USE OF FACEBOOK WALL (FBW) TO DEVELOP WRITTEN ENGLISH

LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION (ELC)

MUHAMMAD HAFIZ BIN MASRON

A thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Master of Philosophy

Faculty of Language Academy

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

DECEMBER 2017

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 ”I acknowledge that I have read this research report

and in my opinion this was sufficient in terms of scope and quality

for the certification of

the degree of Bachelor in Education

Teaching of English as Second Language (TESL)”

Signature : ………………………………………………………….

Supervisor’s name : ………………………………………………………….

Date : ………………………………………………………….

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“I hereby declare that this research report is my own work except for quotations and

summaries of each of which was acknowledged.”

Signature : ………………………………………………………….

Writer’s name : ………………………………………………………….

Date : ………………………………………………………….

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Affectionately to my father, Masron bin Kandar, my mother, SapiahbtPuteh and my

sister, NurulShuhadabtMasron

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Dr. RafiahbtAbdRahman for her

guidance, patience and support. It is her persistent criticism that brought hope and

confidence in me, even at the most depressing moments. She was truly a source of

inspiration.

I also would like to deliver sincere gratitude to the administrators of

SekolahKebangsaanLedang, Tangkak, especially to one of the English Language

teacher, Puan Juliana btSarju for their contribution in making me aware of the

selected issue that happened among of the participants. Their input proved to be very

helpful when writing the report.

Lastly, I am most grateful to my parents, SapiahbtPuteh and Masron bin

Kandar who always provide the advice and financial support to me. They also have

supported me for every choice that I have made. I am also thankful for the explosion

of ideas brought to me by my sister, NurulShuhadabtMasron. The product of this

research paper would not be possible without all of them.

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 ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to investigate on use of “The Syllabification

Technique” to improve pupils’ spelling skill of consonant digraphs ‘ck’. Data for the
study was obtained from 29 pupils of SekolahKebangsaanLedang, Tangkak. These
pupils were targeted because most of them experienced poor spelling skill of
consonant digraphs ‘ck’ of English Language, even when they were dealing with 1
syllable words. In the study, a task related to phonic-based was selected. This task
was selected because the pupils faced problem on how to pronounce certain English
words that deal with consonant digraphs ‘ck’ correctly which then impacted in their
writing. 3 types of data gathering methods were used, namely the use of tests,
interview and reflective journals. The participantswere exposed to different
techniques such as the use of chin technique and flash cards while the instruments
used for data collection were semi-structured interview and assign journal entries.
Significant improvements were identified after the intervention was carried out in 4
periods of weekly teaching schedule. The post test results showed that all participants
improved their spelling in the writing tasks given. The findings of this study suggest
that the use of “The Syllabification Technique” helped the students to attain the
desired results, especially with poor group of learners. This study also proposed
several suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of the intend intervention which is
the incorporation of colour labelling concept for certain letters and cooperative
learning.

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 ABSTRAK

Kajianinitelahdijalankanuntukmenyiasatsamaadapenggunaan "TeknikSuku-Kata"
dapatmeningkatkankemahiranejaanparapelajardalamkonsonandigraf ‘ck’. Data
bagikajianinidiperolehidaripada 29 pelajarSekolahKebangsaanLedang, Tangkak.
Para
pelajarinitelahdisasarkankeranakebanyakandalamkalanganmerekamengalamimasalah
dalamkemahiranejaankonsonandigraf ‘ck’ dalamBahasaInggeris,
walaupununtukmengejaperkataan 1 suku kata. Dalamkajianini, satutugasan yang
berasaskanfoniktelahdipilih.Tugasanjenisinitelahdipilihkeranaparapelajarinimenghad
apimasalahuntukmenyebutperkataanBahasaInggeristertentu yang
berhadapandengankonsonandigraf ‘ck’ denganbetul,
seterusnyamemberikesandalampenulisanmereka. 3jeniskaedahpengumpulan data
telahdigunakaniaitupenggunaanujian,
temubualdanjurnalberbentukrefleksi.Pesertatelahdidedahkandenganpenggunaantekni
kdankadimbasan.Instrument yang digunakanuntukpengumpulan data
ialahtemubualseparaberstrukturdanpenulisanjurnal yang ditetapkan.Peningkatan yang
ketaratelahdikenalpastiselepascampurtangandilaksanakandalamtempoh 4
masajadualpengajaranmingguan.Keputusanpascaujianmenunjukkanbahawasemuapel
ajarmenunjukkanpeningkatandalamtugasanpenulisan yang
telahdiberikan.Hasildapatanmembuktikanbahawapenggunaan "TeknikSuku-Kata"
membantuparapelajaruntukmencapaikeputusan yang diinginkan,
terutamanyakumpulanpelajar yang
lemah.Kajianinijugatelahmendedahkanbeberapacadangan yang
dapatmemperkukuhkankeberkesanancampurtangansepertiintegrasikonseppelabelanw
arnabagihuruf-huruftertentudanpembelajarankoperatif.

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 CONTENT

Page
AUTHORIZATION OF SUPERVISOR ii
AUTHORIZATION iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v
ABSTRACT vi
ABSTRAK vii
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii
LIST OF APPENDICES xiii

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Reflection on Past Teaching Experiences 2
1.3 Related Theory / Literature 4
1.3.1 The Structure of the English Syllable 5
1.3.2 Syllable Division 7

2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION / ISSUE OF CONCERN 10

2.1 Problem Statement 10

2.2 Preliminary Investigation and Analysis 11
2.3 Criteria of Selection 14
2.4 Definitions of Terms 15

3.0 OBJECTIVES / RESEARCH QUESTIONS 17

3.1 General Objectives 17

3.2 Specific Objectives 17
3.3 Research Questions 18

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4.0 TARGET GROUP/PARTICIPANTS 20

5.0 ACTION 22

5.1 Procedure of Action 22

2.2 Data Gathering Methods 24
5.2.1 Quantitative Method 25
5.2.2 Qualitative Methods 26

6.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 31

6.1 Quantitative Analysis 30

6.2 Qualitative Analysis 34

7.0 FINDINGS 41

8.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 44

9.0 CONCLUSION 47

REFERENCES 48
APPENDIX 52

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
1 Results of Preliminary Test (1-Syllable Words) 11
2 Results of Preliminary Test (2-Syllables Words) 12
3 Participants’ Overall Results on Preliminary Test 13
4 Comparisons of Participants’ Overall Results 28
5 Comparisons of Participants’ Results 29
6 Results of 2 Pupils 30

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 LIST OF FIGURE

Figure Page
1 Kemmis and McTaggart’s (1988) Action Research Model, 20
Adapted from Goh, (2012)

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Symbol
EL English Language
ESL English as Second Language

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 LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page
A The Overall Performances and The Statistical Calculations 49
B Lesson Plan for Intervention 52
C Example of Pre-Test and Post-Test Paper 55
D Results of Post-Test 63
E Semi-Structured Interview Questions and Transcription 65
F Researcher’s and Pupils’ Reflective Journals Format 68
G Statistical Calculation of Post-Test 70

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