Many researches have shown that pre-university students encounter problems
in the writing component in English in the MUET. Kaur and Nordin (2006) had
stated that the achievement of students in the MUET writing component had
been unsatisfactory. The finding from their study showed that 29.2% of the
120,000 graduates managed to score Bands One and Two in their MUET,
categorising them as ‘Extremely Limited User’ and ‘Limited User’ respectively.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
1. Find out the methods used by an experienced MUET teacher in teaching
writing skills to MUET candidates.
2. Identify the reasons of the methods used by an experienced MUET
teacher in teaching writing skill to MUET candidates
3. Explore the methods used by an experienced MUET teacher during the
teaching and learning process of MUET writing skill
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the methods used by an experienced MUET teacher in
teaching writing skill to MUET candidates?
2. Why does an experienced MUET teacher use the methods in teaching
writing skill to MUET candidates?
3. How the methods were used during the teaching and learning process
of MUET writing skill?
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METHODOLOGY
This research employed a case study design where it only uses one respondent.
The population and sample for this study use the purposive sampling which is
an experienced MUET teacher which is in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan
Sultan Sulaiman, Kuala Terengganu. She had been selected as she had 21
years experience of teaching MUET and had been appointed to head the team
in producing the MUET questions papers since 1991. She also becomes the
only representative from Terengganu to be in a big community for reinventing
new MUET format in 2021. The respondent’s retirement age is in three years
coming and the methods used is still relevant. The collection of data used the
semi-structured interview protocol as the main instrumen whereby there were
three sections of questions that need to be answered by the respondent. The
interview were conducted three times and after transcribing the datas were
done, the respondent will verify the data. Meanwhile the observations data were
conducted five times and it were collected by using the checklist form. The
document analysis were taken as it contains written information on the teaching
and learning process of MUET writing skill. In this case, the writing skill lesson
plan, the students work and the respondent’s books and modules were
analysed. The three main data is supported by the field notes and diaries as
well. The analysis of data used the thematic approach and they were analysed
by using triangulation of data and the expert verification to verify the refined
theme produced.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Based on the interview transcription, observation and document analysis, the
finding for three research questions are as follow:
First research question: What are the methods used by an experienced
MUET teacher in teaching writing skill to MUET candidates?
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Category: Methods in teaching MUET writing skill.
1. Grouping methods
“We do encourage them to write in groups. Group writing is one thing I find it
very useful. We use mahjong paper and roll board. We make the group small.
Maximum of three candidates in 1 group. (section C, question 2 line 4-6)
The respondent stated that she divided this method into two categories which
are the mix ability group (heterogenous) and similar ability group (homogenous).
2. Focusing on The Basic Components of Writing
Another method that is used by the respondent is by focussing on a small area
or the basic component of the writing skill such as the part of speech, vocabulary
and spelling, sentence structure, paragraph, signal word and type of writing.
“I usually focus on the basic of writing first. When they first enter the school, I
will use at least two months for them to actually be exposed to the smallest part
of English language. For upper six, I also focus on this. for example, when I
teach listening skill and we have extra time after the lesson, I will use that time
to do something. I may go for these small area of writing” (section B, question
4 line 36-40)
3. Guided Writing and Practices
Another method used by the respondent is by using guided writing from the
modules she produced on her own which are the books, self-improvement
modules and JPN modules.
“So, the teacher has to come out with something. Like for me, I have this self-
improvement module where there are all worksheets on grammar, vocabularies,
sentence structure. One piece, and at the back you have the answer. So those
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who are not involve that may be doing that while I test these 4 candidates”
(section C, question 8 line 79-86)
There are several type of guided writing that the respondent provided such as
labelling, summarising, identifying and stating signal words, information
transfer, fill in the blank, change the statement into Yes/No question, completing
sentence, matching the phrases synonym, providing word in English,
rearranging to form a complete paragraph, rearrange a jumble up words,
antonym and synonym and providing the new answer.
4. Samples and Answer Keys
As stated by the respondent, writing skill in MUET is very technical especially
for section A, the report writing. MUET candidates need to interpret the visual(s),
graph(s) or picture(s) and they have to find the logical correlation between the
data. Hence, for writing skill in MUET, candidates need to master the technique,
format of the questions and the expectation such as the trend word, the signal
word, the lead in, the overview, the stand, the issues and the thesis statement.
“If the sample are not given, they don’t know how it looks like. They might write
the report more than 200 words so they already penalising themselves because
their report are not complete. They may be very good, probably a band 5
qualification, but then if they don’t have conclusion for their report, it’s not a
complete report. So they haven’t fulfill the task. Because they didn’t follow the
convention or expectation of task fulfilment” (section C, question 5 line 24-28)
5. Integrated skill
In teaching writing skill, the respondent will use other skills as either
supplementary means or for feedback, for instance, speaking and reading skills
where it can be presented in writing class or vice verse.
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“So you see, after doing speaking, we can use the same issue, the title and the
four points. So we can ask them to write essay. Because speaking is actually a
productive skills so is writing. So you can use whatever you are discussing to
write. And the following week I go for reading and writing. I can also mix and
match of course.” (section C, question 5 line 28–35)
6. Technology
The use of technology such as the mobile phone, laptop, application in the
internet, LCD and presentation software help improve the MUET writing skill.
“The use of mobile learning helps them to improve their English. This is because
they can download many types of learning applications to improve their English.
I will ensure my candidates install dictionary in their phone such as Webster
dictionary that help them translate or know the meaning some of the unfamiliar
words to improve their English language. For that reason, it can make me good
in learning writing for MUET.” (section C, question 4 line 15-20)
Second research question: Why does an experienced MUET teacher use
the methods in teaching writing skill to MUET candidates?
Category: Competency
1. Teamwork
The finding from the data analysed indicates that the reason of the methods
used is because respondent intended to promote teamworks among the group
members to solve the problem or the task given together. She emphasised on
the importances of cooperating and collaborating with each other as it would
motivate the candidates to complete the tasks given together. She believes that
teamwork can promote cooperation and collaboration where every candidates
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in the class will contribute their individual skills to the group and also provide
constructive feedback.
2. Leadership
According to the respondent, the methods used can promote and inculcate
leadership skill in all candidates. This can be seen when they are grouped
together when the advance ones helped their group member to complete the
task. Respondent stated that it will enhance the candidates to sharpen the
problem solving skills when they decided the role of the group members and
leading the initial stages of writing such as outlining drafting the writing. They
are responsible to provide guidance or feedback to the group. She stated that
this is not only necessarily to the advanced candidates but also to the weak one.
3. Confidence
According to the respondent, another reason of these methods are being used
is because it promotes self-confidence. Based on this study, the respondents
mentioned that candidates hesitated to speak in English outside the classroom
context because they were terrified of their incorrect use of grammatical
structures. This lead to poor performances in writing as well because they do
not know how to apply the second language. According to the respondent,
method such as grouping, basic component of writing, guided writing, exercise
and practice, will enhance their confidence as they provide direct instruction in
writing techniques such as brainstorming, organization of text, paragraph
construction, peer conferencing techniques, and revising strategies.
4. Communication
The method used can develop communication skill. Respondents believed that
by using this method, it will improves candidates in many aspect of writing and
also in their communication during conversing in daily life. She believed that the
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candidates will be better in English if they keep practicing to converse in that
language. Thus, she promotes the activity and used this methods as it can
encourage them to speak in English.
“if they can speak in English correctly, they can write well” (section C, question
5, line 37-38)
5. Planning and organising skill
The respondent also stated out that the reason these methods are carried out
is to ensure candidate write the content of the writing in a correct flow. Sample
and answer keys is very important as it exposes the candidates to be familiar
with the examiners’ expectations so that they will know what to do in their writing
paper. It helps candidates to have the necessary cognitive ability to formulate
their thoughts and ideas in an outline logically, accurately and coherently.
“by doing this, I train them to write according to the sequence. For example,
they need to have signal words first, and then the topic sentence, the supporting
detail, the elaboration and the examples.. so the essay, the content and the idea
flow coherently and cohessively.” (section C, question 1, line 26-29)
6. Well-rounded language skill
The respondent, as stated is one of the panels in producing the question papers
and had been heading the team for marking for many year, believe that all the
methods will produce a candidate with well rounded language skill.
“They need to realise that every skill are related to each other… so that they
can implement what they learn in speaking skill to writing skill or vice versa. All
skills facilitate each other. By integrating all these, they will be skilful” (section
C, question 5, line 40-42)
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7. Up-to-date
Along with the current changes, the reasons the respondents used this method
is because it is up to date. She believed that the use of technology is essential
as candidates nowadays are all exposed to the technology and it will motivate
them to learn better. Using ICT in learning provides sufficient learning materials
and supports the writing process. With the help of technology, candidates can
effectively access various online resources which could help them to generate
more ideas and gain information on the topic. It will promote interactive and
interesting writing activities.
Third research question: How the methods were used during the teaching
and learning process of MUET writing skill?
Category: Teaching and Learning process.
1. Scaffolding process
The process of scaffolding happens often in the teaching and learning process
of MUET writing skill. This can be seen in two parts. The first part is when the
candidates are put in a group where the process of scaffolding happened
between them and the peers. The second part is when the candidates work
individually and was facilitated by the teacher.
2. Repetition and drilling process
Most of the process during the teaching and learning of writing MUET skill is by
doing repetition and drill to improve their skill in writing. Respondent believed
that it is important to constantly do the same exercises to form a habit. She will
ensure the candidates understand the small detail before going to the
challenging part.
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3. Authentic context
From the observation during the T&L process of MUET writing skill, the
respondent used the authentic context and materials to promote meaningful
learning. Before starting the lesson, the respondent talked on a random thing
about the class. She did not use the topic or the theme for the lesson yet in
order to arouse candidates’ interest to talk as they can relate it in their daily life.
This was done by pointing out randomly to the candidates and she will correct
the candidates if there was any mistake and asked them to speak correctly.
4. Feedback process
During the observation of T&L process, the process of the feedback occurs all
the time from the beginning until the ending of T&L process. When candidates
work in groups, the respondent will facilitate each group and corrected them
straight away indirectly by giving a stimulus. In group, the respondent will ensure
that every part of the labelling was correct. For instance, in Question 1, the
respondent will check if candidates label the signal words correctly and she
would respond to it.
DISCUSSION
Based on this research, the researcher can make a discussion on the three
findings gained. Firstly, the methods used could improve the candidate result in
writing skill. They were guided in a process since the beginning of their semester
and the process is repetitive until they sit for their examination. These methods
were supported by many researchers and it is proven to enhance students
writing achievement. From this finding too, the prominent method that can be
seen was grouping method as it helped the candidates to improve in so many
aspect. Grouping method which consists of heterogeneous (mixed-abilities)
group and homogenous (similar abilities) group are one of the most effective
methods used by many educators in teaching and learning of writing process.
This method is supported by Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R.T., Roy, P.,
Zaidman,B (2009, p.7), McNamara (2006) and Johnson (2009); Slavin, (2011).
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Besides, this finding of the methods could enhance students competency in
many aspect. The methods used by the respondents are in lines and parallel
with the National Education Philosophy that aspired to produce a competent
students that can cater all aspects in their future and able to face the 21st
century globalisation challenges. The methods used are able to fulfil all the
competency elements intended by the National Education Philosophy in all
candidates’ aspects.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the purpose of this study was to identify and analyse the teaching
methods used by an experienced MUET teacher. The methods used and the
reasons behind it are closely related with the experience of teaching. The
methods applied also suitable according to the students level of cognitive. All
MUET teachers should emphasise more on the use of the latest current method
which is the technology as well as the prominent method which is the grouping
method to arouse students’ interest better. The will indirectly make the students
to focus better, have fun during the teaching and earning process and
competent in the technology skill thus enhance their English language
proficiency and competency in lines with the Malaysian Educational Blueprint
2013-2025.
RECCOMENDATIONS
Knowledge and experience are the basic fundamental to the implementation of
the methods of teaching and learning MUET writing skill. MUET writing skill is a
technical papers thus it requires a MUET teacher to really understand and has
a high knowledge on the pattern of the question. The Malaysian Examination
Council supposedly optimised the enhancement of knowledge to all the MUET
teachers and lecturers by having more courses, workshops or roadshows on
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the methods used to teach MUET writing skill. In order to strengthen the MUET
teachers’ and lecturers’ knowledge and skill, it is advisable to all MUET
teachers’ and lecturers’ to collaborate among themselves too. In fact, the
cooperation from all parties is very much needed.
IMPLICATIONS
The schools, matriculation and university are very close to the MUET
programme. They should give proper attention and cooperation to enable the
MUET teachers to further enhance their teaching practices. Teaching facilities
and teaching materials should be provided more for MUET teachers to be able
to implement the methods in lines with this 21st century learning. It will indirectly
enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning MUET writing skill. These
findings provide information to all MUET teachers and lecturers about the
methods used in teaching writing skill among them. In turn, it is hoped that it will
raise awareness of the importance of improving the teaching methods and
applying the suitable teaching and learning methods to the students. MUET
teachers and lecturers should also strive to improve the quality of their
professionalism in relation to their knowledge and teaching method of MUET
writing skill so that their delivery of knowledge to the students will be effective
thus fulfil the objective of the learning.
REFERENCESS
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Ashrafzadeh, A., & Nimehchisalem, V. (2015). Vocabulary knowledge:
Malaysian tertiary level learners’ major problem in summary writing. Journal of
Language Teaching and Research, 6(2), 286-291.
Bernama. (2014, March 19). 53,422 Calon Lulus STPM 2013. Retrieved July 1,
2015, from http://www.mstar.com.my/berita/berita- semasa/2014/03/19/53422-
lulus-stpm-2013/
Gillies M. et al. (2008) Teachers’ discourse during cooperative learning and their
perceptions of this pedagogical practice. University of Queensland, Australia
ScienceDirect, Teaching and Teacher Education Journal, Volume 24, Issue 5,
July, pp 1333-1348.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R.T., Roy, P., Zaidman,B.,(2009). “Oral Interaction in
cooperative learning groups: Speaking, listening and the nature of statements
made by high, medium and low achieving students”. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 119 pp 303-321
Kaur, N., & Nordin, R. (2006). A case for reconstruction of the pedagogy of
Malaysian University English Test (MUET) through thematic units instruction.
Journal of Institutional Research South East Asia, 4(1), 5–16.
Malaysian Examinations Council (2006, 2011, 2015). Malaysian university
English test (MUET): Regulations, test specifications, test format and sample
questions. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2pM4gYa .
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Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2013). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-
2025 (Preschool to Post-Secondary Education). Putrajaya, Malaysia:
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Slavin,Robert. (2011). An Introduction to Cooperative Learning Research.
Learning to Cooperate, Cooperating to learn. New York: Plenum Press.
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D - MAGICAL SLIDES MODEL FOR YEAR 5 PUPILS’ ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE IN LEARNING ENGLISH
DHARISINI A/P HARISANKARA RAO
[email protected]
Azman bin Mohamed Nor
English Department
Institute of Teacher Education Dato’ Razali Ismail Campus
ABSTRACT
Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to teach and learning
English has become a paradigm. In recent years, the Malaysian Education
Ministry has geared all of its teachers to use the ICT vastly to improve the pupils’
language proficiency level. Thus, this research was conducted at Sekolah
Kebangsaan Tok Jiring, Kuala Terengganu, addition in terms of five language
skills (Listening and Speaking, Reading, Writing, Grammar and Language Arts).
The usage of interactive slides was the main item in this research as it helps to
teach three topics based on the KSSR Year 5 English textbook which were Unit
9 – Space Exploration, Unit 10 - The Peach Boy and Unit 11 - Natural Disasters
to be taught to the pupils of Year 5 Ibnu Khaldun. The tasks were all related to
the interactive slides and focused on improving all the five language skills of the
Year 5 Ibnu Khaldun pupils. These interactive slides were created and could be
shared among the Year 5 English teachers to be used during their English
teaching and learning sessions.
Keywords: Listening and Speaking, Reading, Writing, Grammar, Language
Arts, interactive slides, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
223
INTRODUCTION
According to Singhal (1997), technology and the teaching-learning process of
English were interconnected together. During the last ten years, there has been
much focus on the place of technology in learning English (Hatlevik et al., 2013).
Throughout these years, Malaysia has experienced broad changes in its
education system, especially when integrating the English language into the
system. These constant ‘changes’ were carried out to improve the current
existing teaching and learning procedures in schools to create pupils who are
capable of competing on international platforms. Based on Davies and Hewer
(2012), one of the modern approaches can be used in teaching English is
leveraging technology use in the classroom to help the pupil learn better. Using
technology has been advancing quickly over the past decade, and it has a
beginning to play an important role in the classroom.
In Malaysia, it is a very common feature of using different technologies and the
internet in classrooms as they were benefitted of using them in classrooms.
Malaysia considers technology as one of the main elements in transforming the
country into future development. The Ministry of Education, through the most
recent Education Blueprint (2013-2025), insights the significance of technology-
based teaching-learning process into the schools’ national education
curriculum. Recently, the Malaysian government sets up multimedia and
internet in primary schools throughout the country. However, the technologically
advanced classroom has not yet become available everywhere. The use of
technology such as interactive slides in a language classroom may have some
limitations in our country. The purpose of this research was to determine the
effectiveness of D - Magical Slides Model for Year 5 pupils’ academic
performance in learning English in SK Tok Jiring.
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
Pupils’ learning remains focal in any academic performance debate as it helps
to support the teaching-learning process. Technology also provides a door of
opportunity for educational foundations to outfit as well as use technology as a
supplement. This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of interactive
slides which will be known as D - Magical Slides Model for Year 5 pupils’
academic performance in learning English in SK Tok Jiring. It seeks to find out
answers to the following questions such as is there a difference in pupils’
academic performance in learning English between the technology integrated
and non-technology integrated classrooms, what is the relationship between
teachers’ level of technology integration and pupils’ attitudes in learning English
as well as are pupils well-motivated to learn English through interactive slides.
Raiskinmaki (2017) claims that computer technology helps pupils to learn
English better back in his country in Russia. This is because as a developed
country, teachers use technology to create both independent and collaborative
learning environments in which pupils can acquire and practice a new language.
In contrast, this statement has been declined by Saeed (2015) as he believes
that in Sudan, the use of technological devices in teaching English does not
promote teaching and learning the English language among the pupils and
teachers. This is because many teachers find it difficult to handle computer
technology in their classroom and prefer traditional classroom method such as
chalk and talk to teach the pupils.
Even though there were many pieces of research had been conducted based
on the effectiveness of technology on pupils’ academic performance in learning
English all around the world, it has never been conducted in the East-Coast
area of Malaysia. There was a research done in Malaysian context which only
revealed the effects of ICT use in teaching and learning on pupils’ achievement
in Science subject in a primary school in Penang by Azidah Abu Ziden et al.
(2011). They concluded that using technology in the Science lesson gives a
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positive impact on pupils’ achievements. However, this research will be done to
fill up the gap in the research field in which how the usage of D - Magical Slides
Model affects the Year 5 pupils’ academic performance and their attitudes in
learning English in SK Tok Jiring. It is hoped that by using D - Magical Slides
Model in the classroom, it will maximise the pupils’ academic performance and
boost their positive attitudes in learning English.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The objective of this research is
1.5.1 To investigate the differences in pupils’ academic performance in
learning English between the technology integrated and non-technology
integrated classrooms.
1.5.2 To examine the relationship between teachers’ level of technology
integration and pupils’ attitudes in learning English.
1.5.3 To research the motivation level of pupils to learn English through
interactive slides.
The problem of the research was to seek the answer to the following questions:
1.6.1 Is there a difference in pupils’ academic performance in learning English
between the technology integrated and non-technology integrated classrooms?
1.6.2 What is the relationship between teachers’ level of technology
integration and pupils’ attitudes in learning English?
1.6.3 Are pupils well-motivated to learn English through interactive slides?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research involved a Quasi-Experimental design. A Quasi-Experimental
design is often referred to as causal-comparative research which seeks to
establish a cause-effect relationship between independent and dependent
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variables. Johnson and Christensen (2004) stated that in causal-comparative
research, the study focuses on the relationship between one or more categorical
independent variables and one or more quantitative variables. The researcher
does not assign groups and manipulates the independent or control
experimental variable. Treatment groups were chosen and exposed to the
variable. The results compared with results from the control group which was
not exposed to the variable. This study was designed to determine the
difference in pupils’ academic performance in learning English between
technology integrated and non-technology integrated classrooms, as well as to
investigate the relationship between teachers’ level of technology integration
and pupils’ attitudes in learning English. Lastly, the researcher also wants to
examine whether the motivation level of pupils to learn English through
interactive slides.
The researcher gathered relevant information for this research through the
surveys, pre-post-test assessment, observation and interviews. The data
collection procedures were estimated to take about two and a half months to be
completed. Before the researcher collected the data based on the Quasi-
Experimental design of two Year 5 classes where one class acted as the
treatment group and the other one as the control, the researcher got a
verification letter from the higher authorities from Institut Pendidikan Guru
Kampus, Dato’ Razali Ismail. The research proposal, all the details of the
procedures and instrumens that to be used for the research were submitted to
the school headmaster for the approval of conducting the research at SK Tok
Jiring, Kuala Terengganu.
Firstly, the researcher chose the two Year 5 classes based on the final
examination grade of English subject. As SK Tok Jiring does not stream the
pupils based on their grades, it was believed that both the chosen classes have
the same level of proficiency in English. Before the Quasi-Experimental
research takes place, a set of pre-test questions was given out to both the
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treatment and control group. The questions were in accordance with the
Standard Document for Primary School English Language Curriculum (KSSR)
for Year 5 pupils (Ministry of Education, 2015). The pre-test was most likely to
test their level of English proficiency on the topic they learnt in their English
class throughout the two and a half months. The scores for both the group
classes were taken for analysis.
Then an experiment was carried out for both groups for 10 weeks. For the
treatment group, the researcher used the interactive slides that will be known
as D-Magical Slides to teach during their English lessons. Meanwhile, for the
control group, their English lessons were carried out with the traditional
classroom method without technology integration. Example of multimedia
integrations used in the D-Magical Slides were videos, audios, virtual games,
colourful animations and pictures as well as related website links to the current
topic for the pupils to access at home. For the control group, the traditional
method mainly relied on the textbooks, memorising the grammar rules in
English language and homework to check the understanding in a certain topic.
In simple words, the treatment group’s learning was based on more pupil-
centred than teacher-centred learning whereas the controlled group’s learning
was based on more teacher-centred than pupil-centred learning.
In the meantime, the researcher also used another three instrumens to collect
the data related to this study. During the lesson in both the classes, the
researcher observed and noted on the observation form to check on the pupils'
progress, understanding, strengths and challenges, cooperation, study habits,
and attitude during the 10 weeks of the experiment. After experimented for four
weeks, the researcher gave out the teachers’ and teacher trainees’ survey
which consist of 6 sections in the form of google form. The teachers were given
one day to complete the response. The rationale for such a long period for the
teachers was to answer honestly and unbiasedly as teachers were loaded with
different commitment. For all the questionnaires given, the teachers just needed
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to tick (/) for the appropriate number of responses which best described them.
The questionnaires used for this study was adopted and modified from the
original questionnaire designed by Gulbahar and Guven (2008) towards the
effects of using technology on pupils’ attitude in learning English.
Pupils’ questionnaire was given in paper form as the researcher feels that they
might not have enough knowledge to answer the questionnaires using google
form. This questionnaire was given out after the sixth week of conducting the
experiment. The reason for exposing the questionnaire after one and the half
month was to let the pupils, especially from the treatment group as they might
notice some changes in their learning style and preferences. The questionnaire
was given after their school hours and only given 15 minutes to answer. The
procedure to answer the questionnaire was the same as the teachers’
questionnaires where they need to tick (/) for the appropriate number of
responses which best described them. The questionnaire was adapted and
modified from the original questionnaire designed by Das and Mishra (2016)
towards the impacts of using technology on their performance in learning
English.
Not only that, the researcher also conducted a semi-structured face-to-face
interview in the eighth week of the experiment with the 3 randomly selected
Year 5 teachers. There were 10 questions that were asked to the teacher as it
was related to the second research question which was “What is the relationship
between teachers’ level of technology integration and pupils’ attitudes in
learning English?”. These interview sessions were conducted after the school-
hours and only takes around 5 to 10 minutes for them to answer. The supervisor
and lecturers from the Languages Department of Institut Pendidikan Guru
Kampus Dato’ Razali Ismail, Kuala Terengganu was consulted regarding the
validity of the sentence structures and the suitability of the questions to be asked
to the interviewee. Thus, the interview questions in terms of reliability and
validity were catered and fulfilled. The analysis of the interviews helped the
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researcher to confirm her findings on the impacts of using D - Magical Slides
Model on the Year 5 pupils’ performance in learning English.
Finally, the post-test was given after the Quasi-Experimental had been
conducted completely during the tenth week of the practicum phase on both the
treatment and control groups. The topics and procedures for the post-test were
the same as the pre-test. This is because pupils were expected to answer more
questions correctly based on an increase in knowledge and understanding that
was given during the intervention period.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In studying the effectiveness of the D - Magical Slides Model to improve the
pupils of 5 Khadijah in learning English, a research was done involving two
groups (Treatment and Control) which comprise 25 pupils each. Based on the
data that have been analysed and interpreted, both groups have shown some
improvement in terms of their proficiency level in learning English. However,
only the treatment group has showcased a positive attitude and behaviour in
learning English responding towards the D - Magical Slides Model as the control
group was only taught using the traditional “chalk and talk” approach. Although
the result of the post-test towards both groups displayed some improvement,
the treatment group shows a tremendous increase as to be compared to the
control group. Thus, it can be concluded that technology integrated classroom
was found to be effective in terms of academic performance in learning English
as compared to the traditional approach.
Aside from the pre-post-test analysis, the relationship between teachers’ level
of technology integration and pupils’ attitudes in learning English was tested
through the teacher’s survey. Even though the teacher's readiness to integrate
technologies and their challenges in integrating technologies in the classroom
was seen to be on average, their level in integrating technologies in the
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classroom is high. The process of teachers in integrating technologies in the
classroom is to be on an average scale and lastly, the level for the positive
impact of teacher’s integrating technologies in the classroom is high.
Based on the data analysis for teacher’s survey, the teacher's demographic
factors do not affect the teacher’s readiness to integrate technologies. However,
the years of teaching experience have some influences on the teacher’s
integration of technologies in the classroom. Moreover, challenges teacher’s
faced in integrating technologies in the classroom is impacted by their major
option. The average class size in a classroom affects the process of the teacher
in integrating technology in the class they teach. Lastly, two demographic
factors which are gender and average class size in a classroom affect the
positive impacts of the teacher integrating technology in the classroom. The
teacher’s survey main goal was to find out the relationship between teachers’
level of technology integration and pupils’ attitudes in learning English.
Therefore, it was revealed that two variables which were teacher’s readiness to
integrate technologies and impacts of integrating technologies contributed
significantly to the teacher’s integration of technologies.
Apart from the teacher’s survey, the data analysis for the pupils’ survey was
interpreted. The level of pupils’ preferences, their readiness and the positive
impact to learn English using technology in the classroom is high. Moreover, the
pupil's demographic factors do not affect the pupils’ preferences in learning
English and their readiness to learn English using integrated technologies in the
classroom. However, the preferred learning method influences the pupil’s
positive impact of technologies integration in learning English. The pupil’s
survey main objective was to study the motivation level of the pupil to learn
English through interactive slides. Therefore, through the data analysis of the
pupil’s survey, it was revealed that the pupil’s readiness to learn English using
technology contributed significantly to the positive impacts that pupils get by
learning through technology.
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Another instrumen used to prove the effectiveness of the intervention is
supported by the observation that done for ten weeks throughout the
intervention period. It points to the progress of the treatment group’s positive
behaviour that they displayed during the intervention period. The researcher
found out that the treatment group experienced changes in behaviour in the
sense that they are more active, displayed a high sense of anticipation and
developed to be responsive compared to the control group. Moreover, the
respondents were experiencing an increase in their confidence level as before
the invention took place. This is because the respondents seemed to spend
more time in enhancing their English proficiency, whereas the post-intervention
process showed that the participants were more confident in answering the
questions and the usage of Malay was reduced in the classroom. The
researcher did notice that the treatment group enjoyed learning listening and
speaking, reading, writing as well as grammar skills using the D - Magical Slides
Model than the control group which was taught using the traditional approach.
The time taken for the research to explain the lesson reduced as the research
shows a video or picture to make them understand the lesson better. They did
show a positive attitude and motivated to learn using the D - Magical Slides
Model throughout the intervention period.
The effectiveness of the intervention is further reinforced through the data
gained from the teacher’s interview session that was conducted between a few
randomly selected teachers from SK Tok Jiring. All the interviewees agreed that
they are trying their level best to integrate technology such as interactive slides
into their teaching-learning session as much as they could. However, they could
not always fulfil the requirements because of lack of technological facilities in
the school. Another reason that affects their readiness to integrate technology
in the classroom is the lack of computer skills to prepare even a basic interactive
slide. On the contrary, they all agreed at a point that integrating interactive slides
in their teaching can increase their pupils’ level of motivation to learn English
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more. They believe technology such as interactive slides in the classroom helps
them to achieve the learning standard as well as the learning objectives of the
lesson better. They suggested the future teachers take up computer skills
courses and integrate technology such as interactive slides, more in teaching
English in the classroom.
From the feedback that was gathered in the pupils’ interview session showed
that the respondents agreed to the notion that technology integrated classroom
helps them to learn English better because abstract knowledge such as
grammar can be easily understood when the teacher uses videos and animated
pictures in the interactive slide to explain the concepts and the ideas of the topic.
The response was given by the treatment group’s respondents in this interview
session suggested that they were satisfied and felt comfortable learning using
the D - Magical Slides Model as well as had a lot of fun along taking part in all
the session throughout the 10 weeks of the intervention period. The control
group’s respondents express their wish to learn using the D - Magical Slides
Model just like the other group.
CONCLUSION
The research proved that the interactive slides are effectual in improving Year
5 pupils’ academic performance and boosting their positive attitudes in learning
English. Indeed, the English language which used to entail much apprehension
and challenge for Year 5 pupils became an interesting and stress-free language
after using D - Magical Slides Model. Thus, integrating interactive slides in
learning English was successful in resolving one of the serious problems that
Malaysian pupils suffer from. However, it is worth to mention that to attain
optimal learning outcomes, interactive slides should be properly integrated into
the teaching-learning session in a way that promotes interaction and
collaboration among pupils, addresses diverse individual learning needs and
enables pupils to perform at the referential level as well as the inferential one.
233
In other words, using interactive slides to learning English becomes efficacious
when used with clear-cut objectives and well-designed tasks as well as parallel
to an appropriate pedagogy.
RECOMMENDATION / SUGGESTION
The research was carried out at SK Tok Jiring which is in between the rural and
urban area of Kuala Nerus and surrounded only by Malay community and
culture. Future research should be conducted in the urban area with multi-
diverse cultures and communities such as Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh or Johor to
examine whether similar results will be yielded. Moreover, this research was
carried out with Year 5 pupils, so the results of the research can only be
generalised to them. They can also confirm the findings of this research if they
conduct similar research in a longitudinal manner. Besides, this research
investigated the effects of interactive slides on Year 5 pupils’ academic
performances and positive attitudes of fifty respondents during their English
lesson. Thus, the impact of interactive slides on pupils’ academic performance
in one or two specific language skills can be examined and with a larger sample
of respondents.
From the analysis of the teacher’s survey and interview, it was found that the
respondents did not attend any training program to conduct technologically
integrated classroom and most of the teachers realise that they need to attend
a training program to get the best outcome from their teaching. According to Ivy
(2011), there are no training schemes for language teachers to learn the use of
whatever technology there might be, as to realise are expected to know these
already or get help from their colleagues. To achieve effective teaching from
teachers, the education experts should introduce and spread the teachers’
training program to get the best outcome from the technologically integrated
classroom. It is not wise to expect the best outcome or resourceful teaching
from them if there is no such program.
234
The Malaysian Ministry of Education should not only introduce but also plan a
widespread training program throughout the country to get the best outcome
from language teachers. Policymakers and stakeholders should perceive the
integration of technology such as interactive slides into classrooms as a must
so that they can facilitate the work modifications requested by the teachers in
public schools. For example, they should install a projector in each classroom
or at least on each floor of the school so that teachers will not waste time moving
pupils to the shared computer lab. Moreover, they should provide complete
access to necessary resources and immediate IT support for teachers so that
they can integrate an interactive slide lesson efficaciously. They should also
offer the funds to carry out sporadic training workshops for teachers on the
effective integration of technology in classrooms.
IMPLICATION
Findings of the research indicated the usefulness of the interactive slides in
enhancing pupils’ proficiency level in learning English. They also reported
positive attitudes of pupils towards the use of interactive slides in learning
English based on the aforementioned findings, the following implied issues are
to be taken into account:
a. Interactive slides help in improving pupils’ language skills, namely
listening and speaking, reading, writing, as well as grammar. Therefore,
teachers are invited to integrate interactive slides in teaching English to reach
a similar result.
b. It was noted from reviewed literature that several pieces of research did
not yield successful learning outcomes because of teachers’ lack of training on
professional use of technology such as interactive slides in the class. This is
because of their inability to devise the technology such as interactive slides
lessons well and their lack of experience in establishing a pupil-centred
235
environment. Accordingly, teachers should receive adequate training on how to
prepare interactive slides and how to use them efficiently before integrating it in
their English classes. The researcher herself prepared interactive slides lessons
which are known as D - Magical Slides Model with the assistance. Moreover,
the researcher held intermittent interviews with the teachers to agree upon how
to integrate interactive slides avoids the aforesaid shortcomings.
c. Findings of this study revealed that pupils, even the low achievers and
the passive ones, adopted positive attitudes in learning English because of the
interactive activities. Pupils were given space to work collaboratively with their
classmates and to actively taken part in discussions on what was displayed via
interactive slides. Hence, teachers are requested to use interactive slides with
their pupils, especially passive learners and those who show high apprehension
in learning English. However, teachers should properly use the potentials of the
interactive slides and provide ample opportunities for many pupils to take part
in learning when integrating interactive slides in the classroom.
In the nutshell, every explanation of suggestions and implications
recommended that further conclusive research is required. This is because
further conclusive research helps to perpetuate and provide more insight to the
educators in providing the pupils with more outstanding as well as effective
learning methods. It is believed that this technology integration act as a beacon
of education for all able and interested. Hopefully, the teaching-learning process
for the English Language will now become more creative, innovative and
exciting for the pupils to learn better in the future using technology integration.
236
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on Students’ Achievement in Science Subject in a Primary School in Malaysia.
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Das, A.K. and Mishra, S. (2016). Questionnaire on Learner Use of Technology.
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Davies, G., & Hewer, S. (2012). Introduction to new technologies and how they
can contribute to language learning and teaching. Module 1.1 in Davies G. (ed.),
Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers
(ICT4LT), Slough, Thames Valley University [Online]. Retrieved from
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-1.htm
Gulbahar, Y. & Guven, I. (2008). A Survey on ICT Usage and the Perceptions
of Social Studies Teachers in Turkey. Educational Technology & Society, 11(3),
37-51.
Hatlevik, O. E., et al (2009). Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education. Retrieved
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ullstendig_rapport.pdf
Ivy, I.T., (2011). Technology and the Language Teacher. The Arts Faculty
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Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2004). Educational research: Quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed approaches (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson A and B.
Ministry of Education. (2015). Executive Summary of Malaysia Education
Blueprint 2013-2025 (Preschool to Post-Secondary Education). [online]
Available at:
http://www.moe.gov.my/cms/upload_files/articlefile/2013/articlefile_file_00311
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Raiskinmaki, J (2017). The Use of Technological Devices in English Teaching
as Experienced by Teachers. The University of Jyväskylä. Department of
Language and Communication Studies
Saeed, Y. B. M. (2015). The Effect of Using Computer Technology on the
English Language. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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Singhal, M. (2007). The internet and foreign language education: Benefits and
challenges. The Internet TESL Journal, 3(6). Retrieved from
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Singhal-Internet.html Teachers’ Performance. Journal of
Humanities. The University of Tabuk. Vol.16. No. 1
238
Using Escape-Room-Minion-Drawer ensure Year 3 pupils to identify and
differentiate S-V-0
Sanghari A/P Arumugam
[email protected]
Azman bin Mohamed Nor
English Department
Institute of Teacher Education Dato’ Razali Ismail Campus
ABSTRACT
This action research is carried out to ensure Year 3 Ibnu-Sina pupils
understanding in identify and differentiate subject, verb and object. Hence to
ensure that students will be able to identify and differentiate jumble up words in
a complete sentence, a game is being brought up as the main tool in conducting
this research. Several jumbled-up sentence will be compiled according to levels
and students have to rearrange correctly in the sequence of S-V-O. There are
4 participants chosen for this research and they were chosen based on their
past TOV and diagnostic test score. Data is collected through 3 method which
is interview, observation and also document analysis. Interview uses a semi-
structured interview protocol, while observation is done based on thematic
analysis and documentt analysis methods use a pre, post-test and worksheets.
The triangulation method is used to enhance the validity and reliability of the
research. The results of data analysis have shown increment of marks in their
post-test compared to their pre-test. The findings show that the use of Escape-
Room-Minion-Drawer can help students improve their understanding of
identifying and differentiating subject, verb and object which helps the pupils to
rearrange jumbled-up words to construct simple sentence. This study provides
an alternative to the selection of best practices in teaching SVO by English
teachers in future.
Key Words: SVO, ensure understanding, identify and differentiate, Escape-
Room-Minion-Drawer.
239
INTRODUCTION
According to Supyan Hussin (2002), students in school find it difficult to maintain
interest in learning English Language because it is not seen important for them
as English is just a second language for the students in Malaysia. According to
a research conducted by Swiss-based international education company,
Malaysia has emerged as the first country in Asia with excellence proficiency
level in Language especially in four main aspects which consists of grammar,
vocabulary, reading and listening. Despite all the success, teaching and
learning mainly grammar skill has always been a challenge to increase the
quality and performance standard of English Language in Malaysia.
In this research, grammar is the focus of the study. Grammar is an important
part of a language that organizes words, clauses and phrases into a meaningful
conversation and communication (Culicover, 2006). Due to irrelevant and
inappropriate teaching aids and guidance in teaching grammar which leads the
students to face difficulties in acquiring the skills. Moreover, using various
approaches, techniques and strategies can help teachers to deliver the
knowledge of grammar easier to the pupils.
During my second phase of practicum, I was placed in Sekolah Kebangsaan
Bukit Guntong. It was located near to Manir (Rural Area). The school compound
was quite big as this school accommodates about 800 pupils who stays around
the school area. In this school, I was assigned to teach English Language for
Year 3 Ibnu Sina class and I taught them for three months. There were 28 pupils
in the class 13 boys and 15 girls. According to the former teacher, all year 3
classes were not streamed according to the pupil’s ability and intelligences level
as in CEFR format in a class there should be mixed ability pupils. Most of the
pupils in the class are were below average and their proficiency level was low.
Hence to ensure that students will be able to identify and differentiate jumble up
words in a complete sentence, a game is being brought up as the main tool in
conducting this research. Several jumbled-up sentence will be compiled
240
according to levels and students have to rearrange correctly in the sequence of
S-V-O. Marzano (2010) said that “students play game throughout the day on
their computers, internet and also mobile phones” which relates to this research
intervention.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This section states the research objective and the research questions for this
study
Research objective:
1. To find out that Escape Room Minion Drawer helps students to identify
and differentiate S-V-O.
2. To arouse pupils’ interest to learn SVO structure through Escape Room
Minion Drawer.
Research questions:
1. Does the Escape Room Minion Drawer helps students to identify and
differentiate S-V-O?
2. Does the Escape Room Minion Drawer arouse interest among pupils to
learn SVO?
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
My research participants were taken from my year 3 Ibnu-Sina pupils in Sekolah
Kebangsaan Bukit Guntong. I have chosen 4 pupils (2 moderate and 2 weak
pupils) in the class to be my research participants. The research participants
were chosen based on the diagnostic test which were carried out during writing
lesson where the pupils were assigned to rearrange the jumbled-up sentence
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and to form a correct simple sentence by rearranging the words in a correct
form of subject, verb and object. There were 6 sentences where two of the
participants scored 2 out of six and another two pupils scored 1 out of six
questions.
The following description about the participants is based on four main elements
such as the socio-economic background, academic performance, personality
and attitude. Additionally, all the pupils are from intermediate and low
proficiency level where they are low in English knowledge and application
because their mother tongue is “Bahasa Melayu” and through the interviews
done earlier 90% of them do not use English outside of the classroom. The
identities of the participants are also classified and replaced with pseudonyms
instead.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The learning theory was founded by Howard Gardner in 1983 which defines
young learners are different and unique from each other in their own ways.
Multiple intelligences are a psychological theory about a human’s mind and it’s
based on a lot of scientific research in fields ranging from psychology to
anthropology to biology. (Thayer, 2003). This theory identifies individual
differences in a pupil wherein there are eight intelligences that can be found in
an individual which are logical mathematical, visual, musical, intrapersonal,
interpersonal, kinesthetic, naturalistic and verbal linguistic. Whereby, in an
attempt to accommodate different learning style and intelligences, researcher
has used four strategies which involves visual, intrapersonal, interpersonal and
also verbal-linguistic.
Moving on in deep, the intervention of Escape Room game and Minion Drawer
will be very favorable to those who prefer visual-spatial learning style because
in the game there will be pictures and cartoons where incorporating questions
242
with pictures and cartoons is not only interesting method but at the same time it
helps pupils in creating better memory retention level among pupils.
Furthermore, as this intervention Escape Room will be played in groups and it
falls under interpersonal learning style as it integrates cooperatively learning
with peers. Since the game requires to be solved in a small group it will be a
great platform for the pupils to exchange their ideas and to cooperate in order
to solve the game and win the levels. At the same time for intermediate or
enrichment group of students this game can be played alone which falls under
intrapersonal style of learning. All those learning styles helps and proves that
this intervention is suit to be used among pupils in a classroom.
According to Marzano & Kendall (2006) the latest version of Bloom’s Taxonomy
model is divided into six stages and each stage of this model suits the whole
research and interventions. As the first level the remembering category consists
of memories that were obtained from previously learned information by recalling
facts, terms, basic concepts and answers. The pupils have to use their prior
knowledge about S-V-O and the exposure of the intervention will reactivate the
pupil’s basic knowledge on grammar sentence structures.
The second level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is understanding where in this level it
emphasizes on the ability to demonstrate understanding of facts where pupils
have to understand to attempt the game which need the pupils to identify and
differentiate S-V-O. Moving on to the third level which is applying level where it
emphasizes on the ability to use new knowledge or concept to solve the
problems and in this level pupils have understood by having them to identify
and differentiate S-V-O when they will be able to rearrange those jumbled up
because they can arrange correctly when they really understand and apply the
knowledge.
The next three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy promote higher order thinking skills
whereby the fourth level is analysing. Analysing category focuses on the
process of examine and break information into parts and pupils will be able to
243
identify and differentiate so based on this level once all those questions are
understood by the pupils during post-test students will be able to rearrange the
jumbled-up words after analysing which is subject, verb and object. This also
correlate with fifth level which is evaluate level where the pupils will be able to
evaluate their sequence of arrangement in a sentence and justify it. As the
topmost level which is create where the pupils will be able to create a simple
sentence using S-V-O in the final section of post-test.
In cognitivism theory game is one of the ways to show pupils learning process
as pupils learn and store memory from playing which is better than direct formal
chalk and talk teaching process. As my intervention’s main focus is about game,
it will help pupils to sort out and organize input regarding S-V-O into their brain.
If games they played gives a great impact, pupil may end storing the memory
as a long-term memory. There are two main processes which explains in detail
about the procedure of adaption because according to (Piaget, 1955), the
process of learning is much related to adaption.
The first process is known as assimilation process where the input of new
knowledge is fit into the existing knowledge of a learner without any changes.
In order for that, learner uses his prior knowledge to receive the new obtained
knowledge. While the second process is accommodation process when the
existing schemata are revised in order to store the new knowledge. A learner
consciously makes adjustments and changes to their existing prior knowledge
in order to gain new knowledge. Based on my research, pupils have prior
knowledge on S-V-O but they fail to identify and differentiate among subject,
verb and object which also leads them to rearrange in a correct order of
sentence structure. At the end, equilibrium process takes place where the new
knowledge will be fitted successfully into the minds.
Raiskinmaki (2017) conducted a study in Russia to analyse how teachers
perceive the incorporation and 244tilization of technology resources in language
teaching through investigation of teachers’ attitudes and approaches to using
244
an online supplementary resource in grammar instruction in English as a foreign
language. He claims the technology in classroom helps students to learn
English in a fun and meaningful way.
Besides that, another research was conducted by researcher named Xiaoyu He
from China and in his research, researcher focused in improving English writing
by emphasizing on the basic S-V-O patterns. Therefore, in order to produce
good writing students, need to master the basic sentence pattern. In the past
research, it was whole about mastering S-V-O sentence structure.
Based on the journal published by Madhuri V. Tikam (2013), Information and
communication and technologies (ICT) are extremely influencing every
discipline in our Education system. As moving into the modern education
system, ICT is affecting every aspect of education from teaching-learning to
assessment and evaluation as it improves the effectiveness of education.
By taking into account the past research and the concept of fun behind the use
of ICT in the English language classroom, the intervention designed for this
study suits the criteria of an interesting and enjoyable teaching aid, which led to
the success of the teaching and learning session.
METHODOLOGY
This is an action. This study focuses on using and intervention that is Escape-
Room-Minion-Drawer which helps pupils to enhance their understanding in
dentifying and differentiating SVO.
Data collection is very vital in any field of study. It is the process of gathering
and measuring information on variables of interest in a systematic manner
which enables researchers to answer the research question set in a study (Lyon
& Chhabra, 2004). In this study, data were collected through document analysis,
observations and interviews.
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TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION METHOD
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
This data collection method was practiced through the examination of work
produced by the participants of this study. Instrumens used were worksheet,
photographs, pre-test and post-test
WORKSHEET
There were two type of test I carried out throughout this research which are pre-
test and post-test. To test the participants’ prior knowledge on Subject, Verb
and Object by giving them pre-test before the intervention is implemented
meanwhile post-test were given after the intervention session to analyse the
improvements and their understanding using the same set of questions as in
pre-test. It is done in this way to provide a concrete evidence of the pupils’ prior
knowledge and how they were able to understand SVO by answering some
questions that were exposed and been taught during intervention session
respectively. Meanwhile during intervention cycle 1 and cycle 2 I have also
carried out a test to test their understanding and for improvement. Besides that,
during cycle 1 I tested whether the pupils truly identify the SVO and during cycle
2 tested on differentiating SVO based on the intervention “EVR Game and
Minion Drawer” using worksheet.
OBSERVATION
In this study, observations with the use of an observational protocol and an
observer identified by the researcher were applied.
STUDENT’S BEHAVIOUR PROTOCOL
246
This study made use thematic analysis observation method. There are five main
themes in the checklist of student’s behaviour protocol which includes close
observations on how the pupils react to the intervention. The observer will tick
under the indicators ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ based on each pupil’s development
individually. The observation was conducted during each session of the
intervention. The participants’ interest and attention span throughout the
session also gave a clearer picture on the suitability of the intervention.
INTERVIEWS
This study made use of the semi-structured interview
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
In this research, researcher conducted an informal and semi-structured
interview with all the four research participants after each session is carried out.
The intervention session took up about 30 minutes to an hour and the interview
session will be conducted after the session is completely finished. The interview
session was done individually all the time because group interviews has some
cons where the participants will not answer frankly if there is someone around
due to some personal issues such as shy or anxious if they will be judged by
others.
I prepared a set of 5 questions (refer to appendix) to be asked individually about
the research, intervention and also their feelings and also opinions after each
session is done. All this are mostly done to find and analyse whether the
participants find the session is effective, helpful and not forgetting suggestions
for improvement. The whole interview was carried out in mixed Bahasa Melayu
and English language because most of the pupils does not understand and to
give them friendly environment free from non-threating environment.
INTERVENTION
Intervention is the process of taking action on the strategies and activities that
have been planned during the planning stage of the first cycle. Intervention is
247
also called the implementation of the activities as agreed upon by the various
group involved in the action research. In this research, I used instructional
interventional and ICT intervention which is a specific program or set of steps
to help a child improve in an area of need
INTERVENTION SPECIFICATION
The intervention that been produced in this research is aimed to improve the
pupil’s understanding in identifying and differentiating subject, verb and object
in order to form a simple sentence using Escape Virtual Room (EVR) in cycle
one and integrating Minion Drawer in cycle two which helps the pupils to
rearrange the jumbled-up words easily.
Escape Virtual Room is a game inspired by Escape Room game where in the
game there will be some clue and some questions. To escape the room, they
have to sort of the question using the clue and with the answer they have to
escape the room. If the answer they entered is correct they will be able to
escape the room and move to the next level which is next room where as if the
answer is wrong, they will be trapped and lose the game. This research
intervention Escape Virtual Room, is designed in the form of Power Point and
then is uploaded in Web so that the users can access the game in both laptop
and mobile phones. In the Power point pictures, texts and hyperlinks are
included to attract the students.
On the other hand, Minion drawer intervention was introduced during second
cycle of intervention process to test the participants understanding on SVO and
also help them to rearrange the jumbled-up words correctly while playing EVR
game. The Minion Drawer consists of 3 Drawer which are first drawer (Subject),
second drawer is (Verb) and the third drawer is (Object). All the drawers contain
10-word card which the words will be similar with the EVR Game. While playing
the game, pupils need to find and arrange the words from the Minion Drawer
and arrange at a wooden rack provided to make sure the jumbled-up words are
rearranged to form a correct simple sentence.
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DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Escape-Room-Minion-Drawer does help improving year 3 Ibnu-Sina pupil’s
understanding on identifying and differentiating SVO to rearrange jumbled up
words which will help them to construct simple sentence. It is based on pre and
post-test, student’s behaviour protocol and semi-structured interview.
The first document is students’ pre and post-test. The results obtained from the
four participants shows a positive improvement in their understanding on
identifying and differentiating SVO. Based on the table below, it is seen that all
four participants have shown some increment in their marks.
Participant PARTICIPANT PARTICIPANT PARTICIPANT PARTICIPANT D
Test AB C
4/10 5/10 2/10 4/10
Pre-test 8/10 8/10 8/10 8/10
Post-test
The five themes analysed from the feedback forms submitted by the participants
were interest, attention, determination, positive behaviour and also involvement.
Theme/Cycle Interest Attention Determination Positive Involvement
Participant Behaviour
PARTICIPANT A
PARTICIPANT B 1 21 2 1 2 1 21 2
PARTICIPANT C
PARTICIPANT D / // /x / x x/ /
x// xx / / /x /
x/x x / / x x/ /
/ /x / x / / // /
The observation during cycle 1 has proved that 2 participant C and B did not
show any interest as they were still thinking that English is still a foreign
language and it’s hard to learn so they did not show proper interest during the
249
intervention process. Besides that, for the attention theme participant C still did
not show attention and participant D also showed poor attention after answering
3 question as it was quite hard for them to remember the order and answer the
questions in EVR game. 3 participants except participant C did not show
determination throughout the intervention and participant B also did not show
any involvement during the first cycle as he was a passive boy in the class. Last
theme observed was positive behaviour where participant A and D was talkative
and was lack of positive behaviour compared to the other two participants.
The observation analysis has proved that there are some improvements from
cycle 1 to cycle 2. All the pupils have shown positive behaviour during cycle 2
except for participant A and C because they were quite talkative after being so
excited learning the new interventions. For the determination theme, all the four
participants showed determination as all of them had the determination to win
the game and move forward to the next level. During the second cycle also, all
the pupils showed good interest and involvement in learning and rearranging
the jumbled-up words to construct a single sentence. It boosts their interest
because there were two intervention and Minion Drawer helped them much to
find and rearrange the words. Besides that, two participant B and C have
showed lacked attention because all they wanted was to play the game.
Below are the transcriptions in English of participants answers based on the 5
semi-structured interview questions where during the interview their responses
was in Bahasa Melayu.
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Cycle Q: Do you enjoy playing Q: How do you find
the E-V-R Game? differentiating SVO using
the help of Minion
1 Drawer?
2
Participant Yes, I loved it teacher. I It feels little easy
PARTICIPANT A am very interested with compared to last time
the game and I think I were able to
PARTICIPANT B answer moderately
PARTICIPANT C Yes, I like playing the Kind of easy also for me
game teacher as it helps me to
PARTICIPANT D remember the order
Yes, it was very exciting It is helpful also teacher
playing EVR game as it eases me to
because the illustrations remember all of this
in the game is so
attractive and cute Was very helpful teacher
Yes, I loved it teacher. I because before this I
really like playing with don’t even know how to
the game. Nazreen rearrange it
loves to play games
like PUBG. It feels good
to play game
Transcription of the participants’ answers for the first question:
Q: Do you understand Q: How many questions
the contains in E-V-R were you able to obtain
Game? correct? And will you
improve in next
session?
Cycle 12
Participant I don’t understand some I managed to obtain 7
PARTICIPANT A of the words as it is all in question correct out of 10
English questions and maybe
can answer got higher
251
PARTICIPANT B I don’t understand most mark next time and little
PARTICIPANT C of the words as it is all in Isha has confident in that
PARTICIPANT D English
I managed to obtain 8
I understand some and question correct out of 10
don’t understand some questions and I didn’t
because I am not good in even think that I will be
English. able to answer 8
question correctly
There are many things I managed to obtain 5
that I don’t understand question correct out of 10
as it is all in English and questions and I have
I don’t understand some hope to get more
English well
higher marks in future
I managed to obtain 7
question correct out of 10
questions and I think I
can do better if I revise
and practice this many
time
Transcription of the participants’ answers for the second question:
Cycle Q: How do you feel using Q: Were you able to
E-V-R game to learn differentiate the order of
SVO? SVO using Minion
Drawer?
1 2
Participant The game helps a lot in Yes, I were able to
PARTICIPANT A to rearrange it in correct because it helps as the
order but it’s hard to drawer have 3 slots and
PARTICIPANT B remember the sequence using that I were able to
of correct order differentiate it
PARTICIPANT C The game helps a lot in Yes, I was able to
to learn English because each drawer
differs according to its
Its very fun and feel like colour and that helps
playing it always but Yes, I was able to differs
when it comes to SVO teacher
answering the question it
is quite hard
252
PARTICIPANT D It’s very fun but then its Yes, I was able to and
little hard for me to this drawer helped to
understand the contains reduce my confusion
and also the instructions
at time
Transcription of the participants’ answers for the third question
DISCUSSION
The findings also revealed that the participants were having fun in learning
through the use of games. This can be supported by their feedbacks during the
interview protocol. The pupils mentioned in their feedbacks that they had fun
learning and thoroughly enjoyed the whole learning process especially when
they were given chance to play EVR game using laptop and also while finding
and picking word cards using Minion Drawer. Besides that, another factor that
helped pupils to improve their understanding about SVO using the interventions
are most probably the attractive and colorful elements because it attracts the
pupil’s attention and helps them to pay more attention and participate well
during both sessions. Colour is believed to be the most important visual
experience to human beings. It functions as a powerful information channel to
the human cognitive system and has been found to play a significant role in
enhancing memory performance. Colour can be very effective in learning and
educational setting, marketing, communication, or even sport (Mariam
Adawiah,2013).
For this research, both the participants and researcher gained a lot of benefits
from the intervention session. The participants had understood well that learning
SVO is important as it helped them to construct a simple sentence which will
lead them to even write an essay in future. After the implementation of this
intervention, there was a positive rapport formed between the participant and
the researcher. This rapport also gave a positive effect to the participants in
learning sentence structure which are subject, verb and object. They enjoyed
253
more in English language because they were given a new method to learn
English.
In conclusion, doing further research can help in improving the quality of the
current research, which indirectly can help in self-improvement of the
researcher. The researcher can collaborate with other researchers or with the
teachers in school in making the suggestions a reality.
REFERENCES
Culicover, P.W (2006). Simpler syntax and Explanation. Freien University
Berlin: CSLI Publications.
Madhuri V. Tikam (2013. Impact of ICT on Education. Retrieved from:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/ijicthd.2013100101
Mariam Adawiah,2013. The Influence of Colour on Memory performance. The
Malaysian Journal of Medical Science, volume 20(2). Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743993/
Marzano, R.J & Kendall, J.S. (2006). The new taxonomy of educational
objectives. California: Oaks Inc.
Piaget.J. (1955). The construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.
Raiskinmaki, J. (2017). The use of Technological Devices in English Teaching:
University of Jyvanskyla.
Supyan Hussin (2002). Sustaining an interest in Learning English and
increasing motivation.
Volume 7, Issue 5, p 1-7.
Thayer, R.S. (2003, February 22). DR. Begay Brings Home State Award.
Retrieved from
http://www.turtletrack.org/Issue03/Co02222003/CO_02222003_HaroldBegay.
ah
254
MemBoost Games to Enhance Year 3 Pupils’ Vocabulary Acquisition
Mysie Gracia Gositin
[email protected]
Mohd. Jalani bin Hassan, Ph.D
English Department
Institute of Teacher Education Dato’ Razali Ismail Campus
ABSTRACT
Vocabulary learning has been closely related to memorisation. The MemBoost
game consists of memory games that help pupils to memorise thirty chosen
words from the CEFR DSKP wordlist for year 3. The study aims to see the
effectiveness of the MemBoost games on the year 3 pupils’ acquisition of the
chosen words. The data is gathered by performing pre and post-test, interview
and observation on the treatment to the experimental groups. The population of
this study is year 3 pupils in Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Kemunting. Thirty
pupils from the population are purposely selected as the sample of the study in
the ratio of fifteen experimental to fifteen controlled sample. Triangulation
method is done to confirm the validity and reliability of the study. The data
finding shows that there is visible increment in the mean marks of the
experimental group’s post-test marks from their pre-test. 93% of the
experimental group have shown increment in their post-test marks. From the
interview and observation done, they clearly show positive feedback towards
the MemBoost game. The pupils found that the games are interesting, and they
had fun learning through it. They can memorise the words through repetition of
the games. In conclusion, the MemBoost games does help in enhancing the
vocabulary acquisition of year 3 pupils in Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang
Kemunting.
Keywords: MemBoost games, memory games, vocabulary acquisition, Year 3
Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Kemunting
255
INTRODUCTION
The English language education in primary school of Malaysian educational
system has changed and aligned to the Common European Framework of
Reference (CEFR) since 2013 (Ishak & Mohamad, 2018). The CEFR that is
currently used in the primary and secondary education now was taken from the
Cambridge education system. However, the content of the CEFR textbook did
not represent the culture and norms of Malaysia thus, it was harder for the pupils
to understand the context of the texts or examples from the textbook. Plus, it
contributed to the weak vocabulary acquisition of the pupils due to the unfamiliar
context of the reading reference.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In the recent years, the vocabulary acquisition of the primary school pupils,
especially in suburban or rural areas, the vocabulary acquisition is relatively
weak although they were exposed to various vocabulary learning strategies
(Hariffin & Mohd Said, 2019; Rosidawati Ab Dollah & Parilah Mohd Shah, 2016;
Zulkefly & Razali, 2019) in the formal classroom. Usually educators uses the
technique of rote memorisation (Khasinah, 2014; Khoii & Sharififar, 2013) to
help the pupils to remember the words that they learn in the lesson. There was
a lot of method or approaches taken in the recent years in order to improve
ones’ vocabulary. However, there was still a lot of educators who faced the
problem with vocabulary acquisition and there were many researchers that
256
looked for the best way to solve the problem, especially in the rural areas as
(Rosidawati Ab Dollah & Parilah Mohd Shah, 2016) proved that there was no
significant differences in the vocabulary learning strategies in both urban and
rural school students. Many researchers have suggested on the usage of
memory-based games into the second language lesson to help enhancing the
vocabulary acquisition. (Rosidawati Ab Dollah & Parilah Mohd Shah, 2016)
mentioned that there are a few most common vocabulary learning strategies
and that included; memory category, metacognitive, cognitive, social and
determination and the most common is the memory category as vocabulary
acquisition was very related to memorisation.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To find out the effectiveness of the memory booster games in enhancing
the pupils’ vocabulary acquisition level.
2. To verify the relationship of memory booster game and enhancement of
working memory.
3. To study the pupils’ perspective of the memory booster game as a tool
in English language lesson.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Does MemBoost game enhance pupils’ vocabulary acquisition?
2. Does the MemBoost game has any relationship with the enhancement
of the working memory?
257
3. What is the pupils’ perspective of the memory booster game to be used
as a tool in English language lesson?
METHODOLOGY
The research was conducted in the design of quasi-experimental. The research
design meant to compare two groups; controlled group and experimental group.
From the selected population of year 3 pupils in Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang
Kemunting, the researcher did a purposive sampling and chose 30 pupils from
two classes. 15 pupils were chosen for the controlled group (CG) and another
15 for the experimental group (EG).
Instrumens of data collection Pre and pot-test
The pre and post-test questions were derived from the word list in the year 3
CEFR DSKP. Thirty words were chosen to be focused in the study. The
question consists of 30 close-ended questions. The pre and post-test questions
were modified from examples of questions from (Sundram, 2017). The post-test
also consisted of the same attributes as the pre-test but with some modification.
The sequence of the questions will be different so that the students do not cheat
and just memorise their pre-test answer.
258
Interview
The interview question would primarily be on the pupils’ experience during the
lesson while the treatment is being implemented. There were six items for the
interview, and they touched on the pupils’ feelings after the treatment and how
did it differ from the normal lesson that they went through every day. Four
respondents were chosen randomly among the EG sample to be interviewed by
the researcher. The researcher took about five to ten minutes to interview each
respondent. The analysis of the interview helped the researcher to answer the
second and the third research question on the relationship of the game and the
working memory, and the pupils’ perspective on the intervention.
Observation
There were three cycles of the treatment done to the EG. Each treatment
consisted of different type of memory booster game. The first cycle was picture
card quiz, the second one was flip card and the last one was matching game.
Every cycle was recorded until the practice stage because the game was carried
out in the practice stage and in the production stage, they just do some exercise.
After the cycles were done, the researcher watched back the video tapes and
observe the criteria that match the observation check list.
259
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