UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

FINAL REPORT- WORD JUNKIE KIT

THEEBANAA DEWI A/P RAMAN MPP172004

VASHTI A/P BASKRAN MPP172002
Table of Contents

1.0 Problem Background 3

2.0 Problem Statement 4

3.0 Solution to Overcome Problem 5

4.0 Procedure of Project 5

5.0 Material of Project 6

6.0 Costing of Project 7

7.0 Importance and Beneficial of Project 7

8.0 Originality Aspect of Project 8

9.0 Commercial Aspect of Project 8

10.0 Gantt Chart and Milestones 9

11.0 Result and Data Analysis 10

12. Discussion and Suggestions 10-11

Conclusion 11

References 12

Appendices 13

2
1.0 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

"BAHAWASANYA dasar pelajaran seperti yang diisytiharkan dalam Ordinan Pelajaran,

1957 ialah untuk menubuhkan satu sistem pendidikan yang akan dapat memenuhi
keperluan negara dan menggalakkan perkembangan kebudayaan, sosial, ekonomi,
dan politiknya..."

The Education Act (1961) emphasizes on a well-rounded education system. Malaysia is a

rapidly developing country, that gives vital importance to knowledge and education to
substantiate the core of the country’s future economic, politic, cultural and social state. In
order for this to be a reality, the Malaysian government aims for the pupils to have an above
average proficiency in English. Many policies are carefully designed and implemented to
augment the learning of English. For an example, in 2003, English was used as the medium
of instruction for the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science subjects.
Unfortunately, many pupils did not meet the expected standard due to the language barrier,
especially pupils in the rural area.

Students face difficulties in a writing because of the lack of expose in English and thus
limiting their use of vocabulary for the subjects. In addition to that students find referring to
the dictionary as something boring thus does not naturally help them to remember the
words learnt. Students must use a word between six and fourteen times before they are
capable of using it independently (Billmeyer, 2001), so they need multiple opportunities to
interact with words. Improving students' vocabulary is an area of urgent need if we are to
develop the advanced literacy levels required for success in school and beyond (Biancarosa
& Snow, 2006; Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008). Teacher are to find and utilize the fondness and
interest pupils have with technology. Based on this impression, the idea for an LED Synonym
Finder (WORD JUNKIE) was established by us.

3
2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Most students in Malaysian view English language as an intimidating element and is only
necessary to master for the purpose of exams. Many studies have been carried out to
pinpoint the factors contributing to the results in low proficiency among Malaysian
students. Though just one reason cannot be used to generalized to all learners, it does
reflect a large number of learners. In learning vocabulary, research as established that it is
vital that learners support in terms of supportive and effective learning method as well as
adequate, meaningful language experience. In this regard, literacy is learnt as a set of skills
and not as a social practice connected to various domains and communities of practices in
the real world (Ambigapathy, 2006).

Lee Su Kim (2003) suggests that, “understanding learners’ struggles in learning the English
language involves not just his/her difficulties in the classroom but also an awareness of how
sociocultural meanings are linked in complicated ways to sociocultural identities. Teachers
and practitioners should be aware that the classroom is not a neat, self-contained mini-
society isolated from the outside world but an integral part of the larger society where the
reproduction of many forms of domination and resistance based on gender, ethnicity, class,
race, religion and language is a daily event.”

Vocabulary is viewed as one of the most stimulating aspect to teach because it dominated
the use of English as whole. Students would be unable to successfully convey the meaning
intended without the “right” words. This being said, it is also the most challenging part of
English to teach because students generally do not take the extra mile to learn news words.
Teachers are expected to translate for them. By doing so, students only remember the word
for the purpose of that moment. Apart from that, students do not generate the interest for
vocabulary because they do not see the use of it outside classroom. Though they are prone
to use social media and other social platforms, almost all of them tend to fall back to the
mother tongue when communicating in their respective social setting. Thus, expecting a
student to use a dictionary to find and learn a new or alternative word is far from plausible.

4
3.0 SOLUTION TO OVERCOME PROBLEM

There are several factors contributing to vocabulary development which are:

building carried
opportunity to
rational meaning
use it understanding

making precise understand

with the background
elaboration knowledge
context

Incorporating these factors in the making of Word Junkie would help establish students’
perception thus their use of vocabulary.

4.0 PROCEDURE OF PROJECT

The making of word junkie intrigued us in regards with our experience during teaching.
In order to gain more proof for the project, as part of the procedure is to create
questionnaires and evaluation forms for teachers and students. We also plan to do
literature review on studies related to traditional teaching methods, current teaching
methods and how certain technology can be used to improvise and show the proof done
by other researches. This will also enable us to identify certain limitations of previous
studies of which we can use for our project. Apart from that, through this, we can
identify problems faced by learners to having a wider scope of vocabulary.

5
 Once these reviews are done together with the collection of data, we will implement our
newidea, modify if needed in case of limitations found in previous related projects.
Relating to this project, we intend to choose the approach of Vygotsky’s constructivist
theory. Our target population will be the secondary school students which includes
students from Form 1 to Form 3. We will be using the Word Junkie at every class which
will remain permanently.

5.0 MATERIAL OF PROJECT

Since we are doing this project from scratch, there are quite a number of materials
needed. As for the box itself, a wood will be used. Any sorts of wood in the size of at
least ?? inches. To keep them attached, screws and Hot Glue gun are used. Inside the
box itself, an extension wire will be permanently fixed attached with USB cables. As for
the top of the box, a switch will be fixed acting as a button to generate the LED Fan.
About 4 LED Fan is used of which can be purchased at any electrical or phone stores.
Apart from the box itself, we would be using a laptop to program the words used on the
LED Fan of which we would need the Internet facility. This internet service involved
activity is not regularly done for the data will be programmed earlier by the respective
teachers. Upon completing, the external part of the box can be decorated using
coloured papers and cut-out-words.

6
6.0 COSTING OF PROJECT
The quotation for the costing of the LED word junkie is developed based on current
pricing of materials. The quotation in the table provided below is an estimated cost for
this innovation project.

MATERIALS UNIT COST

Wood 2 RM 12

Screw 10 RM 2

Hot Glue Gun 1 RM 15

Switch 4 RM 4

USB Cable 4 RM 4

Extension Wire 1 RM 6

LED Fan 1x4 RM 20 x 4 = RM 80

Laptop - Personal

Internet Access - Free Access

TOTAL RM 123

Table 1-Costing of the project Word Junkie

7.0 IMPORTANCE AND BENEFICIAL OF PROJECT

The importance and benefits of the career planning material kit for students are listed as
below:
 To help and guide all students to develop their vocabulary skills.
 To enhance students writing quality in terms their usage of words.
 To implement the use of technology in lessons.
 To create a new platform for students and teachers in the relativity of
vocabulary.

7
  To create an independent learning environment.
 To expose students to new words according to context in the English textbook
syllabus.

8.0 ORIGINALITY ASPECT OF THE MATERIAL

The Word Junkie kit is similar to that of a digital thesaurus-like innovation. It is anticipated
to be light in weight and easy to bring along and implemented anywhere and everywhere by
students and teachers. The measurement of the material kit is expected to be 25cm in width
and 35cm in length.

It records the data or words that are previously keyed in by the respective teacher according
to the English textbook syllabus. The words generated coordinates with the words that are
to be taught on that week’s topic. This way, students can focus on the words that are
related to its usage and look it up by themselves. It instils interest and IT skills at the same
time.

Last but not least, guidelines will be provided to help teachers understand the direction of
using the Word Junkie kit.

9.0 COMMERCIAL ASPECT OF THE PROJECT

There are many ways to commercialize a product and so as to promote the Word Junkie kit,
we choose to advertise in newspapers, school magazines, and social medias like Facebook
and Instagram. Through such advertising, the product will easily be known to the society
and could quickly be recognized of which will be a great benefit to teachers, students and
even parents wanting to help their children’s education. Not only that, detailed marketing
will also be advertised so as to create a better understanding of its usage and benefits to
any level of English learner. Marketing will also contribute in sharing the objectives of the
projects implemented.

Apart from that, we will also introduce school coordinators our Word Junkie kit and then get
permission to brief on the product among language teachers. By doing so, teachers will have
better knowledge in guiding or assisting students in the way of using the products which
would enable learner to overcome their difficulties in learning and remembering new
vocabulary. It is important to explain the advantages of using this product among teachers

8
 and parents for this is a beginning of a student’s thousand-mile journey in language.
Furthermore, we will promote our products in schools during education fairs. This kit is
indeed an easy and attractive way to remember words which would engage student’s
learning of fluent English. We have also planned to offer our product at an affordable price
for school management and discounts for early birds and for those who are on demand for
large quantity. This kit can also be purchased by parents so as to encourage learning not
only in schools but also at home.

10.0 GANTT CHART AND MILESTONES

CARTA GANTT
Bil Perkara Minggu
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4
1 Perbincangan (pensyarah/pelajar)
2 Menyediakan brif termasuk susun
atur kerja
3 Mengenal pasti masalah
4 Cetusan & lakaran idea
5 Lukisan kejuruteraan
6 Penghasilan model & dokumentasi
7 Persembahan & penilaian

9
11.0 RESULT AND DATA ANALYSIS

RESULT OF FEEDBACK
10

0
Interest Convinience Effectiveness

Students Teachers

A total of 30 students and 5 teachers were given survey form to share their opinion
on the product. Based on the response, students and teachers find the product a
promising one that can be used in classroom. Some of the feedback reflected
scepticism in terms of adapting for everyday use. However, the importance of using
21st century learning in today’s classroom motivated the teachers to try this method
in their lesson.

12.0 DISCUSSION AND SUGGESTIONS

There were a few problems encountered in the process of making the product.
Initially, the nails were used to combine the sides of the wood, however it broke the
wood used. Apart from that, it also caused a safety hazard where users could hurt
themselves with exposed nails. The second problem we encountered was the fact
that 4 LED fans seemed too congested for the plate of wood that was used as the
platform. Besides that, there was a possibility of the blades of the fans hitting each
other. Due to the setback faced, we brainstormed to find a solution for the

10
 problems. The challenge was to ensure the cost of the product does not increase due
to the adjustment made. In order to avoid the the possible safety hazard, nails were
replaced with Hot Glue Gun. This is to make sure the durability of the product does
not get jeopardize after alterations. After much deliberation, it was decided that 3
fans were to be used as a sample, and the other is to be used as as the display of
material.

CONCLUSION

The project and subject was a great way of motivating us and pushing our creative
boundaries. From planning and coming up with idea that promotes innovation, it has
been a challenging and rewarding experience. We also had great guidance from our
professor, Dr. Khair, who kept kept a close tab on our progress and provided
valuable inputs. During the day of the exhibition, though our team lacked in
decoration of the soft board, we were extremely happy to win one of the gold
medals. All in all, this was an experience that we would never forget.

11
REFERENCE

Ambigapathy, P. (2006). What works in the classroom? Promoting literacy practices in

English. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies

Dalton, B. and Grisham, D. L. (2011), eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build
Vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 64: 306–317

Lee Su Kim. (2003). Multiple identities in a multicultural world: A Malaysian perspective.

Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 2(3), 137-158.

12
APPENDICES

13