaya hidup aktif dan sihat dengan menyediakan skop pengalaman-pengalaman pembelajaran yang rapi dan berturutan. Secara ringkasnya Pendidikan Jasmani adalah merupakan satu aspek dan dapat menghasilkan kejayaan kepada satu kumpulan pelajar Ketangkasan adalah satu komponen kecergasan dalam perlakuan motor dan ia juga berkait rapat dengan komponen-komponen kecergasan yang lain (Ahmad, 2004). Ketangkasan boleh membantu meningkatkan prestasi yang baik dalam sesuatu aktiviti sukan dan permainan yang diceburi. Kekurangan unsur ketangkasan sedikit sebanyak mampu mempengaruhi atau menjejaskan prestasi atlit tersebut dalam aktiviti sukan, selain dari faktor lain seperti kemahuan sendiri atau motivasi dalaman yang jitu untuk mencapai prestasi yang baik. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Kajian ini menekankan penggunaan permainan kecil berunsur serangan di dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP) berdasarkan pendekatan Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), yang telah diasaskan oleh Bunker dan Thorpe (1982), yang telah diaplikasikan oleh pengkaji dalam meningkatkan tahap ketangkasan murid Tahun 4 dalam mata pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Masalah yang dihadapi oleh subjek kajian adalah kesukaran untuk menukar arah semasa aktiviti permainan lari ulang-alik sambil mengambil pundi kacang. Pada fasa kemuncak, pemerhatian lanjutan juga mendapati subjek kajian tidak dapat mengimbangi badan dan lambat bertindak semasa ingin menukar arah pergerakan dalam permainan.

291

3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

3.1 Objektif Umum Meningkatkan ketangkasan murid Tahun 4 dalam kelas Pendidikan Jasmani. 3.2 Objektif Khusus Meningkatkan ketangkasan murid Tahun 4 menggunakan permainan berunsur serangan dalam pendekatan Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). 4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Kajian ini melibatkan sepuluh orang subjek kajian daripada Tahun 4 Azam di mana terdiri daripada enam orang subjek kajian lelaki dan empat subjek kajian perempuan di sebuah sekolah di daerah Hulu Langat, Selangor. Kesemua sepuluh orang subjek kajian ini dipilih melalui sesi lari ulang-alik 10 meter secara spontan yang telah dijalankan semasa pengkaji sedang menjalankan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran. 5.0 TINDAKAN YANG DICADANGKAN 5.1 Cara Pengumpulan Data

Pengkaji telah menggunakan tiga jenis instrumen dalam proses pengumpulan data iaitu ujian pra lari ulang-alik 10 meter, intervensi dan ujian pasca lari ulang-alik 10 meter. Ujian Pra Lari Ulang Alik 10 Meter Ujian pra dilakukan sebelum intervensi diberikan kepada subjek kajian. Ujian ini dilakukan untuk mencari tahap kelemahan murid dalam ketangkasan. Ujian yang digunakan adalah ujian lari ulang – alik 10 meter. Semasa ujian dilakukan, subjek kajian diberikan dua kali percubaan untuk melakukan masa larian yang terbaik dibuat digunakan sebagai keputusan akhir ujian. Prosedur untuk melakukan ujian ini diambil daripada ujian bateri TID. Intervensi Intervensi adalah latihan yang digunakan untuk meningkatkan ketangkasan dalam kajian ini. Intervensi dijalankan selama tiga minggu dan satu sesi setiap minggu dengan setiap sesi latihan memakan masa sebanyak 30 minit. Kenyataan ini disokong oleh Froelicher (1999) yang menyatakan jangka masa yang sesuai untuk meningkatkan tahap kecergasan secara efisen adalah tiga hingga lapan minggu dan ini disokong oleh Cissic (2004) iaitu keupayaan seseorang individu ini bergantung kepada masa program latihan dan kekerapan latihan diadakan. Intervensi ini dijalankan pada setiap minggu sebelum ujian pasca dijalankan bagi memberi waktu rehat kepada subjek kajian. Hal ini selari dengan Rushall & Pyke (1990) yang menyatakan prinsip pemulihan adalah salah satu daripada prinsip-prinsip asas latihan.

Ujian Pasca Lari Ulang Alik Ujian pasca dilakukan selepas intevensi bagi melihat tahap perkembangan atau adakah terdapat peningkatan dalam ketangkasan selepas menjalani latihan lari ulang alik antara skital. Skor akhir setelah melakukan dua larian di ambil untuk dibandingkan dengan skor akhir ujian pra bagi melihat perkembangan yang terjadi kepada subjek kajian.

292

5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Masalah

Jadual 1 Perbandingan masa Ujian Lari Ulang-Alik 10 Meter yang dijalankan dalam Kitaran 1

Nama Masa Ujian Pra (Saat)

Masa Ujian Pasca (Saat)

Perbezaan Masa (Saat)

L1 15.3

13.81 1.49

L2 13.4

12.42 0.98

L3 13.5

13.4 0.1

L4 13.2

12.91 0.29

L5 13.9

13.06 0.84

L6 13.2

12.82 0.38

P1 14.7

13.09 1.61

P2 15.1

14.04 1.06

P3 13.8

12.87 0.93

P4 15.1

13.72 1.38

5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Rajah 1: Graf Bar Perbandingan Ujian Lari Ulang-Alik 10 Meter Kitaran 1

Rajah 1 Skor masa Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca bagi Ujian Lari Ulang-alik 10 Meter

REFLEKSI

•Membuat kesimpulan

•Merumuskan dapatan

•Mencadangkan

penambahbaikan

•Mencadangkan kajian

lanjutan

MENGENAL PASTI

MASALAH &

REFLEK

•Kenal pasti isu

•Analisis Isu

•Reflek punca

MEMERHATI •

Ujian pra dan

ujian pos

• Latihan yang

dijalankan

BERTINDAK

•Melaksanakan ujian

pra

•melaksanakan

permainan kecil

MERANCANG

•Merancang aktiviti

•Prosedur pelaksanaan aktiviti

•Tempoh masa

•Bahan yang diperlukan

•Tentukan cara penilaian

0

5

10

15

L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 P1 P2 P3 P4

Mas

a

Murid

Masa sebelum

Masa selepas

293

.

Rajah 6 Perbandingan Min Pra dan Pasca bagi Masa Ujian Lari Ulang-alik 10 Meter 5.5 Rumusan Dapatan

Secara keseluruhannya, dapatan kajian menunjukkan peningkatan terhadap ketangkasan subjek kajian melalui intervensi yang diberikan selama tiga minggu. Peningkatan ini menunjukkan bahawa intervensi menggunakan permainan kecil berunsur serangan yang diberikan telah menunjukkan kesan yang positif terhadap ketangkasan subjek kajian setelah ujian pasca dijalankan menggunakan ujian lari ulang-alik 10 meter. 5.6 Refleksi

Pengkaji telah melakukan perancangan yang teliti untuk mengumpul pelbagai maklumat yang digunakan untuk ujian pra dan intervensi. Subjek kajian telah dipilih iaitu murid yang mengalami masalah ketangkasan dalam kelas Pendidikan Jasmani melalui PdP yang telah dijalankan pada tinjauan awal. Namun setelah melalui pelbagai intervensi melalui permainan yang melibatkan ketangkasan, subjek kajian telah menunjukkan peningkatan dan perubahan yang positif. Hasil yang dijangkakan telah berjaya dicapai dan persoalan yang timbul sebelum perlaksanaan kajian ini telaj terjawab. Pendekatan Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) terbukti berkesan bagi meningkatkan ketangkasan murid Tahun 4 khususnya dalam proses PdP Pendidikan Jasmani. 6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SETERUSNYA

Bagi kajian selanjutnya, pengkaji mencadangkan penambahbaikan dilakukan dari aspek tempoh masa kajian. Pengkaji mencadangkan tempoh masa kajian dipanjangkan agar hasil kajian yang diperolehi lebih kukuh dan mempunyai kesahan yang tinggi. Selain daripada itu, pengkaji juga mecadangkan agar komponen kecergasan yang lain diuji dalam kajian ini di samping mengubah suai intervensi kajian ini untuk sukan – sukan yang bersesuaian. RUJUKAN Ahmad Hashim (2004). Pengukuran kecergasan motor. Tanjong Malim: Quantum Books. Chow Fook Meng & Jaizah Mahamud (2011). Kajian Tindakan: Konsep dan Amalan Dalam Pengajaran. Puchong: Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd. Cissic, J. (2004). Sport Speed and Agility Training. Monterey, CA : Coaches Choice Publication. Froelicher, L.(1999). Children & Sport Training: How Your Future Champion Should Exercise to be Healthy, Fit and Happy: Stadion Publishing Co.

12.5

13

13.5

14

14.5

Ujian Pra Ujian Pasca

P

u

r

a

t

a

M

i

n

Ujian

Perbandingan Min Masa Pra dan Pasca bagi Masa Ujian Lari Ulang-alik 10 Meter

Min Pra

Min Pasca

294

MENINGKATKAN PENGUASAAN KEMAHIRAN MELEMPAR DALAM PERMAINAN SOFBOL MURID TAHUN 5 AZAM DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN MULTIMEDIA

Oleh:

MOHAMAD SHAMIL BIN MOHD HASSAN

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini telah dijalankan apabila pengkaji mendapati murid dalam kelas yang diajar oleh pengkaji mempunyai masalah dalam penguasaan kemahiran melempar dalam permainan sofbol. Kajian ini telah dijalankan ke atas 26 orang murid Tahun 5 Azam Sekolah Kebangsaan Desa Tasik, Kuala Lumpur. Kajian ini telah dijalankan selama empat minggu. Kajian tindakan ini dijalankan untuk menilai keberkesanan penggunaan multimedia dalam meningkatkan pembelajaran dan penguasaan kemahiran melempar (pitching) dalam permainan sofbol. Hasil pemerhatian yang telah dijalankan oleh pengkaji mendapati kebanyakan murid Tahun 5 Azam lemah dalam kemahiran melempar dan hal ini telah menjejaskan ketepatan lemparan bola ke arah sasaran. Oleh yang demikian, pengkaji telah menjalankan satu kajian dengan memilih penggunaan multimedia sebagai rawatan. Murid akan menonton video perlakuan melempar yang betul dalam video itu dan meniru gayanya untuk meningkatkan penguasaan dalam kemahiran melempar. Keputusan menunjukkan teknik pengajaran menggunakan multimedia sangat berkesan dalam meningkatkan pembelajaran dan penguasaan melempar (pitching) dalam permainan sofbol murid tahun 5 Azam. Kata kunci: Kemahiran melempar, multimedia,sofbol. 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Sistem pendidikan masa kini sedang mengalami perubahan yang amat pesat. Pelbagai kaedah baru telah diperkenalkan serta digunakan supaya pengajaran guru menjadi lebih berkesan dan menjadi lebih bermakna.. Menurut Semrau, P. Dan Boyer, B.A. (1994), pelajar dapat mempelajari sesuatu konsep dari video pembelajaran yang difokuskan dalam pelbagai kesan bunyi, penceritaan dan muzik. Jadi, video dipercayai dapat memperkukuhkan lagi pembentukan konsep di samping menghasilkan pembelajaran yang lebih luas mendalam. Misalnya dalam kemahiran pitching terdapat teknik-teknik yang dapat ditunjukkan melalui media bergerak dan ini dapat mengekalkan ingatan murid terhadap teknik-teknik yang ditunjukkan dalam video tersebut. Menurut Dan Boyer, B.A. (1994), video interaktif digemari dan menyeronokkan bagi pelajar untuk mempelajarinya. Selain dari pemudahcara multimedia juga adalah sebagai pengganti atau penyokong kepada kaedah pengajaran dan pembelajaran serta sesi latihan yang telah dikendalikan oleh guru atau jurulatih semasa menyampaikan maklumat kepada para pelajar Heinich , R. Molenda, M.Russel, J.S. and Smaldinom. (2002). Multimedia juga mampu menjadi medium komunikasi yang positif dan efektif kerana melaluinya, teks, audio, video serta animasi yang pelbagai warna dan corak mampu dipaparkan di dalam sebuah skrin pada suatu masa yang sama. Di samping itu juga, penggunaan multimedia interaktif juga ternyata mampu menarik perhatian serta mudah untuk difahami berbanding penggunaan bahan-bahan yang statik dan bisu (Vaughan,1998). Bidang sukan juga tidak terkecuali menggunakan teknologi tersebut untuk menyampaikan sesuatu kemahiran, teknik dan taktikal kepada para pemain. Salah satu perkembangan dunia ICT yang sering kali digunakan oleh seseorang jurulatih atau guru dalam memberi input kepada para pemain ialah penggunaan multimedia dalam sukan. Penggunaan multimedia dalam latihan mampu meningkatkan penguasaan kemahiran dalam permainan bola tampar dengan lebih efisien. Hasil daripada kajian lampau menunjukkan bahawa terdapat beberapa kajian telah terbukti keberkesanan penggunaan multimedia dalam latihan. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Hasil pemerhatian pengkaji menunjukkan hampir kesemua murid Tahun 5 Azam tidak dapat menguasai kemahiran melempar dalam softball yang mana menjadi salah satu cabang kemahiran dalam permainan sofbol tetapi tidak menggunakan cara dan teknik yang betul. Hasil pemerhatian yang telah dijalankan, pengkaji mengesahkan bahawa mereka ini tidak diberikan pendedahan oleh guru, masa pengajaran yang sangat terhad, kekurangan sumber pengajaran dan tahap kesukaran kemahiran yang diajar oleh guru, kekurangan keyakinan guru mengajar sesuatu kemahiran yang

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kurang dikuasai dan minat serta penglibatan murid. Isu-isu seperti ini tidak seharusnya timbul dan pengkaji menganggap ini adalah satu kerugian yang amat besar kerana pada usia seperti inilah murid perlu memperbetulkan pergerakan motor kasar mereka dengan sebaiknya supaya tiada masalah yang akan timbul pada masa hadapan seperti contoh terdekat, apabila mereka melangkah ke sekolah menengah dan amat merugikan dan tidak efisyen kerana melakukan teknik melempar dengan cara yang salah. Justeru itu pengkaji memutuskan untuk meyimpul isu kajian ini bahawa murid mahir menggunakan cara yang betul adalah disebabkan oleh pendekatan guru Pendidikan Jasmani yang digunakan tidak berapa berkesan kerana hanya mengajar sekadar yang perlu sahaja. Melalui kajian ini diharap dapat membuktikan bahawa penggunaan video dapat membantu mengurangkan masalah penguasaan murid terhadap kemahiran yang dipelajari dan seterusnya mengatasi kelemahan-kelemahan pengajaran yang telah dikenalpasti. Boyle (1997) dalam kajian yang sama, menyatakan bahawa teknologi komputer pada era globalisasi ini membolehkan pelajar mengaplikasikan penggunaan komputer tanpa sempadan. Langkah Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia membekalkan komputer di semua sekolah di Malaysia merupakan satu usaha positif dalam menarik minat pelajar menggunakan komputer sebagai alat pembelajaran mereka. Selain itu, beliau turut menekankan kepada aspek kepentingan kemahiran penyelesaian masalah di mana pelajar akan menjelajahi pengetahuan baru serta menggabungkannya dengan beberapa sumber pengetahuan untuk penyelesaiannya 3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

3.1 Objektif Umum

Pelajar meningkatkan penguasaan tentang kemahiran melempar bawah tangan dalam permainan sofbol melalui penggunaan kaedah pengajaran multimedia iaitu video.

3.2 Objektif Khusus Meningkatkan penguasaan kemahiran melempar bawah tangan menggunakan kaedah pengajaran multimedia(video) 4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Kajian yang telah saya jalankan ini melibatkan 26 orang murid tahun 5 Azam. Murid-murid ini semuanya berusia 11 tahun pada tahun 2014. Murid-murid ini dipilih kerana mereka merupakan murid yang saya ajar bagi mata pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Mereka dipilih menjadi subjek bagi kajian saya kerana mereka mempunyai masalah menguasai teknik lakuan melempar yang saya kategorikan sebagai lemah. Saya telah mengenal pasti masalah lakuan melempar ini adalah menggunakan pemerhatian. Dari segi akademik pula, pencapaian murid-murid ini boleh dikatakan berada pada tahap pandai. Maklumat akademik ini saya dapatkan melalui guru kelas tahun 5 Azam berdasarkan peperiksaan akhir tahun 2013.

5.0 PERLAKSANAAN TINDAKAN 5.1 Tinjauan Masalah Pemerhatian Pengkaji telah melaksanakan pemerhatian terhadap perlakuan murid semasa pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani bagi mengenalpasti dan memahami dengan lebih lanjut mengenai permasalahan yang dihadapi. Hasil pemerhatian akan direkodkan dalam borang pemerhatian murid. Permerhatian dibuat adalah bertujuan untuk menilai tahap kemahiran dan pengetahuan sedia ada murid terhadap kemahiran yang dikaji. Pengkaji melaksanakan langkah pemerhatian semasa sesi pengajaran dijalankan untuk melihat perkembangan kemahiran dan tahap penguasaan semasa kajian dijalankan.

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5.2 Cara Mengumpul Data Ujian Pra dan Ujian Pasca Ujian Pra merupakan kaedah yang digunakan untuk mengutip data bagi menilai dan mengesan kefahaman sedia ada murid-murid. Ujian ini dijalankan secara amali kemahiran. Pengkaji menggunakan ujian pra bertujuan untuk mengesan tahap pencapaian psikomotor murid sebelum rawatan untuk mengenalpasti isu yang difokuskan untuk dilaksanakan. Pengkaji telah melakukan ujian akhir / ujian pasca dan menilai sendiri perubahan responden yang lemah untuk membezakan keputusan sebelum dan selepas menggunakan strategi pengajaran multimedia dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Langkah-langkah pelaksanaan ini akan diubahsuai mengikut keperluan setelah pengkaji melaksanakan tinjauan awal. Langkah ujian pasca ini juga menggunakan bateri ujian yang sama seperti ujian pra iaitu bateri ujian AAHPER Softball Skills Test ; Underhand Pitching. Ujian dijalankan menggunakan bateri ujian AAHPER Softball Skills Test ; Underhand Pitching. Ujian ini memerlukan responden untuk melempar bola sofbol ke arah target yang berbentuk segi empat mewakili zon strike. Responden diberi tiga kali percubaan untuk pemarkahan ujian ini. Bola yang dilontar sekiranya tepat ke dalam atau mengenai garisan kotak zon strike akan mendapat lima markah. Bola lontaran yang mengenai bahagian luar daripada zon strike akan mendapat tiga markah. Jika lontaran langsung tidak mengenai sasaran tiada markah akan diberikan. 5.3 Tindakan Mengatasi Masalah

Dalam minggu kedua dan ketiga, pengkaji telah melaksanakan teknik pengajaran dengan menggunakan kaedah multimedia iaitu dengan tayangan video bagi mengatasi masalah yang dihadapi oleh murid tahun 5 Azam. Pengkaji memberikan murid menonton dan meneliti klip video berkaitan kemahiran pitching sofbol sebelum sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani dijalankan. Kemudian pengkaji akan memberikan penerangan berdasarkan kandungan video berkaitan kemahiran pitching dalam sofbol. Pengkaji menggunakan pendekatan pengajaran konstektual terhadap responden di mana responden menonton video dan seterusnya menentukan perlakuan kemahiran yang betul dan mendatangkan hasil yang lebih baik. Responden cuba mengaplikasikan apa yang diketahui berdasarkan pemerhatian dan penggunaan multimedia melalui percubaan kemahiran. Responden akan menonton dan meneliti video sekali lagi untuk dan mengaplikasikan kandungan video yang ditonton dan penerangan perlakuan yang diterang oleh pengkaji untuk membentuk kefahaman dan membuat perlakuan kemahiran. Responden sekali lagi akan menonton dan meneliti video untuk membandingkan perlakuan kemahiran yang dilakukan mereka dengan apa yang ada dalam video. Pengkaji menggunakan senarai semak borang penilaian untuk menilai penguasaan kemahiran yang dilakukan oleh responden.

5.4 Keputusan Kajian

Rajah 1 Graf perbandingan dapatan di antara ujian pra dan ujian pos

Rajah 7.1 telah menunjukkan bahawa perbandingan dapatan di antara ujian pra dan ujian pos yang dilakukan responden. Perbandingan skor ini ditentukan dengan menggunakan peratus untuk melihat peningkatan yang berlaku terhadap responden. Berdasarkan graf, bagi ujian pra untuk

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0%-39% terdapat 21 orang responden iaitu bacaan yang tertinggi, 40%-59% seramai lima orang responden dan untuk 60%-79% dan 80%-100% tidak ada responden yang dapat mencapai skor tersebut. Pengkaji menterjemahkan graf tersebut untuk ujian pra bahawa skor yang dilakukan responden tidak menunjukkan skor yang baik kerana majoriti responden berada di tahap yang paling rendah. Hal ini kerana tidak ada responden yang mampu mencapai target untuk berada di tahap yang baik kerana selebihnya hanya berada di tahap yang sederhana dan lemah. Hal ini berlaku mungkin disebabkan oleh kurangnya pengetahuan dan kemahiran responden dalam melempar ke arah target. Seterusnya pengkaji melihat pula kepada dapatan untuk ujian pos yang telah dilakukan responden. Graf palang menunjukkan 1 orang responden yang berada di tahap 80-100%, 3 orang responden pada tahap 60-79%, 7 orang pada tahap 40-59% dan 21 orang pada tahap 0-39%. Melalui dapatan ujian pos ini terdapat peningkatan di setiap tahap kecuali di tahap yang rendah terdapat pengurangan berlaku di situ. Pengurangan ini berlaku adalah di sebabkan peningkatan yang berlaku di tahap yang lain. Peningkatan seramai seorang responden untuk tahap 80-100%, 3 orang responden pada tahap 60-79%, 2 orang responden pada tahap 40-59% dan pengurangan berlaku di tahap 0-39% seramai 6 orang responden. Peningkatan yang ditunjukkan di dalam graf tidaklah sebaik yang diharapkan tetapi dengan kaedah yang digunakan serta masa yang terhad dapatan responden masih menunjukkan peningkatan yang memberangsangkan. Ini membuktikan bahawa kaedah yang diterapkan ke atas responden berkesan dan efektif. Untuk melihat peningkatan responden dengan lebih jelas lagi, pengkaji telah membuat analisa berdasarkan skor responden iaitu peratus yang diperolehi responden. Peningkatan yang berlaku terhadap responden boleh dilihat melalui bentuk peratusan di antara ujian pra dan ujian pos.

5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Dapatan kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa terdapat peningkatan bagi kemahiran yang diuji dalam kajian ini. Kaedah latihan menggunakan multimedia lebih banyak mendatangkan kesan terhadap peningkatan kemahiran kerana penggunaan peralatan canggih seperti computer dan speaker jelas membantu dalam meningkatkan prestasi responden semasa melakukan ujian pasca. Ini bertepatan dengan kajian Kulik dan Kulik (1991) dalam analisis yang melibatkan 254 kajian berkaitan dengan Pembelajaran Berpandukan Komputer (PBK) dapat mendatangkan kesan yang positif kepada pelajar. Kulik mendapati, penggunaan PBK boleh meningkatkan pencapaian pelajar, menjimatkan masa pengajaran dan pembelajaran dan meningkatkan sikap terhadap mata pelajaran tertentu. Jadi sekiranya PBK ini dilaksanakan dalam sistem pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani di sekolah rendah di Malaysia, keberkesanan dan keputusan terbaik juga akan dihasilkan. Negara-negara maju seperti German, Crotia, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Korea dan Jepun sudah memulakan langkah menggunakan komputer dalam menjalankan sistem latihan sukan mereka (Nabeel, 2002). Tidak menjadi satu masalah yang besar bagi kita untuk mengikuti jejak langkah mereka dan melaksanakan pengajaran multimedia dalam Pendidikan Jasmani untuk perkembangan sukan di Malaysia.

Hasil daripada kajian ini juga, murid-murid sudah menaruh keyakinan dan minat untuk melaksanakan kemahiran melempar dalam permainan sofbol selepas penggunaan kaedah pengajaran multimedia. Semasa ujian pra dan ujian pasca dilakukan, pemain diperlihatkan aksi-aksi menerusi video kemahiran melempar bawah tangan sofbol yang dimainkan. Selepas itu, barulah mereka melakukan sendiri kemahiran yang telah ditonton. Penglibatan murid menjadi lebih aktif kerana mereka ingin mempraktikkan apa yang telah diperlihatkan kepada mereka. Ini bertepatan dengan kajian Johnson (1995) yang mendapati bahawa penggunaan peralatan multimedia dapat meningkatkan motivasi, minat serta memberi keseronokan kepada pelajar untuk mengikuti pengajaran guru. Malahan penggunaan komputer dan multimedia juga dapat memberi galakan terhadap penumpuan serta prihatin pelajar dalam sesi pengajaran yang dijalankan. Di samping itu pelajar juga berpeluang untuk melibatkan diri dalam diri dalam situasi pembelajaran yang lebih kompleks dan mencabar (Mohd Arif Ismail dan Mohd. Jasmy 2002).

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6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SETERUSNYA

Kajian ini melibatkan jumlah responden yang kecil dan terhad kepada pelajar tahun 5 Azam Sekolah Kebangsaan Desa Tasik sahaja. Untuk mendapatkan kualiti kajian yang tinggi adalah dicadangkan bilangan responden ditambah dan dipilih dari beberapa buah sekolah yang lain. Justeru itu, dikemukakan beberapa cadangan seperti berikut :-

Mempertimbangkan pembolehubah-pembolehubah seperti bangsa, jantina, umur, persekitaran, aktiviti harian, sosio-ekonomi dan lain-lain lagi.

Kajian berikutnya boleh melihat perkaitan antara penggunaan multimedia dalam peningkatan kemahiran dan penglibatan murid semasa sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani.

Kajian selanjutnya juga boleh dibuat dengan mengkaji keberkesanan penggunaan multimedia terhadap peningkatan komponen-komponen kecergasan fizikal dengan tahap kemahiran dalam permainan sofbol.

Pengkaji seterusnya juga boleh mengkaji perkaitan antara penggunaan multimedia dalam perkembangan mekanisme perlakuan kemahiran permainan terutamanya permainan sofbol.

RUJUKAN

Abang Ismail bin Abang Haji Julhi dan Mohd. Taib bin Harun. (2007). Keberkesanan Penggunaan Multimedia Terhadap Penguasaan Kemahiran Sukan Bola Baling. Seminar Penyelidikan Pendidikan Institut Perguruan Batu Lintang Tahun 2007.

Jamali Seman. (2009). Keberkesanan Penggunaan Multimedia Dalam Pengajaran Pendidikan Jasmani (Permainan Bola Baling), Fakulti Pendidikan Dan Bahasa Open University Malaysia.

Jamalludin harun & zaidatun tasir (2003). Multimedia dalam pendidikan, PTS Publication, Bentong. Asas Multimedia dan Aplikasinya dalam Pendidikan.

Michael G. Marshall. (2003). Chapter Thirty-Four: Motor Development, Learning And SkillAcquisition. Coaching Pitchers.

Mohd. Arif & mohd. Jasmy. (2002) Implikasi Teknologi Maklumat Dan Komunikasi Ke

Atas Gaya Pengejaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Fokus Terhadap Kemahiran Permainan Bola Tampar. Prosiding Seminar Kebangsaan Profesion Perguruan 2002. University Kebangsaan Malaysia : Hlm. 375 – 391.

Mohd Arshad bin Yahya & Mohd Hafidz bin Md. Fazil Guru Pelatih Diploma Pendidikan Lepasan Ijazah UKM Kaedah Video Dan Demonstrasi Dalam Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Murid Masalah Pembelajaran.

Mohd. Majid Konting, (1994) Kaedah Penyelidikan Tindakan, Dewan Bahasa danPustaka Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

Mok Soon Sang, (2010). Penyelidikan Dalam Pendidikan, Selangor : Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd.

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MENINGKATKAN KEKUATAN OTOT TANGAN DALAM KALANGAN MURID TAHUN 6 UTARID MELALUI LATIHAN BOLA SEGAR

Oleh:

MOHD AFIZ BIN KAMARUDIN

Jabatan Sains Sukan

ABSTRAK

Tujuan kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk melihat sejauh mana latihan bola segar dapat meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan. Kajian ini melibatkan seramai enam orang responden kajian dari kelas 6 Utarid yang disaring dalam tinjauan awal melalui ujian tekan tubi. Ujian pra menggunakan ujian Handgrip yang dilakukan sebelum subjek kajian menjalani intervensi. Responden kajian telah menjalani latihan menggunakan bola segar dua kali seminggu pada hari Selasa dan Khamis selama satu jam sepanjang empat minggu. Program latihan bola segar telah disusun secara sistematik mengikut prinsip latihan. Jenis latihan bola segar yang dilakukan adalah Upward lift, Chest push, Vertical extensions dan Standing torso twist. Ujian pasca masih mengekalkan ujian Handgri yang dilakukan pada hujung minggu keempat iaitu selepas responden kajian menjalani program latihan selama empat minggu. Dapatan kajian ini memperlihatkan peningkatan dalam skor ujian Handgrip. Memandangkan tahap peningkatan yang ditunjukkan oleh responden kajian tidak melepasi tahap pencapaian baik, maka untuk kajian selanjutnya pengkaji mencadangkan tempoh intervensi ditambah dan kekerapan ditingkatkan. Kata Kunci: Kekuatan, Ujian Tekan Tubi, Ujian Handgrip, Dynamometer 1.0 PENDAHULUAN

Pendidikan Jasmani merupakan satu-satunya mata pelajaran yang dapat menghasilkan

pendidikan yang menyeluruh meliputi domain psikomotor, kognitif, afektif, sosial dan emosi (Wee Eng Hoe, 2002). Kecergasan dibahagikan kepada 2 jenis iaitu kecergasan jasmani yang berkait dengan kesihatan dan kecergasan jasmani yang berkait dengan perlakuan motor atau kemahiran. Kecergasan perlakuan motor pula terbahagi kepada enam iaitu ketangkasan, imbangan, koordinasi, kuasa, kelajuan, masa tindak balas. Bagi komponen kecergasan berasaskan kesihatan pula, komponen ini terbahagi kepada lima iaitu daya tahan kardiovaskular, daya tahan otot, kelembutan, komposisi tubuh badan dan kekuatan (Wee Eng Hoe, 2002). Kekuatan merupakan keupayaan otot atau kumpulan otot untuk mengatasi sesuatu rintangan (Beashel & Taylor, 1986). Menurut Faigenbaum (2010), latihan menggunakan bola segar untuk kanak-kanak boleh digunakan untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot, kuasa otot, fleksibiliti, daya tahan, koordinasi, ketangkasan, imbangan, dan kepantasan. Bola segar juga digunakan secara efektif dalam latihan untuk meningkatkan kuasa dan juga kekuatan bagi atlet dalam sukan. 1.1 Refleksi Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran

Berdasarkan kepada sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP) Pendidikan Jasmani yang telah

dijalankan semasa praktikum fasa ketiga di sebuah sekolah di negeri Selangor, didapati bahawa kebanyakan murid mengalami masalah dalam melakukan aktiviti yang melibatkan kekuatan otot. Didapati bahawa murid-murid Tahun 6 Utarid mempunyai masalah dari segi kekuatan otot terutamanya kekuatan otot tangan. Semasa guru menyuruh murid-murid melakukan aktiviti seperti angkat timba dan sokongan hadapan, sebahagian besar murid-murid tidak dapat melakukan aktiviti tersebut. Tambahan pula, murid-murid mudah penat dan letih apabila melakukan aktivit yang melibatkan kekuatan.

Oleh itu, bagi mencari punca permasalahan tersebut pengkaji telah menjalankan ujian tekan

tubi. Ujian tekan tubi yang digunakan adalah berdasarkan ujian tekan tubi dalam ujian Standard Kecergasan Fizikal Kebangsaan (SEGAK) di mana ujian ini digunakan untuk menguji kekuatan bahagian atas badan berdasarkan kepada bilangan tekan tubi yang boleh dilakukan. Hasil daripada ujian yang dijalankan ini secara tidak langsung dapat mengenal pasti terhadap murid-murid Tahun 6 Utarid yang tidak mempunyai kekuatan otot tangan yang baik.

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1.2 Refleksi Nilai Pendidikan

Dalam sesebuah sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran, seorang guru yang serba boleh akan dapat mengaplikasikan keadah, teknik, dan juga strategi yang bersesuaian dengan subjek yang diajarnya. Dalam kajian tindakan ini, prinsip yang telah digunakan ialah Prinsip Latihan FITT. Menurut AAHPERD (1999), FITT adalah prinsip yang merujuk kepada Frequency(F) atau kekerapan latihan, Intensity(I) atau bebanan, Time(T) atau merujuk kepada masa latihan dan Type(T) merujuk kepada jenis latihan yang dilakukan. 2.0 FOKUS KAJIAN

Dalam permasalahan kajian ini, didapati bahawa murid-murid Tahun 6 Utarid mempunyai

masalah kekuatan otot tangan ketika melakukan aktiviti yang melibatkan komponen kekuatan otot sewaktu sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP) Pendidikan Jasmani dilaksanakan. Bagi mengenal pasti masalah, pengkaji telah melakukan ujian tekan tubi. Ujian tekan tubi yang digunakan adalah berdasarkan ujian tekan tubi dalam ujian Standard Kecergasan Fizikal Kebangsaan (SEGAK) di mana ujian ini digunakan untuk menguji kekuatan bahagian atas badan berdasarkan kepada bilangan tekan tubi yang boleh dilakukan. Jadual 1 Skor Ujian Tekan Tubi (Lelak 12 Tahun)

Skor 5 4 3 2 1

Tekan tubi 28 ke atas 17-27 6-16 1-5 0 Prestasi Cemerlang Baik Sederhana Lemah Sangat

Lemah

Jadual 2 Skor Ujian Tekan Tubi (Perempuan 12 Tahun)

Skor 5 4 3 2 1

Tekan tubi 29 ke atas 20-28 10-19 1-9 0 Prestasi Cemerlang Baik Sederhana Lemah Sangat

Lemah

Sumber: Standard Kecergasan Fizikal Kebangsaan (SEGAK) 3.0 OBJEKTIF KAJIAN

3.1 Objektif Umum

Secara umumnya, objektif kajian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan murid Tahun 6 Utarid melalui latihan bola segar. 3.2 Objektif Khusus

Meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan murid Tahun 6 Utarid melalui latihan upward lift, chest

push, vertical extension dan standing torso twist menggunakan bola segar. 4.0 KUMPULAN SASARAN

Seramai enam orang murid telah terpilih untuk menjadi responden dalam kajian ini. Murid yang telah dipilih sebagai kumpulan sasaran ini adalah terdiri daripada jantina yang berlainan iaitu empat orang murid lelaki dan dua orang murid perempuan. Rasional pemilihan murid-murid ini adalah kerana melalui ujian tinjauan awal yang telah dijalankan, hanya enam orang murid ini sahaja yang tergolong dalam kategori lemah dan ini menjadikan mereka adalah sesuai untuk dipilih dalam kajian yang hendak dijalankan. Daripada enam orang murid ini, terdapat seorang murid perempuan yang kidal.

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5.0 PELAKSANAAN TINDAKAN

Pengkaji telah menggunakan instrumen ujian untuk membantu mengenal pasti masalah yang dihadapi dan untuk melihat hasil intervensi yang telah dijalankan ke atas subjek kajian. Pengkaji telah memilih untuk menggunakan kaedah latihan bola segar untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan responden kajian. 5.1 Cara Mengumpulkan Data/ Maklumat

Dalam kajian ini, terdapat dua ujian yang telah dilaksanakan iaitu ujian pra dan ujian pasca.

Ujian pra dijalankan terlebih dahulu bertujuan untuk melihat serta mendapatkan skor awal murid-murid sebelum melaksanakan sesi intervensi iaitu ujian Handgrip. Dalam ujian pra ini, murid-murid dikehendaki untuk melakukan Ujian Handgrip menggunakan dynamometer yang telah disediakan. Murid-murid melakukan tiga kali percubaan untuk tangan kanan (dominan) dan tangan kiri (bukan dominan). Bacaan terbaik antara tiga percubaan yang dilakukan diambil sebagai skor akhir bagi ujian pra yang dijalankan. Selepas ujian pra dan latihan intervensi selesai, ujian pasca pula dilaksanakan. Ujian pasca dilakukan bertujuan untuk menilai keberkesanan latihan intervensi yang telah dijalankan ke atas murid-murid menggunakan latihan bola segar. Ujian pasca yang dilaksanakan adalah sama seperti ujian yang telah dijalankan semasa ujian pra.

5.2 Analisis Tinjauan Awal

Pengkaji telah menggunakan kaedah ujian sebagai salah satu cara pengumpulan data. Bagi

mengenal pasti masalah, pengkaji telah melakukan ujian tekan tubi. Bagi melaksanakan kajian ini, pengkaji telah menggunakan dua jenis ujian iaitu ujian pra dan ujian pasca. 5.3 Tindakan Menangani Masalah

Latihan bola segar seberat 1 dan 2 kg telah digunakan dalam melaksanakan latihan intervensi.

Mengikut Faigenbaum (2010) mencadangkan berat yang sesuai untuk kanak-kanak ialah 1 kg sehingga 2 kg sahaja. Latihan bola segar dilaksanakan selama empat minggu dengan dua kali sesi setiap minggu. Intervensi ini dijalankan bermula pada bulan Julai dan berakhir pada bulan Ogos. Ujian pra telah dilaksanakan pada bulan Julai manakala ujian pasca dilaksanakan pada bulan Ogos. Jadual 3 Jadual Latihan

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PETUNJUK : B – Bulan M – Minggu T – Tarikh

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5.4 Keputusan Kajian Jadual 4 Dapatan kajian

Berdasarkan Jadual 12, pengkaji mendapati bahawa seramai tiga orang responden telah

berjaya melebihi skor min purata untuk ujian Handgrip bagi ujian pasca untuk tangan tangan kanan di mana ketiga-tiga responden masing-masing mendapat skor 17 kg, 21 kg dan 23 kg, melebihi skor min purata iaitu 16.5 kg. Tambahan lagi, seramai dua orang responden juga telah berjaya melebihi skor min purata untuk ujian Handgrip bagi ujian pasca untuk tangan kiri di mana kedua-kedua responden masing-masing mendapat skor 18 kg dan 24 kg melebihi skor min purata iaitu 16.5 kg. Hasil dapatan kajian ini ternyata menunjukkan bahawa setiap responden mampu meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan mereka dengan menjalani latihan intervensi yang telah dijalankan oleh pengkaji. 5.5 Rumusan Kajian

Dapatan kajian yang diperoleh ini telah berjaya menjawab persoalan kajian iaitu murid-murid Tahun 6 Utarid berjaya meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan mereka dengan melakukan latihan bola segar. Ini dapat dibuktikan berdasarkan program latihan yang telah dijalankan oleh setiap responden semasa latihan intervensi dengan menggunakan bola segar. Latihan bola segar yang dilaksanakan sebanyak dua kali seminggu bagi tempoh empat minggu ini telah membantu meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan responden. Pengkaji juga turut mendapati bahawa latihan menggunakan bola segar dapat meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan murid-murid Tahun 6 Utarid selaras dengan kajian oleh Faigenbaum dan Mediate (2008) yang menyatakan bahawa latihan menggunakan bola segar boleh digunakan untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot, kuasa otot, koordinasi, ketangkasan, imbangan dan kelajuan.

Kesimpulannya, berdasarkan hasil kajian yang telah diperoleh jelas menunjukkan bahawa latihan bola segar mampu meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan responden dan latihan bola segar juga mampu meningkatkan skor dalam ujian Handgrip responden menerusi latihan bola segar. Ini sekali gus telah membuktikan bahawa persoalan kajian telah berjaya dijawab.

5.6 Refleksi

Sepanjang menjalankan kajian tindakan ini pelbagai perasan yang telah pengkaji alami. Pada peringkat awal kajian pengkaji mengalami berbagai–bagai masalah kerana kurang memahami cara pelaksanaan kajian tindakan. Walau bagaimanapun, sedikit demi sedikit masalah ini dapat diatasi dengan bimbingan pensyarah pembimbing dan merujuk buku- buku berkaitan.

Pada pendapat pengkaji, kajian tindakan merupakan satu proses pemerolehan ilmu yang berguna dalam membina pengetahuan dan kemahiran pedagogi untuk proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Oleh itu, perlaksanaan dan penerbitan penyelidikan tindakan perlu diperbanyakkan supaya guru dan pendidik dalam masyarakat tempatan boleh berkongsi idea mereka dalam pengajaran.

Responden

Kanan (Kg) Kiri (Kg)

Pra Pasca Peningkatan Peratus (%)

Pra Pasca Peningkatan Peratus (%)

R1 15 17 +2 13.3 15 16 +1 6.7 R2 20 21 +1 5 18 18 +0 0 R3 11 14 +3 27.3 11 13 +2 18.2 R4 12 14 +2 16.7 12 15 +3 25 R5 22 23 +1 4.5 23 24 +1 4.3

R6 9 10 +1 11 11 13 +2 18.2 Min 14.8 16.5 1.7 15 16.5 1.5

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6.0 CADANGAN KAJIAN SELANJUTNYA

Berdasarkan pengalaman menjalankan latihan menggunakan kaedah latihan bola segar dan analisis keputusan ujian pra dan pasca yang dijalankan, kajian lanjut perlu dijalankan untuk mendapatkan keputusan yang lebih berkesan. Pengkaji mencadangkan agar tempoh intervensi dipanjangkan supaya aktiviti dapat dilakukan dengan lebih lama. Tempoh intervensi yang lebih lama dan panjang akan dapat membantu murid untuk lebih fokus kepada aktiviti dan skor juga akan dapat ditingkatkan ini kerana menurut Faigenbaum (2010) menyatakan bahawa program latihan yang melibatkan bola segar direka untuk tempoh enam minggu bagi melihat hasil yang lebih berkesan.

Pengkaji juga turut mencadangkan agar latihan bola segar yang digunakan untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan murid-murid dapat diterapkan dalam kemahiran-kemahiran sukan lain seperti yang terkandung dalam sukatan pelajaran Pendidikan Jasmani. Kemahiran-kemahiran yang terdapat dalam bola keranjang, bola jaring, badminton, hoki dan lontar peluru boleh menggunakan bola segar sebagai latihan tambahan untuk meningkatkan kekuatan otot tangan murid-murid. Berdasarkan kajian yang telah dilaksanakan, pengkaji juga mencadangkan supaya menggabungkan latihan bola segar dengan kaedah latihan yang lain seperti latihan bebanan dan latihan pliometrik bagi meningkatkan kekuatan tangan. Untuk mendapat hasil kajian yang baik, sesungguhnya perancangan pelaksanaan kajian juga perlulah sangat baik agar keputusan kajian dapat menunjukkan keberkesanannya.

RUJUKAN AAHPERD, (1999). Physical Education for Lifelong Fitness: The Physical Best Teacher’s Guide,

Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; pgs. 78-79

Beashel, P., and Taylor, J. (1986). Sport Examined. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.

Bompa, T.O. (2000). Total Training for Young Champions : Proven Conditioning Programs for Athletes ages 6 to 18. United States: Human Kinetics.

Faigenbaum, A.D., Mediate, P. (2006). Effects of Medicine Ball Training on Fitness Performance of High-School Physical Education Students. Retrieved from http://www.sirc.ca/newsletters/january09/documents/s-1036281.pdf.

Wee Eng Hoe (2002). Siri Pendidikan Guru: Pendidikan Jasmani dan Pendidikan Kesihatan Edisi

Kedua. Selangor: Karisma Publications.