My Research Paper !

THE S GAME AND ARRANGE ME ! ACTIVITIES INCREASE THE MASTERY ON THE APPLICATION OF THE LETTER S AT THE END OF VERBS IN SENTENCES USING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE TO REMOVE CLASS STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

            According to the National Education Philosophy, every child born in Malaysia has the rights for education. The education philosophy ensures children will learn and become a balanced individual in terms of physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual. This refers to the Remove class students, who have just finished their primary school education in SJK(Tamil) and SJK (Cina). Thus, the technique that have been chosen are the activities that I have devised to simplify their understanding. This technique combines interesting elements and educational as well, to increase their understanding in the usage of Simple Present Tense in sentences . I have chosen 8 respondents from Remove class students. These respondents were treated for 80 minutes for each session and conducted for 2 months, beginning July 2011 to September 2011. Thank God, this research is completed in 4 months. The result of the post research shows the objectives are met. From the research, it is proven that 6 out of 8 students get 10/10 marks while 2 of them  get 9/10 marks. This activity made them not to fear English anymore. 

1.0 INITIAL REFLECTION ON TEACHING AND LEARNING

I am a Remove Class English teacher. Currently I teach English for the Remove class and form 5G. From the placement test related to Subject Verb Agreement , I see them not able to decide when to put the letter s at the end of the verb for simple present tense . I started teaching the Remove class students after Hari Raya 2011. I found that they are not able to construct grammatically correct sentences using the Simple Present tense for example He sits on the floor.

2.0       RESEARCH FOCUS

I focus on only the usage of s in simple present tense, for example, He sits here.  The challenge they face every day is they are not able to pronounce the words, they do not understand English words, but I focus on the topic that I have chosen. From my observation, teachers need to become very stern and firm when teaching this class. They also shouted a lot to quiet the students. My class will be noisy, but they will do what I ask them to do, and the reason they made noise was because they were discussing about the task while talking about something else. There are three games that I have tried and succeeded. The game is called the s game. They become noisier but they learnt.

3.0 ACTION RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

3.1 General Objective

1. The S game increase the students capability is using the simple present tense.

3.2 Objectives

1. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to put the letter s correctly at the end of the verb for subjects, nouns and pronouns, in a simple present tense sentence.
2. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to become more disciplined and be able to follow instructions.

4.0 TARGET GROUP

My target group is 8 remove class students that are low achievers, can’t understand oral instruction, do not master the reading and writing and listening.

5.0 RESEARCH

5.1 Placement test

I have done a placement test for all 35 students, and from that, I have chosen 8 weakest students. It is proven that they did not know the simple present tense rules. According to the statistics, 70 % of them are unable to complete sentences, fill in the blanks with the correct verb form, they are unable to categories nouns to the correct pronouns. They can only select either one for questions like this :

He ______(sit/sits on the floor)

At this level, they should have known how to use the grammar rules. From the test, it showed that they could not complete the questions without discussing with their friends. They always do group work even though the task is individual, this makes them easy to discuss and copy each other’s work. No wonder when work is submitted, they can score well in the exercise book.

ii Asking the teachers

Since I took over this class, I have talked with the language teacher who has been teaching the Remove class. I have talked with Mr Tamaai bin Said, the Amalan bahasa Melayu teacher and Miss Agnes Ong Shiau Ting, the previous English teacher. The problem mentioned was about class control and the inability to understand instructions. I also know the 8 students are not interested to learn English. From the conversation, I found out that my assumption is true.

Based on the observation I have done, it looked like class control would make the students be able to focus more. Since the class becomes noisy, they could not understand what am I teaching.

Placement Test

This placement test is given to know how much they understand about subject verb agreement in present tense. From this set of             questions, it looked like all 8 of them do not know which nouns and pronouns use the ‘s’ at the end of the verb. They are also confused with nouns, whether it is singular or plural. The questionnaire uses 4 pronouns and one noun as the subject.

Underline the correct answers

1. He  ____ (smiles/smile)  at us
2. It _____(look/looks)  like a bird.
3. He _____(work/works) as a clerk
4. Salleh _____(see/sees) a kitten in the kitchen
5. She______ (sits/sit) on the pavement

This is one example of the survey I have done :

Hello ! My name is________________________________________

I am in the English Remove class.

1)     I want to learn Subject Verb Agreement by means of :

[       ] Group work

[       ] Activities

[       ] Individual work

           Others  (Please specify) _______________________________

2)     Which kind of question makes you learn Subject Verb Agreement better ? Please tick the best answer

[       ] She ________(go/goes) to school)

[       ] She ________  to school

[       ]  Others: (Please specify) _________________________________

3)     I like to do:

[       ] Group work

[       ] Individual work

[       ] Group work and individual work

Bye bye !

(Refer Appendix i for Sample of feedback

5.2 Actions Done

I introduce to the game called The S Game and Arrange Us !. I learnt these skills when attending the ICELT 2009 convention in Melaka. The S game includes chanting. As well. The Chanting requires them to use their oral and kinesthetics skills in making sounds and actions. The skills are not that challenging, but it is fun to do. Whenever they forgot about the rules, I will encourage them to do the Chanting whenever they have done a mistake and they will know their errors when they performed it.

Game 1: The S Game

These are the items used to perform these games:

The S Game : Their exercise book, ruler and pen

In simple present tense, they are unable to remember when to put the letter s to the end of the verb. So as a start up, i show them the s game. The S game brings the students to the world of a zoo. In a zoo there are pronouns used for the zoo workers, the animals and characters in a cartoon story. Names such as the zoo keeper, the driver, the guard, the tourist and the administration popped up. Then I ask them what are the animals in the zoo, and names such as the tiger, bird, snake, monkey and horse emerged. These are names of animals and I guided them to come up with animals that make sounds. Then, I asked them people living in the jungle, or cartoon characters who live in the jungle. They came up with Tarzan and Jane. While they are doing this, I wrote the names on the blackboard.

Then, I ask them to have names of the workers in the zoo. Tell me the name of the driver ? They didn’t know, but I let them come up with their own names, and they told me names of their friends in the class. They like to tease friends.

Who are people living in the jungle ? If they say don’t know, it is okay. If they say Tarzan and Jane, it’s normal. So, I let them imagine, give them time and one of them will surely come up with third friend’s name. I will write it on the blackboard, and they will laugh. Another shouted a name, and I wrote it down. I will get 5 names and I will stop. This activity worked the best in a 25 pupil classroom, because the name chain and the laughter will be contagious. Then, I describe the pronoun he and she, who are the people working the the zoo. Second, I describe the pronoun it. It is used for animals. The students will come out with animal names. Teachers make sure they come out with animals that make noises, the snake is compulsory.

The chanting begins when I ask them to say

He, She, It (say this 5 times)

(Air draw a snake with the right hand.)

He The zookeeper The driver The lion tamer The crocodile tamer The snake charmer The caretaker

She The caretaker The lion tamer The nurse The doctor

It Monkey Chimpanzee Lion Snake Elephant

After they have mentioned the names, they I ask them what are the zookeeper’s names until the last position, and they will come out with their friends’ names. After that, I relate it with the snake picture, when you see the pronoun he, she and it, then the verb will have the snake at the end of it. For example:

1.     He sits on the chair

2.     She sweeps the floor

3.     It makes loud noises

Then, I show them a sample of questions such as :

Underline the correct answers

6. He  ____ (smiles/smile)  at us
7. It _____(look/looks)  like a bird.
8. He _____(work/works) as a clerk
9. She _____(see/sees) a kitten in the kitchen
10. She______ (sits/sit) on the pavement

Look at the (s) snake at the end of the verb !

\

Game 2: Arrange Us !(1)

Instructions to teachers:

Cut along the lines and mix the words together.

Students: The students arrange the words so they form grammatically correct sentences. A word can be used more than once. Then, write the sentences in the Writing book.

Mr Samsuddin	goes	to	class
Mr Paneir and Mr Ravi	eat	at	the cafe
She	sweeps	the	floor
My friends	do	corrections
Lucy	prepares	breakfast	every day.
The monkey	eats	many	bananas

Game 3: Arrange Us !(2)

Instruction to teachers: Cut along the lines and give to the group. They need to arrange the cards to form sentences.

Students:

Use the verbs and the objects to form sentences. Add S at the end of the verb if necessary. The subjects are not given. The students create their own subjects.

For example:

He needs money

S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
We	We	She	Money	He	It
need__	save__	agree__		need__	sleep__	eat__
money	money
to buy fried rice at the canteen	part of our pocket money	with you	very important	to buy an exercise book	on the floor

Game 4: Write 5 sentences

The students are given these verbs:

1. Walk
2. Sleeps
3. See
4. Go
5. Try

Then, they attempt to write their own sentences.

5.3 Action /Observation and Reflection

THE S GAME

-Observation

In the class, they become participative, because they could tease their friends. When they have come up with names, they will surely contribute more names.

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	The S Game Participation (5/5) (Active and Alive)	Grammar (5/5)
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4	4
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4	4
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	3	4
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4	4
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	4	4
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4	4
7	Girl	Durgha	3	3
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	2	3

-Reflection

When we performed this activity, they were very participative because they could tease their friends and make noises for a purpose. They have the energy and I need to pull that energy out so they learn and use the inside energy at the same time.  It is movement plus learning, physical plus mental and that makes them to be energetic. They cannot learn if they are seated down, it makes them to get passive. In order to utilise this, I add kinaesthetic intelligence. They will think better if they talk and move, they have the energy and the energy is channelled the correct way.

ARRANGE US !(1)

-Observation

Thank God, although they become noisy, they were able to arrange the words to form sentences. They did it in groups. After that, they are given a verb, and they write a sentence using the verb card.

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	Arrange Us !(1) Participation (5/5) (Active and Alive)	Grammar (5/5)
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4	3
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4	3
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	3	3
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4	4
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	4	4
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4	4
7	Girl	Durgha	3	3
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	2	3

            From the observations, they wondered why was they given a sentence. The task was so simple for a group, and they could finish it within seconds. Actually that was just a bait for a more challenging task. When they are left with one verb card for example goes, reads, walk, talk or writes, they face difficulty to use the sentence and they make mistakes such as

 they goes to school, he write a letter and I reads a book.

They also felt very happy with the activity because they can tease their friends with the verbs card when they write a sentence. From my observation, only one student , Lim Mei Kee did not get the sentences, because since this is a group work, Mei Kee just let others to do the work. My action was to approach her and use her friend as a translator to teacher her about the activity.

 They write down the sentences in their Writing book

-Reflection

From my observation, 7 out of 8 had fun teasing the friends and making new sentences. After 10 minutes, I exchanged the cards group A with Group B and they tried out to construct different sentences. They used the nouns that I have provided and they construct different sentences.

After 3 activities, I gave them test 2 to test whether they have understood the concept of simple present tense. There are 10 questions and I used the names and places in the class and the school they are familiar with. This is to make them feel comfortable with the questions. This individual task showed they have improved a lot.

ARRANGE US ! (2)

Observation

It is proven that the students have performed well in the third activity.

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	Arrange Us !(2) Participation (5/5) (Active and Alive)	Grammar (5/5)
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4	4
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4	4
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	3	4
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4	4
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	4	4
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4	4
7	Girl	Durgha	4	4
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	2	4

Reflection

I think it was because the activity was done in groups, and they have understood the words and the rules, that made them to become participative in this activity. Of course they talked a lot, and Prakash was till with his naughty behaviour, but he did the questions as well.

WRITE 5 SENTENCES

The students are given 5 verbs, and they write sentences using the 5 verbs.

Observation

This time, the task is more challenging as they are given only the verbs

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	WRITE 5 SENTENCES Participation (5/5) (Active and Alive)	Grammar (5/5)
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4	2
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4	2
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	3	3
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4	3
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	4	3
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4	3
7	Girl	Durgha	4	4
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	2	3

Reflection

It looked like they are not ready to construct the sentences on their own, their vocabulary is very limited, they need to be reminded of the grammar part. Perhaps I need to test them another way. When they were doing it, I had to go around the class telling them what to do. Since the respondent are separated, they could not copy from each other.

Remedial

For remedial session, I have separated them from the class and do a remedial session with them. Gathering all 8 students will be easier because they concentrated more.I asked them to do The Chanting, and they did it well. Then, I gave them, the exercise of filling in the blanks with the correct answer, and thank god, they have answered the questions well.

This is one example of their answer script after the Remedial session.

I have called Lim Mei Kee and Yuvarajah for three sessions . After the three exercises, I wanted to test their understanding of the simple present tense. Lim Mei Kee has improved, but I wanted to make sure. She did not talk at all with me or anybody in the class and her work was neat but needed to be urged to write faster.  She could finish a test, but when it comes to writing down the questions she took a lot of time to take out her stationery, books and start writing. Yuvaraja will be absent 2 days in a week, and he had a lot of catching up to do. He did not know how to read, but he can answer short sentences.

So, this tutorial is important for them because all 6 students have shown improvements. I ask them to start with the Chanting Game, and they were able to remember the rules. Then, I gave them 3 sentences related to the Chanting, and they answered all questions correctly.

5.4 Overall Reflection

Overall I see that they have changed their attitudes towards at least one teacher that I have known. In the first, second and third class they were quiet and non responsive, but now they participate in my lessons, by answering and writing the answers. This actions lead to the development of SVA lessons, where I am able to measure their progress.

Analysis of answers before and after the research. SVA questions are given before and after the research and developments are recorded.

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	Placement Test	The S Game (Groups)	Arrange Us ! (1)	Arrange Us ! (2)	Write 5 sentences correctly
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4/10	4/5	3/5	4/5
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	6/10	5/5	4/5	4/5
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	5/10	3/5	4/5	4/5
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	5/10	4/5	4/5	4/5
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	5/10	4/5	4/5	4/5
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4/10	4/5	4/5	3/5
7	Girl	Durgha	6/10	3/5	4/5	3/5
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	4/10	3/5	2/5	4/5

Refer Appendix i

Analysis of disciplinary level and rapport the student with teacher.

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	Discipline	Rapport
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	4/5	5/5
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4/5	5/5
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	4/5	5/5
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4/5	5/5
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	3/5	5/5
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	4/5	5/5
7	Girl	Durgha	4/5	5/5
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	5/5	5/5

The increase of the marks shows the programme have achieved its target, that is to fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs in simple present tense. They are able to construct grammatically correct sentences. They also become more disciplined and be able to follow instructions and the low achievers are able to understand the simple oral or written instructions and have a good rapport with the teacher. During the start of the class, it was difficult to get their attention, until I nearly give up. Then thank God, I found the way to give them instructions and make them understand. So, when I deliver the knowledge, all 8 is able to understand. Yuvarajah cannot read , he will be absent for two days in a week, buy I managed to do a session with him and he can remember and answer the SVA questions. I did a session with Lim Mei Kee too, because she did not talk to anybody in the class. Establishing a rapport with them is the first thing to be done, but I maintain the rules as well. This makes me able to break the first barrier. I am happy and satisfied that they do the work and they do not fell stressed while doing it. This is because 3 out of 4 activities are done in groups.

Analysis of the Placement test and Post Test

No:	Boy/Girl	Names	Placement Test	Post-Research Test	Final Examination
1	Boy	Yuvarajah	5/10	7/10	FAILED
2	Boy	Oom Prakash	4/10	7/10	PASSED
3	Boy	Mogan Raj	4/10	7/10	PASSED
4	Boy	Loo Kah Fui	4/10	7/10	PASSED
5	Boy	Chong Chia Nee	4/10	8/10	PASSED
6	Boy	Han Yong Ting	3/10	8/10	PASSED
7	Girl	Durgha	5/10	9/10	PASSED
8	Girl	Lim Mei Kee	4/10	8/10	PASSED

Yuvarajah has increased his marks by 2 percent, and this is a good sign because he is always playful in class. I was able to attract his attention by not getting angry at him whenever he disturbs other boys, Cheah Shun Hao always play as well, and he was naughty, but I kept asking him to help me carry books and he was willing to do it. From this action, they were able to find something good in themselves. Loo, Chong, Han are in one group, and they play together in class. They follow the lesson and they show improvement. Their ability to answer questions shows that they become interested in learning the Subject Verb Agreement and English, as they have added many new vocabulary in their word bank. Their ability to answer the questions quickly and get the answers all correct impressed and makes everybody happy. For my part, I have learnt to devise many interesting activities related to English and I becomes more skilful to make friends. The activities that I have devised have made them to like English and generally, 8 out of 9 of them passed the English 2011 final examination that was conducted.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

I plan to have more group activities with more class control. Based on the questionnaire they have answered, they prefer group activities better than individual work. I plan to have a research that focuses on verb to have , the application of has, have and had in sentences. The game I want to do is still ‘Arrange us !’. This is because I have class control, and it is more effective and time-saving. I hope this teaching technique will ensure the Remove class students able to practise English in both oral and written communication. Lastly, I say teaching the Remove class is challenging and we have to be creative to attract their attention and learn English.

REFERENCES

1. http://malaysiateachersite.blogspot.com/2009/03/huraian-sukatan-pelajaran-syllabus-and.html
2. http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/KementerianPelajarankajikelastambahanbahasaInggeris http://www.find-docs.com/soalan-ujian-dan-latihan-bahasa-inggeris-tingkatan-peralihan.html
3. http://www.llgcultural.com/bm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:memorandum-mengenai-pembaharuan-kelas-peralihan&catid=44:kenyataan-media-2011&Itemid=55
4. http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/24rmv1/Article/#ixzz1d0mU0pNg
5. http://www.scribd.com/doc/39370129/Peralihan-Pintar-paper-2-Final
6. http://www.smkputeriwilayah.com/Laman%20Akademik/Panitia%20Bahasa%20Inggeris/Rancangan%20Tahunan%20Panitia%20Bahasa%20Inggeris.htm/Article/index_html
7. Mr Tamaai bin Said, Amalan Bahasa Melayu Teacher
8. Mrs Agnes Ong Shiau Ping, Remove Class English Teacher
9. Principal of SMK Datuk Bendahara, Mrs Koh Tuat Guek

(Appendix i)

Sample of feedback