ENHANCING FORM 3 STUDENTS’ SPELLING ABILITY THROUGH

THE USE OF SPELLING GAME

LYDIA CHAI YEE XUAN

UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRIS

2014

ENHANCING FORM 3 STUDENTS’ SPELLING ABILITY

THROUGH THE USE OF SPELLING GAME

LYDIA CHAI YEE XUAN

RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF EDUCATION

(TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE)

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND COMMUNICATION

UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRIS

2014

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work in this research paper is my own except for the

quotations and summaries which I have duly acknowledged.

Signature: __________________________

Name: Lydia Chai Yee Xuan

Matric No: D20102039955

Date: ______________________________

ii

Table of Contents

Declaration ............................................................................................................................ i

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. ii

List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... v

List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vii

List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ viii

Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ix

Abstrak ................................................................................................................................. x

1.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience ................................................................... 2

1.2 Related Theory/Literature .................................................................................. 4

1.2.1 The Nature of English Spelling ........................................................... 4

1.2.2 Difficulties Faced in Learning Spelling .............................................. 6

1.2.3 Word Study ......................................................................................... 7

1.2.4 Stages of Spelling Development ......................................................... 8

1.2.5 Spelling Game ..................................................................................... 8

2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION/ISSUE OF CONCERN ............................................ 11

2.1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................... 11

2.2 Preliminary Investigation ................................................................................. 11

2.2.1 Pre-spelling Test ............................................................................... 12

2.2.2 Questionnaire .................................................................................... 12

2.3 Analysis of Preliminary Investigation.............................................................. 13

2.3.1 Interpreting Pre-spelling Test Result ................................................ 13

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2.3.2 Interpreting Questionnaire ................................................................ 16

Theme 1: Ability to Spell New Words Correctly .......................... 17

Theme 2: Strategies Used in Spelling New Words ........................ 18

2.4 Criteria of Selection ......................................................................................... 20

2.5 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 21

2.5.1 Enhancing ......................................................................................... 21

2.5.2 Spelling Ability ................................................................................. 21

2.5.3 Spelling Game ................................................................................... 21

3.0 OBJECTIVE/RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................... 21

4.0 TARGET GROUP/PARTICIPANTS .......................................................................... 22

5.0 ACTION ...................................................................................................................... 23

5.1 Procedure of Action ......................................................................................... 23

5.1.1 Pre-intervention ................................................................................. 24

5.1.2 Intervention ....................................................................................... 25

5.1.3 Post-intervention ............................................................................... 24

5.2 Data Gathering Methods .................................................................................. 31

5.2.1 Participants’ Personal Spelling Journals ........................................... 24

5.2.2 Field Notes ........................................................................................ 32

5.2.3 Post-spelling Test .............................................................................. 33

6.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ......................................................... 33

6.1 Interpreting Participants’ Personal Spelling Journals ...................................... 23

Theme 1: Perception towards Spelling Game ............................................ 34

Theme 2: Learning Words via Spelling Game........................................... 39

6.2 Field Notes ....................................................................................................... 40

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Theme 1: Participants’ Mispronunciation .................................................. 40

Theme 2: Problems Faced by Participants during Spelling Game............. 41

Theme 3: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in Spelling Game .............. 41

6.3 Interpreting Post-spelling Test Result .............................................................. 45

7.0 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................... 47

8.0 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................ 49

9.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ........................................................ 49

10.0 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 50

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 51

APPENDICES

Appendix A Questionnaire ................................................................................. 58

Appendix B (i) Onset and rime worksheet for Intervention 1................................. 59

Appendix B (ii) Onset and rime worksheet for Intervention 2................................. 60

Appendix B (iii) Onset and rime worksheet for Intervention 3................................. 61

Appendix B (iv) Onset and rime worksheet for Intervention 4................................. 62

Appendix C (i) Field Notes for Intervention 1 ........................................................ 63

Appendix C (ii) Field Notes for Intervention 2 ........................................................ 65

Appendix C (iii) Field Notes for Intervention 3 ........................................................ 67

Appendix C (iv) Field Notes for Intervention 4 ........................................................ 69

Table A1 Participants’ Pre-spelling Test Word Analysis .............................. 71

Table A2 Participants’ Personal Spelling Journal Entries ............................. 73

Table A3 Participants’ Personal Post-spelling Test Word Analysis in

Relation to Pre-spelling Test Word Analysis ............................... 79

v

List of Tables

Table 1 Differences between Word Study and Traditional Spelling ........................ 8

Table 2 Two Variations of Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check .................................. 10

Table 3 Participants’ Pre-spelling Test Result ........................................................ 14

Table 4 Categorization of Participants’ Errors........................................................ 16

Table 5 Thematic Analysis: Ability to Spell New Words Correctly ...................... 17

Table 6 Thematic Analysis: Strategies Used in Spelling New Words .................... 18

Table 7 Procedure of Action ................................................................................... 24

Table 8 Participants’ Pair List ................................................................................ 26

Table 9 List of Words Learned for the Four Interventions .................................... 30

Table 10 Onset and Rime Covered in the Four Interventions ................................... 30

Table 11 Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in

Intervention 1 ............................................................................................ 35

Table 12 Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in

Intervention 2 ............................................................................................ 35

Table 13 Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in

Intervention 3 ............................................................................................ 36

Table 14 Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in

Intervention 4 ............................................................................................ 36

Table 15 Thematic Analysis: Negative Perception towards Spelling Game ............ 37

Table 16 Reasons of Participants who Like the Spelling Game ............................... 38

Table 17 Thematic Analysis: Learning Words via Spelling Game .......................... 39

Table 18 Thematic Analysis: Participants’ Mispronunciation .................................. 41

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Table 19 Thematic Analysis: Problems Faced by Students During Spelling Game 42

Table 20 Thematic Analysis: Unexpected Participants’ Behaviors .......................... 42

Table 21 Thematic Analysis: Sudden Disrupt Impact .............................................. 43

Table 22 Thematic Analysis: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in

Spelling Game (a) ..................................................................................... 44

Table 23 Thematic Analysis: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in

Spelling Game (b) ..................................................................................... 44

Table 24 Comparisons between Pre and Post-spelling Test Results and Gain ........ 45

vii

List of Figures

Figure 1 Positioning of Player 1 and Player 2 during Spelling Game ..................... 27

Figure 2 Process of Spelling Game .......................................................................... 29

viii

List of Abbreviations

L1 First language

L2 English as Second Language

SMS Short Message Service

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Abstract

Spelling is an important skill which students must acquire before they could excel in the

speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. The use of spelling game was found to be

successful in enhancing the spelling ability of 10 self-volunteered Form 3 action research

participants. They are students living in the rural area whereby English language is not

their first language. Spelling game also had helped these participants to memorize words’

spelling. Although they did not manage to memorize all of the words exposed during the

intervention sessions, they could still manage to memorize at least some of them. The

spelling game applied the concept of a combination of techniques from the Look, Say,

Cover, Write, Check and Elkonin Boxes. In analyzing the quantitative data such as the

pre and post-spelling test result, the statistical analysis was used. On the other hand when

analyzing the qualitative data such as the questionnaire, participants’ personal spelling

journals and researcher’s field notes, the thematic analysis was used. Based on the result

obtained from the pre and post-spelling test, these participants had shown improvement in

their ability to spell after they had undergone four times of interventions. To conclude, the

spelling game is a successful and interesting alternative to improve students’ spelling

ability.

Keywords: spelling game, spelling ability, memorize words’ spelling

x

Abstrak

Kemahiran mengeja adalah sangat penting dan mesti dikuasai sebelum pelajar dapat

menguasai kemahiran bertutur, mendengar, membaca dan menulis. Penggunaan

permainan mengeja didapati berjaya dalam mengukuhkan kemahiran mengeja dalam

kalangan 10 orang Tingkatan 3 sukarelawan peserta kajian tindakan. Mereka merupakan

pelajar yang tinggal di kawasan pedalaman di mana Bahasa Inggeris bukan merupakan

bahasa pertama mereka. Permainan mengeja turut membantu para peserta untuk

menghafal ejaan perkataan. Walaupun mereka tidak dapat menghafal semua perkataan

yang didedahkan semasa sesi-sesi intervensi, mereka masih mampu menghafal

sekurang-kurangnya sebahagian daripada tersebut. Permainan mengeja telah

mengamalkan kombinasi konsep yang terdapat dalam teknik Lihat, Cakap, Tutup, Tulis,

Semak dan Kotak Elkonin. Semasa menganalisa data kuantitatif seperti ujian ejaan

sebelum dan selepas, analisa statistik dipraktikkan. Apabila menganalisa data kualitatif

seperti soal selidik, jurnal mengeja para peserta dan nota bidang, analisa thematic pula

dipraktikkan. Berdasarkan kepada keputusan yang diperolehi dalam ujian mengeja

sebelum dan selepas, para peserta telah menunjukkan peningkatan dalam kemahiran

mengeja selepas menjalani empat kali intervensi. Secara kesimpulannya, penggunaan

permainan mengeja adalah sebuah alternatif yang berjaya dan menarik dalam memajukan

kemahiran mengeja bagi para pelajar.

Kata kunci: permainan mengeja, kemahiran mengeja, menghafal ejaan perkataan

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The undertaking of this research project was in accordance with one of the anticipated

student aspirations from the Malaysian Blueprint (2012) that every child can obtain

bilingual proficiency whereby they should be able to work in both Bahasa Malaysia

and English language environment upon leaving school. Proficiency in a language is

inclusive of the mastery of language for informational and interpersonal purposes.

Spelling is an influencing factor as it helps to build fluency and automaticity which

facilitate reading and writing skills (Hook & Jones, 2009).

Nowadays, many students have problems in writing because they are not able

to spell words correctly (Meriem, 2010). Poor in spelling is one of the most common

academic difficulties experienced by students and the problem prolongs from one

generation to the next generation getting more and more serious (Helen & Weiss, n.d.).

Frey & Fisher (2005) claim that lesson focusing on spelling is essential so that

students can read and write. Scott (2010) confirms that spelling carries an impact on

the quality of student writing, but at the same time, it helps students to understand

how words work at the level of sound, structure and meaning. Good spelling is critical

for literacy and it makes writing much easier (Joshi, R. M., Treiman, R. ,Carreker, &

Moats, 2008). Hence, the researcher believes that it is important to master the spelling

skill first in order to master the other major skills of English.

According to Jeani Shinta Rahayu (2009), a majority of the students feel

burdened when learning vocabulary in class because their teacher does not provide

them a good technique to memorize the words. Indeed, many students are not exposed

to the right strategy of how to spell as school teachers usually overlook the importance

of spelling. Consequently, students develop incorrect application of strategies which

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result in poor spelling phenomenon. There is also possibility that students have lack of

interest or the presence of undesirable attitudes towards spelling instruction (Adams-

Gordon, 2010).

1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience

The researcher taught a class of Form 3 students with low proficiency level in English.

They are weak in remembering new words and poor in spelling common words

correctly. Being Form 3 students, the researcher anticipated them to be able to

recognize and spell the common words correctly. However, after carrying out a few

activities with them, the researcher noticed that they were not up to her expectation.

Therefore, she decided to carry out an action research aiming to improve their spelling

ability.

Based on the researcher’s experience teaching the students for five weeks,

students failed to spell words correctly. For example, when she asked them to write

short notes at the end of the lesson asking for their feedback regarding her teaching,

students wrote with gross spelling errors for common words such as “funny” (funy)

and “teach” (teech). She suspected this happened due to their lack of knowledge on

how to spell those words correctly. When she asked students to do homework, they

tend to misspell words. They would omit certain alphabets in the word. For instance,

many of them wrote “sacrifices” (sacrifies). This could be due to their ignorance while

copying what is right. When she conducted a listening task by asking students to write

down the words that she read out aloud, most of them spelt “patriotism” (patriotisme).

This was clearly an impact due to their first language (L1) influence.

Upon noticing students’ problems in spelling words correctly, the researcher

did reflect on her own teaching to see if this happened due to her incompetent way of

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teaching or giving instructions. She constantly reminded herself to be cautious in

spelling words that she wrote on the board or typed on the handouts. A spelling

mistake done by the teacher can lead to bad modeling to students. It can be described

to be ‘contagious’ as it will not only affect one student but many at one time. Once the

mistake has been planted into students’ memory, it is difficult to correct and erase off

completely. Therefore, it is better to avoid any chance or possibility for such incident

to occur. In spite of her confidence of not making any mistakes on her part, there must

be a rational explanation to the spelling errors done by those students. One of the very

possible explanations for that could be due to her handwriting on the white board.

Maybe that was the exact reason which caused students to misspell certain words. She

was truthfully not used to writing on the white board with a marker pen.

The researcher also attempted to seek students’ feedback for identifying why

they made such spelling errors. One day, she decided to ask them immediately after

they finished copying. Sadly, students did not give her much feedback but only smiled

and took back their books to do the corrections. In another case, some students

responded that they heard her pronouncing the word as /pætriətɪzmə/ instead of

/pætriətɪzəm/. However, she was very sure that she did not pronounce it the way they

thought she did. It was possible that these students were trying to intentionally be

mischievous by accusing her of mispronunciation. Nevertheless, external factor such

as environment issue could be a cause for students’ misheard of pronunciation. The

classroom windows were wide open and there were noises coming from outside of the

classroom.

Other than asking students, the researcher also asked their previous English

language teacher, Madam J, regarding the students’ ability in spelling. Madam J

agreed that they are weak and poor in spelling. She commented that, “many of them

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are reluctant to learn the correct spelling”. Likewise to the researcher’s encounter,

students tend to do a lot of spelling errors in their homework. According to Madam J,

students have the bad habit of copying their friend’s homework. As a result, it made

identification and tracking difficult. Some students may be too lazy or ignorant to

complete the homework on their own. Hence, when students copy from one another,

the teacher could only assume that most of the students shared the same spelling

problem.

1.2 Related Theory/Literature

This review focused on the Spelling Game intervention and the paradigm involved in

this action research. The purpose of reviewing was to enhance current understanding

of issues, theories and processes of the research topic.

1.2.1 The Nature of English Spelling

Based on the study done by Kemmer (2009), English has an alphabetic writing system

based on the Roman alphabet that was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by Christian

missionaries and church officials in the 600s. Spelling is made up of the components

of phonology and orthography (Ravid , 2011). In accordance to Ravid’s definition,

Kemmer explains that alphabetic writing systems are based on the principle of

symbolizing spoken sound segments, uniquely to those at the level of consonants and

vowels, by written characters, ideally one for each sound segment.

The presence of knowledge of phonetic, visual, morphemic and etymological

determines whether how proficient a speller is. According to Antenucci et al. (2011),

proficient spellers use all four types of spelling knowledge when they are writing

known and unfamiliar words. On the other hand, beginning writers rely a lot on

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phonetic strategies because they do not yet know a lot about written language (Topfer,

n.d.).

For English, despite having specific rules, not all of them are to be followed

strictly as there are many exceptional rules at the same time which create confusion.

As indicated by Maddox (n.d.), one of the aspects of the English alphabets that leads

to misunderstanding about English orthography is the 26 letters of the English

alphabet which are inadequate to represent the 44 or so sounds used to speak the

English language. As a continuation of the explanation given by Maddox, the written

English has compensated for this lack of letters by creating “extra letters” to

symbolize eight consonant sounds and seven vowel sounds that do not have letters of

their own.

Sangay Jamtsho (2014) describes the English spelling as the “most

complicated” among other languages. Okrent (2013) also agrees and compares

English spelling as “a cruel prank” for learning kids and even adults. Harbeck (2013)

describes English spelling as “terrible” and “crazy” because even natives find

difficulty in it. During the 18th

century, a prominent Irish playwright, George Bernard

Shaw has facetiously proposed the perfectly regular rule-governed spelling of the

word “fish” as “ghoti” with “gh” pronounced as in “laugh”, “o” as in “women” and “ti”

as in “nation” (Zimmer, 2008; Pod Academy, 2014; Kessler & Treiman, 2003; Sangay

Jamtsho, 2014). Therefore, Shaw critiques the English spelling as “chaotic and

unprincipled”.

However, there are writers who opposed Shaw’s idea that English spelling is

chaotic and unprincipled with various rationales (Ahmad Al-Hassan, n.d.; Maddox,

n.d.; Kessler & Treiman, 2003; Hayes, Kessler, & Treiman, 2005). Hayes et al. (2005)

6

provide an answer to the argument of irregular spelling rules which is one of the main

difficulties faced: obtain knowledge about conservatism, loan-words and how English

spellings represent more than just pronunciation.

According to Antenucci et al. (2011), the nature of spelling has been

influenced by technology including mobile phones, emails and social networking texts.

This is true due to the introduction of Short Message Service (SMS) speak which uses

simplified spelling of words. As a result in the study done by Freudenberg (2009), a

number of SMS speak features were indeed present in both the English native and

second language high school learners formal written work; indicating that SMS speak

did have some impact on the written work of these learners, which could in turn be

attributed to the high frequency of their SMS usage.

1.2.2 Difficulties Faced in Learning Spelling

In the process of learning spelling, there are certainly some obstacles which must be

overcome. In this report, two difficulties are discussed. They are first language

influence and poor in listening for pronunciation.

According to Odlin [as cited in James, C., & Klein, K. (n.d.)], a similarity in

writing systems can reduce the amount of time needed to learn to encode and decode

written symbols in a second language. However, it is unavoidable to omit the fact that

partial but not complete overlap in writing conventions will cause difficulty for the

user to acquire the skill. In other words, influence from the first language can be

positive and also negative at the same time.

Studies analysed by Fender (as cited in Saigh & Schmitt, 2012) have shown

that L2 learners’ literacy spelling skill is one of those being influenced by the different

writing systems of their respective L1’s. According to Wachowicz & Scott (as cited in

7

Al-Saudi, 2013), a common mistake done by ESL learners is to interpret some

combinations of characters with similar pattern of spelling rules from another

language.

Al-Saudi (2013) comments that students failed to identify pronunciation that

they heard when they spell out the words. As supported by Stirling (2003), poor

listening is seen as a limitation to spelling. It is possible that these students are

categorized as gifted visual spatial learner, whereby they face weakness in auditory

sequential processing (Sword, 2003). This type of learners is more prone to visual

learning.

1.2.3 Word Study

Bear et al. (2009) defines Word Study as the integration of phonics, spelling, and

vocabulary instruction that teaches students how to look closely at words to discover

the regularities and conventions of English orthography, or spelling. Leipzig (2000)

argues that it is an alternative to traditional spelling instruction which is based on

learning word patterns rather than memorizing by hard unconnected words. Zutell

finds that it is a form of cohesive approach that addresses word recognition,

vocabulary and phonics as well as spelling (as cited in Leipgzig, 2000).

Based on the presentation done by Halmond & Hodonicky (2014), they

compared and distinguished the significant main differences between Word Study and

Traditional Spelling (refer to Table 1):

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Table 1

Differences between Word Study and Traditional Spelling

Word Study Traditional Spelling

Small group facilitated skill

instruction

Whole group skill instruction

Hands-on learning and

self-discovery based

Rote drill and memorization

Student centered constructivist

learning

Repeated practice

Authentic repeated practice: Small

group, Partner work,

Independently

Note. Adapted from Halmond, & Hodonicky. (2014). Word Study vs. Spelling. Retrieved from

http://www.naperville203.org/Page/4052

1.2.4 Stages of Spelling Development

There are five stages in the spelling development as reported by Gentry (as cited in

Lutz, 1986): precommunicative, semiphonetic, phonetic, transitional and correct

stages. Tompkins (2014) further affirms that to become good spellers, students require

to learn about the English orthographic system and move through the stages of

spelling development.

1.2.5 Spelling Game

To improve students’ spelling skill, Spelling Game was chosen as the intervention.

This intervention is supported by Al Neyadi (2007) who claims that learning new

vocabulary through enjoyable and out of the ordinary ways have the tendency to help

the children to learn vocabulary better.

Bafile (2012) agrees with the effectiveness of using game to teach spelling.

Dripple (n.d.) believes that spelling word games are very motivating and encourages

9

students to learn through the use of strategies, providing immediate feedback and

encouraging teamwork.

According to Topfer (n.d.), developing letter-sound knowledge could be

obtained through the acquisition of onset and rime. Onset is the initial consonant in a

one-syllable word whereas rime includes the remaining sounds after the onset,

including the vowel and any sounds that follow (Holl, n.d.). A continued explanation

given by Topfer is that the knowledge of phonemic awareness can be obtained from

the adoption of using the Elkonin Boxes technique. Based on the understanding of

Higgins (2012), the Elkonin Boxes is a simple and swift way to teach phonemic

awareness. Chan, Hu, & Wan (2005) define phonemic awareness as awareness of

different phonological unites of the oral language, ranging from syllables, to

intermediate syllabic units (for example onsets and rimes), and finally to phonemes.

The Elkonin Boxes is based on the multi-sensory technique that categorizes

each sound in the word; also noting that effective phonemic awareness instruction

teaches students to notice, ponder about and manipulate sounds in spoken language

(Beller, 2006). Clay (as cited in Beller, 2006) explains that students who use Elkonin

boxes are able to hear sounds in words, segment words and show an understanding of

letter-sound correspondence. Adams-Gordon (2010) explains that it does not matter

who is doing the reciting, whether a teacher, recording or himself. This technique is

chosen as the base concept because recent researches have showed that the more

senses incorporated into the learning process, the more efficient learning becomes for

all types of learners (Adams-Gordon, 2010).

According to Westwood (cited in New South Wales Department of Education

and Training 2007), there are two variations of the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check

10

method of which both serve with the similar aim, a strategy to support visual

knowledge (refer to Table 2):

Table 2

Two Variations of Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check

Variation 1 Variation 2

Look at the word

Say

Break the word into syllables

Write the word without copying

Check what you have written

Revise

Select the word you wish to spell

Pronounce the word clearly

Say each syllable of the word

Name the letters in the word

Write the word, naming each letter as you

write.

Note. Adapted from “Writing and spelling strategies: Assisting students who have additional

learning support needs (2nd

ed.)” by Westwood (cited in New South Wales Department of

Education and Training), Retrieved from

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/schoolsweb/studentsupport/programs/lrngdi

ficulties/writespellsec6.pdf

In carrying out this action research, the application of adapted techniques was

done. The Spelling Game intervention was an innovated adaptation product of two

different spelling techniques. However, these two techniques relie on the concept of

multi-sensory technique.

Conventionally, the Elkonin Boxes require students to insert sounds into the

boxes. In the adaptation, the onset and rime (serve as general understanding of

sounds), are given readily in boxes for students to sort out while listening to the

teacher’s pronunciation. Whitworth (n.d.) discloses that the Look, Cover, Write,

Check way of learning spelling is often being used by teachers to have students to

carry out in a regular weekly basis so that students can test themselves a few times. In

the adaptation done, the aspect of ‘look’ is switched with ‘listen’ to the teacher’s

11

pronunciation. The same concept of game was played for four times in the same

manner.

2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION/ISSUE OF CONCERN

To understand the purpose of carrying out this action research, it is important to

analyse the problem that is being detected in the informal observation. To prove the

existence of the problem identified, preliminary investigation was carried out. The

analysis of the data obtained during the preliminary investigation stage provided

concrete reason for the need to carry out this action research.

2.1 Problem Statement

The study of spelling appears minor and less emphasized in the curriculum. However,

it carries great impact on the development of the basic language skills such as reading

and writing. The research base for claiming that spelling is vital for young children is

solid: Learning to spell improves children’s reading and writing (Moats, 2005).

Therefore, spelling ability is said to be the fundamental preparation for students to be

able to achieve better performance in the language skills mentioned. Based on the

findings of Stirling (2003), people are frequently judged by their spelling, making one

to feel embarrassed due to failure in spelling simple words, especially when trying to

express complex ideas.

2.2 Preliminary Investigation

Based on the early teaching experience, students showed obvious lacking in

knowledge on how to spell appropriately. Many spelling errors were highlighted in

their homework. To further confirm the existence of this problem, the pre-spelling test

was conducted, followed up by a questionnaire.

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2.2.1 Pre-spelling Test

The purpose of this test is to double confirm the early informal observation. Also, it is

to serve as a pre-test to be compared with the post-test after the intervention. It acts as

a measure whether students have gained benefits from the intervention.

The choice of words was selected randomly from the English language Form 3

text book. This is to ensure that the words tested were within the curriculum and are

not too difficult in meanings for the students.

There are a total of 10 mono syllabic words being tested in the pre-spelling test:

1. shop 2. drop

3. less 4. park

5. feet 6. crack

7. stretch 8. sail

9. break 10. comb

2.2.2 Questionnaire

After carrying out the pre-spelling test, it is found that a questionnaire to seek

responses from students is necessary to explain the informal observation of students’

being weak in their spelling. Therefore, a simple questionnaire was designed for the

participants of this action research to analyze the result of the pre-spelling test.

There are two subjective questions listed in the questionnaire (refer to

Appendix A). The questions included were as below:

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1. Do you think you can spell new words correctly?

2. How do you spell new words? Describe the strategy that you used.

Participants were asked to confess about how they dealt with the spelling of new

words before the intervention so that comparison could be done later. The questions

were designed to target the way how students spell unfamiliar words. It was important

to figure out what kind of strategy they used and whether they were able to spell new

words before undergoing the intervention. Similarity in strategies used would enhance

the effectiveness of the intervention and vice-versa.

2.3 Analysis of Preliminary Investigation

In analysing the preliminary investigation data, few methods of analysis were being

applied. It is important to study the relationship of how these data show coherent

rationale for the need to carry out the action research to improve participants’ spelling

ability.

2.3.1 Interpreting Pre-spelling Test Result

The result obtained from the pre-spelling test was surprising, with some students

achieving high percentage and some extremely low. In this report, pseudonyms are

used to avoid enclosing students’ real particulars. The result was tabulated (refer to

Table 3).

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Table 3

Participants’ Pre-spelling Test Result

The result (%) was calculated based on how many words spelt correctly by

students. Below was the formula used:

Result (%) =

x 100%

Based on the result shown in Table 3, most of the participants did not obtain

distinction result. 6 out of 10 of them got only 40%. This means that a majority of

them failed to spell half of the spelling words correctly. A participant, Mahiyah scored

extremely low percentage with only 10%. On the other hand, Latifah managed to

score excellently 90% with only one word spelt wrongly.

It is undeniable that from the test result shown, the participants were of mixed

proficiency levels. As seen, there were participants who scored very well and some

who did not. However, from the general view of the result, it could be deduced that

most of them actually did not do very well in spelling even though the words tested

Participant Result (%)

Ahmad 40

Siti 70

Fatimah 40

Badrul 40

Kasimas 60

Cerdik 40

Daud 40

Mahiyah 10

Latifah 90

Ekhwan 40

15

were not extremely difficult. Some words might be familiar to students yet the result

obtained was not satisfying overall.

By referring to Table A1, it seemed that certain words appeared to be difficult

to spell for participants. These words were, “feet”, “crack”, “stretch”, “sail”, “break”

and “comb”. Various spelling attempts were done by participants in the spelling test

and were recorded to understand the type of errors made.

According to Sangay Jamtsho (2014), there are two types of errors, being

classified as the visual errors [for example “liense” (license)] and auditory errors [for

example “lisence” (license)]. Based on Sangay Jamtsho’s explanation, visual errors

are caused by excessive dependence on the visual route whereby the speller has

weakness in auditory and fails to match sounds with letters. On the contrary, auditory

errors are due to the over-reliance on auditory route and a poor visual memory

whereby the speller has not read it enough to form a visual picture or has heard the

word but not seen it before.

Based on the categorization of errors elaborated by Sangay Jamtsho, Table 4

shows some of the identified students’ errors sorted in categories:

16

Table 4

Categorization of Participants’ Errors

Visual Error Actual Word Auditory Error

short, shall shop --

droped, drowked drop --

last, lose less lase, lais

feel, felt feet feed, fit

crake crack kread, creak, craks, creak, crak

strenght, strange, stread,

strength, streight, steshst

stretch stresh, strenge

seld, sells, cill sail seil, seell, sell

breath, bread break breade @ brake, brek

home comb chom, kome, come

From the categorization of errors, it seemed the types of error participants

made were quite balanced between visual errors (21 incorrectly spelt words) and

auditory errors (20 incorrectly spelt words). However, they seemed to make more

errors due to poor auditory skill. However, there were errors made due to poor visual

skill for every tested word. To conclude, they were commonly weak in both auditory

and visual skills when spelling words.

2.3.2 Interpreting Questionnaire

The questionnaire contained two simple questions which required participants to

provide their confessions about themselves honestly. Therefore, the responses given

by them were purely subjective and personal.

17

To interpret the feedback written by participants, the applied thematic analysis

was used. A few themes were categorized based on the questions set in the

questionnaire. They were, “Ability to Spell New Words Correctly” and “Strategies

Used in Spelling New Words”.

There were overlapping of answers but this should be viewed as a good

interpretation of understandings and attitudes of students in general. This means that

the responses were not made up of isolated concepts but all were relative to each other.

Theme 1: Ability to Spell New Words Correctly

The importance of identifying participants’ acknowledgement of their own ability is

important to enhance the assumption made based on their pre-spelling test result. In

normal circumstance, participants’ confession should be coherent with the result they

obtained to be rational and valid.

Table 5

Thematic Analysis: Ability to Spell New Words Correctly

Participant Response

Ahmad

Siti

Latifah

: Yes.

: I think so.

Badrul

Kasimas

: Sometimes.

Fatimah

Cerdik

Daud

Mahiyah

Ekhwan

: No.

: No, I don’t think so.

Based on the categorization of feedback from participants, it seemed that more

participants felt that they were not good in spelling and answered “no”. There was a

18

handful of participants who were positively confident and answered “yes”. However,

there were two participants who gave uncertain answers of neither “yes” nor “no”.

These two participants were likely to be unsure of their own ability. It could be due to

past experiences whereby sometimes they managed to guess the right spelling out of

coincidence. Therefore, they were not able to determine for sure whether they were

really good or not in spelling new words. Another possibility could be due to low self

esteem resulted from their low proficiency in the language. They might be too

intimidated to disclose the truth and therefore chosen an ambiguous answer.

Theme 2: Strategies Used in Spelling New Words

In spelling words, the participants might use certain strategies of which they

themselves were not aware of. It was expected that participants would just describe

instead of stating the exact strategy used. Therefore, the analysis was done based on

the description given by the participants.

From the analysis of the errors made in the spellings, it was found that the

strategies used by the participants could be classified into visual, auditory, usage of

both or none (refer to Table 6).

Table 6

Thematic Analysis: Strategies Used in Spelling New Words

Participant Response Strategy

Ahmad

Siti

Badrul

Cerdik

Daud

Ekhwan

: I will try imagin the sound hear, then I spell what I hear.

: By listening to the sound, I hear and spell the word.

: I try hard listen but I alway spel wrong. I don know what

strategy use.

: I trai listen but I always spel wrong. I tink I see what I

hear.

: Listen to sound of word and spell.

: From listen sound, I write word spelling.

Auditory

Fatimah

: I memorize word pattern to spell.

Visual

19

Latifah

Kasimas

: I listen, I spell. Remember word patten.

: I remember word pattern. Then I spell what I hear.

Auditory

and

Visual

Mahiyah

: I no strategy.

--

Based on Table 6, it appeared that most of the participants were familiar with

the usage of auditory skill in spelling new words. It is important to have at least the

basic knowledge and recognition of onset and rime to be able to use auditory to spell.

However, with the result shown in their pre-spelling test, it had appeared that

participants were exposed to and familiar with onset and rime separately. They failed

to use the correct onset and rime together to get the correct spelling. For example,

Daud spelt “crack” (creak). He wanted to spell the word by using the auditory strategy

but he ended up getting a wrong spelling due to the wrong combination of onset “cr”

and rime “eak”. Hence, the researcher had discovered that he spelt the word wrongly

due to dependence on merely the auditory.

From the 10 participants, surprisingly there was only one participant admitted

using visual strategy in spelling new word. Fatimah, being one of the poor spellers

who scored only 40% thought that spelling using visual only was her best alternative

to spell new words. In spite of her attempt in memorizing word pattern, she still failed

to obtain a high score in the pre-spelling test.

Kasimas used both strategies and could be detected from her pre-spelling test

answers. She spelt “feel” (feet). This was a visual error. She also spelt wrongly for the

word “comb” (come). This is an auditory error. With the use of both visual and

auditory strategies, she scored averagely in the pre-spelling test. The top scorer in the

20

test, Latifah was also one of the candidates who applied the knowledge of visual and

auditory in spelling.

As for Mahiyah who was the only one from the 10 participants and also the

weakest in spelling, confessed that she did not apply any strategy at all in spelling new

words. Her answer was doubtful because she did not seem to put in any effort in

explaining or describing the process of spelling new unfamiliar words. She chose the

easy way by stating unknown. It was impossible for one not to have any strategy used

in spelling words. Another possibility that could be deduced based on her pre-spelling

test result was the fact that she probably had no exposure on how to spell words

correctly. All these while, she could be just guessing around based on the limited

knowledge that she had in the English language. This could be a reasonable

explanation in correspond to her result.

2.4 Criteria of Selection

The teaching of spelling is not highlighted in particular in the curriculum specification.

However, it is the basic yet important knowledge that must be taught to students.

To carry out spelling lessons individually as a solo lesson was not advisable

since the curriculum specification focuses more on language for interpersonal and

informational usage. With the given five periods a week for English language lesson

to teach the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking as well as

literature component, the spelling lesson is unable to fit into the timetable.

However, with the permission obtained from the school authorities, additional

lessons outside from the timetable were allowed. Therefore, it is possible to carry out

spelling lessons specifically to tackle students with poor spelling condition. With solo

lessons carried out focusing on one aspect, it is believed to be more effective.

21

2.5 Definition of Terms

There are specific terms which are significant in this action research:

2.5.1 Enhancing

It means intensifying, increasing or further improving the quality, value, or extent of

something (Oxford Dictionary, 2014).

2.5.2 Spelling Ability

It refers to the personal skill that involves an activity of forming words from letters, or

conversely the process of naming the letters that form a word (Ginger Software, 2011).

2.5.3 Spelling Game

They are collection of typing games, quizzes and word games that help children

develop their spelling skills (Knowledge Adventure, n.d.).

3.0 OBJECTIVE/RESEARCH QUESTIONS

An inviting classroom environment that would gradually improve students’ spelling

and motivation to learn English could be created by incorporating spelling game into

the teaching and learning of vocabulary spelling. The following questions were

designed to help to assess if the goals were achieved by the end of the first cycle

action research:

1. Can spelling game assist participants to enhance their ability to spell mono

syllabic words correctly?

2. Can spelling game aid participants to memorize the spelling of the words

learned?

22

4.0 TARGET GROUP/PARTICIPANTS

There were a total of 36 students in the class who sat for the pre-spelling test together.

However, only 10 students were recruited to undergo the intervention in this action

research as participants. They were selected based on self-willingness. Hence, they

were highly self motivated rather than being forced. Due to the fact that the

intervention was done outside from the timetable, participants were told that the

intervention was a form of extra class tuition meant to improve students with poor

spelling skill.

As mentioned, there were 10 participants involved in this action research.

Their proficiency level is between low to intermediate. The majority of them are low

proficiency English as Second Language learners (L2 learners). They are 15 years old

studying in the middle ranking class. They have undergone streaming this year. A

majority of them are from 2F class last year. Despite the fact that they have been

selected to a better class, their proficiency level in English is still low.

There were coincidentally 5 male and 5 female students among the participants.

All of them are Malays. The female students are not too shy to speak and interact with

the male students as they are from the co-ed school. They are able to collaborate with

one another to perform the assigned task. In terms of attitude, most of the students are

optimistic and hold positive attitude in learning.

They are normal learners with no severe linguistic disability. All of them are

L2 learners who hardly use English language outside from the classroom. They even

find difficulty to communicate and understand in English. Hence, at times, it was

necessary to do code switching in teaching instructions to enable them to understand

and follow the procedure.

23

From the 10 participants, there were half of them who suffered from short

sightedness in their vision. However, they all wore spectacles and therefore this eye

sight problem could be overcome. They were able to see clearly with no difficulty.

Other than that, they did not have any serious health problems which could affect their

studies.

Based on the analysis of the participants’ pre-spelling test, they were detected

to be in the stage of transitional. According to Gentry (as cited in Lutz, 1986),

transitional stage is when the speller begins to assimilate the conventional alternative

for representing sounds, moving from a dependence on phonology (sound) for

representing words to a reliance on visual representation and an understanding of the

structure of words. Some examples provided by Gentry are

“egul” (eagle) and “higheked” (hiked). They were able to spell some words based on

the combination knowledge of letter-to-sound and orthography but in the accurate way.

However, most of their spellings were incorrect initially.

5.0 ACTION

In this report, there were a few stages of how the action research was conducted. An

overall process would be discussed in 5.1 Procedure of Action.

5.1 Procedure of Action

There were a few stages in conducting the action research. To have the work done

systematically, a schedule was designed and followed with no changes done (refer to

Table 7).

24

Table 7

Procedure of Action

Week To-do

1 – 4 Teacher carried out informal observation.

5

Students sat for pre-spelling test.

10 participants were selected.

Participants completed questionnaire.

6 Teacher conducted intervention 1.

Participants submitted journal 1.

7 Teacher conducted intervention 2.

Participants submitted journal 2.

8 Teacher conducted intervention 3.

Participants submitted journal 3.

9 Teacher conducted intervention 4.

Participants submitted journal 4.

10 Participants sat for post-spelling test.

11 Teacher organized the data obtained.

12 onwards Teacher prepared the report writing for the action research.

5.1.1 Pre-intervention

All students were required to sit for the pre-spelling test but only 10 students were

selected to be participants in this action research. They were required to answer a

questionnaire before undergoing the first intervention. The answers of the pre-spelling

test were neither discussed nor revealed. The test papers were collected and not

returned to students.

The spelling game was a collaborative learning centered intervention whereby

both partners in the pair must work collaboratively to win. It is a type of learning style

25

which respects and highlights individual group members’ abilities and contributions in

obtaining the common goal of success (London Metropolitan University, 2011). There

were five pairs competing among one another.

During each intervention session, the spelling game consisted of two rounds.

Each intervention lasted for 60 minutes. It was being conducted once a week

consecutively for four weeks duration.

To conduct this game, the following materials were prepared in advanced by the

researcher:

Onset and rime work sheets [Refer to Appendix B(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)]

List of words

Marker pens

White board

5.1.2 Intervention

Participants were divided into pairs consisting of one male and one female by the

researcher. The reason for not giving participants to choose their partners was to avoid

them from choosing friends whom they were close with only. One of the intentions of

the intervention was meant to get participants to work with one another, regardless of

gender. Therefore to be fair, the researcher selected the pairs randomly among the 10

participants. Then, each pair had to create a name consisting of both participants’

names. The purpose of doing so was to enhance the spirit of collaboration between the

partners. For example, Ahmad paired with Siti. They would combine both their names

and call themselves as Ahti (refer to Table 8).

26

Table 8

Participants Pair List

Pair Name Participants

Ahti Ahmad Siti

Bamah Fatimah Badrul

Cermas Kasimas Cerdik

Dayah Daud Mahiyah

Efah Latifah Ekhwan

Participants were not allowed to exchange partners throughout the four

interventions. This was because it required time to manifest collaboration spirit

between the pair.

During each intervention, participants were required to be with their pair

partners. However, the positioning was illustrated as shown in the Figure 1.

27

Keys:

Player 1

Player 2

Desk

Figure 1

Positioning of Player 1 and Player 2 during Spelling Game

Approximate

Distance: 1 meter

White board

Approximate Distance: 0.5 meter

28

With the help of the illustration shown in Figure 1 above, the rules of the game were

as shown below:

The distance between Player 1 and Player 2 of each pair was approximately 1

meter.

The distance between Players 1 from each pair was approximately 0.5 meter.

All Player 1 were provided a piece of onset and rime worksheet whereas all

Player 2 were given a marker pen.

All Player 1 were not allowed to turn their backs to look at their partners

(Player 2) during the game.

All Player 1 could only shout out the word to their partners for a maximum of

five times only.

All Player 1 must not disturb one another during the game.

All Player 2 must not copy from one another during the game.

This game was an adaptation from the look, say, cover, write, check technique and

Elkonin Boxes technique reference. These two techniques did not involve game

originally but was adapted to fit the need of this research. To avoid confusion from

understanding how the game worked, a flow chart was created to clearly illustrate the

process of the game.

29

Figure 2

Process of Spelling Game

Step 1: Teacher said out a different word to

Player 1 of each pair one by one.

Step 2: Player 1 listened and formed word from

the onset and rime work sheet.

Step 3: Teacher announced the moment when all Player1 could

shout out simultaneously to their partners.

Step 4: Player 1 shouted out the word to Player 2

for a maximum of 5 times.

Step 5: Player 2 written down the word heard

from their partner, without turning their

backs.

Step 6: Player 2 of each pair examined their

partner's answer.

Step 7: Teacher counter checked after the early examination done by

Player 2.

Step 8: Teacher awarded points to each pair which

spellt correctly.

30

Table 9

List of Words Learned for the Four Interventions

Intervention 1 Intervention 2 Intervention 3 Intervention 4

1. bay

2. cap

3. desk

4. egg

5. foot

6. gift

7. hut

8. ice

9. jeep

10. kept

1. snail

2. mail

3. church

4. bowl

5. dawn

6. pose

7. wise

8. faint

9. child

10. bed

1. chance

2. verb

3. dig

4. rinse

5. tap

6. snore

7. pet

8. maid

9. field

10. bug

1. stain

2. rough

3. snap

4. grow

5. taint

6. boot

7. bag

8. tame

9. mold

10. flew

Table 10

Onset and Rime Covered in the Four Interventions

Intervention 1 Intervention 2 Intervention 3 Intervention 4

Onset Rime Onset Rime Onset Rime Onset Rime

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

ay

ap

esk

gg

oot

ift

ut

ce

eep

ept

sn

m

ch

b

d

p

w

f

ail

urch

owl

awn

ose

ise

aint

ild

ed

ch

v

d

r

t

sn

p

m

f

b

ance

erb

ig

inse

ap

ore

et

aid

ield

ug

st

r

sn

gr

t

b

m

fl

ain

ough

ap

ow

aint

oot

ag

ame

old

ew

A variety of onset and rime were chosen randomly. The purpose of the

intervention was to educate participants how to recognize the sound decoded in the

orthography form. With the variety, it was expected that participants would have

larger exposure on different types of onset and rime. This way, they would be able to

spell new words better.

31

After the first round of the game, the second round continued exactly

according to the eight steps as shown in the flow chart above except that the role of

Player 1 and Player 2 were interchanged. The purpose of having alternate roles for one

intervention was to allow both participants in the pair to experience the different roles.

When the second round of the game ended as well, all participants were required to

write a personal spelling journal to be submitted before they leave the classroom. All

journals were collected immediately after each intervention.

Throughout the interventions, the teacher recorded field notes of what

observed. This was being done on the spot while participants were undergoing the

interventions.

5.1.3 Post-intervention

As a form of motivation for participants, beverage was prepared after the intervention.

It was to encourage participants to come regularly though the time set for the

intervention was not within the timetable school hours. It was indeed a successful

positive motivation that was able to maintain participants’ attendance.

After completing all the four interventions, the researcher carried out the

post-spelling test. Similar to the pre-spelling test, all answers were not discussed and

revealed to participants. The test papers were collected back by the researcher.

Tabulation and analysis of data were done after all the interventions were completed.

5.2 Data Gathering Methods

In the process of carrying out the action research, various qualitative and quantitative

data were collected. Some were collected before the intervention and some after.

Among the data obtained were:

32

5.2.1 Participants’ Personal Spelling Journals

After each intervention, participants were required to write a journal entry. The items

to be included in the journal writing include:

o recalling as many as possible words learnt

o reflection about the game

The journals acted as a check-list of how many words participants could remember

after each intervention lesson. As for the reflection, participants were reminded to

write as honest as possible.

By allowing participants to write in their first language (Bahasa Malaysia), their

feedback were anticipated to be more truthful and thorough. It was undeniable that

due to their language proficiency, they had limited diction. Therefore, limiting the

language use would cause participants unable to expose their true feelings. That would

then defeat the aim of this data.

Also, there was no fixed format for the writing as it was simply a short writing that

required participants to and feedback after the game. This was not supposed to appear

as a burden for participants. They were allowed to write freely as long as the content

covered the topics concerned. To ensure that participants did not take advantage on

skipping the writing work, teacher instructed students to write at least 50 words for the

reflection. Writing exceeding the minimum limit was permissible.

5.2.2 Field Notes

There were a few characteristics to be fulfilled when writing the field notes. It was

important to use accurate, organized and explicit descriptions while observing.

33

During each intervention, the researcher would record descriptive and reflective

information. The field notes included answers to the following questions:

o How successful the pairs of participants interacted with one another?

o Did participants follow the rules and behave appropriately?

o Is there any participant who mispronounced the word? If there is, transcribe

their pronunciations.

Other than the questions mentioned above, additional observation was recorded as

well, if they were found important to the action research. Unexpected incident that

took place during the intervention was also recorded in the field note.

5.2.3 Post-spelling Test

The words tested were similar to the ones tested in pre-spelling test. The purpose was

to compare the same test result to determine if the intervention was useful to improve

participants’ performance in spelling. The post-spelling test acted as a measure.

6.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

To analyse the data obtained in this action research, two types of analysis methods

were being employed. Firstly, the applied thematic analysis was used in analyzing the

participants’ personal spelling journals and teacher’s field notes. Secondly, the

statistical analysis was used to study the relationship between pre and post-spelling

tests results.

6.1 Interpreting Participants’ Personal Spelling Journals

Participants were required to write at least a 50-word journal for every intervention.

However, it was inevitable to have some participants who failed to abide the

34

instruction given. They tend to write shorter than the required word count. However, it

was better than not writing at all. Also, there were some mischievous participants who

did not write the required content. Most of the journal entries included unnecessary

information such as compliments for the teacher.

Due to the earlier permission given to participants which allowed them to write

in Bahasa Malaysia as an alternative language for their journals, translation to English

was done to be included as analysis in this report. Therefore, italic text with asterisk

symbol (*) means translated text from Bahasa Malaysia. The journal entries written by

students were carefully compiled and categorized according to the sequence of

intervention (refer to Table A2)

To analyze the journals written by participants, a few themes were sorted for

analysis. They were, “Perception towards Spelling Game” and “Learning Words via

Spelling Game”.

Theme 1: Perception towards Spelling Game

Participants were interested and positively motivated to participate in the spelling

game. This could be seen from their responses from the first intervention till the forth

intervention. During the last intervention, participants were reluctant to end the

spelling game and wanted to have the game continued. They showed great interest in

the spelling game.

35

Table 11

Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in Intervention 1

Intervention 1

Siti : * I felt very happy because I got to play the game.

Kasimas : * Today I am very happy because I got to play game.

Daud : I’m very happy and play this game good because the teacher Lydia very

pretty and be careful, happy.

Mahiyah : I’m happy and excited because play game spelling.

Ekhwan : I feel very happy today because I can learn many words in the games.

Fatimah : I’m happy to the class because she is good for me and for my friend.

Cerdik : EXCITED AND Good… PLAY GAME.

Among the 10 participants, seven claimed that they felt excited and happy for

being able to participate in the spelling game. The rest of the participants revealed that

they were happy as well but did not mention specifically it was due to the

participation in spelling game.

Table 12

Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in Intervention 2

Intervention 2

Siti : * I felt that it was not a waste of time to join this extra class. It was not

boring…

Kasimas : * The class was not boring at all… I don’t find it a waste to come to this

extra class.

Cerdik : I very happy because can playing game…

Mahiyah : * I felt very happy today because I got to play the spelling game.

Latifah : * I felt the game just now was very easy but fun. I found it very

challenging.

In the second intervention, there was a decrease in number of participants who

admitted they liked the spelling game. However, those who liked reasoned that the

game was not boring at all and it was not a waste of time to participate.

36

Table 13

Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in Intervention 3

Intervention 3

Ahmad : Very use game. I love it.

Mahiyah : * I like this game… Although I have played this game thrice, it is not

boring at all.

Latifah : * I love the game…

Ekhwan : * I find this class best…

In the third intervention, there was a slight decrease in number of participants

who liked the spelling game. There were lesser responses from participants who wrote

about the game. Most of them focused more on saying they were happy for learning

new words.

Table 14

Thematic Analysis: Positive Perception towards Spelling Game in Intervention 4

Intervention 4

Fatimah : * I hope there will still be this extra class…

Daud : * I extremely love to play this game.

Mahiyah : * I’m happy and I find the extra class enjoyable… Next week, I hope to

be able to play this game again.

Latifah : * This game is very useful.

Ekhwan : I think this spelling game is good

However, in the last intervention, there was increase in the responses of

participants for liking the spelling game. There were two participants, Fatimah and

Mahiyah who even hoped that the spelling game could be continued. The comments

gathered for this spelling game were generally consistently positive.

Responses which directly commented on the spelling game only were taken

into the calculation. As mentioned earlier, there were quite a number of responses

37

which stated that they were happy because they were able to learn many words. The

fact that learning new words could be from the impact of spelling game but could also

be due to other unknown reason. It was not defined clearly. There were also responses

that stated it was the teacher’s contribution that made them learnt these new words.

On the contrary, there were also negative feedbacks from participants on

certain interventions. Their responses were recorded in Table 16:

Table 15

Thematic Analysis: Negative Perception towards Spelling Game

Intervention 1

Fatimah : I’m very angry because I tell Badrul in language English, he not

understand me… I’m very angry…… Errr……

Intervention 2

Fatimah : * … I’m very frustrated!!! I hope, I can change group, teacher!

Please…….

Intervension 4

Siti : * Today, the extra class is less fun because my partner, Ahmad is

absent. So, I have to exchange partners.

Fatimah and Siti were the only two participants who reported negative feelings

towards the learning process in their journals. As for Fatimah’s case, she was unhappy

with the partner she was paired with, Badrul. She constantly complained that she

could not collaborate well with him. She expressed frustration in her writing of journal

by begging for an exchange of partner because Badrul did not seem to understand

everything that she said. As for Siti’s case, she claimed to enjoy the game throughout

all the interventions except for the last one because her partner, Ahmad was absent. To

sum up, these two participants showed dislike in their journals simply because of the

factor of partner. It was not particularly due to the nature of the spelling game itself.

38

Next, to study the exact reasons for participants’ claim that they liked the

spelling game, their responses were recorded in Table 16.

Table 16

Thematic Analysis: Reasons of Participants who Like the Spelling Game

Intervention 1, 2, 3 and 4

Siti : * I felt more motivated to learn. I can correct the words I spelt wrongly

before this.

: * I got to know many words. I could also correct words which I spelt

wrongly previously… It was not boring and in fact made me happier and

more active.

Fatimah : * because it is good for me and for my friend.

Badrul : * … helped me a lot in understanding what I did not understand

previously… I learnt the meaning of collaborative with my friend in

playing a game…

Kasimas : * This game helped me to learn the ways to spell words correctly. Also, it

has many benefits.

: *… it gives me a lot of benefits.

Daud : … because the teacher Lydia very pretty and be careful, happy.

Mahiyah : * … because I am able to spell many words correctly. Although I have

played this game thrice, it is not boring at all. Also, I learnt many new

words at the same time.

: * … enjoyable.

Latifah : * I got to study with easier method.

: * I felt the game just now was very easy but fun. I found it very

challenging.

: * I love the game which required writing word on the white board

because it tested my mind with new words… I got to learn many new

words…

: * I learnt many new words. The correct spelling… Last time, I am not

sure how to spell new words. Now, I know what method to use.

Ekhwan : … I can learn many words in the games.

: … I learn new words

: I learn a lot.

Most of the reasons given by participants revolved around the fact that spelling

game aided them to learn more new words. Some mentioned there were benefits

gained but they did not specifically state what the benefits were. Almost all of the

participants agreed that the spelling game was beneficial in learning new words.

39

Theme 2: Learning Words via Spelling Game

To determine whether participants were able to memorize the words learnt, the

personal spelling journal acted as an informal test. Participants were not allowed to

refer to any source including their friend when writing. Therefore, the answers should

be purely genuine and significant to the study of whether participants could memorize

words spelling via spelling game indirectly.

Table 17

Thematic Analysis: Learning Words via Spelling Game

Intervention 1, 2, 3 and 4

Ahmad : Good, Best, Happy, Gift, Desk, Foot, Boy, Egg, Cap

: Rinse, Snore, Maid, Field, Bug

Siti : verb, Field, maid

Fatimah : Chance, Field, Verb, Pet, Snore, Dig

Kasimas : vote, punch, worm, flew, chase

Cerdik : Cap, Desk, Egg, Foot, Gift

: RAG, Dirt, rose, wise, Faint, Dorm

: Chance, verb, Dig, Rinse, Tap, Snore, Field

: Vote, Deaf, Rough, Tame, snap, punch and Mold

Daud : Stain, Rough, Snap, Grow, Taint, Boot, Bag

Latifah : church, snail, bowl, dawn, wise, faint

: chance, dig, snore, pet, maid, bug

: Boot, Taint, Grow, Bag, Tame, Mold

Ekhwan : chunk, church, pawn, loss, rose

: Tap, Snore, pet, Bug, Field

: Tame, Flew, Taint, Rough

All except two participants, Badrul and Mahiyah, did not record the words

they could remember. Among the possibilities could be their ignorance in following

the instruction given or they could not remember for real. These two possibilities were

in equal weightage due to the fact that the possibility of them forgetting was near to

nil. It was impossible for participants to forget when the researcher constantly

40

repeated the instruction for each time journal writing session. It could be possible that

they might forget once or twice but not for all the four interventions.

Throughout the four interventions, 40 words were introduced to participants as

a whole group. However, each participant learned specifically two words minimum

for per intervention. So, in four interventions, each participant should acquire at least

eight words. Of course, if participants could remember more, that would indicate

better result due to the use of spelling game.

From Table 17, four participants managed to spell more than eight words

throughout the four interventions whereas the remaining four participants failed to do

so. However, they still managed to remember at least a handful of words rather than

nothing. Hence, it could be deduced that overall, participants still managed to

memorize the words learnt but may not be the excellent level.

6.2 Field Notes

The researcher’s field notes (refer to Appendix C) were important in analysing

participants’ behaviors while carrying out the spelling game. To study in-depth, a few

themes were identified, which were “Participants’ Mispronunciation”, “Problems

Faced by Participants during Spelling Game” and “The Effectiveness of Collaboration

in Spelling Game”.

Theme 1: Participants’ Mispronunciation

Throughout the interventions, there were times when participants mispronounced

words which caused their partners unable to spell the words correctly (refer to

Table 18).

41

Table 18

Thematic Analysis: Participants’ Mispronunciation

Intervention 1

Researcher : Fatimah pronounced “Gift” that sounded like “Hift”. Badrul spelt

“Hif”.

Intervention 2

Researcher : Fatimah is student 2 (in front of white board). Badrul pronounced /pæd/

for the word “bed”. So, Fatimah at the front wrote “paint”.

Based on Table 18, both Fatimah and Badrul had actually made mistakes. In

Intervention 1, Fatimah pronounced the word wrongly in the first place. Due to that,

Badrul spelt wrongly at the end based on what he heard from his partner. In

Intervention 2, it was the reverse case as in Intervention 1. It was Badrul’s turn to

pronounce word wrongly to his partner. As a result, the word spelt out by Fatimah was

incorrect.

Though participants failed to spell the correct assigned word, from their

answers, it seemed that they were able to detect the sound of the onsets (for example,

h and p). They were also able to recognize the sound of the rime (for example, ift). It

was possible to make deduction that if Player 1 was able to pronounce the word

correctly to Player 2, then Player 2 was likely to be able to spell the word correctly.

This deduction was made based on the fact that participants had showed they could

interlink the phonemic awareness with the knowledge of onset and rime.

Theme 2: Problems Faced by Participants during Spelling Game

Though participants enjoyed the game very much, there were some problems that

occurred during the process.

42

Table 19

Thematic Analysis: Problems Faced by Participants during Spelling Game

Intervention 1

Messy

situation

: Round 1 of the game was a little messy. Students were not familiar with

the operation of the game yet. Students facing the white board

(Students 2) kept turning their heads to their partners.

Due to the fact that this was a new game and participants were excited about it,

they wanted to begin the game as soon as possible. However, they neglected the

importance of abiding to the game rules. Strict warnings were given to avoid students

from disobeying the rules that would cause a chaos to the organisation of the lesson.

This problem was solved not long after the strict warnings were given. The next

problem was participants’ unexpected behaviors.

Table 20

Thematic Analysis: Unexpected Participants’ Behaviors

Intervention 2

Mischievous : Ahmad asked me to repeat a few times. I did but told him that I will

not repeat so many times anymore… He is a bit naughty. After asking

me to repeat, he giggled.

Dishonest : They followed the rules better this time though there still few pairs

who tried to cheat. I caught and reprimanded them.

Impatient : Being scolded by Fatimah, Badrul got angry too and scolded back.

Being mischievous, Ahmad could also be taking advantage over other

participants’ privilege for asking to listen to the word more times than the others. His

action was treated with stern warning. After that, he no longer repeated the same

behavior again. As for the second behavior evidence detected, these participants were

43

not being honest enough in the game. Similarly, strict warning was given to ensure

that this kind of behavior would not prolong. The last misbehave trait noted was

impatience. Badrul and Fatimah got into a fight due to disagreement and

dissatisfaction towards each other during the game. To resolve the conflict, the

researcher scolded both participants and reasoned to them what was right and wrong

to do. In the next intervention, these participants stopped behaving that way and

instead of hating each other, they began to accept each other’s flaws and strived hard

to catch up with the other teams.

The following problem was a sudden change that disrupted the flow of the

intervention. In Intervention 4, Ahmad was absent, leaving his partner, Siti alone

without a partner. Hence, this did leave an impact in Siti’s learning that day.

Table 21

Thematic Analysis: Sudden Disrupt Impact

Intervention 4

Absence

of Partner

: Based on Siti’s facial expression, she is shocked and a little unhappy

with the condition of herself not having any partner.

Siti used to be able to spell most words correctly during the interventions when

she was pairing with Ahmad. However, due to Ahmad’s absence on that day, Siti’s

performance was affected. She failed to spell the words correctly. To explain this, it

could be she was not used to pair with other students.

Theme 3: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in Spelling Game

The spelling game was designed in such a way that it put a lot of emphasis on the

collaboration spirit between two members of the team. Most of the participants

44

showed positive signs except Fatimah and Badrul in the first two interventions.

However, they gained back the spirit of collaboration soon after they were being

corrected on their views towards their partners.

Table 22

Thematic Analysis: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in Spelling Game (a)

Intervention 1

Researcher : Based on what I see, this pair are not collaborating nicely. There

were grudges between Fatimah and Badrul.

Intervention 2

Researcher : Fatimah scolded Badrul in the face, said it was his fault for not

pronouncing correctly.

Intervention 3

Researcher : This time, Badrul and Fatimah tried to put their grudges aside and

strived to win the other teams.

Other than Badrul and Fatimah, other pairs showed good evidence of the

effectiveness of collaboration in the spelling game. For example, the Cermas pair

showed a good evidence of it (refer to Table 23).

Table 23

Thematic Analysis: The Effectiveness of Collaboration in Spelling Game (b)

Intervention 3

Resesarcher : Kasimas expressed gratitude to Cerdik for being patient with her. She

felt that she was not good in English and whoever pairing with her

will not get benefited. Cerdik encouraged her and said they would do

better in the next round.

45

Cerdik and Kasimas worked together collaboratively though both of them felt

that they were weak in English. Cerdik played the role of a good friend who advised

and motivated his friend to increase her self-confidence.

As discussed earlier for Siti’s condition in Intervention 4 (whereby she had to

play the game without her original partner, Ahmad), it was found out that the aspect of

who-your-parter-is did affect students’ performance. A bond of collaboration was

likely to be developed between the Ahti pair. This explained why Siti was not doing

that well as she used to be in the previous interventions.

6.3 Interpreting Post-spelling Test Result

This post-spelling test was carried out to be compared with the pre-spelling test result.

The result of participants’ post-spelling test with comparison to their pre-spelling test

would determine whether students improved in their spelling ability after undergoing

four times of intervention (refer to Table 24).

Table 24

Comparison between Pre and Post-spelling Test Results and Gain

Student Pre-spelling Test (%) Post-spelling Test (%) Gain (%)

Ahmad 40 50 +10

Siti 70 80 +10

Fatimah 40 80 +40

Badrul 40 60 +20

Kasimas 60 80 +20

Cerdik 40 70 +30

Daud 40 40 0

Mahiyah 10 30 +20

Latifah 90 90 0

Ekhwan 40 80 +40

The method of calculation for the post-spelling test percentage was similar

with the method used for pre-spelling test.

46

From the result of the post-spelling test, it showed that all the participants

either maintained their percentage or had their percentage increased. Some

participants managed to double their original percentage score which was a great

result. Though two participants did not improve, their percentage score did not

decrease, which was a good sign too. Based on the result shown, the spelling game

intervention was a success in improving the participants’ spelling ability.

Table A3 was designed to compare and contrast students’ answers for similar

words tested in pre and post-spelling test. Some participants repeated the same

mistake they did in the pre-spelling test. They were Ahmad writing “stresh” (stretch),

Fatimah “home” (comb), Mahiyah writing “fit” (feet) and Daud writing “lase” (less).

It could be that they were still unsure of how to spell these words and the existing

schemata guided them to spell the same way as they did in the pre-spelling test.

However, these participants who did this were the minority. Most of the other

participants attempted a new spelling even if they did not know how to spell the word.

An obvious evidence was found in Mahiyah’s answer that showed the

knowledge of onset and rime was applied in the process of spelling. When spelling the

word “drop”, Mahiyah spelt it as “drowked” in the pre-spelling test and “droup” in the

post-spelling test. From the word “drowked”, it had no connection at all to the rime of

the original word, which should have a /p/ sound at the end. In her second attempt,

though she still failed to spell correctly, at least she managed to detect the /p/ sound by

spelling it as “droup”. She was probably confused with the sound of the diphthong

/ʚʊ/ over the vowel /o/.

Another interesting discovery was identified from participants’ post-spelling

test result. Providing two answers was an action of guessing and a form of uncertainty

47

expression. Mahiyah used to write two answers for the word “break” in her

pre-spelling test. In the post-spelling test, she was more confident in writing only one

answer – “braid”. Though the spelling was incorrect for the exact word, “Break”, it

disclosed that she had gained confidence.

In the earlier pre-spelling test, the words “crack”, “stretch”, “sail” and “comb”

used to be difficult words which many students failed to spell correctly. After the

interventions, more participants were able to spell them correctly though not all

managed to do so. Yet, it was a remarkable improvement detected among the ten

participants generally.

7.0 FINDINGS

In this action research, various data were collected such as the pre-spelling test result,

questionnaire, participants’ personal spelling journals, researcher’s field notes and

post-spelling test result. The findings and analysis of these data were significant in

answering the questions set in this research.

To answer the first question of the action research, whether spelling game is

effective in enhancing participants’ spelling ability; it was proven with the data

analysis of the gain in the pre and post-spelling tests results. All except two

participants had improved tremendously. The other two participants did not improve

neither degrade. With the statistical data calculated, it was undeniable that the spelling

game was indeed an effective way of improving participants’ spelling skill.

Other than the spelling test results, the other data such as participants’ personal

spelling journals revealed that they had great interest in the spelling game. Regardless

of any task given, interest was definitely one of the key factors. With interest

48

implanted, participants’ improvement was anticipated. They looked forward to each

time of the intervention for they were able to play the game again.

The researcher’s field notes data analysis pointed out the problems faced

during the intervention. In spite of all the problems faced, it was discovered that

collaboration was also an influential factor of success in this research. If participants

failed to collaborate well with their partner, the game would not be conducted as

planned due to unachievable objective. As collaboration, a main component that

directly affects the success of the spelling game, it is essential to have it as a support

other than what participants claimed to be true in their journals. It aimed to validate

what students’ reported.

The questionnaire played an important role in the pre-investigation stage. Its

purpose was to identify participants’ confidence level in spelling new words and what

strategy they used. After undergoing the interventions, it was anticipated for

participants to have an increase in their motivational and confidence level towards

spelling new words.

In answering the second research question, whether participants were able to

memorize the words learned, the data analysis of participants’ personal spelling

journals answered it. Albeit most of the participants did not achieve the minimum

requirement of word learned count, at least they were able to produce something other

than nothing. This was applicably true for all except two participants who failed to

provide any in their writing. With the data shown, it could be deduced that participants

were partially successful in memorizing the spelling of new words learned.

49

Overall, the data collected did assist to answer the research questions. Based

on the data analysis, it was an obvious indicator that spelling game is a successful way

of teaching spelling to low proficiency students.

8.0 LIMITATIONS

In spite of the success discussed in the findings of this action research, it does have

some limitations which should be avoided or solved, if possible. Then, it could be

more concrete.

Firstly, this spelling game could not cater for too many students at one time. It

would be difficult for the teacher to have class control if there were too many players

in the game. Secondly, teacher’s pronunciation may be inaccurate which cause

students to misspell. Thirdly, this lesson was conducted outside from the timetable

which was actually a kind of constraint to both the teacher and students.

9.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This action research was conducted at an amateur stage. Since spelling game had

shown success within this group of participants, it might be interesting to carry it out

with either the average or high proficiency group students. The result may vary.

There were indeed areas to be improved for this action research. To further

enhance students’ understanding of spelling knowledge, they should be exposed to

word sorting strategy as the extended activity. The spelling game could be the early

exposure for students to be familiarize and recognize the different types of onset and

rime. Then, students should learn how to categorize words, doing it the inverse

manner this time. If they are able to do that, it can be confirmed further that students

indeed have mastered the ability to spell. The ability of encoding and decoding from

50

sound to orthography and vice versa are both important in the process of determining

whether one is a good speller.

This action research focused only on 10 students. Perhaps in the next

improvisation made, the spelling game could be adapted in a way that could cater for

more students. Otherwise, it could be an extra burden to carry out an extra lesson not

within the timetable. Modification and alteration may create possibility for this to

happen.

Lastly, the spelling game might be complicated for first-time players. This is

because the game was an innovative product of adaptation from various concepts.

Hence, if it could be simplified further but achieving the same objective, which would

be well recommended. Suggested ways of simplifying the game include reducing the

processes involved during the game or having a facilitator for each pair of players.

10.0 CONCLUSION

In this action research, the spelling game was a success based on the comparison

results of participants’ pre and post-spelling test. There was an obvious improvement

after the interventions were carried out. Although participants did not manage to

memorize the expected number of words, they could still at least memorize some of

them. Overall, the spelling game was an interesting and successful alternative to

enhance L2 learners’ spelling ability.

51

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Appendix A: Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Instruction: Please answer all questions honestly and carefully.

Student’s Name: ___________________________________

1. Do you think you can spell new words correctly?

Answer:

____________________________________________________________

2. How do you spell new words? Describe the strategy that you used.

Answer:

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

58

Appendix B(i): Onset and rime worksheets for Intervention 1

b eep ut f i

k ay c e h

j ce ap ift oot

ept g esk d gg

59

Appendix B(ii): Onset and rime worksheets for Intervention 2

sn aint ild ed f

awn owl m b p

w ch ail ise urch

ose d

60

Appendix B(iii): Onset and rime worksheets for Intervention 3

m f ield ance et

d inse b v p

ch erb ig aid ap

r t ug ore sn

61

Appendix B(iv): Onset and rime worksheets for Intervention 4

fl ew b ain old

oot sn ap ough gr

aint r st t ow

m ag ame

62

Appendix C(i): Field Notes for Intervention 1

63

64

Appendix C(ii): Field Notes for Intervention 2

65

66

Appendix C(iii): Field Notes for Intervention 3

67

68

Appendix C(iv): Field Notes for Intervention 4

69