Abstrak

Kajian yang dijalankan ini bertujuan untuk menambah baik kemahiran bahasa murid sekolah,

terutamanya dari segi bentuk penulisan, selain bertujuan untuk membimbing mereka dalam

memantapkan pengetahuan perbendaharaan kata menerusi penggunaan alat bantu mengajar

yang mudah alih dan inovatif, di mana ianya juga dapat menarik minat mereka untuk

mempelajari bahasa Inggeris. Melalui penggunaan alat ini, murid dapat mempelajari cara untuk

menulis ayat dengan mudah dan menarik, dalam masa yang sama memupuk keyakinan mereka

dalam menyiapkan tugasan bertulis. Sebagai mana yang dinyatakan oleh Robert Sheridan dan

Laura Markslag (2011) dalam ucapan mereka mengenai penggunaan Kad Kata Berinovasi ini di

dalam aktiviti kelas, iaitu Sesebuah perkataan yang kecil menghasilkan bahagian yang

bermakna dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Ini menunjukkan bahawa peri pentingnya perbendaharaan

kata ini dalam membantu menghasilkan sebuah bahasa yang boleh digunakan oleh manusia

sejagat. Pernyataan ini juga disokong oleh pengkaji lain, seperti mana yang diterangkan oleh

Kinsella, Stump dan Fieldman (2005), perbendaharaan kata ialah satu unsur kekuatan yang

menghasilkan kejayaan akademik bagi murid yang mempelajari bahasa Inggeris sebagai

bahasa kedua. Di masa kini, kebanyakan murid berusia 7-12 tahun melakukan kesilapan yang

sama dalam tugasan berbentuk penulisan disebabkan sama ada mereka kekurangan

pengetahuan dalam perbendaharaan kata atau kurang keyakinan dalam menulis sesebuah

pernyataan. Pengguna bahasa tahap awal kebanyakannya memperlihatkan bahawa

penggunaan kad kata dengan alih bahasa sangat berguna dalam mempelajari sesuatu bahasa.

Nowacek (2011), menyatakan bahawa penulisan adalah penting kerana ia adalah salah satu

cara di mana seseorang dapat mengekspresi diri mereka, di samping memupuk keupayaan

seseorang dalam menerangkan sesebuah situasi kompleks kepada pembaca dan diri sendiri.

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Abstract

This action research attempts to improve pupils language skills, especially in written form, as

well as to guide them in enhancing their vocabulary knowledge using the innovative and

portable aid, in which this also can help in develop their interest towards learning the language.

By using this aid, pupils will be able to learn on how to write the sentences in simple and

interesting way, at the same time build up their confidence in doing written task. As mentioned

by Robert Sheridan and Laura Markslag (2011) in their speech regarding the use of Innovative

Vocab-Cards in the class activities, they implied that A small number of words make up the

greater part of the English language. This shows how important the use of vocabulary in helping

making the language usage better among the people in this world. This statement is also

supported by other researchers, as Kinsella, Stump, and Feldman (2005) explain, vocabulary is

the single strongest prediction of academic success for second language students. As

nowadays, most pupils at the age 7-12 years old have common mistakes in regards of doing

their written task because of either they have lack of vocabulary or they have no confidence in

writing a statement. Beginning-level language learners often find vocabulary cards with direct

translation useful in learning a language. Nowacek (2011), stated that writing is important as it is

one of the ways that people can use to express who they are as a person, as well as fosters the

ability of ones to explain a complex position to readers and to oneself.

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1.0 Introduction

Preface

Vocabulary is one important aspect in order for the pupils to learn language and

know how to write well. Vocabulary can be defined as the body of words used in a

particular language. Through understand the vocabulary; one can develop his or her

language understanding via the four major skills, which are listening, speaking, writing

and reading. Writing is the process of how an individual uses symbols to communicate

his or her thoughts or ideas in a readable form with other people. The key aspect for a

good writing skill is that one must focus on his or her vocabulary and grammar usage,

punctuation as well as spelling of words when writing. Wilkins (1972), states that

while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be

conveyed. This shows that vocabulary is important in making ones writing

understandable. Based on the researchers experience from his previous practical

programs in various schools, he found out that most of the pupils are having problem in

doing written task due to lack of vocabulary and grammatical rules understanding.

Innovative Vocab-Cards is a tool that could help to cultivate interest amongst

pupils to do written task. The idea in doing the Innovative Vocab-Cards came from the

experience of the researcher when having the Teaching and Learning process during

the previous practical programs, where the researcher observed that most of the pupils

were interested in doing the written task with the materials such as picture cards or

flash cards are used as one of the ways to guide them in exploring the language during

the activity. This research is important for the researcher as it can be used as a platform

for him to develop his creativity and innovative skills in creating the aids for teaching

and learning purposes, as well as for him to analyze the overall performance of pupils

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in the school throughout the whole semester. This research also can be used as

guidance for the teacher to create a 21st Century ESL classroom atmosphere.

Context

The researcher who has studying the issue is a teacher trainee from IPG

Rajang who has knowledge in teaching English with practical experiences in various

schools of multicultural pupils in Malaysia, especially in Sarawak. The researcher often

facing the issues related to pupils problem in teaching and learning during his previous

teaching process in few schools situated in rural or urban compound. Based on the

population of the school that the researcher will do his research on, with approximately

200 or more pupils are studying in the school, the researcher will be focusing on 3% of

the pupils with the problems in doing the written task and comprehend the language

used during the lesson.

The study has been taken place in a rural school in Bintangor, where the focus

is on Year 3 pupils with weak proficiency in the language. English was, however a

second language for majority of the pupils and they were neither fluent nor confident as

the medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia. The study will be focusing on how the

use of one interactive teaching aid can influence pupils perception on writing tasks and

also help them to enhance their knowledge in vocabulary.

The pupils in this school are mostly Bumiputera but there are also various other

races of pupils that study in this school. There are Malays, Chinese, some Indians and

Ibanese as well as Bidayuh, Melanau and minorities such as Kenyah, Kayan, Penan

and others that come and study in this school. This school also has communities of

friendly people and can understand various language and dialects, though most of the

pupils are weak in English. The researcher has observed the environment of the school

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and he intends to make the pupils try their best in adapting themselves with the English

language.

Reflection of Teaching and Learning

During the previous practicum program, the researcher had taught Year 4 pupils

in the rural area school. The researcher found out that the pupils in the school

compound were having problem in comprehended and adapt the language in their daily

conversation. Most of them have lack of knowledge in vocabulary, especially when the

teacher tested them to spell certain words. Furthermore, some of them are not really

into the learning of the language, where they liked to play around and having a pep talk

using their mother tongue among each other. It took a fortnight for the teacher to instill

interest among the pupils to learn the language, especially in doing the written task.

Then, in the second phase of the practical program, where the researcher had

taught Year 3 pupils in the urban area school, he found out that the pupils were having

almost similar problem in comprehending and adapting the language in their daily

communication, yet they were interested in learning the language, except when doing

the written task. Likewise, most of them were lack of knowledge in vocabulary, though

they were a bit better compare to the Year 4 pupils that the researcher had taught

before. They also have the tendency to play around and have pep talk using their

mother tongue and it took a week for the teacher to guide and instill the interest among

the pupils to learn the language and do the task provided.

Through the process of practicum program, the researcher has found out his

strengths and weaknesses when he taught the pupils from different area of schools.

The teachers strengths during his previous practicum program are he was able to use

different kinds of teaching aids to gain pupils interest to the lesson and he also was

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able to instill the use of language in daily communication among the pupils day by day

with guidance. However, his weaknesses are that the activities during his lesson were

mostly repetitive from the first phase practicum which was brought to the second phase

practicum. He was unable to control the class during the lesson at the first phase of

practicum. He was also unable to manage his time properly during the first phase

practicum. This might be because during the first phase practicum he has yet to

understand how to manage his class and the lesson that he want to do at that time.

During the second phase of practicum, the teacher was also unable to plan creative

activities for his pupils, due to he was still not used to the environment in a school.

Based on the experience of the teacher, it can be concluded that the problem

arose as a result of the teacher was having difficulties in managing the class in the first

place. But, after a few times of consultation with the lecturer as well as with the mentor,

the teacher was able to overcome the difficulties that he had faced through his previous

practicum programs. By looking at the problems that the researcher had been faced for

the past practicum program, they can be referred as similar to what had been reviewed

by other researcher in foreign country, such as from the journal entitled A Case Study

of Student and Teacher Relationships and The Effect on Student Learning (Patricia,

2014) and also from a review in the article entitled Impact of Effective Teaching

Strategies on Students Academic Performance and Learning Outcome (Laraib, 2014),

where they talked about how teachers teaching strategies plays important role in

shaping pupils academic and behaviour.

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2.0 Research Focus

Research Description

In this research, the researcher has been observed and guided the pupils in

doing the writing task through the usage of attractive and interactive teaching aids and

at the same time helps them in understanding English better. Based on the

researchers experience during the first and second practicum, the pupils were mostly

not interested in doing the written tasks and this may cause them to have lack interest

in learning the language.

By using the Innovative-Vocab Cards, which comprises of word and picture that

the pupils can use to enhance their knowledge in vocabulary as well as helping and

guiding them to construct simple and compound sentences, a teacher will be able to

teach the pupils the importance of knowing the word and its meaning before they are

able to write them properly. The use of this aid is suitable for group and pair work, in

which the teacher can controls and manages the pupils via group or pair activities and

at the same time guides them individually. The teacher also can collaborate with the

pupils during the activity through the use of this aid, and so do the pupils where they

can collaborate among themselves in learning, and it is relevant to be used in the class

with mixed ability pupils.

Throughout this research, the researchers focus is to use the Innovative-Vocab

cards to help the target participants to write better in the language. The researcher has

been using methods such as interview with checklists, document analysis of the pupils

work and pupils background as well as using the journal entries to provide the

researcher with evidence on the existence of the issue that the researcher is focusing

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on. The researcher has been referred to these aspects in order to ensure that his

research focus is relevant with the issue that hes trying to solve:

a. Workability: By using Innovative-Vocab cards, it can help the teacher to

explain the vocabulary to the pupils. Other than that, this aid also can help

the teacher to guide the pupils in creating phrases and clauses before they

are able to create their own sentences. This aid also can help the pupils to

explore the meaning and usage of each word in various kind of sentences.
b. Importance: It is important for the pupils to learn the vocabulary before they

know how to write, because by knowing the vocabulary, pupils can explore

various ways of using the words in creating sentences, thus by doing this

research might help to improve their writing skills and enhance their

knowledge on words in English.

c. Usefulness: This teaching aid is useful to any lessons, for different skills,

especially for writing skills and it can also be used at anywhere, anytime for

the language lesson to be successfully done in guiding the pupils to explore

the language better.

d. Control: In this research, the teacher has full control of the aid and the

usage of this aid is also applicable for any activities, either in pairs or groups

as the pupils can adapt and adopt the aid for different activities while the

teacher guides them in doing the written task using the same aid.
e. Collaboration: Other teachers in school, especially language teacher as well

as the school administrator have given full support to the researcher to do

this research as they hope that this research will help to improve educational

interest among the pupils in learning the language.

f. Relevance to the school: This study is relevance to the school as it is use to

help in guiding and developing pupils knowledge and interest in learning the

language via creative activities through the use of this teaching aid.

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Initial Data Collection

Based on the interview with the Year 3 English subject teacher and also from

the observation on the work done by the pupils, the researcher has identifies few pupils

that are having problem in writing in the language as well as having difficulties in

understanding the language. By recognizing their strengths and weaknesses in

language, the researcher will be able to help them learn to write and explore their idea

in language as well as improving their language usage.

The researcher has collected several data in the form of qualitative data through

the checklist based on the interview that the researcher has been making between the

teachers and the researcher as well as interview with the target participants

themselves. Besides that, the researcher also has observed the pupils style of learning

while also checking their background knowledge and the work that they have done

during the lesson. Then, the researcher has referred to the journal entries as guidance

on how to attract the pupils attention into doing the written task and learn vocabulary as

well as to make them participate in the lesson with appropriate activity using the

suggested teaching aid.

Action

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 In this research, the researcher has decided to use action research model from

Kurt Lewins Action Research model (Picture 1). Kurt Lewins Action Research model is

a type of model that consists of 6 steps from 2 different cycle stages in doing research

(Smith M. K. 2001, June). Kurt Lewins approach involves a spiral of steps, each of

which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the

action (ibid.: 206). He describes the initial cycle of his model as The first step then is to

examine the idea carefully in the light of the means available. Frequently more fact-

finding about the situation is required. If this first period of planning is successful, two

items emerge: namely, an overall plan of how to reach the objective and secondly, a

decision in regard to the first step of action. Usually this planning has also somewhat

modified the original idea. (ibid.: 205).

The next step is composed of a circle of planning, executing, and reconnaissance or

fact finding for the purpose of evaluating the results of the second step, and preparing

the rational basis for planning the third step, and for perhaps modifying again the

overall plan (ibid.: 206). What we can see here is an approach to research that is

oriented to problem-solving in social and organizational settings, and that has a form

that parallels Deweys conception of learning from experience. The approach, as

presented, does take a fairly sequential form and it is open to literal interpretation.

The model can be described as below:

1. Identifying a general or initial idea-The researcher has to identify his initial idea

of his research before begin his research by referring to current issue that he or

she that has been happening in the school.

2. Reconnaissance or Fact-Finding-The researcher needs to find information

related to the issue that he or she is going to do research on.

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 3. Planning-After the researcher has initial idea on what issue he or she is

targeting, as well as having collecting enough information regarding the issue,

he or she can starts to plan for his research.

4. Take first Action-After the researcher has planned of his or her research, he or

she can take first action within few weeks after the planning.
5. Evaluate-While the action is taken, the researcher can evaluate whether his

plan is considerably appropriate or suitable to the pupils.

6. Amended Plan-If the action is lack of things and needs to be improved, the

researcher can amended the plan and redo the action for his or her second

step.

Figure 2.3: Kurt Lewins AR Model

For the first stage, the researcher has analyzed and observed the issue since

the first and second practicum process before initially decide on the research that he

wants to do. After that, the researcher find some facts via looking through the

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reflections and journal writing from the previous practicum process to get a rough idea

of the issue that the pupils currently face in learning the language. Then, the researcher

planned the action to be taken before he started to do the research. Next, the

researcher takes an action by finding resources in the library and Internet before going

to the school for the Practicum 3 program. During the 1 st week, the researcher gets

some information and background knowledge about the pupils in Year 4. Then, during

the 3rd and 4th week, the researcher decides to do the checklist and asks his target

participants to fill in the checklists before giving the feedback based on the checklists.

Next, the researcher interviewed his target participants about their interest and

knowledge on the language. The researcher also observes the work done by the pupils

before making some review and reflection on the work. After that, the researcher starts

to use the Innovative-Vocab Cards to teach his pupils before making inferences on the

performance of his pupils and target participants.

During the action, the researcher has found out the strengths and weaknesses

of his method, and decided to do some amendments before taking second action step

for his method. The amendments that the researcher will take are based on the

suitability of the activity in the lesson with the pupils level, their ability to comprehend

the language especially in understanding the meaning and how to use the vocabulary

provided in making sentences as well as the practicality of the teaching aid use in the

activity provided. After taking second step of the action, the researcher concludes his

action by making review on overall performance of his pupils during the research. This

review will help the researcher to improvise his teaching aid from time to time.

Action Taken Time

Step 1: Identifying a general or initial idea Week 1
Step 2: Reconnaissance or Fact-Finding
Week 1-2
~Pre-Test on the Topic~

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Step 3: Planning
Week 2-3
Refer to the Lesson Plan
Step 4: Take First Action Step

~Apply the planned lesson in the week 3.

Refer to the Lesson Plan Week 3

Step 5: Evaluation

~Evaluate the first action taken. Week 4

~Post-Test on the Topic~

Step 6: Amended Plan

~Making amendments on the plan and Week 5

reapply the plan for the second stage.

Table 2.3: Implementation of the Action

Table 2.3 shows how the researcher is intended to use his teaching aid in his

lesson. The researcher or the teacher is planning to use his Innovative-Vocab cards

during the first stage as well as during the production stage as guidance for the pupils

to do their written task.

3.0 Research Questions and Research Objectives

Research Objectives

The objectives of this research are:

1. To increase pupils knowledge on the vocabulary.

2. To improve pupils ability in writing using the vocabulary they have learnt.
3. To enhance pupils knowledge in simple sentence construction.

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Research Questions

1. What are the ways to increase pupils vocabulary knowledge?

2. What are the problems that the pupils faced in writing?
3. How to improve the pupils ability in using the vocabulary to write sentences?
4. How to guide pupils in constructing simple sentences in interactive ways?

4.0 Research Participants

From the observation and discussion with the English teacher from the school, it

was found that 6 of his pupils have problem in learning the language. These Year 3

pupils are from the rural school in Bintangor, which 50% of them are girls and another

50% are boys. Based on the information from the English teacher, these pupils are from

poor family background and lack proficiency in the language. The participants that the

researcher has chosen are non-problematic pupils but most of them are passive during

the lesson. Besides that, the pupils are also very excited in doing the group activity

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given by the teacher. This is because the usages of Innovative-Vocab cards has

aroused their interest and attract their attention towards participation of the activity. The

researcher has used critical sampling technique in order to select his target participants

for this research. Critical sampling technique is a type of sampling technique used for

qualitative research, where the researcher selected few participants to study the

exceptional cases represents the central phenomenon in dramatic terms. These cases

are, as per stated by Patton (2001, p. 236) cases that likely to yield the most

information and have the greatest impact on the development of the knowledge. As for

this research, the researcher has focusing on the important of vocabulary towards the

development of language, where vocabulary plays important role for the childrens

capacity of understanding in using the language for communication. For this purposes,

the researcher had selected children with less knowledge in vocabulary for his research

in order to fulfill the requirement of his objectives.

The rationale that the researcher has chosen these participants is that the

pupils that have been selected are in the same class that the researcher is going to

teach. Besides that, the researcher or the teacher also has already known the pupils

background and their strengths and weaknesses by getting the information from the

language teacher as well as class teacher itself. Other than that, the reason for these

pupils from Year 3 in this school are chosen is based on the result from their previous

test in Year 1 to Year 2 which shows that they are having problem in understanding the

language. Through the observation and analysis made on the pupils background and

works as well as the results from the past tests, the researcher can imply and assume

that these pupils acquire more help and guidance from the teacher using this teaching

aid, taking consideration of that it must be appropriate with the activity in the lesson.

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 Based on the checklist given by the researcher, in which the checklist is about

how to increase the pupils interest in the language and what makes them having

difficulties in understanding the language, it can be implied that the pupils require more

exposure on the language through the activities as well as the usage of interesting

teaching aid that can help them to explore the idea of how to use the language in

creative and various ways. With the guidance from the teacher as well as the

implementation of the use of Innovative-Vocab cards during the lesson might be able to

help the pupils to enhance their knowledge and sharpen their language skills by the

end of Year 6.

5.0 Research Implementation Plan

Steps to Carry Out Action

Innovative-Vocab Cards is a compilation of small number of words and picture

in a form of card. This tool of learning can be used for any lesson and is easy to carry.

At the same time it can help pupils to learn lexical items. Several studies have been

performed by Sargi, Nation and Meister (1978), as well as by Herman, Anderson,

Pearson and Nagy (1987) revealing that a word must be encountered anywhere from 6

16
to 20 in order for the pupils to be able to learn the language appropriately. (Sheridan R.

et. al., 2011)

These cards can be used by the teacher and the learners to gain knowledge on

different parts of the language, such as in developing their understanding in phoneme

(how to pronounce the words), morpheme (words creation), semantic (the meaning of

each word), syntax (the structure of sentence) as well as to enhance their writing

technique in order for them to increase their knowledge on the language through

various process, for instance via learning the vocabulary, grammar or even parts of

speech through activities in group or pairs. This tool also can help the pupils enhance

their writing skills.

Steps to Carry Out Action

The researcher has been implemented the use of Innovative-Vocab cards

during the Writing Lesson for week 2 and week 3, with the integrated skill of grammar.

For week 2, the researcher is focusing on Nouns and for week 3, the researcher is

focusing on Pronouns. Figure 5.1 shows how the researcher will implement the action

of his research in a lesson for Week 2 where the implementation of the aid was

happened in teaching the Nouns:

Figure 5.1: Lesson on Week 2

Class : Year 3
Number of pupils : 28
Date / Day : 16th February 2017 / Thursday
Time : 0730-0830 (60 minutes)

Content Standard
Learning Standards
: 5.1 By the end of 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to
use different word classes correctly and appropriately.
: 5.1.1 Able to use nouns correctly and appropriately:
(c) singular
(d) plural

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 Theme / Topic : World of Knowledge / Being Healthy
Focuses Skill : Writing
Integrated Skills : Grammar & Reading
Learning Objective : By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:
(a) Read the food list with guidance.
(b) Differentiate the singular and plural nouns with guidance.
(c) Fill in the crossword puzzle with plural nouns with guidance.
Educational Emphases : Thinking Skills and Values and Citizenship
Multiple Intelligence / Interpersonal, Linguistic,
CCTS
Language Content : Vocabulary
Teaching Aids / : Food List, Innovative-Vocab Cards, Worksheets, Crossword
Resources Puzzle
Moral Values : Cooperation and Hardworking

Stage / Time Lesson Teaching &Learning Rationale Remark

Content Strategies

Set Sample 1. Teacher shows pictures to To arouse pupils interest on the - MI:
Induction questions: the students. topic. Interperso
(5 minutes) 1. What is this? 2. Teacher asks the students To get them ready for the lesson. nal,
2. How many of to name the pictures shown. Linguistic
them can you 3. Students answer the
see in this questions given by the
picture? teacher.

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 Vocabulary:
1. Teacher shows the food To deliver input Teaching
Singular
Presentation list to the students. Aids:
Nouns
(10 minutes) Plural Nouns 2. Teacher reads aloud the -Food List
food list. -IV Cards
3. Teacher divides the food
list into two classes, singular
or plural noun and explains
them to the students.
4. Teacher asks the students
to read the food list.
5. Students do as the
teacher instructed.
1. Teacher arranged the
Recognize the students in 7 groups. To check students understanding Teaching
Practice differences 2. Teacher distributes the of the singular and plural nouns. Aids:
(15 minutes) between worksheet to each group. -Worksheet
singular and 3. Teacher asks the students -IV Cards
plural nouns. to write the plural form of
each noun.
4. Teacher asks each group
to say the words after the
teacher.
1. Teacher distributes
Production crossword puzzle to each To evaluate the Teaching
Crossword
(15 minutes) student. students written works. Aids:
puzzle.
2. Teacher asks the students -Crossword
to fill in the puzzle with the Puzzle
correct nouns.
3. Teacher checks the work
made by the students.
4. Students do as the
teacher instructed.

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 -
Enrichment -Teacher asks the students
Activity to guess and spell the words
(5 minutes) in plural form.

-Teacher asks the students

Remedial
to find out about other nouns
Activity
with singular and plural form
(5 minutes)
as their homework.

Closure 1. Teacher asks students if To conclude the lesson.

they understand what they
(5 minutes)
have learnt.

2. Students give feedback to

teacher by answering the
question given.

For the lesson on Pronouns, the teacher tried to relate the Pronouns that he is

going to teach with the Nouns that he had previously introduced to the pupils. During

the process, the teacher first asks the pupils few indirect questions related to the use of

Personal Pronouns (example like How are you today?, What am I holding? Is he

ok?).The teacher then asks some questions about what the pupils have learnt the day

before Then, the teacher relates the activity to lesson of the day, where he focuses on

the Personal Pronouns (I, You, He, She, It, They and We). After that, the teacher shows

the pupils the Innovative Vocab-Cards and asks them to read the sentences shows in

the card. The teacher then selected a few pupils to read the statements again while at

the same time do the action shown in the pictures that they can see on the card. The

teacher then explained the use of each Personal Pronouns based on the statement that

they have read. Next, the lesson continues with the group activity where the pupils are

required to fill in the blanks in the passage using the Personal Pronouns.. After that, the

20
teacher checked the answer together with the pupils. Then, the lesson continued with

the next activity. The teacher distributed the worksheet where the pupils needed to write

down the correct pronouns in the blanks based on the pictures shown in the worksheet.

The teacher uses the Innovative-Vocab cards as guidance for them to identify the

correct pronouns for each picture. After the pupils have finished fill in the blanks, the

teacher asks them to colour the pictures in the worksheet. Then, the teacher collects all

the pupils works for reference before concluding the lesson. During this lesson, the

researcher had seen some improvements on the pupils in knowing the different kinds of

Nouns and how to use them and to replace them with Pronouns in constructing the

simple sentences.

Data Collection Methods

In this research, the researcher has planned to use interview with checklists,

document analysis on the pupils work and pupils background as well as observation

with the implementation of information from journal entries as the instruments to collect

data on the research and the participants in this research. Each instrument is prepared

and adapted according to the appropriateness and how the researcher wants the data

to be collected. The researcher had taken the instruments from several sources such

as books, journal, website and so on.

i. Interview and Checklists

For the interview script and checklists, the interview was made in order to

identify the list of the pupils and their level of proficiency. The researcher used the

guideline from internet and guidebook of Action Research to learn how to create and

implement the use of the script and checklists during the research. The researcher has

used this script and checklists to help him in interviewing the language teacher and

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class teacher and also the pupils, as well as to acknowledge the target participants

strengths and weaknesses.

ii. Document Analysis

For the document analysis, the researcher has selected few participants and

collects information about their background and their work from the mentor and the

class teacher of Year 3 in order to acknowledge and to get to know the pupils better. By

selecting few documents such as pupils personal file and pupils work from the

previous lesson with their language teacher, this can help the researcher to know on

which part that the target participants can improve on and how the researcher can help

them to do it through various kinds of activities that suitable for them.

iii. Observation with Journal Entries Implementation

The researcher also had done some observation on the pupils throughout the

lesson that he had done with them. Through his observation, he recognized his pupils

strengths and weaknesses by looking at how they do their work in group as well as

through individual question and answer. He identified that most of them were lack in

knowledge on vocabulary. He related his observation with the journal entries that he

had read from other researchers who had done the similar research few years back.

Data Analysis Methods

During the research, the researcher found out that his pupils are mostly average

and weak in the language. Out of 28 pupils, 12 of them are good in writing using the

language, while 8 of them are average and the rest are weak in writing using the

language. Table 5.3 below shows the percentage of Year 3 Pupils performance in

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learning the English, specifically on their ability in identifying different kinds of Nouns

and if they can differentiate them before the implementation of the aid.

Ability to
Participants Names Gender Ability to Identify Nouns
Differentiate Nouns
1. Andreas Johnson
Male Yes Yes
anak Eric
2. Vennus Laka anak
Female Yes No
Patricia
3. Alexson Manggau
Male Yes No
anak James
4. Viviana Tania anak
Female Yes Yes
James
5. Easter Arvyiena
Female Yes No
Ramas anak Joseph
6. Roslan Madelina
Male No No
Sembai
7. Oliviana Damie Female Yes No

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 anak Donny
8. Ashley Andrianshah
Male Yes No
Bin Abdullah
9. Jackson Abas anak
Male Yes No
Sait
10. Viviyen anak Ujan Female No No

Table 5.3: Comparison of Ability of Identify and Differentiate Nouns for Year 3

Pupils

Based on the distribution of the pupils shown in the table above, the researcher

has selected 6 of them as the participants of this research. By using the checklists

given to the selected pupils, the researcher has found out that most of them like to

learn the language when the teacher use the interesting teaching aid as a way to attract

them to the lesson.

Levels in Checklist Total Circles

1 (Total Disagree) 4
2 (Disagree) 7
3 (I Dont Know) 12
4 (Agree) 42
5 (Total Agree) 33

Table 5.4: Table of Results on the checklist answered by the target participants.

Based on the distribution of the total circles in the checklist, it can be inferred

that most of the pupils were actually can understand English, yet they were unable to

write in correct sentences due to lack of vocabulary.

Through the table given, the researcher has analyzed them in the form of qualitative

data. Qualitative data is mostly in the form of words, phrases, sentences and can also

24
include visual images, audio and video recordings. In itself, the qualitative data is a

mass of words obtained from recordings of interviews, fieldnotes observation notes,

and analysis of documents, as well as reflective notes of the researcher. (Huah, D. G.,

2012)

The researcher analyzed the table via this pattern analysis:

a) What patterns can be seen?

b) What significances do the patterns hold?
c) What are the effects of such patterns?
d) How do the patterns / effects align with the research objectives?
e) What theories / hypotheses can be drawn from the patterns?

i. What patterns can be seen?

-Based on the table shown, it can be seen that the pupils are mostly agree with

the statements given in the checklist, which suggest that they do understand

what the statement is all about as the researcher use simple question or

statement to ask or explain about the information that the researcher needs

from them.
ii. What significances do the patterns hold?
-The significances of the patterns shows that the pupils do have knowledge in

the language in terms of reading but when it comes to writing, the pupils might

have a little bit of difficulties to write the sentence correctly. This is due to they

are lack of expose to the written task which can help to develop their written

skills well.
iii. What are the effects of such patterns?
-The effects that can be existed through such patterns are the pupils will have

tendency to forget what they have learnt if they only know how to read the

sentence without understanding them and without the write them in the correct

ways. This can bring difficulties for them to deliver information to other people if

they do not have vocabulary knowledge to construct proper sentence.

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 iv. How do the patterns / effects align with the research objectives?
-The patterns are align with the research objectives as the focus of the research

are to ensure the pupils are instilled with vocabulary knowledge, in which it can

help them to construct sentences via writing way and at the same time making

them understand on how to make sentence in fun and simple way.

v. What theories / hypotheses can be drawn from the patterns?
-Theories or hypotheses that can be drawn from the patterns are that the more

the pupils know on vocabulary, the easier they can construct the sentences for

them to learn and understand. This is somehow can help to prevent them to be

confused when they see the same word, yet different in meaning and used in

other different statements. This is equivalent to the Language Input Hypothesis

stated in the Stephen Krashens Theory of Second Language Acquisition, where

he believes acquisition is a subconscious and intuitive process of constructing

language system and acquiring language abilities. He also stated usually there

are four problems in the teaching of vocabulary; a. learners cannot find the

proper word during communication, b. learners cannot express their feelings

with proper words, c. learners cannot put the words that they have learned into

practice and d. learners cannot identify the words when listening to others

talking (Y, Wang. 2013). These shows how important the usage of vocabulary in

helping the pupils to construct sentence as well as to enable them to learn and

understand language better.

Data Checking Methods

26
 Validation of Data Plan

According to Denzin (1978), triangulation involves using multiple data sources in

an investigation to produce understanding. The purpose of triangulation in qualitative

research is to increase the credibility and validity of the result obtained from multiple

sources. By using triangulation method, the researcher can enhance the validity and

reliability of his findings. Data triangulation also can reduce biasness and increases

confidence in reporting the research. Through cross-referencing data from different

sources, the researcher can provide a clearer and more convincing understanding of

the issue.
Document Analysis

Survey
Observation +
(Interview + Checklist)
(Journal Entries)

Figure 5.4: Triangulation Analysis

In this research, the researcher has indicated that he is going to use the Data

Sources Triangulation method as a way to validate his data plan. Data Sources

27
Triangulation method is a method where a researcher has to use three types of data

sources, which are time, space and person to identify the validity of his data collection.

Data that has been collected at different times, or from different places or from different

persons may reveal similar patterns thus increasing confidence in the findings (Denzin,

1970). Throughout this method, the researcher can identify how many of the pupils that

have improved their writing skills through the usage of Innovative-Vocab Cards.

As a researcher and a teacher, I believed that the pupils has developed their

written skills and learn some new vocabulary over time as they read and try to

understand the checklist given by the researcher. This was verified by 77% of the

respondents who agree with the statements provided in the checklist. Most of them are

also improve in their writing skills based on their work given by the researcher

throughout the lesson. 4 out 6 of the participants also have developed their sentence

construction via the exercises that they have completed after the lesson day by day.

This statement indicated that pupils learned to improve their confidence as well as skills

in writing through the exercises given.

The choice of data made by the researcher is through the data sources

triangulation. The researcher took his data from the work of his target participants from

each week, their personal file from the language teacher and class teacher as well as

from the interview with the teachers and the target participants with checklist made for

them. Through these collection of data, the researcher validate them in qualitative form,

which he suggested that the pupils were improving day by day with the help of the

Innovative-Vocab cards as well as guidance from the researcher himself.

Implementation Schedule

28
 This research will be done in 5 weeks. This will include the steps taken as per
Weeks
mentioned in the Table 2.3.

Flow Plan and Action of Research per Week

2nd Action

Evaluation and Amendment

1st Action Flow Plan and Action of R

per Week
Action Planning

Reconnaissance

Idea Identification

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

5.5.1 A Gantt Chart to Show the Flow Between the Plan and Action

The Gantt Chart above shows how the researcher implemented his research action

from week 1 until week 5. On week 1, the researcher identified the idea of his research first

before proceed to reconnaissance stage on week 2. On week 3, he started to plan on how to

use the Innovative-Vocab cards during his lesson and he began to implement his plan on the

same week until the following week. After he implemented his plan, he evaluated them and

made some amendment on the week 4 before proceed to his second plan on week 4 and 5.

6.0 RESEARCH FINDINGS

29
 Based on the findings through the activities given to the pupils and through the

previous result of their final exam from Year 1 and Year 2, the reports are shown below:

Research Question 1: What are the ways to increase pupils vocabulary

knowledge?

During the observation for the traditional method, the weak pupils showed no interest

toward the lesson as they were unable to give response to the questions given by the

teacher. After having interview with some of the pupils, and after get to know their

background and proficiency levels through their English teacher as well as the Class teacher,

the teacher were able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his approach. During the

second observation, after the teacher implemented the innovation tool, surprisingly the weak

pupils started to slowly show their interest in learning the language.

Figure 6.0: Transcription of an interview with Pupil A & B (Respondent 1-Pupil A,

Respondent 2-Pupil B):

T: Hello, A & B. Can I talk to both of you for a while?

R1 & R2: Yes, sir.

T: I just want to ask both of you a few questions. Is it ok for both of you?

R1 & R2: No problem, sir.

T: Do you like English?

R1 & R2: Yes, sir. I like English.

T: Do you like to write in English?

R1: I like to write in English, sir.

R2: Erm. Actually, I dont really like to write in English?

Research Question 2: What are the problems that the pupils faced in writing?
T: Why you dont like to write in English, B?

R2: Because it is so difficult to write in English.

30
 After the teacher analyze the works done by the pupils before and after the

implementation of the tool, the teacher had found out that most of the pupils had problem in

using the vocabulary in making sentences. This might be due to they are not expose with the

language as from the observation that has been made, it turn out they are not really like to

read and do any extra written tasks whenever the teacher is not around them. This is also

might be came from the influenced from the lesson, as they thought that English lesson is

difficult for them to understand.

Research Question 3: How to improve the pupils ability in using the

vocabulary to write sentences?

The use of Innovative-Vocab Cards has helped the pupils to improve their ability in

writing sentences as well as enhance their vocabulary knowledge as the words shown in the

cards, along with the explanation and pictures provided has helped them to understand bit by

bit of the language and at the same time guide them to write the simple sentences in correct

way. This tool also is useful and is able to attract their interest towards learning and explore

the language more.

Research Question 4: How to guide pupils in constructing simple

sentences in interactive ways?

By using this aid, it can show them how to use the word correctly in making sentences.

The guidelines from the picture as well as the example of the sentences shown in the card is

suitable to the pupils and enable to help them to know the usage of the words that they have

learnt during the lesson. Through the use of this aid also it can help to develop interest

among the pupils to learn the language, as the Innovative-Vocab Cards is applicable and

portable, where they can use them in group or pair work.

7.0 REFLECTION

31
 During the implementation of the research, there were many things that can be

identified in terms of the weaknesses and strengths as well as improvements for the

research. One of the weaknesses that can be identified is the time management. The

researcher took lots of time in order to prepare the pupils to get ready for the lesson.

This is due to the instruction given by the teacher is either not clear enough or the

pupils were unable to understand the instruction in the language. Second weaknesses

that can be identified during the implementation of the research are the classroom

control. The researcher were unable to control the pupils in making noise when they

were having group activity for few minutes, though after that, the teacher was able to do

that with a bit of strictness shown to the pupils. Third weaknesses that can be identified

during the implementation of the research are the activity preparation. The activity

prepared in the worksheet during the production stage is a little bit easy for some of

them, in which they took only few minutes from the allocated time to finish the work

given. All these weaknesses can be reduced if the researcher can plan and prepared

for activity systematically, at the same time get the pupils ready ahead before the

lesson as well as be more firm towards the pupils. The researcher also must know how

to prepare an appropriate and suitable activity or worksheet for different pupils with

different proficiency level.

For the strengths of the research, during the implementation, the pupils were

enjoyed and have fun during the lesson compared to the first few lesson with traditional

methods before. Besides that, the researcher was able to gain the pupils attention

during the lesson, in which the pupils were able to give response to the questions given

by the researcher. Moreover, during the lesson, the pupils were able to complete the

entire written task given in the allocated time with guidance from the Innovative-Vocab

cards. In order to make the lesson better, the researcher can add some games or quiz

32
during the lesson by using the aids as a way to create questions for the pupils to

answer them in group, as well as showing them some video related to the lesson and in

relation to the Innovative-Vocab cards used as an attraction during the set induction

stage.

8.0 RECOMMENDATION FOR IMPROVEMENT

The Innovative-Vocab cards can be enhanced and adapted for further use. It

can be designed to aid the pupils to learn vocabularies in fun and easy way, as well as

guidance to help them to do the written task in simple yet educated way. Hence, it

would be better if the lesson can include game using the aid as one of the tool to

expose the pupils to the language in interesting approach.

Beside teaching vocabulary, the Innovative-Vocab cards also can be used for

teaching grammar, such as Adjectives and Verbs. Adjectives and Verbs are parts of the

speech that are important for the pupils to know and remember so that they can use

them to create sentences in doing written task, and it would be best to use the

Innovative-Vocab cards to guide them in learning that.

Other than that, the teacher also can applied the use of Innovative-Vocab

cards started from teaching Year 1 and Year 2, especially to introduce the pupils with

words and alphabets before they explore the language more during their next stage in

Year 3 to Year 4 in making sentences and during Year 5 and Year 6 where they started

to know how to use Higher Order Thinking skill (HOTs) in their real life situation.

Last but not least, the Innovative-Vocab cards is useful and accessible if there

is an extra information and explanation to be put into the cards. This could help the

33
pupils to explore the language via the information given which could help them to learn

about other things than what they have learnt throughout the lesson. Furthermore, with

extra information given to the pupils, this could help in enhancing their proficiency level

and confidence in completing the written tasks given by the teacher.

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