USING CARTOON VIDEO CLIPS TO IMPROVE YEAR 5 AMANAH PUPILS ABILITY TO USE

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE IN WRITING

By:

NUR ASYIKIN BINTI RUSIMIN

English Studies Department

ABSTRACT

This aim of this research is to find out the effectiveness of using cartoon video clips to improve Year 5
Amanah pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing. The focus of this study is to improve
pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing. As such, cartoon video clips were used during
the intervention to meet this purpose. A preliminary investigation conducted shows that the pupils were
unable to use the present continuous tense especially in writing. The five participants in this research
were identified from Year 5 Amanah based on their result of diagnostic tests. The data was collected from
the pre-test, post-test, document analysis and interview. The findings revealed that pupils ability to use
present continuous tense in writing have indeed improved after the use of cartoon video clips. Results
from the interview show that pupils perceive the use of cartoon video clips positively. They feel that by
using cartoon video clips not only it can help them to understand the present continuous tense better but
it can also help them to retain the information longer. Suggestions for further research are to use larger
number of participants with different academic levels such as Year 4 or Year 6 and to include writing at
paragraph level since this research only emphasized on writing at sentence level.

Key terms: cartoon video clip, present continuous tense, writing

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Writing might be a problem for some primary school students in learning English because there
are too many aspects that need to be considered and one of them is grammar. Brown (2001) stated
that grammar is the system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of
words in sentence. In other words, grammar is considered a rule of language in constructing a
sentence and help the learners to decipher and produce text in spoken and written for various
purpose in various context (Gerot, 1995). Tenses are one of the structure items covered in English
grammar. There are many tenses in English and each tense has its own rules. The present
continuous tense is one of them which gives the idea that an action is in progress during particular
time (Strauss, 2011). It is essential for young learners to learn about the present continuous tense as
it is one of the fundamental factor in producing the language appropriately and accurately (Parrot,
2010).

1.1 Reflection on Teaching Experience

In my experience as a trainee teacher, I have encountered with pupils at varying levels and most
of them faced the same problem when it comes to understanding grammar especially on tense. This
problem is very obvious especially when the pupils were asked to use the present continuous tense in
writing. During my second teaching practice, I found that my Year 4 pupils were not able to use the

present continuous tense correctly especially in writing that some of them had no idea what present
continuous tense is. As the pupils elevate to Year 5, they were still struggling with the same problem
and they kept repeating the same mistake in their next writing task even when they were asked to do
correction. I was also informed by their English language teacher that the pupils needed to recall what
they learned previously as they can easily forgot what they have been taught.
Besides that, from my observation during the teaching and learning experience, I found that the
pupils were not able to use the present continuous tense correctly in simple sentences even when the
stimulus was given. They were puzzled and confused when I asked them to write five simple
sentences to describe the picture of people doing some actions using the present continuous tense.
Some of them even asked me what the present continuous tense was. Realizing that how serious it
was, as the pupils were already in Year 5 and they were supposed to acquire the ability to use the
present continuous tense correctly when they were in Year 4.
There are two pressing issues found above, firstly, the pupils ability to use present continuous
tense correctly was far from convincing. Secondly, the pupils easily forget what they have been taught
in the classroom. Hence, as a teacher, I should be selective and creative in presenting the language
items so that the pupils can understand better and the information can be retained longer.

1.2 Related Theory/Literature

The theory that provided the framework for this study is Constructivist Theory (Bruner) whereby
Bruners theoretical framework is based on the theme that learners construct new ideas or concepts
based upon existing knowledge. Bruner believes that the purpose of education is not to impart
knowledge, instead it is to facilitate a childs thinking skill which then can be transferred to a range of
situations. Jerome Bruner also proposed three modes of representation called enactive
representation (action-based), iconic representation (image-based) and symbolic representation
(language-based). Iconic representation is more pertinent to be discussed in depth with relation to
this study since it deals with using cartoon video clips to improve pupils ability to use present
continuous tense. Pictures such as cartoons are helpful in getting the attention of the pupils (Jerr,
2012). However, the learning can be more effective if essential information of what the pupils needed
to be taught is added in the cartoon video clips.
Furthermore, Visual Auditory Kinaesthetic (VAK) Learning Style Model also helps teachers to be
aware of the pupils learning style. Reid (1987) discovered that students from Asian cultures are often
highly visual. Hence, students in Malaysia as part of Asian, will most probably feel motivated by the
teaching and learning through visualization such as cartoons. Cartoon video clips are suitable to be
used for young visual learners such as primary school students as a teaching aid because it able to
provide meaningful context to them since they spend most of their time watching cartoon.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

From the teaching and learning experience, the pupils were not able to use the present
continuous tense correctly in writing and there were several factors that lead them to this problem.
One of them is the interference of mother tongue. Interference of mother tongue plays an influential
role in second language acquisition (Kellerman, 1995). Since the pupils have more than one
language to learn, they will tend to switch those languages interactively causing some confusion in
the structure and meaning (Saadiyah & Ching, 2009). Moreover, the pupils also blend the form of
present continuous tense with simple present tense even though they know the difference in
meaning. They either omitted the suffixes -ing on a verb when using the verb to be is/are/am or the
verb to be is/are/am is being omitted when they put the suffixes -ing on a verb. Students were also
learned through drilling which can easily make them bored with the teaching and learning.
Therefore, through the use of cartoon video clips, it is hoped that the pupils ability to use present
continuous tense in writing will improve.

3.0 OBJECTIVE
This section outlines the general objective, specific objectives and the research questions.

3.1 General Objective:

The aim of this research is to find out the effectiveness of using cartoon video clips to improve Year 5
Amanah pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing.

3.2 Specific Objective:

This study aims to achieve the following objectives:-

1. To help in improving Year 5 Amanah pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing.
2. To identify Year 5 Amanah pupils perceptions about using cartoon video clips to improve their
ability to use present continuous tense in writing.

3.3 Research Questions

In line with the stated objective, two research questions have been developed and designed to be
further investigated and answered:
1. Does the use of cartoon video clips help in improving Year 5 Amanah pupils ability to use present
continuous tense in writing?
2. What are the perceptions of Year 5 Amanah pupils about using cartoon video clips to improve their
ability to use present continuous tense in writing?

4.0 TARGET PARTICIPANTS

The five participants in this study were from Year 5 Amanah. The participants were selected
based on several reasons and one of them is all the participants obtained the lowest marks in their
diagnostic tests. Besides that, the pupils attendance and behaviour also influenced the selection of
the participants whereby they were always present in the school and they do not have any serious
disciplinary problem. Thus, I believe that they can cooperate with me throughout the research.

5.0 PROCEDURE OF ACTION

This section discusses the data gathering methods, the preliminary investigation and the action
taken in this research. It also presents the findings, conclusion and reflection of this action research.

5.1 Data Gathering methods

The data gathering methods that were used in this action research were pre-test and post-test,
document analysis as well as interview. Pre and post-test as well as document analysis were used to
investigate whether the use of cartoon video clips help in improving the pupils ability to use present

continuous tense in writing. The semi-structured interview was conducted to identify the pupils
perceptions towards the use of cartoon video clips in improving their ability to use present continuous
tense in writing.

5.2 Preliminary Investigation

A preliminary investigation was carried out before conducting the action research in order to
refine the focus of the research and to collect data on the problem identified. The data collection
methods used in the preliminary investigation are diagnostic test and document analysis. The
diagnostic test was conducted twice. The first diagnostic test was to identify the students ability to
use the present continuous tense in writing simple sentences and the second diagnostic test was
specifically to confirm the problem that had been identified in the first diagnostic test. The document
analysis was done by collecting the pupils written work as it provided me an understanding of the
problem, hence, enable me to plan a suitable intervention to overcome the problem.

5.3 Action
In Cycle 1, three sessions of intervention were carried out and different cartoon video clips were
used for each session. Before the intervention, pre-test was administered and the results were
recorded. On the other hand, post-test was conducted after the three sessions of intervention as well
as the semi-structured interview. However, not all the pupils were interviewed in Cycle 1. The pupils
written works during the intervention were also collected and compared to their written work before
the intervention. In Cycle 2, three sessions of intervention were also conducted using different cartoon
video clips. There was no pre-test conducted in Cycle 2 and the result of post-test in Cycle 1 was
brought forward as the result of the pre-test in Cycle 1 which was next compared with the result of
post-test in Cycle 2. To put it in simple terms, the result of post-test in Cycle 2 was compared with the
result of post-test in Cycle 1. Semi-structured interview was conducted after the administration of the
post-test. The pupils who were not interviewed in the first cycle were interviewed in Cycle 2.

5.4 Findings
Pre-test and Post-test (Cycle 1)
Table 1
Pre-test and post-test result for Cycle 1

Participant
Student A
Student B
Student C
Student D
Student E

Pre-Test
Marks
%
0/5
0/5
0/5
0/5
0/5

0
0
0
0
0

Post-Test
Marks
%
5/5
5/5
5/5
4/5
4/5

100
100
100
80
80

Differences
Marks
%
+5
+5
+5
+4
+4

+100
+100
+100
+80
+80

Table 1 shows the comparison of pupils pre-test and post-test results. The results show an
improvement in pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing. The pre-test and post-test
required the pupils to write 5 simple sentences using present continuous tense based on the picture
provided. During the pre-test, all of the participant scored zero, whereas for the post-test, 3 out of 5
participants were able to score full marks and the other two were left slightly behind with 20% in
difference.

Pre-test and Post-test (Cycle 2)

Table 2
Pre-test and post-test result for Cycle 2

Participant
Student A
Student B
Student C
Student D
Student E

Pre-Test
Marks
%
5/5
5/5
5/5
4/5
4/5

100
100
100
80
80

Post-Test
Marks
%
5/5
5/5
5/5
5/5
5/5

100
100
100
100
100

Differences
Marks
%
0
0
0
+1
+1

0
0
0
+20
+20

Table 2 shows the comparison of the pupils pre-test and post-test results for Cycle 2. The results
show consistent improvement in pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing. The pre-test
and post-test for Cycle 2 are similar in Cycle 1. Nevertheless, in Cycle 2, the pupils focus more on the
verbs that end with letter e and the verbs that end with single vowel + single consonant. The results
of the pre-test in Cycle 2 were taken from the results of the post-test in Cycle 1. After the three
sessions of intervention in Cycle 2, the results of the post-test show that all the participants were able
to score full marks.

Document Analysis
The documents analysed were the pupils written piece of work which was taken after the
intervention. The findings from their works showed improvement as the intervention allowed the
participants to understand the pattern of the present continuous tense. Furthermore, the result also
showed that the pupils were able to use the correct pattern of present continuous tense in writing.

This was after the input was given to them which further proved that by using cartoon video clips, the
pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing has improved.

Interview
From the interview, it is found that pupils felt cartoon video clips enhances their understanding on
the present continuous tense. They also felt that by using cartoon video clips they will remember
better of what they have learned. In general, it can be concluded that the participants have positive
perception towards the use of cartoon video clips in improving their ability to use present continuous
tense in writing.

5.5 Conclusion
Based on the findings gathered and analysis, it can be concluded that by cartoon video clips, the
pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing can be improved. The cartoon video clips
were highly effective and the objective of the study was achieved. The findings have answered the
research questions

5.6 Reflection
After conducting this research, I believe that cartoon video clips have been seen to benefit the
pupils particularly the low proficiency pupils. It is good to use cartoon video clips with the entire class
rather than a limited number of pupils since it showed positive feedback from the participants.
Besides, I faced time constraint in conducting this study. The time for this research to be complete
was very limited and there were things that could not be done due to time constraint. Thus, to
measure the efficacy of the cartoon video clips better, the researcher may conduct the research over
few months or a year to allow for better analysis of pupils development.

6.0 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

In order to improve, larger number of participants with different levels of proficiency could be
chosen as the sampling in this research. In other words, this research should be implemented to
other academic levels such as Year 4 or Year 6 to ensure a less biased conclusion and represent a
larger circle of pupils which is more generalized. Moreover, due to the limited time provided, this
research only emphasized on writing at sentence level. Further research can include writing at
paragraph level to arrive at a more generalizable conclusion on the use of cartoon video clips to
improve pupils ability to use present continuous tense in writing.

REFERENCES
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Jerr, C. (2012). The Use of Bruners Modes of Representations in Teaching Factoring Second-Degree
Polynomials. International Journal of Education, 1, 85-97.

Kellerman, E. (1995). Crosslinguistic Influence: Transfer to Nowhere?. Annual Review of Applied

Linguistics, 15, 125-150.
Parrot, M. (2010). Grammar for Language Teacher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Saadiyah, D. & Ching, K. H. (2009). Common Errors in Written English Essays of Form One Chinese
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Straus, J. (2011). The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. United State of America: Jossey-Bass.