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1.0Background of the study
1.1 Introduction
English is now used more often as a lingua franca than as a native
language as a result of competent English speakers are not native speakers,
but second language user. English language belongs to everyone who
speaks it, but it is nobody’s mother tongue (Rajagopalan as cited in Harmer,
2007). Nobody owns English any more or perhaps we could say that both
native and non-native speakers have equal rights as English users. As the
speakers are bound to speak the language there must also the importance
of knowing the language in other form rather than speaking skill only. One
particular skill that is quite important is the writing skills. Other than that there
are also listening and reading skills. In short we can say that language we
speak or write is governed by a number of rules, styles and constraints
(Harmer, 2007). Therefore, as an English practitioner it is recommended to
acquire this knowledge in order to sustain English in the correct form.
Margaret Meek (1991), said “the great divide in literacy is not between
those who can read and write and those who have not yet learned to. It is
between those who have discovered what kinds of literacy society values
and how to demonstrate their competencies in ways that can earn
recognition”.
In learning English especially for young learners it is important to
imply that there is no finite way to say one’s technique is better than the
other. All that’s left for us as a language practitioner is to enhance students’
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understanding about this language. To overcome this confusion about what
is the best method in teaching English; let us take a look about language
teaching methodology. Brown (2002), stated that for many years, the goal of
language pedagogy was to “find the right method”- a methodological magic
formula that would work for all learners at all times. Significantly in
methodological study it will lead to approaches and theories for teaching and
learning. One good example that I can highlight is communicative language
teaching. Nonetheless, in my opinion drill-based techniques and exercises
are commonly used based from my past practicum phase.
There are four major skills in English namely Listening, Speaking,
Reading and Writing. Each and every one of this skill require a great deal of
effort in teaching it. However, I just want to focus on writing skill for this time
around. According to Nunan (2003), the “rules of writing” were concerned
more with correctness of form over function. He also added that students
spend a great deal of time in copying models rather than expressing their
own ideas creatively. As mentioned earlier, this is drill-based techniques and
exercises which are only focus on particular grammatical rule rather than
writing as a whole. In the end, learning will not take place as students are
rather memorizing the fact about writing yet ignore the content of writing
ability.
In preparation to write longer and systematic sentences by students,
teacher has to play significant role. That’s why teaching of writing need to be
contextualised to lead a meaningful lesson. However, the problem arises if
the students do not know on how to write sentence at first place. There are
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three types of sentence structure, namely simple, compound and complex
sentences.
Since KSSR was introduced, the grammar structure was only
beginning at year 3 (Ministry of Education, 2012). Hence the understanding
of pupils in grammatical aspect was at minimal level. Apart from that, for
year 3 pupils, the choices of vocabulary were limited to certain words only.
By doing so, I knew that even for me, it was valid to say to begin test writing
sentence as early as Year 3. In my case study, students are facing difficulty
in writing simple sentences correctly. It is hopeful that I am ready to achieve
the main goal of this small research.
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1.2 Reflection of My Past Teaching and Learning Experiences
Teaching English is not an easy task to be done especially in my
case. It requires physical and mental preparation to teach young students.
The reason why I say so is simply because English in Malaysia is not our
mother tongue. I can say that English is only being used at school but not at
other times. Hence, ample preparations from all aspects need to be done to
teach English subject.
I had been in practicum phase for three times. The first was at at SK
Sungei Wei Petaling Jaya, next at SK Seri Tasik Cheras and lastly at SK
Telok Gadong in Klang. I had been assigned to teach English as Teaching
English as Secondary Language. The main reason was English as my major
as undergraduate and both Language Arts and Civics Learning as my minor.
To my belief, I would say every school had its own problem. In my first and
second practicum phase I think that the biggest problem that I faced was on
how to get students interest towards my teaching. This was mainly because
for both practicums I was given two different classes in term of cognitive
level and year. Hence, the way to tackle those students was hugely different.
In my third phase, one common issue that keep on burdening my
mind is classroom control that are vastly lacking. The reason that I am
unable to control my classroom is students do not understand the current
topic that I am teaching. In my case, I am teaching about fresh fruits for a
Year 3 classroom. The focus of that particular topic is to enable students to
write in neat legible print with correct spelling. There are some drawbacks in
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my teaching. First of all, I do not emphasize on drilling technique to describe
about fruits that I introduce to them. Since this classroom is quite weak, I
have to assist them for further understanding which I do not emphasize. This
is an honest mistake which my cooperative teacher brought up.
In my belief I think that each students need to grasp the idea of
teaching which is understanding. It is an unforeseen error that should not be
done by a teacher. As a result, there is certain degree shown by them to
show shallow understanding. For example, most students cannot answer
question whenever asked pertaining to the topic. Some of them show
symptoms of sleepiness which is a very disturbing image to a classroom.
Nonetheless, for the same topic I also show a relatively grown up in my
teaching technique. To capture students’ interest I simply introduce games
such as hangmen and riddles. The reason is to make introductory part more
interesting as well as to shift their mindset from an earlier subject to English.
First of all, my cooperative teacher comments that my lesson was good and interesting. This is because the pupils took part and involved actively in the lesson. I was so proud and this thing boosts my passion for teaching. All the games were great especially hangmen and riddles. Pupils also collaborated with me with utter respect. I feel all my hard effort has paid off. However, there are some aspects that I am still lacking on. First of all, when I want to introduce new vocabularies during presentation I need to remember one ultimate technique which is drilling. Drilling is important to make sure pupils remember the words. It is very effective if I implement it during my teaching.
(Journal Entry 16, 23rd August 2013)
From what I mention above, pupils are having difficulty in writing
words in English. How come I want them to write proper sentences if they
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are still weak in fundamental of English which is writing sentences properly?
I want to focus on writing correct form of sentences. The reason why I ask
them to write words is to check their understatement about words in English.
It is no good for me to continue teaching them in writing sentences. That is
one problem in English. However for my case study I just simple need them
to write and spell words correctly that I utter. It is a process of them to write
sentences form their understanding. It is a basic copying and understanding
what I say to them. To make learning more fun, I add up one element of
graphic which is picture to elevate their understanding about words that I am
going to teach.
Based on the evidences stated earlier, it relatively shows that I
encounter problems in my teaching technique in using dictation to help them
write sentences better and in proper manner. After thinking hard, I need to
make some changes and find some ways to improve my teaching technique
in order to enhance students’ understanding. One change that I think that
can be done is by using picture dictation to assist them in writing simple
sentences correctly.
It reflects on my way of teaching which to make sure that every
student has the opportunity to learn in my classroom. Every means of action
were considered and I think that I knew best the way to help my students
learn in my classroom.
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2.0What Was the Focus of My Study
2.1 What Was My Research Issue?
I have encountered some difficulties in teaching English subject to
primary students. One common problem that I found out was students were
weak in writing correct sentences with correct grammatical form.
In today’s lesson I asked pupils to write down one short paragraph about anything that has to do with their life. I gave them a piece of A4 paper each and told them to write down the words. It occurred to me that only few of them manage to write sentences. However, there were tons of errors made in term of spelling, structure and of course grammatical item.
(Journal no 10, 1st August 2013)
To be precise, students were having problem in writing simple
sentences during dictation. I believed that was my issue that needs to be
overcome with. To begin with, let me state that dictation was to write down
what someone is saying (Longman, 2005). In our discussion, the dictation
process was a two way process. Teacher reads few sentences and students
wrote sentences based from the teacher’s reading. Sometimes, teacher also
needs to repeat more than once for certain words in the sentences.
Repetition was only allowed if students asked for it due to certain factors
such as not so clear and students did not understand on how to write the
words correctly. Repetition also can occur if they were not focused during
the time of dictation process. This was because sometimes pupils took their
time to write down words in order to create sentences.
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At present, all subjects, except English and English literature are
being taught in the national language (Bahasa Malaysia). And the only time
students can practice speaking English in school is during English or English
literature class (Lim & Khemlani, 1995). Due to this limitation in utilizing the
language I may derive this will lead to limited ability to effectively using
English language. It was quite safe to assume that this error to say this
problem will lead to their writing skills. The process of students incoherently
speaking English with correct structure may reflect their writing process. In
English, it had structure that needs to be followed for the message to be
conveyed effectively. To write a simple paragraph requires basic knowledge
of a sentence. The problem arises if students are unaware of how to
construct simple sentences. In order to improve students’ writing simple
sentences correctly I am focusing to choose this problem as my research
issue.
Furthermore, since English language was regarded as the second
language in our country, it was not so widely used for social purposes. In
fact, there were very few social uses for writing in English in the school
period of a Malaysian citizen’s life (Chitravelu, 2005). Most places in
Malaysia except in the cities; social needs were almost non-existent.
Therefore teachers opted to create writing tasks that engage the student as
an individual. That’s why I wanted to highlight of making correct sentences
through writing. Writing was considered a very challenging skill to be taught
by teachers in school (Swan, 2005). That was maybe the reason why
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students were very weak in writing skills. That’s why I was focusing to make
constructing simple sentences correctly as my research objective.
Writing simple sentences is considered as the basic in writing
paragraph. Every paragraph or text must consist of simple sentences.
Simple sentence is the foundation in writing skills. This was a very disturbing
issue if the students cannot cope to way of writing sentences with correct
form. As simple as writing, there are rules to follow in writing English
sentences. Here I am to assist and guide them in writing good and correct
simple sentence. I hope that they can learn better from me.
2.2 What Did I Learn About My Research Issue
In order to overcome this writing simple sentence lacking made by
students, I have to a conclusion to choose picture dictation as one
intervention process. This was because my students mainly very weak in
English subject itself. Hence, for the sake of learning, I chose this method to
assist them according to their level of proficiency. Ching Lee (2004) states
that low English proficiency students tend to be more concerned with
language matters rather than make meaning. From the above quotes it is
safe to assume students in my research study think that language
construction is far more valuable. They think that what matters is structure.
At the same time, students cannot deal and understand with the meaning
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well. In my personal experience, I have come across this process when
students know what to write but omit the fact of making meaning. The
grammatical structure may be correct but in term of meaning, students still
do not understand it the way they suppose to understand it. This will lead to
lack in making idea on how to construct simple sentence. In traditional
dictation where teacher read and students write, they cannot view the
sentence structure appropriately. In using images, it can “communicate
quickly and boldly and hastens the comprehension of the message”
(Wileman, 1993 p.5).
When I read the text and I ask pupils to follow and dictate it there
might be some chances that they do not know on how to write the words in
the sentences properly. The words need to be written correctly by rules of
simple sentence in order to make the whole sentence make sense. If they
write the words incorrectly or in wrong order then the whole sentences does
not make sense. In my case, I want to introduce every picture for every
word. In addition, I read the word by using pictures as a stimulus. This can
help them to better know the word by looking at them. If they see the picture
then there are higher chances for them to write words correctly. It is at fairly
at large if the words written are correct then the whole sentences are correct
because I dictate it in order. In the end, they are going to write simple
sentences correctly whom they correctly write and spell the words.
Images do elevate students’ interest in writing which in my case is to
write simple sentences. This type of technique to enhance students learning
is sadly neglected by teachers. They are more focus to other easier skill
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such as reading. They might think that picture play a small role in writing
sentences. This can be proved by study made by Piro (2002), where the
strategy of ‘reading’ a picture, either part by part or as a text, with other
curricular areas, may be known, but underused by many teachers (p. 127).
This strategy is good in writing skills. It is quite regrettable to know picture is
not used in dictation. Clyne & Griffin (1999) mention that they used images
in teaching in order to break away from traditional method of teaching.
Picture may contain unspoken words that maybe some teacher forgets to
talk about it. Hence, as a teacher I think I have to use these images in
teaching students to grasp the idea of writing simple sentences. If they can
score in writing simple sentence I believe that they can write in other difficult
areas of writing sentences. Other area that I want to tell is writing compound
and complex sentences. In some way, it is useful to use picture dictation to
enhance student’s capability in writing simple sentences.
Therefore, picture dictation technique can be utilize to help students
write sentence correctly if correct measure is being taken to assist them in
writing simple sentence. The picture helps the dictation process for them to
write words with correct grammatical structure and punctuation.
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3.0 What Was My Research Objective/Question
To what extent does the use of picture dictation in improving pupils’
ability in writing simple sentences?
4.0 Who Were My Research Participants?
Writing sentences in English is not an easy task compared to in
Bahasa Malaysia especially with regards English is not a mother tongue
language (Mina, 2014). This is mainly due to students who like to translate
English directly to Malay in the classroom. It consumes a lot of time as
students did not know on how to learn the language as natural as possible. If
they did not understand certain words they will automatically give up.
Compare to Malay, they knew the meaning of the language. Hence, their
interest is aroused when they learnt the language. As a result, based from
my previous encounter with students there were still students who were not
able to write sentences properly. This is because they had already lost
interest in getting to learn the language at first place. Since simple
sentences can be called fundamental aspect of writing, therefore I thought it
was important for pupils to master it well before moving on to the next level
of language mastery.
For this reason I had selected ten students from my class to be the
research participants. These ten were from the same class with quite similar
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learning level. They were taken from year 3 in that particular school. Their
proficiency level were not so good but had quite some interest in learning the
English subject. The reason of selecting only ten pupils as my research
participants was mainly due to the pupils’ ability itself.
During this time I asked pupils to do the Round Robin activity. They were going to do chain-story action from one pupil to another. However, the objective of this teaching was a failure since not all pupils were able to continue the story using their own words. Further action was needed such as teacher had to prepare a template for pupils to make the story interesting. One good example recommended was to introduce word cards that were useful in this session.
(Journal Entry 18, 19th September 2013)
Pupils were unable to do the Round Robin activity due to lack in
speaking skill. From there I was thinking that if they were unable to do the
speaking how about their writing skill? Fair enough for me to say that they
were quite having problems in that area.
Pupils seemed to having problem in English when I asked for a simple thing such as an introductory writing about my pupils. They were unable to write in one short paragraph describing about them.
(Journal Entry 8, 22nd July 2013)
From there I chose the preferable pupils who yield the best result and had
the equal ability in cognitive thinking. I wanted to get a fair and just result in
order for my future studies. Therefore, ten pupils were chosen for purposive
sampling.
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5.0 How Did I Collect My Data
I came into four types of my research instruments namely;
observation, interviews, journal entries, and pre and post test.
Certain kinds or research questions can best be answered by
observing how people act or how things look (Patton, 2008). It was common
to say as a researcher, I could interview teachers about how their pupils
behave during class but what matter the most was the way I observed my
pupils. I also had a second observer whom was my friend when I conducted
my teaching. This can be called nonparticipant observation (Fraenkel,
Wallen & Hyun, 2013). It means the activity was observed but rather “sit on
the sidelines” and was not directly involved in the situation he was
observing. It was done in order to minimise error made by me and also to
check if I had left behind any important event for future reference.
One common way of any research instruments was to conduct
interviews. Interviewing selected individuals was one method used by a
qualitative researcher to collect data (Seidman, 2006). The careful asking of
relevant questions which is interviewing is an important way for me to find
out what was on pupils’ minds- what they taught or how they felt about
something. The idea was to grasp those things we cannot directly observe. I
had observed many things but feelings, thoughts and intentions were
excluded. Hence, I may say I cannot observe everything. That’s why I chose
to implement interview as my research instrument to further validate data
collection.
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I had decided to do semi structured interview for my respondents. It
was used to obtain information that can later be compared and contrasted.
When tested on pupils, I am hopeful to shape responses to my perceptions
of how things were. Then, I analysed the information to get useful
information from it.
Every teacher researcher should keep a research journal. It could
have everything- the 10 minutes a day of writing that I was doing about
questions, notes from anecdotal records, reflections and some notes on
background reading to what a researcher had done on a topic (Wilson,
2013). This was some quotes that I taught matches the reason of journal
entries rationale. It did support my argument throughout the whole thesis.
Some findings also corresponded with the entries for that day in particular.
In pre and post test I conducted similar tests at given different setting.
This type of instrument was called the one-group pretest-posttest design
(Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2013). In this design, a single group was
observed not only after being intervened, but also before the intervention
took place. The reason why I was doing this technique mainly due to I would
know if any differences between the two tests were due intervention or other
external factor. Then if a change in mood of learning occurred between the
pre and post-test, I had reason to believe that it was triggered by the
intervention process. For pre test I used traditional method of teaching
writing. It is dictation technique. Dictation is use as follows:
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“The teacher read the word and then the students dictate and write what the
teacher had said” (Colle, 2012).
The sentences were limited to simple sentences as it matched their
cognitive level of thinking. As mentioned earlier, grammar skill was only
begin to be taught during year 3 in KSSR syllabus. It was quite importance
for a teacher to remember reading the word carefully. By all means, read it
clearly one after another so that students have the luxury to write sentences
properly. If possible, use familiar words that students might already
encounter up to their level. Dictation was probably taking longer times as
teacher needs to read not only once but few times. This was due to the fact
that pupils should heard every bit of words clearly without any interferences
whether from inside or outside the classroom.
The outcome of this test will be collected to compare the date
collected from the other test. In contrast, during post test I will introduce the
insertion of picture dictation to enhance their capabilities in writing simple
sentences. Images help the learners to “construct meaning by interacting
with the text” (Pearson, 1990 in Cooper & Kiger, 2003 p.279). With the help
of the pictures I strongly believe it will help students to write better. With both
senses of sight and hearing involve, it will trigger ideas for students to
confidently write simple sentences. They will know what to write and how to
write it using the notion of correctness of sentence structure. The intended
question will be the same but with the help of pictures it can elevate their
writing process to a higher level. To make the test more reliable, there will be
16
a two weeks gap from one test to another. This can eliminate the possibility
of students in guessing the sentence rather than thinking the answer.
6.0 What Was My Recommended Intervention?
The research was done for approximately two weeks. It started on
31st March 2014 until 14th April 2014. In my research, I underwent two
teaching sessions. Both sessions were carried out under the same topic
which from Unit 7: From the Sea in year 3 textbook. The subtopic was the
same but had some differences. However, the difficulty levels were quite
similar from one lesson plan to another. The first lesson plan was using
traditional method. Intervention process occurred during the second lesson
plan activity. In other words, the words chosen for the activity was chosen
appropriately according to their needs. The lesson plans are included in the
appendices 1 and 2.
For the first session, the objective is to enable pupils to write in neat
legible print with correct spelling for writing simple sentences (appendix 1).
In set induction I introduced few pictures to arouse their attention. The
pictures were about sea creatures.
Pupils seemed be focused when I used colourful pictures to attract their attention. The pictures changed their mood. When I asked questions pupils raised their hands to answer my questions.
(Journal entry 22, 4th July 2014)
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A reading comprehension was introduced for pupils to find information
with regards to the topic mention earlier. New vocabularies were introduced
with regard to the reading comprehension. This was to ensure pupils
understand the text better. I deliberately asked them to describe any sea
creatures that they can see based from the reading comprehension. In
groups of 6, they needed to find information about some sea creatures to
describe. The texts were provided by the teacher. The texts were simple as
difficult words were already introduced at the earlier stage.
Then during post-reading, I conducted my research. I did the research
by asking them to write simple sentences to all students but I only analyse a
total of ten respondents. This was mainly because I wanted to get fair and
consistent result by selecting ten pupils who had the most similar cognitive
ability.
After I completed my first teaching and learning session, I asked the
pupils to submit the answers for pre-test activity (appendix 3.2). The total
sentences was about 10 and each correct answer was rewarded a total of
10 marks (appendix 3.1). The total marks for all correct answers were 100%.
For example, if they get only 4 correct answers, then the marks allocated is
40%.
The following week, I conducted my second teaching and learning
activity (appendix 2). Intervention process occurred for this time around. The
sentences were with me for dictation process (appendix 4.1). Instead of
using traditional method of dictation, I showed pictures. Those pictures were
18
references to word that were contained in the sentences (appendix 4.2). The
stages and the flow of the lesson was the same except for the post-reading
activity. This was done in order to prevent inconsistency in pupils’ answers.
Same setting and the same subtopic were maintained. The same thing that I
taught was consistent because I did not want to change the variables. If I am
teaching the same thing, then I can say that the result will be quite
supportive and reliable. This was because I did it on the same pupils but
different period.
Based from these two results I can say that my findings were quite
good. They were some variables in the results. I am sure that my research
was effective up to certain extent. I also believed that they were some
setbacks in my research. From what can sense, pupils were quite motivated
to cooperate during the post-test activity. It can be seen when they did the job
smoothly due to certain reason.
Pupils were making so much noise. In the Behaviourist Theory, I remembered that if you want to shape pupils behaviour you need to remove something that they seek to. Hence, I threaten them to give full cooperation or their recess time was taken away from them. From that moment onward, they seemed to cooperate better.
(Journal Entry 23 9th April 2014)
These findings were detected when I look at the answer. The works of
pupils seemed to be better compared to the first test which was pre-test.
Other than that, when I further asked them which technique they prefer, they
stated the picture dictation was better to assist them in writing sentences
19
In the below table 4.0, it summarizes the steps that will be taken in
the implementation of the action.
Table 4.0 Action Research Schedule
NO ACTIVITY DATE1 Choosing the proposal topic and research instruments. 6th January 20142 Drafting for the first proposal 7-18th January 20143 Seek the supervisor to ask about the chosen topic. 12th February 20144 Seek the English teacher to identify pupils 10th March 20145 Prepare lesson plan for dictation technique 20th March 20146 Conducting the first lesson for dictation technique 31st March 20147 Conducting pre-test activity 31st March 20148 Prepare lesson plan for picture dictation technique 3rd April 20149 Conducting the second lesson using picture dictation
technique8th April 2014
10 Conducting the post-test activity 8th April 201411 Conducting interview with the respondents 8th April 201412 Analyse the data 10th April 201413 Prepare reports 12th April 201414 Make proper changes to the report 20th April 201415 Discuss with supervisor and updating the report 1-31st August 201416 Submit the report 9th September 2014
The estimate for the cost of the study can be seen in Appendix 7.
7.0 What were the Results of My Study?
The result for every pupil for pre-test (traditional dictation method) and post-
test (picture dictation technique) was counted in percentage form. Table 5.0
below showed the comparison for the both tests.
20
Table 5.0 Comparison between pre and post test.
Student Pre Test (%)
(Dictation technique)
Post Test (%)
(Picture dictation technique)
A 60 60
B 30 70
C 40 30
D 20 50
E 50 70
F 40 20
G 20 40
H 0 0
I 30 30
J 80 60
Mean 37 43
Based on the table 5.0, mean marks for pre-test was 37%. Only one
pupil failed to write any answer correctly. Furthermore, the highest mark
obtained was 80%. The lowest mark other than 0% was 20% (refer to
appendix 8). Two pupils obtained that result. From the result, I came to a
conclusion that most pupils were unable to write the simple sentences
correctly.
In the meantime, post-test results showed significantly higher mean
marks the total of 43%. Again, one pupil unable to manage writing even one
sentence correctly. It was the same pupil from the previous result. It can be
said; from the result pupils were able to improve significantly higher result.
21
Higher marks showed pupils were quite able to write better using picture
dictation technique compared to traditional dictation technique.
A further in-depth analysis was prepared to compare pupils’
achievement for both pre and post-test. Both Table 6.0 and Figure 5.0
showed the achievement analysis for both pre and post test which were
categorized under excellent (grade A), good (Grade B), distinction (Grade
C), satisfactory (Grade D) and lastly weak (Grade E).
Table 6.0 Pre and Post-Test achievement analysis
ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL PRE-TEST POST-TEST NO % NO %
Excellent (80% - 100%) 1 10 0 0Good (60% - 79%) 1 10 4 40Distinction (40% - 59%) 3 30 2 20Satisfactory (20% - 39%) 4 40 3 30Weak (0% - 19%) 1 10 1 10
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Figure 5.0 Pupils achievement in pre and post test using grade scale.
Weak Satisfactory Good Excellent0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0
2
4
3
1
3
1
4
Post-test Pre-test
According to both Table 6.0 and Figure 5.0, pupils were considered
passed if their results obtained in category excellent, good and distinction.
However, they failed the test if their results were under band satisfactory and
weak. As you can see, five pupils failed pre-test as they were under both
weak and satisfactory band. Hence, failure percentage was 50%. Therefore,
50% pupils passed the test. In the meantime, post-test showed slight
increase in the number of pupils who passed the test. 6 pupils passed;
therefore passing percentage was 60%. The other pupils were either
satisfactory or weak level.
From the above figure and tables the number of pupils who managed
to write sentences correctly had slightly increased. Hence, I came to a
conclusion that the effectiveness of using picture dictation had limitations.
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Table 6.1 below showed among the common mistakes made by pupils
during post-test. It was done to show some limitations in using picture
dictation to write simple sentences.
Table 6.1 Errors in post-test activity
No Figure Description
1This pupil cannot write the word ‘here’ correctly because he wrote it ‘hear’. This condition called homophones.
Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound but different spelling (Rowe & Lewine ,2009).
2This pupil wrongly spelled the word ‘boots’ with ‘books’. Hence the meaning differ. It makes the sentences wrong. Therefore, she was wrong.
3These two pupils knew the words mentioned by me but did not know on how to spell the word correctly.
24
No Figure Description
You can see the word ‘hard’ was spelled ‘hut’ because they did not have the ability to spell it correctly.
4 This pupil cannot distinguish between ‘is’ and ‘his’. This may be due to she did not hear it correctly from me.
25
When I went deeper into the test paper, there were tendencies for
pupils to write the sentences properly. However they cannot write it correctly
due to limitation in writing certain words correctly.
Moreover, I also identified that there was also some contributing
factor that lead to pupils’ error. The teacher which was me had some
difficulty to hear my intonation when I dictate the sentences. They rectified it
after the post-test activity.
When I finished conducting the post-test activity I asked the pupils to return to their seat. At the end of the lesson some pupils came to me and asked for the marks. I said I will inform you later. They said sorry if they had done wrong because some words that I mentioned were not clear enough to their ears.
(Journal Entry 23 9th April 2014)
I also managed to come up with interview technique to further validate
my research. The question posed “Was picture dictation technique helped
you in writing simple sentences better?” The responses were as below.
Example 1 (Transcript interview for students who agreed with picture
dictation technique)
Me: Did picture dictation technique help you to write simple sentences
correctly?
Respondent B: Yes.
Me : If you compared it to just using traditional technique of picture dictation
which one do you prefer?
26
Respondent B: This technique is much better.
Me : Why do you think so?
Respondent B: The picture is interesting.
Me : Is there any other reason?
Respondent B: It is easier to write if you can imagine the picture.
Example 2 (Transcripts interview for students who disagree with picture
dictation technique)
Me: Does picture dictation technique helps you to write simple sentences
correctly?
Respondent C: No.
Me: If you compare it to just using traditional technique of picture dictation
which one do you prefer?
Respondent C: Sometime I prefer the conventional technique.
Me : Why do you think so?
Respondent C: I don’t know, maybe the old technique is much easier.
Me : Is there any other reason?
Respondent C: No. I don’t know.
Me : Do you think that this technique has any weakness?
Respondent C: I think that this technique not suitable for me.
27
Other than that, based from my observation it can be said that pupils
were eager to write simple sentences.
When I took time to check on pupils’ answers it can be seen that pupils write better and clearer compare to using dictation technique. They sat properly and listen attentively to every word that I am saying.
(Journal Entry 23 9th April 2014)
Therefore, it can be concluded that picture dictation did help to find a way to
attract pupils’ attention to write sentences better.
The findings of this research also was supported by the observation
made by both of my friends and I. In the excerpt that I jotted during my
personal observation to my teaching (appendix 6) there was some parallel in
the results from one instrument to another. It stated that there were some
slight changes from one aspect to another. After intervention process, pupils
seemed to gain quite a big reinforcement to write sentences. This was
because the usage of pictures greatly helps in shaping their behaviour to
write sentences.
At the same time, I asked for the presence of one fellow colleague
when I was teaching. The purpose for his presence was to take down notes
regarding my teaching. The main idea for his notes mainly circulate around
changes in pupils’ mood, the shift in learning atmosphere and body posture
of the pupils (appendix 7). Based from the excerpt what I can deduce was
my learning strategy of using picture dictation able to shift those three
changes. As mentioned earlier, pupils’ mood were in good condition. To
28
support that point, he wrote there were some shifting in classroom air
atmosphere. The air seems to be pupils’ friendly in order for learning. Their
body postures tell it all. Hence, picture dictation did arouse the pupils’
motivation to learn writing simple sentences better.
8.0 What Have I Learned from the Study?
Assunta (2007) also support the usage of image to enhance pupils’
writing for low English proficiency. Compared to just using dictation which
has no picture at all, picture dictation technique arouses interest for pupils to
learn. This technique is effective to be used in Malaysian classroom
provided with conducive learning environment. An ample environment was
needed in order to make picture dictation technique working successfully.
Some limitations or a drawback in using picture dictation was teacher
needed to be fluent in English. The skills of speaking need to be improved
so that teacher can pronounce the words in the sentences correctly. As
mentioned earlier, pronunciation makes an external effect to this technique.
If I said the word with incorrect intonation and so forth it makes pupils tend to
write it wrong. In addition, my mother tongue interference made my
pronunciation to become unclear. So during both pre and post- test some
pupils were confused of what I was dictating.
Today marks the beginning of my research time frame. To begin with, I introduced the topic by asking what Sea Creatures
29
is. During post-reading stage, I conducted dictation to write simple sentences. In the middle of dictation, some pupils stopped writing. I asked: Why you stopped writing?” He replied, “I cannot follow you”. Then, I repeat the words from the beginning.
(Journal Entry 20, 31st March 2014)
Therefore, I needed to find a much better recording or another way was to
find someone to dictate the words for me in the classroom. I was thinking to
get help from one of the English teacher in that school. This will be done to
ensure the validity and the reliability was up to the maximum. This was one
factor that I taught need to be overcome with.
Other than that, I also identified one other problem to do this
technique. One contributing factor that leads to the success of this technique
was the surrounding. At pre-test I did it early morning where pupils just
entered the classroom from the weekly assembly. They needed to arrange
chairs and tables. After that, they needed to clean up the classroom. It took
quite some time and in the end they quite exhausted.
Pupil’s motivation seemed to decrease quite a bit after they entered the classroom. Movement from in and out of the classroom disrupt me as a teacher. Some announcement and their class teacher checking the attendance made the pupils fatigue.
(Journal entry 3, 12th February 2013)
This obstacles lead to fatigue and their learning was disrupted. As a result,
they give less cooperation during pre-test.
A week later, I conducted the post-test at second period, right before
recess. To improve their learning I promise them 5 minutes early break if
30
they gave full cooperation. As a result, their motivation increases as reward
was promised that meet their desire. Based from the above points, I can say
that the external environment played quite a small role for the results to be
positive.
9.0 What Do I Intend to Do for the Next Cycle?
The findings of this action research suggested to me that the
effectiveness of using picture dictation technique in improving pupils in
writing simple sentences has some limitations. According to Wilson (2009), if
the problem cannot be overcome totally, then the next cycle has to be
followed up.
In the next cycle, this picture dictation technique will be good in
enhancing their ability to write sentences better but some changes have to
take place. I suggest that teacher needs to record other suitable voice to do
the dictation. I would like to recommend using my peer colleague voice that
in some way far better pronunciations than mine. This is because if you were
using clearer voice, then the technique will be more effective. Pupils can
hear it better and can effectively write the sentences better.
This was because during post-test activity, there were distractions
where pupils hardly listen to my dictation. In my opinion, my voice was not
clear enough and also the surrounding noise that makes it difficult for my
respondents to give full cooperation. In the end, you can see that they just
31
guessing of writing what they heard. It defeats the purpose of doing the
research.
Other than that, I would like to find a conducive room to conduct
dictation where there are limited distraction coming from it. Since pupils are
relatively having short attention span, I want to prolong their attention to a
maximum. If they lose their attention to me and to the technique, then it can
be a contributing factor to the effectiveness of picture dictation. I am going to
minimize this external factor so that my result yields higher reliability and
validity.
10.0 Conclusion
This action research had showed to me that the use of picture
dictation in improve pupils writing simple sentences had limitations. The
increase in number of pupils able to write the answer was not consistent.
There was some inconsistency in pupils’ answer.
References
Assunta B. A. A. (2007). Writing with images: A Case Study of Low English
Proficiency Students. Unpublish Thesis, University of Malaya.
32
Brown, Henry D. (2002). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4th
ed. New York: Longman.
Chitravelu N, Sithamparam S, Choon T.S. (2007). ELT Methodology
Principles and Practice.2nd Edition.Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.
Griffin. M.C.R. (1999). See Your Way to Literacy, Classroom, 7, 15-18.
Harmer J. (2007).The Practice of English Language Teaching.Fourth
Edition. Pearson Education Limited.
Jack R. Fraenkel, Norman E. Wallen, Helen H. Hyun. (2013). How To
Design and Evaluate Reseacrh in Education. Eighth Edition McGraw
Hill.
Kiger, J.D.C.N.D. (2003). Literacy.Helping Children Construct Meaning.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Lee, C.-C.(2004). Seeing is Understanding: Improving Coherence in
Students’ Writing.The Internet TESL Journal, X No. 7,1-4.
Lim Soh L. and Khemlani-David M. (1995). Building Self-Esteem of Teacher
Trainees- Awareness of Innate Communicative Abilties. Retrieved on
3rd August 2014 from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1995/main3.html.
Longman (2005) Dictionary of Contemporary English.Pearson Education
Limited.
Meek, M. (1991).On Being Literate.London: Bodley Head Children’s Books.
Mina. (2014). Writing Academic English: A Non-Native Speaker’s
33
Experience. Retrieved on 20th April 2014 from
http://www.edanzediting.com/blog/writing_academic_english_non_nat
ive_speaker%E2%80%99s_experience#.VAxPP6M0qho.
Ministry of Education. (2012). Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah
{Standard-based Curriculum}. Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum.
Putrajaya.
Nunan.D. (2003).Practical English Language Teaching, First Edition.
McGraw-Hill. New York.
Patton, M. Q. (2008). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Sage
Publications Inc.
Piro, J.M. (2002). The picture of reading: Deriving meaning in literacy
through image. the Reading Teacher, 56(2). 126-134.
Rowe, B R and Levine D R (2009). A Concise Introduction to Linguistics. 2nd
Edition, Pearson Boston.
Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage. 3rd Edition, Oxford University
Press.
Seidman, I. E. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for
reasearchers in education and the social sciences. 3rd ed. New York:
Teachers’s College Press, p. 68.
Wileman.R.E. (1993).Visual Communication.New Jersey : Eaglewood
Cliffs.
34
Wilson, E. (2013). School Based Research: A guide for education students.
2nd Edition Singapore. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Appendix 1
LESSON PLAN
Subject : EnglishClass : Year 3 Delima
35
Enrolment : 31 pupilsTime : 7.40 am – 8.40 amDate : 31st March 2014Level : LowTheme : World of KnowledgeTopic : From the Sea (Unit 7)Focused skill : ReadingIntegrated skill : Writing
Content standard Learning standard
2.2 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.
2.2.2 Able to read and understand phrases and sentences in linear and non-linear texts.
3.1 By the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to form letters and words in neat legible print including cursive writing.
3.1.1 Able to write in neat legible print with correct spelling:(a) phrases(b) simple sentences
Learning objectives : By the end of the lesson pupils should be able to:
(a) read and find information from the texts given(b) describe at least 3 out 5 sea creatures introduced (c) write at least 4 information with correct spelling
Educational emphases : Thinking skills
Moral value : Love for the environment
Language content : New vocabulary (stingray, jellyfish, clownfish, sea stars)
Previous Knowledge : Adjectives.
Anticipated Problem : Pupils of lower proficiency level might not be able to complete the task given.
Possible Solution : Teacher walks around to help them in completing the task.
Teaching resources : Reading comprehension from edHelper.com, manila card,
mahjong paper.
36
Appendix 1
Stage/Time Content Teaching & Learning activities
Rationale Remarks
Set induction5 minutes
Questions
- What are your favourite sea creatures?
- Why do you like sea creatures?
1. Teacher shows some pictures about sea creatures to relate the topic for today.
2. Teacher elicits response through questioning pupils orally.
3. Pupils respond to the pictures to talk about the sea creatures.
4. Teacher plays Hangmen games to spell the sea creatures.
5. Teacher introduces the topic “Sea Creatures”.
To arouse students’ attention.
To get students to sit and settle themselves.
To introduce the topic to the pupils.
Hangmen games
A4 picture cards.
Pre-Reading
10 minutes
New vocabulary
- Stingray- Jellyfish- Clownfi
sh
1. Teacher shows some words to pupils. 2. Teacher explains new words to pupils. 3. Teacher asks few pupils to read the meaning of few words.
To understand the short paragraph.
Mahjong paper
Manila card
While-Reading
25 minutes
- Describing sea creatures.
1. In groups of 6 people per group, pupils read the text silently.
2. Teacher read and pupils follow the text with correct intonation.
To enrich vocabulary list
To practice scanning and scheming skills.
Reading text
Mahjong paper
A4 pictures
37
3. Teacher distributes different text to each group.
4. Pupils need to read and find information from the text given.
5. Teacher instructs pupils to exchange the text with other groups until all groups have all 5 different texts.
6. Pupils discuss the text with their friends.
7. Teacher guides the pupils on how to find the answers from the text.
8. Pupils fill up the mahjong paper to describe the sea creatures.
Post-Reading
15 minutes
Sentence building(simple sentences)
- There was a big flash.
- Your car had a crash.
- Look in your book.
1. Few pupils are selected to do the sentences.
2. This activity is to test pupils’ ability in writing simple sentences.
3. The others were required to do also but only selected answers are chosen for further analysis.
To promote critical and creative thinking skills among pupils.
To test pupils’ listening and writing skills.
A4 papers.
Closure5 minutes
Moral value:
- Love for the environment
1. Teacher recaps the day lesson by asking pupils about the lesson.
2. Teacher summarises the lesson by recalling the sea creatures they have seen earlier.
To consolidate what they have learnt
To instill moral values within the pupils.
38
Appendix 2
LESSON PLAN
Subject : EnglishClass : Year 3 Delima
39
Enrolment : 31 pupilsTime : 8.40 am – 9.40 amDate : 8th April 2014Level : LowTheme : World of KnowledgeTopic : From the Sea (Unit 7)Focused skill : ReadingIntegrated skill : Writing
Content standard Learning standard
2.2 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.
2.2.2 Able to read and understand phrases and sentences in linear and non-linear texts.
3.1 By the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to form letters and words in neat legible print including cursive writing.
3.1.1 Able to write in neat legible print with correct spelling:(a) phrases(b) simple sentences
Learning objectives : By the end of the lesson pupils should be able to:
(d) read and find information from the texts given(e) describe at least 3 out 5 sea creatures introduced (f) write at least 4 information with correct spelling
Educational emphases : Thinking skills
Moral value : Love for the environment
Language content : New vocabulary (blue whale, coral, dolphin, eel, crab)
Previous Knowledge : Adjectives.
Anticipated Problem : Pupils of lower proficiency level might not be able to complete the task given.
Appendix 2
Possible Solution : Teacher walks around to help them in completing the task.
40
Teaching resources : Reading comprehension from edHelper.com, manila card,
mahjong paper.
Stage/Time Content Teaching & Learning activities
Rationale Remarks
Set induction5 minutes
Questions- What are
your favourite sea creatures?
- Why do you like sea creatures?
6. Teacher shows some pictures about sea creatures to relate the topic for today.
7. Teacher elicits response through questioning pupils orally.
8. Pupils respond to the pictures to talk about the sea creatures.
9. Teacher plays Hangmen games to spell the sea creatures.
10. Teacher introduces the topic “Sea Creatures”.
To arouse students’ attention.
To get students to sit and settle themselves.
To introduce the topic to the pupils.
Hangmen games
A4 picture cards.
Pre-Reading
10 minutes
New vocabulary
- Blue whale
- Coral- Dolphin- Eel- Crab
1. Teacher shows some words to pupils. 2. Teacher explains new words to pupils. 3. Teacher asks few pupils to read the meaning of few words.
To understand the short paragraph.
Mahjong paper
Manila card
While-Reading
- Describing sea
9. In groups of 6 people per group,
To enrich vocabular
Reading
41
25 minutes creatures. pupils read the text silently.
10. Teacher read and pupils follow the text with correct intonation.
11. Teacher distributes different text to each group.
12. Pupils need to read and find information from the text given.
13. Teacher instructs pupils to exchange the text with other groups until all groups have all 5 different texts.
14. Pupils discuss the text with their friends.
15. Teacher guides the pupils on how to find the answers from the text.
16. Pupils fill up the mahjong paper to describe the sea creatures.
y list To
practice scanning and scheming skills.
text Mahjong
paper A4 pictures
Post-Reading
15 minutes
Sentence building(simple sentences)
- They are on the ship
- There are some crabs.
- His boots are here.
4. Few pupils are selected to do the sentences.
5. This activity is to test pupils’ ability in writing simple sentences.
6. The others were required to do also but only selected answers are chosen for further analysis.
To promote critical and creative thinking skills among pupils.
To test pupils’ listening and writing skills.
A4 papers.
Closure Moral 3. Teacher recaps To
42
5 minutes value:
- Love for the environment
the day lesson by asking pupils about the lesson.
4. Teacher summarises the lesson by recalling the sea creatures they have seen earlier.
consolidate what they have learnt
To instill moral values within the pupils.
Appendix 3.1
Pre-Test Sentences
43
1) There was a big flash.
2) Your car had a crash.
3) Look in your book.
4) Are you on the bench?
5) Your bus had a crash.
6) All the frogs are hot.
7) Your song is next.
8) They went on the train.
9) Here is your vest.
10)Your gift is the best.
Appendix 3.2
44
Sample of pupils’ answer.
Appendix 4.1
45
Post-Test Sentences
1) There are some crabs.
2) You must chop them up.
3) His boots are here.
4) Are they all in the hut?
5) Your cat bit me?
6) Some jobs are hard.
7) Your dish is hot.
8) They are on the ship.
9) Here is some string.
10)Your cat jumps on the mat.
Appendix 4.2
Name: _____________________________ Date:_______________
46
Write simple sentences from the following word.
(1)
_______________________________________________________
(2)
_______________________________________________________
(3)
_______________________________________________________
(4)
_______________________________________________________
Appendix 4.2
47
(5)
_______________________________________________________
(6)
_______________________________________________________
(7)
_______________________________________________________
(8)
_______________________________________________________
(9)
_______________________________________________________
Appendix 4.2
48
(10)
_________________________________________________________
Appendix 5
49
(Personal Jotting of My Observation)
- The mood of this classroom seems to be promising.
- Before I begun teaching, I explained the reason to bring someone
here to observe my teaching.
- This was done to make they behave in the presence of stranger in the
classroom.
- During intervention, some pupils were not in the mood of learning.
- However, after I take out big and attractive pictures that I printed
earlier, they immediately took part in the learning process.
- At the end of the lesson, I took a glimpse of their answers, and I
noticed it seems to be increase in achievement. Further analysis will
come through.
Appendix 6
50
(My colleague’s notes for observation)
- The class begun well
- The topic well mentioned in the earlier stage.
- The flow of the teaching was there.
- The intervention process did occur during this teaching.
- However, some pupils seemed to make noise during the intervention
process.
- The teacher tackles this misbehavior well.
- 3 changes that took place during intervention:
Changes in pupils’ mood.
Shift from negative to positive in air learning atmosphere.
Body postures were quite promising after the intervention
process occurred.
Appendix 7
51
Table of Estimated Budget
Number. Material Price per Unit Total Unit
1. Test paper 1 & 2 RM1.00 10 RM 10.00
2. Interview form RM0.10 10 RM 1.00
Total RM 11.00
52
