USING TEAMWORK IN HELPING STUDENTS CONSTRUCT GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT AND MEANINGFUL SENTENCES IN GUIDE

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USING TEAMWORK IN HELPING STUDENTS CONSTRUCT
GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT AND MEANINGFUL SENTENCES
IN GUIDED WRITING
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AIMS OF ACTION RESEARCH

• 1) To identify problems associated with
  composition writing.
• 2) To help students overcome problems in
  composition writing.

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RATIONALE

• To overcome the students weaknesses in their
  language.
• To enable students to write a good piece of
  writing.

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PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED

• Inability to express ideas clearly in written
  English
• Inability to generate ideas
• Inability to write grammatically
• correct sentences
• Limited vocabulary

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METHODOLOGY

• Pre-test
• Implementation of Vygotskys
• theory on teamwork
• Post test

Target Group 3I (a weak class)
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APPROACHES TAKEN

• TEAM WORK
• Mastery of essential skills via the use of
• Scaffolding and Zone Of Proximal Development
  (ZPD) using Vygotskys Theory,
• Mind-mapping,
• Brainstorming,
• Revision of grammar.

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Scaffolding -Vygotskys Theory

• Known as Zone of Proximal Development.
• Learning with help of peers
• more capable ones guiding the less able.

The teacher provides the scaffolding to help the
students attain a possibly higher level of
achievement than the one made on his own.
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THE PURPOSES OF TEAMWORK

• Improve students knowledge of subject matter.
• Promoting cooperative learning in structuring
  sentences.
• Students acquire relevant skills of
  communication, discussion and argument, skills of
  interactive learning and cooperative inquiry.
• Students develop right attitudes towards learning
  and teaching.
• Allow students to learn how to behave and
  interact in a group.

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APPLICATION

• Students work together in groups of four or five.
• Heterogeneous - members consist of high, medium
  and low proficiency students.
• Skills emphasized co-operating and learning
  from one another to understand usage of content
  material in composition-writing.

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TEAMWORK IN GUIDED WRITING

• (Guided writing is defined as an extension of
  controlled composition)
• To help weaker students learn to make use of
  guided content to construct relevant sentences.
• Competent students display leadership quality in
  coaching weaker teammates.
• To check each others writing and provide
  necessary feedback for correction.
• Peer motivation can boost weaker teammates'
  confidence and reduce fear of making mistakes.
• Improve social and interactive skills as members
  share ideas and views.

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PRELIMINARY SURVEY

• Duration of action research
• January to May 2005
• Gathering of data
• According to the procedure stated in the research
  methodology
• Results of pre-test
• Analysis of pre-test

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PRE-TEST EXERCISE Picture-guided Composition
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EXAMPLES OF SENTENCE PATTERNS IN PRESENT TENSE

• My mother is not well.
• My brother mops the floor.
• My brother and I help with the house work.
• I wash the clothes.

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EXAMPLES OF SENTENCE PATTERNS IN PAST TENSE

• My mother was not well.
• My brother mopped the floor.
• My brother and I helped with the housework.
• I washed the clothes.

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EXAMPLES OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

• My mother is on the bed.
• She has to lie on the bed.
• My brother has to mop the floor.
• We are very sad.
• We have to help mother.
• I have to wash the clothes.

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RESULTS OF PRE-TEST
No. of students 34 students
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ANALYSIS OF PRE-TEST

• To evaluate the students skill in producing a
  piece of guided composition.

• The main areas of weaknesses are-
• Pronouns
• Subject verb agreement
• Articles
• Tenses
• Prepositions

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IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATMENT
Focus on two main areas of grammatical items-

• Tenses
• present tense past tense
• Subject-verb agreement

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TENSES THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
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Complete the table by following the examples
above.
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TENSES THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE
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Complete the table by following the examples
above.
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DURING IMPLEMENTATION
Action taken-

• Intensive drills on tenses (present past) and
  subject-verb agreement.
• Application of sentence patterns learnt orally
  in writing exercises.
• Scaffolding given by an adult (teacher) or a
  capable peer during exercises.
• Teamwork to help weaker students use the
  language correctly.

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LESSON DURING IMPLEMENTATION
Topic Modes of Sea Transport

• STEPS UNDERTAKEN
• Brainstorming for ideas related to the vessels in
  the pictures
• Creating a word list to be used as guided notes
• Reading an extract from an encyclopedia of a
  description on a sea vessel
• Finding meanings of new words using dictionaries
• Applying expressions and sentence structures from
  the reading extract

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SAMPLE PICTURES OF MODES OF SEA TRANSPORT USED
DURING THE LESSON

• HOVERCRAFT
• KAYAK
• SAILING SHIP
• SUBMARINE
• TANKER
• CATAMARAN

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HOVERCRAFT
SAILING SHIP
SUBMARI NE
KAYAK
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TANKER
CATAMARAN
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WORD LIST FOR DESCRIPTION OF MODES OF SEA
TRANSPORT

• Names of vessels hovercraft, kayak, sailing
  ship, submarine, tanker, catamaran
• Sizes big, huge, large, medium-sized, small
• Purposes fun, enjoyment, pleasure, holiday,
  cruise, water sport, racing, transportation
• Places it travels open seas, oceans, coastal
  water, lakes, rivers, marshes, swamps, soft mud,
  firm ground

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BRAINSTORMING SESSION
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A WORD LIST USED AS GUIDED NOTES
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USING ENCYCLOPEDIAS

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USING DICTIONARIES TO FIND MEANINGS OF NEW WORDS
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STUDENTS PARTICIPATION
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RESULTS DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION
No. of students 34 students
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ANALYSIS OF IMPLEMENTATION

• Some positive results on the use of teamwork and
  scaffolding approach.
• However, the students interest in writing is not
  consistent. The reasons are
• Limited vocabulary
• Easily bored by too much repetition
• Interests vary according to topics which
• depend on their existing knowledge

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CONSTRAINTS FACED DURING IMPLEMENTATION

• Time factor
• Lack of motivation

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OBSERVATIONS NOTED

• Observations are made through their fortnightly
  composition
• Students need a lot of guidance and input before
  writing
• Many students cannot remember simple words due to
  lack of oral usage
• Students need a lot of drills and memorizing of
  useful expressions
• Promoting the use of English outside classroom
  should be emphasized.

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POST-TEST EXERCISE

• Choose one of the modes of sea transport which
  you like and explain why it is your favourite
  mode of sea transport.
• Compare it with another mode of sea transport and
  explain why you choose this mode over the other.

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RESULTS OF POST TEST


No. of students 34 students
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Results of the students test performances
conducted during the action research
Class 3I
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COMPARISON OF RESULTS ACHIEVED IN THE PRE-TEST,
DURING IMPLEMENTATION OF VYGOTSKYS THEORY AND
POST TEST
Table 1
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Table 2
Results of Pre-Test, Implementation And Post Test
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EVALUATION
The overall results of teamwork are

• Overcome inferiority complex in using English
  among weaker students.
• Good progress and interest shown in writing
  guided compositions.
• Opportunity to interact in English during
  teamwork.
• Openness and interactive exchanges contribute to
  positive improvement.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF ACTION RESEARCH

• To help students improve their writing skill.
• Indirectly beneficial in improving the PMR
  results.
• Increase weak students confidence and competence
  in writing meaningful and grammatical correct
  English sentences in guided compositions.
  

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SNAPSHOTS OF TEAMWORK IN PROGRESS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• Puan Lim Sau Chang
• Puan Manjit Kaur a/p Sama Singh
• Puan Nor Adila Bt. Hj. Ali Nafiah
• Cik Chang Siew Fong
• CikTeoh Beng Guat
• Form 3I students of SMK Methodist (ACS) Ipoh.