ACTION RESEARCHDATE

: 7th FEBRUARY 2015SUPERVISOR

:MADAM NURLIZA BT OTHMANRESEARCHER

:SITI ROHAYU BTE KAMARUDDINPROGRAMME

:PROGRAM PENSISWAZAHAN GURU JUN 2011OPTION

:TESL-2

SCHOOL

:SK TAMAN PASIR PUTIH, PASIR GUDANG, JOHORTITLE

: HOW EFFECTIVENESS OF USING NEWSPAPERSTO PROMOTE GRAMMAR IN LEARNING PROCESS.1.0 INTRODUCTION

The notion of using newspaper text as a resource forlanguage learningis not very original. In Malaysia for example, the leading English language dailies the New Straits Times and The Star run well established and widely employed Newspaper in English (NIE) initiatives in Malaysian schools and colleges. This type of project aims to encourage the use of the newspaper as a language learning resource. Penny Ur's popular classroom ideas book has several suggested activities that utilize newspaper text (Ur 1988). In an edition of a leading English language teaching (ELT) journal two articles appear which exploit newspaper articles; one of the purpose of "language awareness" (Wright and Bolitho, 1993) and the other for "genre analysis" (Flowerdew, 1993). There are examples of whole textbooks devoted to the exploitation of newspaper based material for language learning purposes. "Scoop" by Barry Baddock (1984) is one such title.

In this article the focus will be on the use of newspaper material for the purpose of exploring thegrammar of English. Whatever the different arguments, positions and ideas put forward by ELT professionals about the role and nature of grammar, no serious teacher"... interested in the development of second andforeign languagehas ever suggested that learners do not need to master the grammatical system of the target language..." (Nunan, 1991: 152)Or take the position of Widdowson (1990) who states that: "language learning is essentially learning how grammarfunctionsin the achievement of meaning..." (ibid: 1987) Since then there has been a growing realization that effective communication and effective grammar are linked, grammar allows us "to mean" in a language. The need for grammar therefore is a real one. What the more recent emphasis on learner centeredness and communication in ELT has done is to encourage a more imaginative and eclectic approach to the area of grammar teaching and learning. We now have an ideal where grammar is not the sole focus of lessons but rather an integral part of learning to communicate effectively in the target language. Into this frame, newspaper text as a resource for grammar activities fits in. 97) The debate on how best to teach English as a second or foreign language seeks to facilitate the development of target language competence in learners, in the most effective way. This debate has necessarily included the issue of what grammar to teach, how to teach it, how much to teach, and how explicitly to teach it. There seemed to be an assumption at one point that increasingly '~modern" methodology and approaches were marginalizing the role and importance of grammar (or at least formal grammar study) in the EL classroom. This was articulated by EL course designers in Kuwait for instance, who asked: "If language is a means of communication, does it not seemmoreimportant to you to make somebody understand what you want or make a grammatically perfect statement?" (Sawaan)

1.1 Reflection on Past Teaching ExperienceDuring the teaching and learning process I always try to provide an environment that will allow pupils to express themselves and contribute ideas.In each lesson pupils are given grammar exercises even if they do not know how to answer the question correctly. However, during the whole process I find that my pupils especially in the lower class answer the question with high grammatical error.When explained they actually understand what the question wants but they do not know how to answer the question with the correct grammar.

For one month, I was asked to teach Year 4 Dedikasi which was the third class from six classes. My first number of pupils was thirty-eight pupils. Since the pupils are from the third class of six classes, they could understand what I said butcould not respond well. The one thing that I detected when I was teaching was they did their best when I offered them a token as a reward for correct answersThe first thing I thought of was the discipline problem. There were so many complaints about the class from other teachers. I took it as a challenge for myself and ignored the negatives perception of the class. I taught them even though they misbehaved each time I entered the class. For the first two weeks, I tried really hard to establish their discipline problems. Once when I was teaching in the class, two

boys were fighting at the back and one of them cried. I was bewildered because they could not restrain their misbehaviour during my lesson. I had come up with the class rules on the first day I entered the class but that did not work.

In the next lesson, I started to use token as a reward for good conduct and correct answers. Each time they behaved properly or answered correctly I rewarded them a token. When they did things that displeased me, I took one token out. With this, I managed to get them to behave during my class. I did the token system based on Skinner(1938), who proposes that giving the reinforcements will result to the desired behaviour from the target. This theory worked well for the last two practicums that I had undergone. My school pupils were weak in all the four language skills based on the poor achievement in examinations.

I tried to speak one hundred percent in English with them because if I were to be observed by my headmaster, it would not seem professional if I spoke in Malay. However, when I communicated in English with them, none of them understood me completely. Some of them can speak English but lot of grammar mistake They were always whispering indicating that they did not understand me. Due to this problem, I decided to come up with the way to improve their grammar. And every time they did not understand me, I explained the words by doing actions and gestures to describe the words. I only used Malay when they could not understand my explanation in English.Teaching strategies were important when I wanted to choose suitable approach to ensure that my pupils would understand me better. I know that I had to take the teaching strategies more seriously.. The pupils in my school were able to listen to me but with limited range of vocabulary. I asked my friends the way to give very simple instructions to the pupils.. My experience tells me that placing specific grammar structures within their larger conceptual framework is more helpful to students than a random, piecemeal approach to explicit grammar teaching. Let's continue with the example of participial adjectives. If students already understand that -ing can signify the active meaning of a transitive verb and that the -ed can signify a passive meaning (whether they know the terminology or not), the difference between boring and bored becomes less difficult for the teacher to demonstrate or the student to grasp than if the student had no understanding of active vs. passive meanings.Teachers must set goals for the things that the pupils have to achieve so that we know they are improving from time to time. A lot of things have to be considered when a teacher sets the goals for his pupils which are the proficiency level, the pupils interest on the subject, and the pupils work in the subject. Our job as teachers is to guide them and lead them to proper way of doing things in the future. I wished that I could help the pupils to understand and love English because whenever I entered the class, the pupils always told me that English was difficult. As an English teacher I want my pupils to love English as a second language because in the current world, English is very important.1.2 Related Theory/Literature (Literature Review)

In teaching grammar, three areas have to be considered: grammar as rules, grammar as form, and grammar as resource. For many L2 learners, learning

grammar often means learning the rules of grammar and having an intellectual

knowledge of grammar. Teachers often believe that this will provide the generative basis on which learners can build their knowledge and will be able to use the language eventually. For them, prescribed rules give a kind of security

A better approach is perhaps to see grammar as one of many resources that we

have in language which helps us to communicate. We should see how grammar

relates to what we want to say or write, and how we expect others to interpret

what our language use and its focus. According to Widdowson (1990: 86), " . . . grammar is not a constraining imposition but a liberating force: it frees us from a dependency on context and a purely lexical categorization of reality." Given that many learners and teachers tend to view grammar as a set of restrictions on what is allowed and disallowed in language use a linguis

tic straitjacket in Larsen-Freemans words (2002: 103) the conception of grammar as something that liberates rather than represses is one that is worth investigating. According to Morelli (2003), students perceived themselves as having a better attitude towards grammar instruction incontext, while performing slightly better after having experienced the traditional grammar instruction.

Elkilic and Akca (2008) reported generally positive attitudes of students studying English grammar at a private primary EFL classroom towards studying grammar. In particular, however, a little over 50% of their subjects claimed to enjoy

grammar very much and only about 10% reported finding some difficulty in

learning and remembering grammar.Student expectations. Student expectations of traditional, explicit grammar teaching have been confirmed by many teachers (cf. Borg, 1999a, b). Burgess and Etherington (2002:440-441) also conclude that teachers believe that explicit teaching of grammar is favoured by their students because of expectations and feelings of insecurity. Since the 1970s, attention has shifted from ways of teaching grammar to ways of getting learners to communicate, but grammar has been seen to be a powerful undermining and demotivating force among L2learners. In terms of motivation and learner success with languages, grammar has been seen to be a problem and to stand in the way of helping learners to communicate fluently. The hard fact that most teachers face is that learners often find it difficult to make flexible use of the rules of grammar taught in the classroom. They may know the rules perfectly, but are incapable of applying them in their own use of the language.Teachers' recognition of this process (i.e., of transferring declarative knowledge about grammar into procedural knowledge) as a problem for many of their students has been reported by Burgess and Etherington (2002:442). Haudeck has reported that many learners have difficulty in internalising grammar rules, although these have been taught intensively (1996, cited in European Commission, 2006).

Newspapers bring to our students real life situations and can be easily used as authentic materials. Newspaper-based activities engage students in interesting and enjoyable activities and they also encourage them to further reading. They usually reflect the culture of a certain community through the language they contain. It reflect the changes in the language as well, and in doing so, help students and teachers keep up pace with such changes. Most newspapers are linguistically up-to-date and

provide valuable linguistic data` (Tafani, 2004).

2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION/ ISSUE OF CONCERN.Teachers can find newspaper materials a useful source of enrichment in the teaching of grammar for a number of reasons. It is useful to consider three main areas related to the rationale for using such text. Newspaper text is cheap, relatively plentiful, and easily accessible. Other everyday sources of real language data such as television or radio have to be recorded, transcribed, edited and rigorously prepared before use in the classroom. They then present major logistical problems for presentation. Newspaper text on the other hand is "ready for use" and demands no special equipment, expertise or power supply. Newspaper (as organizations) tend to positively encourage the use of their products in educational institutions by teachers and learners, offering discounted cover prices to students and organizing workshops, competitions and activities for teachers and learners.Newspaper text is easy to physically manipulate. It can be cut out, cut up, jumbled up, rearranged, combined, pasted etc. If reprographic facilities such as photocopying are available, newspaper text is an excellent medium for the preparation of presentable materials through the "cut and paste" method. Alternatively, a whole page or section or newspaper can be utilized with learners seeking out examples of certain language features or following teacher rubrics to do tasks on the text.

In Malaysia local English language newspaper text is widely available. It is also of high standard and offers a good range of choice with four titles (three morning and one evening*) in West Malaysia alone.

Newspaper text is an example of real life language data. For learners with a limited English language environment, newspapers can be a source of enrichment and increased language exposure. This is important given the link that has been postulated between increased levels of target language exposure and correspondingly enhanced degrees of target language competence (Ismail, 1991).The language in newspapers tends to be more current and mainstream. Other types of text such as those extracted from literary or specialized sources may present encounters with idiomatic, regional, colloquial, and esoteric or technical usage. Fossilized or stylistic idiosyncracsies may occur. These features may be distracting in a general ELT context.

There is a wide range of routine grammar topics which can be found in newspaper text. The extent of the topics is limited only by the imagination of the teacher.

2.0 WHAT IS MY FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION? Grammar skills is an important skill in foreign language learning. Students are expected to be competent and to develop grammar skill in both formal and informal situation in. It needs to be supported by English components; grammar together with vocabulary and pronunciation which are taught appropriate with standard competence at School. The students are expected to be able in speaking, it means they are able to share ideas and opinions to listeners through English speaking. Grammar skill is viewed as the measure of competency. It is the requirement that is important for success of Malaysian students in welcoming globalization era.Improving grammar skill involves a process of building and sharing means through the use of language orally and the students will know the way how to express language communicatively. They will learn how to express utterances meaningfully. It also leads them to make interaction in the societyby using language since to be able to use grammar correctly is one of important skils that should be mastered by the students in learning English language.

Therefore, teaching English especially grammar skill should be distributed to the students by using many creative techniques. Through that way, the students will be interested in studying English.The teachers should also be able to use some media of teaching. According to Moalani (2007), in general, there are three kinds of media in teaching process. They are audio, visual, audio visual. Mc Keachie (2005) states that film, television, among many examples, can be used for educational objective; to achieve students comprehension. Then, Rohani (1997) also gives statement that comic is a kind of visual media that can be effectively used in teaching English.Almost all the students who enter the university are literate in English; that is, they are able to read in English but many of them are not in the habit of actually using this ability to practice reading outside the demands of the ESL classroom. Hence, functional literacy is confined to reading so as to be able to answer comprehension questions, complete grammar-based exercises, or write a composition/essay. Occasionally, if core subject reference materials are not available in the national language (Bahasa Malaysia), students read books and journals in English to obtain content related-knowledge. As for survival literacy, they are generally content to carry on using their literacy in Bahasa Malaysia, given the fact that almost everyone in the university can communicate in the national language.

The main objective is to encourage the students to read any of these local English dailies. At the same time, students are provided with the opportunity to improve their grammar skills as well as enhance their knowledge of current issue.However, based on my observation at SK Tmn Pasir Putih was a low motivation in studying English, the students were passive in learning English and they did not have self confidence in speaking English. I feel, one of factors that cause the condition was the use of media by the English teachers like books, pictures, or photographs. I thought that the students also need a new and a creative media to increase their motivation and grades. In this case, newspaper is a kind of media that can solve the problem. So it could be a solution to solve this problem.

Based on the explanation above, I intended to conduct the classroom action research focusing on the use of newspaper in improving pupils grammar when using English in communication. I also wish to prove the effectiveness of using newspaper in teaching English toward the standard four students English speaking ability at SK Tmn Pasir Putih.2.1 Preliminary Investigation Of The Issue

Teaching grammar is considered to be one of the most challenging parts whilst teaching English as language subject. By using newspaper text will make the learning process simpler and easy to reach. Newspaper text is easy to physically manipulate. Itcan be cut out,cut up, jumbled up, rearranged, combined, pasted etc. If reprographic facilities such as photocopying are available, newspaper text is an excellent medium for the preparation of presentable materials through the cut and paste method. Alternatively, a whole page or section or newspaper can be utilized with learners seeking out examples of certain language features or following teacher rubrics to do tasks on the text.2.2 Analysis of Preliminary Investigation Issue

There is the issue of language data quality. Some question the standard of English found in some newspaper writing. While acknowledging this concern, it is important to point out that such a problem can be seen as an opportunity for language work in the area of error analysis and correction. The style of newspaper journalism, the journalistic genre, is cited as a problem too. For example the "telegraph" nature of headlines presents samples of language not commonly encountered outside newspapers and which could be accused of being ungrammatical "journalese". Headlines however, provide ample material for language work. Learners can be asked to rewrite headlines as "proper", full sentences for example.

In this research, I wish to present a case for the use of newspaper text as suitable material for the teaching of grammar in the English language classroom in Malaysia. As well as considering the rationale for the employment of such material despite several possible constraints that might arise and ways to overcome them. General benefits to this research may be:-a. For Teachers:1. To develop effective, efficient, and fun learning model which can involve the students being active in grammar learning process to improve their communicative competency.

2. To improve the result teaching and learning process.

3. To assist improving the quality of teachers professionalism as educator.

4. To assist in designing scientific paper which is become part of evaluation of getting support in teaching

For Students:1. To improve students ability in interpreting the meaning of the dialogue by using the experience, so the students can apply correct common noun in grammar usage to word dialogue to their environment in their daily activity.

2. To improve the students motivation and interest.

3. To improve students grammar

4. To improve the students communicative competence and their achievement in learning English.

For The school:1. Through the learning method by using newspaper may improve ways in learning grammar at SK Tmn Pasir Putih 3.0 Problem Statement/ Background

In education, there are lots of problems and issues faced by teachers. To narrow the scope, there were many problems occurred in my classroom as well. Thus as a teacher, I should pay close attention to the problems faced by the pupils. Problems and issues will never be easy to handle but they also will make teachers improve a lot in the teaching practice. How a teacher handles the problems will make the teacher have high ethics and accountability of being a teacher. So as a teacher, I have to try my very best to overcome these problems.

Grammar is one of the English skills, which should be mastered by student. By mastering grammar skill better, student may converse themselves in baslic interactive skills such as greeting, apologizing, thanking, introducing, asking or offering something. It is an assumption that somebody who mastered English should posses a good grammar skill. Generally, teaching is not only transferring knowledge to the students, but it is also guiding students to become successful in their own fields. The aim of this research is to encourage primary student to use also use English newspaper in ESL classroom. Learning English may become fun learning if we can use various methods such as English newspaper.

As grammar skill is essential to be able to write or other interactions, it is necessary and useful to have a material aid such as English newspaper in learning and improving English grammar skill. 2.4 Definition Of Terms

The issue of grammar and its place in the ELT syllabus is not confined to ideology or methodology. The definition of the term is difficult in itself. Crystal's interpretation (1971) of grammar as the "... patterns of syntax, word structure (morphology) and meaning..." (ibid: 55) appears to offer a reasonable working definition for the purposes of a simple paper like this. The descriptive categories used in the examples and descriptions that follow are labels that are familiar and "traditional" in the sense that they represent a shared grammar metalanguage. Of course there may be quibbles about the exact purview of terms and the scope of definitions, but generally the categories used are part of the common terminology ELT professionals and learners use to depict the grammar of English.3.0 OBJECTIVES/ RESEARCH QUESTION/S?1. How effective is using newspaper text in improving common noun usage in grammar to the Year Four Student at SK Tmn Pasir Putih?4.0 TARGET GROUP PARTICIPANTS?The participants for my research are 2 pupils from Year Four (4) in my school. They are from the third class in merits. Their English command especially in grammar are rather average only. So I did my research on these two pupils as to see whether with the use of newspaper, will there be any improvement in their grammar skill or what may the result proves.4.1 Students personal data and academic background Refer to Appendix A1-A3#StudentOccupationEnglish Tests Scores

FatherMotherMid-year 2013End-year 2013Mid-Year 2014

1Nurul Shafiqah bt Mohd AdamTeacher Housewife60 B62 B 62 B

2Nurul Nazira bt Shukur EngineerHousewife74 B 68 B 70 B

Table 2: Participants Particulars

5.0 ACTIONI had taken a few actions when conducting this research. The use of outside material is more demanding on teachers. I have to organize, design and produce tasks to exploit newspaper test as well as select the text in the first place. Using an article or newspaper text may throw up points of student questions that the teacher does not anticipate. The use of provided and prescribed course text offers ..time and cost benefits to teachers and schools.. (Richards, 1992:4) Newspaper text does offer the most flexible and ease in terms of its use for supplementing course material. As mentioned before, it is physically easy to manipulate and commonly available. Task rubrics can be given orally or written on the board. Using newspaper text for extra materials allows us teacher, to tailor activities to the students needs and provides teachers with opportunity toengage in some professional reflection through the deliberation of questions about the role and purpose of the material:What do I want my students to do by way of this material which in case is the newspaper;

What exercise, task or activity can I think of that will do what I want it to do for my students;

How best can I (through newspaper) assist my students in the realization of syllabus requirements in this area (grammar?)5.1 Procedures Of Actions To find out whether the teacher uses different kinds of approaches and strategies during teaching and learning process by observation and questionnaire. Usecolored pen to focus on grammar points. For example, if you are studying verbs that take the gerund or the infinitive, have students highlight these combinations using one color for gerunds and another color for infinitives. Another option is to have students highlight different tenses in different colors. Photocopy an article from a newspaper. White out key grammar items that you are focusing on and have students fill in the blank. For example, white out all the helping verbs and ask students to fill them in. Review the definition of a noun with your class. Then have them select a story from the front page of today's newspaper and find the nouns. They can underline the people they find in red, the places in blue and the things in green. Then make a list of nouns you can find looking around your classroom5.11 ProcedureGrammar test 1

Step 1: Teacher reviews the definition of common noun in textbook

Step 2: Pupils to read the dialogue in the textbook given.

Step 3: Pupils listen to teachers specific instruction about common noun exercise.Step 4: Pupils to build a mind map and list down things they may see at library, Park,

Market and Night Market

Grammar test 2Step 1: Teacher reviews the definition of common noun in textbook

Step 2: Pupils work in group select a local story from STAR newapaperStep 3: Pupils listen to teachers specific instruction about common noun exercise.

Step 4: Using color markers, the pupils underline the people in red, the places in blue

and the things in green.6.0 DATA GATHERING METHOD6.1 Observation 1: In this research, I have to observe an ongoing English lesson in this particular classroom. Scores are based on the Standard 4 of the Standard Kualiti Pendidikan Malaysia (SKPM) provided by the Jemaah Nazir Sekolah. The scores are from 1 to 6 with 6 is the highest. The sample of the instrument may be seen in Appendix B1. The aspects observed are as below:#Aspect No.Aspect

14.1Pupils Participation

24.2Pupils Learning Acquisition

34.3Pupils Work

44.4Teachers Preparations and Planning

54.5Methodology

64.6Communication Skills

74.7Teaching Resources Implementation

84.8Assessments

94.9Questioning Techniques

104.10Curriculum Content

114.11Classroom Management

124.12Etiquettes

Table 3: SKPMs Standard 46.2 Questionnaire: A set of Questionnaire will be given to the particular teacher. Refer to Appendix B2.The questionnaire will focus on the teachers own opinions towards how she teach English in the particular class and the usage of language games.6.3 Interviews: Interview with students will be done with the questions will be set based on how they feel when playing language games and how the games affect them. Refer to Appendix B3.6.4 Pre-Test: A set of Pre-Test question will be given to the students after the interviews. Refer to Appendix B4. The question will test the students vocabulary based on the words allocated in the Curriculum. Appendix B5.6.5 Observation 2: Still using the same SKPMsStandard 4 Instrument and after all interventions had been done, the English teacher will be asked to conduct a lesson that includes the language game strategy. The lesson plan (Appendix B6) will be provided by the researcher.

6.6 Post Test: Using the same type of test but different questions as in the Pre-Test, students are again asked a series of questions but this time the students may use the Bubble Map thinking skill to help them. (Appendix B7)7.0 HOW WILL I ANALYSE MY DATA?7.1 Observations 1 and 2:K. Popper, (2004) said, the main advantages of using observation as a method of data collection include that it is a fast method of collection of data as information obtained can be readily available.

In this research, by using the official instrument provided by the Ministry of Education (MOE) through SKPM, the researcher will have a standardized document that is being used throughout the nation. The instrument itself is familiar to every teachers and will not become something of a shocker to them.As stated earlier, the instruments are divided into 12 aspects with each aspects scores ranging from 1 to 6 which is the highest score one can achieved. Then the scores are added and by using a formula that has been determined, the final score will be obtained and the proficiency level of the teacher could be determined. The levels are as follows:

PercentageLevel of Proficiency

90-100Excellent

80-89Good

60-79Hope

40-59Satisfactory

20-39Weak

0-19Very Weak

Table 4: Proficiency Level for Standard 4

Lets take the 4.5 Methodology aspect as an example. The scores are listed as below:ScoreDescription

1Teacher failed to create learning readiness among students

Method used are not suitable with students abilities

Activities did not attract students interests

Lack of time management

2Better than 1 but less than 3

3Teacher managed to create learning readiness among students

Method used are (just) suitable with students abilities

Activities done attracted students experience and knowledge

Teacher applied basic principles of learning

Remedial and enrichment activities done

Good time management

4Better than 3 but less than 5

5Teacher managed to create learning readiness among students

Method used are suitable with students abilities

Activities done are closely within students experience and knowledge

Activates done are focused to the lessons objectives

Teacher applied basic principles of learning

Activities encourage critical and creative thinking and has moral values

Remedial and enrichment activities done and executed wellGood time management

6All strength in 5 are optimized. There are innovative and creative thinking applied. Some value-added materials are being used to make sure students achieved the objectives and overall lesson.

Table 5: Standard 4.5 Methodology Scoring Scheme

After all 12 aspects are scored, then the formula stated below will be used to determine the final proficiency level of the teacher.FormulaSample Score

Base Score (Aspects x 12= max.72)60

Min Score (Base 12)5

Percentage ((Min-1)5 X 10080.00

ProficiencyGood

Table 6: Sample Calculation for Standard 47.2 Questionnaire:S. Ackroyd and J. A. Hughes, (1981), stated that, questionnaires can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect to its validity and reliability. It is also can be analysed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of research.

The questionnaire (Appendix B2) is designed in order to determine the English teachers own accounts of the class that she is teaching. The questions are primarily focused on how she thinks her teaching methodology is working to the class intended or not. It will also state her own opinions about the proficiency level of the students and what are their weaknesses and strengths. Due to the manner of this research, among the must-have questions are like the methods that the teacher usually used during lessons and does she uses language games in lessons. And if not, she must state the reason why.The results of this questionnaire should reflect on the teachers own proficiency level based on the SKPMs Standard 4. If the results are not aligned with the observation, it probably means that whether the teacher is not being truthful when answering the questionnaire or she was not being herself during the observation session.Both these questionnaire and observation session will not just benefit me as the researcher but also as the head of the school so that I may help the teachers in creating the best teaching and learning experience in the school.

7.3 Interview:Kvale (1983, p.174) defines the qualitative research interview as "an interview, whose purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-world of the interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena".

The interview session is planned for the students due to their low proficiency of the English language. This interview can also be changed to a questionnaire if students have the right proficiency level to understand the written questions. By doing an oral interview like this, the researcher would have the opportunity to use simple sentences and rephrasing questions as the interview goes along in order to make the students understand.Refer to Appendix B3.The interview is focused on the students background, their interests and also their perception on the methodology of their English teachers had done with them during their school hours. This will (hopefully) show whether the methods applied by teachers attracted the students interests or otherwise.

7.4 Pre-TestBachman (1990) who was also quoted by Brown defined a test as a process of quantifying a test-takers performance according to explicit procedures or rules.Bachman (1990) also cautioned us to distinguish between quantitative and qualitative descriptions. Simply put, the former involves assigning numbers (including rankings and letter grades) to observed performance, while the latter consists of written descriptions, oral feedback, and non-quantifiable reports.In this research, there will be two test conducted before and after the intervention planned. The pre-test (Appendix B4) will be the base score to determine the actual proficiency of students in vocabulary. The test will be a multiple choice question based on the current syllabus. Look at the example below:

Which one of these things is a part of a house?

A. Shoe

B. Nose

C. Roof

D. Leg

There will be 40 questions and the score will be kept and compare to the post-test that will be carried out after the interventions are taken.

7.5 Post-TestJust like the pre-test mentioned above, the post test (Appendix B5) will be a 40 questions multiple choice test. The scores will be collected and compare to the pre-test in the table below:No.StudentPre-TestPost TestDifference

1Nur Shafiqa bt Mohd Adam

2Nurul Nazira bt Shukur

Table 7: Comparison of the Pre and Post test

The analysis will be the key factor to determine will there be any significant increase or decrease of the students proficiency after the planned intervention has been taken. Due to the number of test, at least a margin of 10 (25%) is required to show any significance.

8.0 WHAT IS MY PLAN OF ACTION?8.1 Create a Strategic PlanNo.PlanDate / Duration

1First Tutorial5 July 2014

2Collecting resources and journals5 - 12 July 2014

3Writing First Draft of the Proposal13 - 17 July 2014

4Submitting First Draft of the Proposal17 July 2014

5Second Tutorial Personal talk with Ms Kan Kwong See9 August 2014

6Reselecting title and materials10-14 August 2014

7Completing and submitting Second Draft - Table16 August 2014

8Refining and completing Final Draft17-22 August 2014

9Submission of the Final Draft of the Research Proposal23 August 2014

10Proof read and finalising the Research Proposal24 August 19 September 2014

11Submission of the Action Research Proposal20 September 2014

12Writing letters of approval to parentsBy 30 September 2014

13Observation 1 The teacher involvedOctober 2014

14Interview and Pre-TestNovember 2014

15Intervention 1: Introduction to language gamesJanuary 2015

16Intervention 2: Lessons with language gamesFebruary 2015

17Observation 2 The teacher involvedFebruary 2015

18Post TestBy 26 February 2015

19Collecting and analysing dataMarch 2015

20Proof read and finalising Action Research findingsApril 2015

21Submission of the final Action Research.TBA*

*TBA To be advisedTable 8: Strategic Plan

8.2 Planning the activities for the intervention.8.2.1 Intervention 1: Introducing the language game- Bubble Map

8.2.1.1 The researcher plans out at least a one hour lesson (Appendix B6) for the class so that the teacher will be able to introduce the language game to the students.

8.2.1.2 The language game itself is a part of the iThink Programme which the school is enrolled to since May 2014. And it is the school vision to become a Thinking School by the end of 2015. (Appendix C1)8.2.1.3 When students are familiar with the designing and creation of Bubble Maps, then it will be converted into a game.

8.2.1.4 The game will use cut-out circles that can be pasted on the board with lines that connect with the circle in the middle as the main idea.

Graphic 1: Bubble Map

8.2.1.5 Due to there are only two students in the class, there will be one set of the game for each student.8.2.1.6 The circles itself will be made from laminated paper so that by using whiteboard markers, it can be erased and use over and over again.

8.2.1.7 The purpose of the game is to let the students use their thinking skills and list out as much as possible on the topics given.

8.2.1.8 They may use the dictionaries at first and by the end of the month they should try it on their own as best as they can. Teachers can always give a helping hand every now and then so that the students (who are of very low proficiency will enjoy themselves) (Appendix C2)8.2.1.9 A sample of a filled Bubble Map is shown below

Graphic 2: Bubble Map- Filled

8.2.2 Intervention 2: Applying the language games into lessons8.2.2.1 After the students managed to understand how the game is played, the researcher will choose some topics that they had learnt from year 4 and 5 and integrate them into lessons at least once a week.

8.2.2.2 These activities will be carried out by the researcher or by the English teacher during regular lessons.

8.2.2.3 The topics chosen are:

8.2.2.3.1 Our Community

8.2.2.3.2 Spending Wisely

8.2.2.3.3 Yesterday and Today

8.2.2.3.4 Be Safe

8.2.2.3.5 Blogging

8.2.2.3.6 Occupation

8.2.2.3.7 Objects in the classroom

8.2.2.3.8 Sports

8.2.2.3.9 Going Places

8.2.2.4 The topics chosen will not interfere with the teacher who is teaching the class. She will continue to teach as usual. (Appendix C3)8.2.2.5 Hopefully the games should at least to be carried out 4 times in the particular month.

9.0 REFERENCES

9.1 Multiple resources9.1.1 Books

9.1.1.1 Chitravellu, N. (2005).ELT Methodology, Principles and Practice, Oxford Fajar, Selangor.

9.1.1.2 Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Education Ltd, Edinburgh.

9.1.1.3 Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh.

9.1.1.4 Brown, H.D (2007).Teaching by Principles, An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Pearson Longman, New York.9.1.2 Magazines

9.1.2.1 The Times

9.1.2.2 Readers Digest

9.1.3 Journals

9.1.3.1 Zhu, D. (2012) Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 801-805

9.1.3.2 Sobhani, M. (2014). Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 1066-1073

9.1.3.3 Intratat, C. (2011). Alternatives for making language learning games more appealing for self-access learning. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 2(3), 136-152

9.1.3.4 Wilkins, D. (1972). Linguistics in language teaching.London, UK: Arnold

9.1.3.5 K. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959), reprinted (2004) by Routledge, Taylor & Francis

9.1.3.6 S. Ackroyd and J. A. Hughes, Data Collection in Context (1981) Longman

9.1.3.7 Kvale, Steinar (1983). The qualitative research interview: A phenomenological and a hermeneutical mode of understanding. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 14, 171-1969.1.3.8 Min.YK.(2013). Vocabulary Acquisition: Practical Strategies for ESL Students. University of Washington at Bothell (USA)9.1.4 Online Articles

9.1.4.1 Advantages and disadvantages of observation. University of Strathclyde. http://www.strath.ac.uk/

9.1.4.2 The importance of vocabulary.Frankfurt International School. http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/vocab.htm

9.1.4.3 English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers: How to Teach Vocabulary to Beginner and Intermediate ESL Students.ESL Teacher Guide. http://eslteacherguide.hubpages.com/10.0 APPENDICES10.1 A1 - Student 1 Personal Profile10.2 A2 - Student 2 Personal Profile

10.3 A3 Students Academic Report

10.4 B1 SKPM Standard 410.5 B2 Questionnaire

10.6 B3 - Interview Questions

10.7 B4 Pre Test Questions

10.8 B5 Word List from Syllabus

10.9 B6 Proposed Lesson Plan

10.10 B7 Post Test Questions

10.11 C1 iThink

10.12 C2 Bubble Map

10.13 C3 Topic for Intervention 2Present tense

Play

fly

buy

drink

catch

3