methodology of teaching writing teacher interview transcription

7/31/2019 Methodology of Teaching Writing Teacher Interview Transcription

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Teacher Interview Transcription

Ainatul Uhm first of course we would like to know, uhm your background

information, your name

Ms. Helen Sim Ahh okay. Im Helen Sim. Okay .Uhh.. Ive been teaching English for the

past oh, this is my twenty secondth year only. Right, uhmm graduated from

USM uhmm 1990, did my Masters in UM, graduated in 2005, yeah 2005 so

uhmm basically I started teaching in a boarding school, Sekolah Berasrama

Penuh, So Ive been in two boarding schools. The first one was Sains

Dungun, Terengganu and then I was in Sains Kuala Selangor and then I was

seconded to Telekom Smart School for the pilot project for the Smart

School and then I came here. So this is basically my third school and Ive

been here since 2002. While Im here Ive taught English mostly Form 4

and Form 5, EST as well as MUET for the Form 6.

Nurhazreen May I know what course did you take when you were in USM and UM.

Ms.Sim My first Degree I did Humanities with Education, I majored in English and

then when I did my masters I did ahh Instructional Technology

Ainatul So what class are you teaching now?

Ms. Helen Sim At the moment Im still teaching 4 and 5 but lower 6 will be coming in next

week so ill be taking form 6s as well. So basically I have 4,5 6.

Aiman Uhmm How do view writing in relation to other skills in the language..how

do you value the importance in relation to other skills?

Ms. Sim Okay writing is..of course is very important. You cannot really be separated


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from the other skills because writing is the output, okay so you need the

listening skills and the reading skills I mean, to be able to do a good output

which is in writing form. So basically you cannot really separate the skill

from other skills per se uhmm but of course If you want to focus on how to

actually improve on the skills, I think the input have to be improved as well.

So the listening skills of students as well as the reading skills of the students

have to be improved if we ever want to see improvement in writing skills

because they need to be able to listen well okay listen to information, grasp

and understand or comprehend the information they hear, okay as well as

they must as be able to read well and read widely enough to be able to

actually give a good output which is in writing form. We dont have good

listening skill or if you cannot read properly, its very difficult to do a good

piece of work in writing. Usually, good writers are actually good readers,

well-read readers, well-read students. They read a lot, they should be able to

produce uhm good writing as well and thats usually the case. Students who

are very weak in writing actually, you see actually that they are very poor

liseners as well as very poor readers. They dont read much.

Ainatul So when you teach writing in relation , you mean you teach with other skills

Ms. Sim Uhh of course that comes without saying uhm you can actually focus on

writing to help them produce that piece of writing for example if you want

them to write an essay uuhm I think now it depends on types of students that

you are dealing with as well. If you are teaching a good class, maybe you

dont have to hold their hand so much, you dont really have to give them so


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much guidance uh but if you are teaching I would say even the average

classes you will need to give them a lot of guidance. Guidance can come in

the form of uhm I would call this scaffold okay, scaffolding, you either give

them the vocabulary, which would be the key words to them writing out the

essay or you give them similar picture, it could help them imagine what they

are going to write okay, or in the form of maybe even weaker classes some

of constructing sentences, helping them to that level. So your scaffolds can

be one words guidance, some words forms, pictures, or it can be uhm what

you call, sentences filling out the blanks, Im talking about really really

weak students okay so uhm perhaps coming up with the correct tense you

know? There are many aspects are you actually helping them out with the

content words okay say flood for example, they are suppose to describe

flood .Uhm some of them may not have words like uhm flood victims .They

dont know what is victim. Maybe they dont know what is evacuate, maybe

they dont know what is, what you call uhm uhm a centre to house the

victims. SO you need to give them the content words, for them to be able to

come out with the writing. But some they dont even know the tenses. So

you need to go into tenses. So perhaps you have a list of words which is in

uhm present tense first. Then you ask them to change it to the past tense.

You go step by step before you actually expect a whole essay on flood. You

see? So depending on the level of students, your guidance come in. I mean,

accordingly. With good students perhaps you do brainstorming session,

okay for example and you can do just mind mapping on the board okay, so


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group discussion. They discuss in group. They are good enough and good

students probably they read a little bit more so they have the vocabulary

they can come out with their own uhm what you call description of the

flood. They dont need so much help from the teacher. So you give them a

free hand, with good students. You dont want to like or maybe limit their

creativity. SO depending on their level of students, your approach has to be

uhm you know, according to their levels actually.

Hazreen Uhmm..What is it about wrting that you find difficult? Which area of

writing that it helps you to deliver

Ms. Helen Sim I think basically, very poor sentence Students nowadays, you dont even

speak properly okay. English is spoken in fragments, phrases oay, with

mother tongue interference; you have students construct proper sentences.

And then of course theresthis aspect of tenses as well, because they dont

know whether they are suppose to use present tense ,past tense, they dont

know like uhh description of an event that have taken place in the past ,

description of a person who are still living in the present tense. So its like

very confusing. And then this English words. They differ in the ending of

ed and then the change of words from teach to taught. So all this comes

into play, things actually contribute to their confusion. But basically, very

poor sentence construction is my main problem with the weaker classes.

They may have the ideas uhh but they cant string those ideas in proper

sentences. And all those due to their poor reading habits, they dont have the

vocabulary.


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Hazreen So how do you overcome those problems?

Ms. Helen Sim Thats why I said skills have to actually be improved on. So you make the

students read. So sometimes, uh we have things I mean I carry out things

like the DEAR , programme , the Drop Everything And Read, I call the

DEAR program. So I gave them okay, 20 minutes solid, read this article or

just read this or read this story. It doesnt have to be something factual you

know? Anything, something a story book whatsoever. Bring something and

we will read now. They tell me what they have read. OF course uhm this

has to be done actually the lowest level, from Form 1 but sometimes you

know, you cant help it. You need to give them the input so what I do, if I

need them to write something like uhm description of things like uhm lets

say uh on environments lets say. SO I can let them read about the floods that

have happened in Klang recently. Okay.So they read. Regardless of whether

the article or not, thats not important but they read something about flood

happened in Klang and usually they will be interested .It involves things

that they can identify with like schools in Klang you know, few schools in

Klang was flooded. And they knew their school was also flooded, so they

can identify with these things so they are more interested. So basically you

have to make sure that the input is something that they can relate to or

identify with. Dont give them something very foreign, especially the

weaker classes, I mean good classes, yes. Stretch their imagination but the

weaker classes, make sure the input is something that they can relate to,

then they will not switch off. Okay uhm let them read after that you ask


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them so that reading. Go by their vocabulary. Ask them to underline words

that are important concerning flood. Okay? So like evacuation, you, flow to

what level, the consequences. So all these words, make them underline the

meaning. So like, what do you understand by .S o you are building

vocabulary. Okay so from the text you read, you deal with the vocabulary,

and then from there you go to sentence construction. Pick out words and use

that words .So now you construct the sentences. From sentence level, from

word level to sentence level, then go to paragraph level. Put those sentences

in paragraph and go through, edit. This are simple simple simple sentences

.Connect the sentences with conjunctions maybe, maybe some complex

sentence, maybe what you call, compound sentence. SO you teach them

from word level, sentence level, to paragraph level .Okay. then at the very

least you get the first paragraph , second paragraph, you have something

thats at least like an essay although it is a very very short essay. Okay. So it

is very tedious, its a very tedious process because after that you will find

that you will need t have second draft as well so thats where process

writing comes in. But of course, the good classes you dont do this .You

dont have to do this. Good classes you can do brainstorming sessions.

Good enough. They can brainstorm. You go into floods. What you call,

effects, cause and effects, you go straight to factual accounts so what are the

causes. So one group can discuss the causes, the other groups can discuss

the effects, okay join what this group have and you have cooperative

learning lesson. Okay, you have complete lesson, the causes and effects of


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environmental problems like floods and then maybe they can write the

essay. So mind maps comes in handy here.

Ainatul Example, if we were in your situation, were going for practicum next

semester, we have a class of students, we shouldnt use cooperative.

Ms. Helen Sim YouYou can, only that you have to lower the level. Cooperative strategies

can be used; you just have to lower the level. Fine, lets say. Give them a

short paragraph, like what Im doing okay; give them a short paragraph to

read. It doesnt have to be a long article; they dont have that much of

attention span. Okay. This group, concentrate on the tenses. They underline

the words that are in past tense, for example. This group, uhh concentrate on

what you call content words, connected to the topic. Lets say the topic is

about festivals in Malaysia, so they underline like food, and uhh clothes,

celebration. So content words. You get them to list down, get them to list

down on the board. So you have groups that list down content words,

relating to the topic. Groups coming up with words in what tense? Present

tense, past tense whichever, you know, youll find that this group is learning

about they are looking for words. They are looking; they are not looking for

tenses. They are looking at content words. Then you teach them, I mean you

bring them okay they can do a mind map they are talking about now,

festivals in Malaysia, festivals in Malaysia like what, Hari Raya, Chinese

new year that kind of thing, celebrated by whom, when. Then you see the

tenses that are used okay. Is it it present tense or it is in past tense? So when

we describe an event, okay, this is true like a fact, so you highlight that,


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okay. You take one word from maybe the content word. Now make them

put in this verb, ask them to change lets say ifits in past tense change it to

present tense to describe this festival. So you are,..thats cooperative

learning .See? So everyone learn something and everyone put them together

and they learn the whole picture. They learn something together.

Aiman Uhmmare there any specific preferences about theories that you use?

Ms. Sim Specific preferences about theories? Learning theories you mean? Very

frankly if its weak students, I still go very behavioral. Okay, so Skinners

theory come in. Youyou still need to give that ahhmm that reward..okay.

Theyve done a good job,you need to actually reaffirm and give them they

the confidence that they..they are on the right track. But of course..uhmm

with a good student , I try not go so behavioral. Okay. So uhmm you, you

need to be more student centered okay. The learning comes from them, not

from the teacher per se. so usually, for the good classes, I will make the

students present their view and opinions and evaluated by the other groups

so that they dont sit and wait for my opinion or my feedback only, okay.

Uhmm ahh youll be surprised. Weak classes, im not saying that you cannot

do this but uhm once in a while you can do this as well. You know, once in

a while, get them to evaluate. Is this correct? What do you think about this?

Instead of you telling okay thats right. Thats correct. Ask the student. The

other students. Okay your friend have said this, is this correct? What do you

think? And youll be surprised. Because they are in the position to evaluate,

they pay more attention, rather than you know everything coming from the


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teacher. Give them the position where they have to evaluate; they have to

give the feedback. But of course the feedback that you get from a weaker

class as compared to a better class or a good class is definitely different.

Aiman Do you have any differences..do you have anything about their approach

that you would like to employ but maybe you cant, for example.

Ms.Sim Ah okay. Maybe ah in the sense, right now in the school, we have what we

call the set system okay. Whereby the students sit for a placement test

every beginning of the year, they sit for English placement test. So we

rearrange them okay during English classes uhm we regroup them to classes

according to their abilities in English, their proficiency in English. So the

better students will move to set A, set B and the weaker students goes to set

C. so teachers according to the level. So we know If we go to this classs,

this is set A, our level is this high. We go to you know, set B; we are dealing

with average students. So in that sense, it saves a lot of time and you dont

have to deal with very level of proficiency in one class. Usually, I think that

is the case. Because students are according to their uhmm abilities I mean

uhm uhm according to their positions ahh mark they get, overall marks.

Okay so the better student goes A class, C class and so on but it does not

mean that these students are very proficient in English. So that is why they

give them placement test and place them accordingly into their sets,

according to their English level. But this only happens during English

lessons so three classes could be having English at the same time. So they

move according to their level. Of course the ideal one would be, lets say


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English classes; all this five English classes should be having English at the

same time. That would be ideal. Because of uhm manpower constrain as

well as timetabling constrain uh we have to only have three classes you

know, having English at the same time. So we group them accordingly only

in these three classes at one time.

Ainatul Meaning they switch classes during English classes? They study with

different students la?

Ms Sim Yeah, they study with different students according to their level of English.

And they can be move again after their mid-year exam. So it doesnt mean

right now, beginning in January to may, you are in set A , you will forever

be in set a. you have to work hard to remain in set a because midyear if

another class students , students from another class or anther set prove that

they have improve, we group them again. Then remaining in the same set is

not permanent. It can be moved again, so that gives them, it will be a

motivation. Some ofthem doesnt want to be in set B, last set .they want to

move out so they work a little harder. And those who are already in set a,

hopefully this will give them the motivation to want to remain in set a so

they work hard so they dont go down to set b because that will be

humiliating. So that is, so teachers know they are going in to which set.

They are pretty aware uhm what level should they be teaching the class.

Ainatul The teaching materials is also adjusted to the student level?

Ms. Sim I mean what you call, lets say IfIm teaching Form 4, I have two classes.

One is set a. so when I teach my set A for form 4, I dont use, I may use the


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same materials, but the task that are set for the different classes will be

different. Okay. So like for example right now Im on environment topic

okay. I just went in into my form 4 set A Im trying, what you call, write

different type of essay, what I do is I divided the students into different

groups, Im talking about set a students, very good students. I give each,

every group a task. One group will be relating to the environment, one

group will be writing a letter, this letter is written by mother earth .okay.

The situation is, mother earth is dying. What do you think mother earth

would write to the children of the earth? Its creativity writing but in the

format of a letter. Okay so Im killing two birds with one stone, Im actually

trying to get the students to write creatively by putting themselves or

imagining themselves as mother earth. What would she say to the children

of the earth okay. But at the same time Im actually making them aware

okay. Format letter, the format has to be correct. Okay and some students

ask me, teacher where is, what address should I put mother earth? Your

creativity, your imagination. Okay so thats one half for one group. The

other group will be writing a speech, okay still on environment, okay but

she is taking part in a speech contest about uhm what has men done , I mean

sorry what are the consequences of mens action on environment. So it is a

speech form. Format of a speech but still pertaining to environment. So

different group will have different task. Thats set a but when I go into form

4 another class, which is average class, I still use the topic environment but

this time round I dont give them as in just the task. I give them more


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guidance. This is what I mean by scaffold. Okay. So I say you are going to

uhh what you call write a speech okay, same task, same task sheet but I give

them guidance as in a note. I give them some note so they can fall back on

these notes to write out their speech. The first class, I dont give them notes,

I give them the task so it is up to them to discuss in a group, come out what

they are going to write and they write. The average class, I give them notes.

Okay. When it comes to my last class, I mean I have another class which is

the last group I dont even go on different task. I only concentrate on one

task and that task; okay lets say ifIm concentrating on speech, I give them

you know like maybe uhm blanked out phrases or sentences. I give them the

written. That means I will have to write complete short essay but I blank out

different lines or certain phrases and they fill up. Its like a closed passage

but closed passage they fill up one word right? Maybe some parts maybe

they have to fill up two different words some parts they have to fill up the

whole sentence some parts they have to fill up one word, that kind of thing.

So, it may be the same material, same thing but with different levels, I have

to use different approaches, so uhm by having sets, its easier in the sense

that it uses one set of materials for the class but the classes are not

homogenous in terms of ability. So you go into one, perhaps three different

levels of class, then you will have to have three different sets of materials

for that one class. See? Right now I can use the same material for the whole

class, so the whole class is of the same level, yeah, its just so happen that I

have three different level so I prepare three different level but its for the


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whole class. But I you go to schools where they dont have the set system or

what we call the block system, then youll find that in one class perhaps you

will have all this three levels. Okay? Now if you dont do leveling for the

materials, which most of use sometimes do that you know because of time

constraint, we just prepare one set of material for the whole class. Either its

going to bore the good ones to death or the weak ones will die trying to

catch up because they dont know what you are saying, you know imagine

telling them okay, you are mother earth and you are writing to children of

the earth. Theyll be blinking what mother earth? What dying? The can,

they may never be able to get the concept of the role playing thing. so itll

be difficult if you have the same material or different types of levels in the

class. And this is a problem in our Malaysian classroom, the ratio of

students to teacher is very very high. The enrolment of class is like forty

five, forty eight, theres forty five, forty eight student in the class, with that

many students in the class, you have different levels of students in the class,

its pretty difficult to cater to everyones needs. Realistically, its pretty

difficult okay, because we are not just, we wish that our ..what you call, our

work is school is just to teach then we can, you know, do wonders. But sad

to say we have many other duties that come in, so many responsibilities that

come in, that kind of thing. So that takes up a lot of our time so sometimes it

is at the expense of the preparation of our classes. So sometimes, who can

blame the teacher if she doesnt prepare three different level in class?she

doesnt have the time to do it. Okay. But the only thing that helps us in this


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school is because we have set system. So when we go into the class, we can

safely say im going in, okay teaching almost, I wouldnt say perfectly. Ah

theres no such thing as perfect you know, system or whatsoever. I wouldnt

say that it is so perfect you know when you go into the class that all of them

you know are fantastic, what you call, high flyers. No. but it is just so

happens that they scored above a certain level for the placement test so they

are placed in this group. So uhm you will find that, still in that group you

will find some are really really high flyers , some would still struggle a little

bit but not as much as the average students and the weaker ones.

Aiman Madam, Im uhm uhm interested in the thing that you have mentioned about

the block system. Have you actually taught students using the block system?

Meaning that have you ever taught classes with different levels of

proficiency..?

Ms. Helen Sim That means not block system.

Aiman Owh

Ms. Helen Sim Youretalking about right now in MGS we are practicing block system.

Set system or block system.

Aiman Owh. Okay. Its the same thing?

Ms. Helen Sim Its the same thing. Block means you block the time table, you know like,

English for form 4 classes, lets say we have Dedikasi, Harmoni and Intelek.

These three classes have English at the same time. So this three classes , I

mean all of them sat for the placement test at the beginning of the year , so

for this student, they have been told , okay, during English students of


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Dedikasi, some of them will be in set a so they go to Harmoni, lets say for

set c, from Dedikasi to Intelek. So theyll move according to their ability in

English. It doesnt matter if they are math whiz or genius in physics or

whatsoever, during English, they go according to their . Thats what we call

set system. Set as in A, B or C. block is actually referring to their block time

table

Aiman How do you evaluate the writing piece, the writing outcome across different

levels of proficiency in the class?

Ms. Helen Sim Because lets say, lets say Im teaching set a , so I expect that their level of

high flyers level, I would set the target that they should not score anything

less than A, for English.

Aiman What kind of criteria do you use .

Ms. Helen Sim We have the bandsuhm what you call we mark according to SPM

standard, if theyre writing continuous writing as in free essay, like a. forty

four to fifty marks you know, that kind of thing. So we go according to

bands.

Ainatul So the test that were administered to all these students , regardless of

whether they are in set a, set b set c, it the same?

Ms. Sim Yeah, that is for standardized test that we have like monthly test and what

you call, midyear exam and all that. Again, for midyear exam because its a

full two papers , paper one and paper two like in SPM , so we can see

whether set a students are doing better than set b students,. Iflets say there

are set be students who scored better than set a, so we will move them . so


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that is the threat that we give them, hahahahah we dont want to call it threat

but uhm

Ainatul Motivation

Ms. Helen Sim Yeah so use positive words like of you want to stay in set a, you better work

hard and make sure that your marks are higher than those in set b . so the

crunch will be the midyear exam, we shall see whether or not they are

actually doing better. Youll be surprised that set c students actually

improve and go to set b. or some set b students might slack and they go set

C, last set, so, it depends.

Hazreen Uhm we would like your opinion, how do you differentiate between

teaching writing for their lifelong learning and teaching writing towards the

examination, how do you differentiate

Ms. Helen Sim Okay.uhm I think, I would say the level of students okay, now, whether you

like it or not, realistically, everybody faces a lot of emphasis on

performance, in their exam. As much as I want to say that I am teaching for

lifelong learning and Im preparing them for life, that kind of thing, uhm, it

still boils down to exam performance. We still have, as much as we dont

like, we still have KPI, the Key Performance Index to, to achieve and we are

being evaluated, teachers are being evaluated by that. We dont, we dont

achieve, that means you have failed. So like it or not, most teachers, I

would say most teachers, okay, if not every teacher, is actually preparing

students for exam. The only I think, I personally feel that Im doing is with

a good set, what I can do, I experiment with a good set. I can uhm , what


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you call , uh safely say that I like to challenge them beyond what is beyond

exam work. They have got the language; they have got the knowledge, so it

is good to challenge them beyond what is required. So I know they can

answer questions for exams and all that so I challenge them and I push them

for writing composition. So I make my students, my good students submit

work for Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition, I send my students

for Sunway University Essay Writing Competition, and last year, im proud

to say that one of my students actually got third at national level, okay, uhm

so you see its the good students that you can push and go beyond exams, so

you push them to write creatively and one of the students actually have their

work published okay, by scholastics, what you call, scholastic book club .

actually I have the book in my car because the girl gave me a

complimentary copy because her story was published so these are the

students that you can push them,uhm challenge them beyond than what is

going on for exams and whatnot but I would have to say that is only with

the good classes that you can do this. Of course, you know, teachers, you

have to actually uhm, be the inspiration. Okay, you have to be the one who

show them what to do, okay, show them the door. Like, I show them,

theres Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition coming up, heres the

topic. Okay, write it. I make them do it as class work but the good ones, I

pick out and send as submission for the competition and recently we have

the essay writing competition for the Dublin, Dublin Essay Writing

Competition, uhm we open it to the Form 5 because if you actually win you


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get to go to Ireland. So you give them the carrot, dangle the carrot, yeah,

you do this you get this, that kind of thing. Even for the Sunway uhm

Competition, my student actually won scholarship to study in Sunway. So

the prize is that. If you win the first prize , its full scholarship to do your

foundation or to do your A-levels, if you ,what you call get second or third

place of course the amount what you call, is reduced but still, its

scholarship, partial scholarship , okay. So that is the carrot that you dangle.

so the teacher is the one who actually has to show them the way. Sometimes

students are not aware and sometimes students are not aware of their own

capabilities, their own potential. Its the teacher who, you know expose the

student. I think exposure is very important. So with good students, do that.

Show them there is a wide world out there beyond writing and answering

exam questions but of course the weak students, getting them to past is a

priority so you have no choice but to cater that for their needs. So you need

to tailor your , your , your methods to making them pass . it will be very

exam oriented and I must say , that I hate to admit, I have to do it, because,

you I am going to be evaluated by KPI, whether or not I achieved my target.

You see?. So thats uhm, I have to go by that but of course with good

students , when I know I see potential or whatever it is, I just expose them.

Like I push them for public speaking competition because I train the public

speakers in the school. So, writing speeches. So they write and I keep telling

them them if you are a good public speaker, you can survive in any

situation, actually. Because it takes guts, it takes courage to be able to stand


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in front of an audience and speak your mind. So training them to do that,

you can do that , you can do wonders with good students . But first of all ,

you must cultivate the love for reading. Teachers must cultivate the love for

reading in students because uhm, how else are they going to have ideas if

they dont read? And also maybe its like for them, those who are movie

buffs, connect, you know? Teachers must show them they can connect, they

can associate. Thats where brainstorming session is very important.

Connect, what they can write, whats happening in the world out there.

Expose to them that learning is beyond the four walls in the classroom. And

learning can take place not just in the classroom. It can be anywhere,

anytime. And now with the internet, even more so. Okay, and English

teachers, I think we need to be more open uhm our materials are not, no

longer limited to paper, printed materials. It can be the form of videos, from

YouTube. It can be in the form of, you know something that is shown

online. I try to bring as much as that into my classroom. Because youll find

that, students attention will be better. And show them, uhm what you call,

essay, sample essay.uh, where, things have gone wrong. I have students

submitting their essay through emails. So that I can highlight, and show

them back, okay, this is where you have gone wrong, can you tell me whats

wrong with this, you know, that kind of thing. But you can do this with

classes that can absorb them. But we have to realistic as well, sometimes

the enrollment in class does not permit us to do a lot of things that we want

to.


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Hazreen Do you have specific English lab in the school?

Ms. Helen Sim No we dont, we dont. we have sloping classes in the school so its like, we

really lack of space actually,

Hazreen You bring in the technology in the classroom or.

No. Ill carry, huff and puff I carry the LCD and my laptop to the class,

yeah. So if the classroom is on the third floor, I huff and puff all the way up.

Hahahahah.Yeah, but thank god my, most of my four and five classes, my

form five classes are all on the ground floor. So thank god. Buti still have

my form 4 classes which are the first floor .so its not too bad.i dont mind

carrying the LCD and the laptop up there, yeah

Ainatul What are some, in implementing all these three sources, internet, using

the LCD and all that, what are the some, .. Are there any problems you

getting from students, for example you told them to email but they dont

know how to email something like that?

Ms. Helen Sim Yes of course. You have to do the logistics first to find out whether or not

they have computers at home. Usually, its quite possible, you know, there

maybe one or two who dont have the computer at home or they dont have

the internet connection. And then I tell them, that your school is a Wifi

zone. So they have computers in the school library which they can access

and theres no excuse. So I say, if you can go out with your friends for

movies and for shopping and whatnot, you can also go to your friends

house and you can send that email to me. Okay, but if all else fail, I mean,

there is the library and we have computers for students that they can use.


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And this is a Wifi zone, which means they can access the internet if they

have a laptop.

Nurhazreen They can bring laptop to school?

Ms. Helen Sim Only the form 6, at the moment. Anyway, the school does have internet

access so theres no reason why they cannot do it. But of course I have to be

understanding in the sense that the timeline for them to submit their essay is

not, like, today you do the essay, tomorrow you send it to me. No. I give

them a reasonable timeline and usually, I negotiate in class. Okay. If its

enough time for you to write the essay and send it to me, you know, that

kind of thing. Sometimes, students prefer to it that way because they dont

like to write anymore. They, prefer to type. And then the thing have

grammar checker, spelling checker and whatnot. They like that. So you see?

It helps. Uhm sometimes I get them to, like, be aware, especially good

classes. I only ask the good classes to email me. uhm, weaker classes I try

not to because weaker classes, uhm Im not stereotyping them but most of

them do come from a poor background so they may not have computers,

they may not have internet connections and all that. But the good classes,

basically, they do have, okay. They do have the facilities at home and all

that so I can do that with them. Except for maybe a few of them, they come

from Yayasan Selangor, they stay in the hostel and it is difficult for them to

access computers. So I give them a little bit more time, you know, in that

sense but they still have to email me. So in that way, Im also trying to let

them see that you dont have to, I dont know. Maybe Im not the


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conventional English teacher. I like to try different things so I dont like to

carry exercise book around with me. Like between now. I like to, you know.

Maybe because Im away from schools sometimes, Im not in school

physically but I can still access their work so uhm, in that sense, email

works for me so that I can do, sort of check my students work eventhough

im not physically in school. But if its exercise book, I have to come to

school, I have to carry the book back and all that kind of thing. But you

know like, for the past few weeks that Ive been away off and on for

competitions like taking students to this competition, that competition. if the

students email to me, I have their work and any time, you know at home I

can access , I can check and I know my students are doing my work because

I can keep tabs. But if exercise work? I dont know. Are they doing my

work? Have they handed in their book? I dont know because Im not in

school so I dont know, I cant keep tabs. But if they email me, I know. This

person have sent. Okay only 36 out of 45 have sent in. then I know, okay,

who have not sent in. blacklist them. So I go to class, okay. Wheres your

email? You know? That kind of thing. I didnt get your essay. So in that

way its helping me to keep tabs of my students work, and another way is

then when they , the smart ones , the will use a spelling checker for us , to

check the essay.

Nurhazreen Google translator.

Ms. Helen Sim Yeah! Oh, not translating. But see? You are using. Using technology to help

in their work. I dont see that as cheating but its something that they are


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learning as well. Okay. But of course the sentence structures are not right so

I can highlight them. So thats the wonder of technology as well. You can

straight away highlight it in red, gold whatsoever. You dont have to

physically carry the book. You just bring your laptop and show them, okay,

its all in red, why is it so? That way you are concentrating on their writing.

Youre correcting on that mistakes as well. Only the medium is different

.Okay. I think it is important that teachers keep up with, yeah keep up with

times. And these are the things that students enjoy. I mean because, youre

not making them write 350 words of writing and writing. They are typing

and some of them type very fast, they are on Facebook all the time. So

anything else you would like to know?

Ainatul So having been teaching for 22 years right? Do you still update yourself

with, for example, the latest theory in education, journals and things like

that.

Ms. Helen Sim I think you cantrun away. I mean, I think I like this quotation, he who

dares to teach must first learn. So if you dare to teach you must learn in

order to teach. I think you cantrun away from that. If you dont learn, then

how can you teach. Youll be archaic, youll be a dinosaur. So you still have

to keep up. Im one person who, I mean, I like going to courses. I like like

going for teachers conferences, okay to at least know what is the latest in

the educational field. Because if you dont, then uhm, not only you are

missing out, your students are missing out. Because then, youll be stuck on

methods of teaching that was probably learned 20 years ago, okay? So uhm,


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yeah so its good to upgrade yourself and keep up with time. And I think it

is very important for a teacher. Very important for teacher who are actually

serious in educating. if you dare to teach, you must first learn.

Aiman Do you have any, any sort of suggestions for us future teachers in relation to

the teaching of writing?

Ms. Helen Sim Inspire students to read. And before you can do that, be a reader yourself. I

thinkits important that teachers read. You may not have the opportunity,

you may not have the finance to actually attend every courses or every

conference there is because depending on where you are sent I mean

depending on where you are posted, you may not have that opportunity but

you can read anywhere now, okay with the internet okay and definitely

books , read. I think thats important because if you dont read, its difficult

to know whats out there and if you are actually posted to a very small

place, or a very small area, you will find that youll be, you probably be like

frogs under lily pads. No, not really, frogs under plastic containers. You see

but dont know whats happening. So read so that you can keep up with

whats happening. At the very least, read newspapers. Thats the very least.

Okay, and then inspire students in class okay. Uhm sometimes its good to

actually like get them motivated as in, okay, when I used to teach in

boarding schools, uhm how I get my students attention is read up on football

. I watch EPL so that I now whats happening, the game and that kind of

thing. And then when I talk a bit about EPL and the clubs that are playing,

the games that are playing and the boys will say Wah Miss Sim, you know


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about this club? You know about the game? You know about this? you can

have that eating out from your hands. Theyll be motivated to learn from

you, if you read. I dont really know how to play the game but when I watch

and when I read up , this is how its played or read, who is who in which

club, when you do that, you get students attention. You motivate them. Like

right now in MGS, I find that the Korean pop culture have sink in here. I

have to read up a little bit about whos who and what song, what actress,

what drama although I dont watch and I dont listen to Korean. But by

reading I know whos who and once in a while I throw in these names and

they get very excited and when they get excited theyll pay attention to you.

So I thinkits important for teachers to inspire your students. And you can

be the motivating factor for them to be a learner. Somebody who not just

want to pass exam but somebody who like you said, go for lifelong learning.

Because even in my age, Im still learning. And I tell my students, I learn

from you too. The things you tell me, the things you share,. I allow my

students to write freely, uhm I try not to put a lot of inhibitions I mean like

limitation to what they can write and whatnot. Give them a free hand. Be

creative. Tell me whats on your mind, you know. Your opinion matters. I

always make sure that Im not a teacher who spoon feed them except for

very weak classes, Imguilty of that. Okay, but I have no choice but Ive

got my KPI. But good classes give them a free hand. Let them be creative,

let them be themselves, let them express, anything thats on their mind and

youll find that youll learn a lot of things about your students. And when


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methodology of teaching writing teacher interview transcription

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