SJK(C) CHIN CHIANG

JLN. HJ. SIRAJ,

86300 RENGAM, JOHOR

Report of Action Research

Title of Research:
Improve the Communication Skills
Among Students of Year 3
By
Tow Teck Soon
Cin Cha Pei
Law Jow Yuan Chiann
Lim Chew Lee

Acknowledgement
Report of action research with title Ways of Improving the Communications
between Teacher and Year 3 Students finally finished. We would like to thanks anyone
who has been given help during our research. We are also very grateful to the Year 3
pupils for giving us cooperation. Our research partners must always get a special thanks
for being tolerant of the long hours we spend away from them in the office of our
computer keyboards and gathering the data during the research.

Abstract
2

Communication in classroom to become an important aspect in implementation of

Integrated Curriculum for Primary School (KBSR). Communication is very important as
language is the only medium to connect pupils inside and outside the classroom. So, pupils
have to manage communication skill .
In SJK(C), English has become second medium of instruction. Learning second
language is different from first language. In order to manage the language, more practices
must be done until it becomes a habit.
Problem occurs when some pupils prefer to talk in their mother tongue. It has
become an influence for them to manage their communication skill in English. As the
result, research has been carried out to find out the ways to solve the communication
problems which occur between teacher and pupils in learning and teaching English. This
research has involved 22 pupils of Year 3.
An earlier survey has been done by conversation, greeting, observation and oral test.
The result shows that most pupils unable to communicate well with teacher in English. The
focus of this research is to find out the ways to improve the communication skill between
teacher and pupils in English.
A few sections of teaching and learning have been planned in eight weeks. Teacher
has to organise activities which can encourage pupils to speak English in the classroom.
Activities have been done in pairs and group form.
The result of post test shows that improvement of communication skill happened.
Pupils are more confidence in speaking English. Activities which planned by the teacher
have been useful in solving the pupils problems
Reflection of Former teaching AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE
For teachers who teach English in SJK(C) is not easy as which is expected. Before
teaching in this school, I have no experience to teach in SJK(C). I think most pupils able to
understand English. But most pupils in my class cannot speak and understand English. I

feel stressful in the situation. I have asked my friends who teach in other SJK(C) and find
out that most of them face the same problem.
When I teaching in the class, the problem of communication has become the major
problem. It makes the process of teaching and learning in one way. As the result, the
process of teaching and learning is not under my control anymore. All instruction cannot
be reached and followed correctly. Section of teaching and learning become passive and
two ways interaction do not happen. This problem not only happened to me which also
become the major problem of other teachers.
From the early observation, I find that pupils face problem to interact with teacher in
English. In addition, oral test which has been done shows their weakness.
The attitude of pupils also becomes one of the reasons. They do not respond or
remain silent when they are questioned. Although, some of them try to answer the
questions but most face grammatical mistakes or even cannot be understood.
From my opinion, there are a few factors which cause the problems. First,
communication among the pupils in SJK(C) is almost in their mother tongue. Second, their
family background is not encouraging them to speak English. Most of their parents do not
understand English. Third, most of the pupils are more interested in watching Chinese TV
programme rather than the other languages.
As the result, more practises should be done whether in writing, reading, speaking
and listening to ensure more pupils can master English better than before.

Focus of research
4

To learn English, a pupil has to master three basic skills that are reading, listening and
writing skills. This research is focuses in how to improve the communication between
teacher and pupils. The basic of communication in language is by organising oral
activities.
The problems of communication occur is basically due to a few environmental
factors like school culture, family background or even the influences of media mass.
Meanwhile, the attitude of pupil and the profession of teaching also become one of the
factors.
From my opinion, if the problems cannot be solved and it will form many other
problems. Situations which can be expected as below:
a.

When pupils cannot understand and communicate with teacher, they will not be
interested in learning English.

b.

Pupils cannot follow the process of learning. Interactions only occur from teacher.
Pupils become passive and environment will become boring

c.

Pupils do not learn in the class. As the result, most of them will fail in the exam.
For long term purposes, the performance of school in English subject will fall.

d.

The class will become noisy when pupils cannot understand their teacher. They
will keep asking their classmates to explain what does teacher say and probably
will slow the procedure of teaching and learning as planned.

e.

Pupils will face problems in finishing the excises given by the teacher. As the
result, most pupils cannot pass up their excises books.

Objectives of Research
5

General Objective:
Ways of improving communication skill between teacher and pupils of standard 3 in
English.
Particular Objective:
This research intended to:
1. Help pupils to improve the communication skills.
2. To evaluate the effectiveness of the research.
3. To find out the causes of the problems.
4. To increase achievement of English in school.
5. To build the confidence and ability to communicate in English.
Target Group
This research is focus in the problem of communication between teacher and pupils of
standard 2 in English. This group formed by 25 pupils. They come from different family
backgrounds. Their language ability is different from each others. The averages of
academic performance are moderate.
Implementation of Research
Schedule of Research
Bil.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Activities
Meeting of committees
To put the suggestion in order
Meeting for planning of survey
To form pre test
Carry out pre test
Process the data of pre test
Meeting for further action and conversation
Observe classroom teaching
Process the data of classroom teaching
Organise conversation with pupils
Analysis and summarize conversations data

Date
16.2.2009
20.2.2009
27.2.2009
5.3.2009
26.3.2009
30.3.2009
1.4.2009
6.4.2009
9.4.2009
13.4.2009
17.4.2009

12
13
14
15
16
17

To organise classroom teaching

Carry out post test
To process the data of post test
Reflection
To finish report of research
Last check

21.4.2009
23.4.2009
27.4.2009
28.4.2009
30.4.09
2.5.09

Observation of Problems
Oral test has been carried out twice a week during the pre test. The following questions are
used to ask pupils to get the data for this research.
1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. Where do you live?
4. What is your fathers name?
5. What is your mothers name?
6. What do you like to eat?
7. What fruits do you like to eat?
Conversation
Conversation with pupils has been done in order to get information about their family
background. The conversation involves both pupils and teacher.
a) Conversation with pupils of standard 3 (conduct by research fellow in Chinese)
Teacher

: Do you like to learn English?

Pupils

: No.

Teacher

: Why?

Pupils

: I cant speak English.

Teacher

: Do you like the teacher who teaches you English?

Pupils

: No, I cant understand what he is speaking in the class.

b) Conversation with English teacher.

7

Researcher : What is the problem that you face in the class?

Teacher

: Pupils less interacts with me, teaching and learning become one way.

Researcher : What is your feeling to the pupils who cannot understand English
well?
Teacher

: I feel disappointed for not doing my job well.

Researcher : What actions did you take to solve the problem?

Teacher

: I try to use simple English, sign language and body language. Some
interesting teaching materials which can make them to speak.
However, it will take too much time and I cannot finish my teaching
as planned.

c) Conversation with class teacher.

Researcher : What do you teach?
Teacher

: I teach Chinese and Mathematic.

Researcher : Do you face any problem to communicate with your pupils?

Teacher

: No, all of them can understand Chinese well.

Researcher : Do they always speak mandarin?

Teacher

: Yes, unlike the other state, most people in Johor speak mandarin
either the teenagers or the adults.

Observation
8

Observation has been done by my research fellows regarding to the behaviour of learning
and teaching in the classroom during the research.

Analysis the Observation

Process of collecting data has been done by following the procedure which has been stated
in metrology research.
Analysis Pre Test
The purpose to carry out pre test is to collect the information and achievement of pupils in
aspect of communication.
Analysis Pre Test
12 pupils have been involved. The following aspects have been tested:
Marks Pronunciation / Speaking
Outstanding
A
pronunciationwithalmost
noerrors;littleornoneed
forrepetition.

Fluency

Grammar

Virtually faultless, with

no
mistakesorhesitations.
Interactseffortlesslyand
effectively.

Outstandingcontrolof
patternsandwide
ranging use of
structures.
Highlyfluentanderror
free.

Excellentpronunciation
withalmostnoerrors;
littleornoneedfor
repetition

Excellentfluency,
Excellentcontrolof
interactswithothers
patternsandwide
smoothlyandeffectively ranging use of
structures.
Extremelyfluentand
errorfree

Verygoodpronunciation
withalmostnoerrors;
littleornoneedfor
repetition.

Speechveryconfident;
hardlyanyhesitations;
fullycoherent

Minorgrammatical
inaccuraciesonly;very
goodcontrolofpatterns
andwideranginguseof
structures

Goodpronunciationwith
fewerrors;occasional

Speechconfident;few
hesitations;generally

Fewmajorandminor
grammatical

needforrepetition

coherent

inaccuracies;good
controlofpatternsand
useofstructures.

Someerrorsin
pronunciationand
intonationleadingto
occasional
misunderstanding.

Speechcontainssome
hesitationsandpauses,
butsentences/ideaswell
linkedtogether

Somegrammatical
inaccuracies;controlof
patternssometimes
imperfect,butrarely
affectingoverall
communication.

Table (A)
A
1
8.3%

B
2
16.7%

C
2
25%

D
4
33.3%

E
2
16.7%

The result has shown that pupils are very weak in communication. It shows that 6 out of 12
pupils cannot answer the question well.
Discussion of Research
Based on the result of pre test, we found that pupils really weak in aspect which has been
test. However based on the conversation with pupils, teacher also has weakness in his own
teaching method.
Among the weakness of teachers teaching method, teacher should speak loudly in
order to deliver his instruction clearly and correctly. Besides that, teacher has to repeat his
instruction again and again so that pupils can understand easily.
Based on the early observation, we decided to focus this research on the method of
teaching. We found that more practises on oral and reading should be done. We need more
time in mastering oral skill.
In order to solve this problem, we planned to have a specific section of teaching on
communication skill.
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Table 2
In combination of teaching method with weakness of pupils and the ways to overcome it.
Teaching Method

Weakness of Pupils

Reading Repeatedly

Teaching Method Based on Materials

Action Taken
Based on pre test given to the pupils, the result shows that pupils really weak in the aspect
which has been tested.
So, we have planned a few activities focus on oral skill, preparing teaching materials and
to observe the activities in order to be done effectively.
There are two activities of teaching and learning have been planned to solve the problem.
1. Activity to introduce yourself in pairs or group.
2. Activity to tell story by using own words base on the pictures given.
Things needed for
1. Activity 1:

Chart

2. Activity 2:

Pictures, word cards and sentences cards.

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Instrument and Observation

1. Activity 1:

Observe by other teacher

2. Activity 2:

Observe by other teacher

Implementation of Actions
During implementation of actions, we will do one section of teaching as what we planned.
We will focus on the teaching of story telling with pictures guided.
1. Specific lesson : Introduce yourself (Attachment 1)
2. Specific lesson : The rabbit and the tortoise. (Attachment 2)

Specific Lesson 1
Class
Date
Time
Title

: 3A
:
: 8.45 am 9.45 am
: Introduce Yourself
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Objectives : In the end of the lesson, pupils able to:

- pronoun greeting words correctly
- introduce yourself to your classmates
- To know more about your classmates
- To communicate with classmates
Teaching Material : sentence cards
Procedure of Teaching
Set induction (3 minutes)
I greet and introduce myself.
Example: Good morning, class.
My name is Cin Cha Pei
I come from Layang-Layang.
Step 1 (5 minutes)
- I ask pupils to introduce themselves.
- Pupils have been formed in 4 groups. Two group cantain five members and other two
group contain six members.
- Pupils have to sit face to face in two lines.
A

B
D

C
E

Step 2 (8 minutes)
- Pupils introduce themselves one by one with teachers guide.
Step 3 (12 minutes)
- In the beginning, I give examples to introduce themselves.
- A introduce himself, after that A asks for the name of his friend in front.
- (GooDMorning, my name is Too Jia Jia. What is your name?)
- D introduces himself and asks for the name of E. E answer.
Step 4 (8 minutes)
- I show the question cards which can help pupils to introduce themselves.
- For Examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What is your name?

How old are you?
Where do you live?
What is your fathers name?
How many sister do you have? 13

- Pupils have to read repeatedly and understand the questions.

Step 5 (20 minutes)
I stand in front of the class; pupils greet me and ask me questions. I answer all the
questions.
For examples:
Good morning, teacher.
What is your name?
How old are you?
Where do you live?
How many siblings do you have?
Closing (4 minutes)
Instruction for excises:
Try to communicate with your 3 other friend outside the class. Try to write down their
information as what you have done today.

Observation
During my observation, pupils have shown positive reaction especially on asking question
to their partner. They also can answer the questions well. They are no more afraid, shame
and panic. However, the classroom environment becomes noisy as they impatiently want
to ask questions.
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Reflection
Before the lesson begins, I have no confidence on pupils can fully master the skill I have
planned to teach. However, my anxiety clears when I take the step 3. The responses of
pupils are unexpected. All of them try to answer the questions well. Although, a small
group of pupils have to be guided but the changes of learning attitude from just keep silent
to eager to answer the questions is quite excited.
This lesson has successfully achieve its purpose.

Specific Lesson 2
Class
Date
Time
Title
Objectives

: 3A
:
: 8.45 am 9.45 am
:
: In the end of the lesson, pupils able to:
- Make simple sentences based on the pictures
- Tell story based on the pictures
15

Teaching Materials:
- Pictures
- Word cards
- Sentence cards
Early Preparation:
1. I prepare the story script of Three Clever Bunnies
2. I record the story in audio form.
Procedure
Set Induction (5minutes)
1. I show the pictures of the story Three Clever Bunnies
2. Pupils try to state out what they can see in the pictures.
Step 1 (10 minutes)
1. I tell the story slowly once for the first time.
2. I show the word cards and pupils try to pronoun the words repeatedly.
cute

bunnies

wolf

quickly

Step 2 (15 minutes)

1. I tell the story slowly once for the second time.
2. I show the sentence cards and pupils try to read repeatedly.
Mother rabbiy has three cute and clever
bunnies.
One day, Mother rabbit goes out to look for food.
Soon , a grey wolf comes to the house ,knock on the door and sings.
The three clever bunnies open the door a little and the wolf puts tail in.
When their mother singing, they quickly open the door.
Step 3 (25 minutes)
1. Pupils are given chances to retell the story according the sentence cards and picture.
2. For weak students, they will try to retell the story guided by me.
3. For good students, they will retell the story all by themselves.
16

Closing (5 minutes)
I make a conclusion for the story. I also to apply moral values such as obedient , brave ,
co-operation.

Observation
Pupils seem that very excited with the picture shown. Some pupils even started to tell the
story to their friends which they had read before in Chinese. After I started to tell the story,
pupils paid full attention to listen my story but some pupils showed in perplexity. I try to
tell my story emotionally with more body language to make my story more interesting.
After the pupils finished reading the word cards and sentence cards, I sure that all of the
pupils able to follow the story line. Pupils are able to make simple sentences faster and
easier.
17

Reflection
Oral skill to become one of the difficult aspects especially in giving opinions and retell one
event. The vocabularies of year 2 students are limited for them to retell one event. I teach
pupils to read first before oral. Pupils try to pronoun the new words and understand the
meanings. They also read the sentences of story. This has become an encouragement for
them to tell the story. I can see the changes of pupils from quite passive to very active to
try. Before that, I was doing one man show by answering the questions asked by myself.
The excitement of this lesson shows that pupils need teaching materials to guide them to
make sentences. One important thing is teacher has to be skilful to use body language to
tell story.

Reflection of Research
Assessment and reflection based on the data from pre test and post test.
Result
A
B
C
D
E

Number f Pupils
Pre Test
Post Test
2
5
4
7
6
6
8
5
5
2

Percentage %
Pre Test
Post Test
8
20
16
28
24
24
32
20
20
8
18

Post test has been carried out for assessment and reflection purposes. Form, number of
questions and skill have been tested are same with pre test.
Analysis and reflection based on the research data
During section of teaching and learning, behaviour of teacher has been recorded. From the
analysis, we find that improvement on the teaching method of the teacher. Outcome of
analysis shows that teacher can improve the percentage in following aspect:
- Aspect of giving instructions and reading repeatedly
- Aspect of focussing on skill of communication in teaching.
- Aspect of giving instructions slowly and clearly.

Reflection of Teaching And Learning

After carrying out the two sections of lessons, I satisfied with the improvement and the
progression of the pupils. I know that the weakness of pupils in oral field is not easy to
overcome. However, the changes of attitude and interest will become a good symbol which
means that master in oral will be upgraded to a higher level if the effort can be continued.
This Achievement has become a guideline for other English teacher to carry out more
creative teaching method to improve the communication skill of pupils. Furthermore, it
will make the process of teaching and learning more interesting and successful.
19

Conclusion
The result of this research shows that the relationship between the teaching method of
teacher and attitude of pupils is closely related. If the teacher can multiply his or her effort,
the understanding of pupils will be ensured.

Attachment 1

1. What is your name?

2. How old are you?
3. Where do you live?
4. What is your fathers name?
5. What is your mothers name?
6. What do you like to eat?
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7. What fruits do you like to eat?

Attachment 2

21

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