English Language

Action Research
Proposal Paper

- MONA BINTI MUSTAPHA -

SK SEKSYEN 9 KOTA DAMANSARA

JALAN RIMBA RIANG 9/1
47810 PETALING JAYA

17 February 2010
1. Reflection on Previous Lesson
This year, I am teaching the English Language subject for Year 4 Alfa. All the cream is
placed in this class and the pupils have the potential in getting grade A for the subject.
This is the first year where the pupils will be introduced to Paper 2 (UPSR format). I
believed that they have good or at least above par writing skill. Therefore, during the
lesson, I pasted one picture on the board with 10 listed words relating to it (Section A
question). To assess their writing ability, I required them to study the picture and
construct one simple sentence consists of 3 – 5 words (S-V agreement) in 3 minutes time
on a piece of paper. Before that, I wrote an example of sentence describing the picture
on the board as reference. After 3 minutes, I randomly selected 5 pupils to read their
sentence. All of them failed to write the correct form of SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE. Thus, I
decided to collect all papers and read every sentence. To my surprise, only 6 out of 41
pupils in the class were able to write the correct form of word, i.e. knew when and when
not to plus an ‘s’ or ‘es’ after the verb. From my opinion, based on a small survey I did,
they were in the dark on how to write the correct form of SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE in
sentences. I was very disappointed because this should not be happening in an excellent
class. On top of that, they will be having their first test in March, which made me even
worried. Putting all the observation together, I decided to propose an action research in
order to help the Year 4 Alfa pupils understand this grammar item better and thus, know
how to tackle this question in tests and examinations as well as writing better sentences.

2. Statement of Issue
The pupils are having difficulty in understanding how to use the correct form of SIMPLE
PRESENT TENSE, i.e. they have no idea whether or not to plus an ‘s’ or ‘es’ after the
verb. They are unable to tackle questions on this grammar item when they answer some
objective questions in the workbook during the daily lesson. Every time they do the filling
in the blanks exercises, they simple guess the answer without knowing how to tackle it.
From my observation, most of the pupils in Year 4 Alfa understand what verb is. In fact,
they are also able to differentiate subject and verb. This is the prior knowledge the pupils
have acquired. This prior knowledge is required, so that the research suggested activities
can be executed among the pupils.

Mona Mustapha │Feb 2010

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3. Objectives of Research
3.1 General Objective
The pupils should understand the usage of grammar item; SIMPLE PRESENT
TENSE better and be able to use the correct form of word when constructing
sentences in Paper 2.
3.2 Specific Objective
41 pupils of year 4 Alfa must be able to answer 30 questions correctly as a way of
assessing them after the activities. The questions require them to fill in the blanks
with the correct form of SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE. They must answer individually
as discussion is not allowed during this assessment test for the purpose of
reliance and validation.

4. Target Group
The research will be carried out on 41 pupils of Year 4 Alfa. The pupils in this class
consist of 39 Malays and 2 Indians.

5. Suggested Activities
Five activities have been planned in order to improve the pupils’ understanding on
grammar item; SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE, which are The 6-piece Puzzle, Let’s Part and
Fix Them, I Say… You Say..., My Collection of Authentic Materials and
Assessment Test. Each pupil is required to prepare one extra book, called The Book
on SPT for the purpose of compiling the suggested activities throughout the research.

5.1 Activity 1 : The 6-piece Puzzle

The pupils will be introduced to a simple table consisting of six squares. It states
the subject and verb, both singular and plural such as below:

Subject Verb

Singula Verb +
r ‘s’

Plural
Verb

Mona Mustapha │Feb 2010

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 The pupils will have to memorise the table, i.e. the arrangement of squares. They
will be divided into 7 groups of 5 to 6 members. The table will be prepared by the
teacher on manila cards and cut into 6 pieces of squares. There will be 7 sets of
puzzles, which are meant for 7 groups. This activity will be carried out during the
first 5 minutes of every English Language period for the day. Each pupil in each
group will hold one piece upside down. On teacher’s count to 3, they will turn up
the card and simultaneously arrange the squares to solve the 6-piece puzzle. All
seven groups must solve it correctly. The teacher will make one round to check
the arrangement for each group. This activity will be carried out for two weeks
from Tuesday to Friday.

5.2 Activity 2 : Let’s Part and Fix Them

This activity will be executed among the pupils after the first activity is over. It
will be carried out for three weeks during the English Language period. The
teacher prepares 3 strips of simple sentences consisting of 3 to 5 words (leaving
the verb in the form of base word for the pupils to correct) and pastes on the
board. The pupils are required to identify the subject and the verb in the
sentences. They separate (part) them with dotted lines and label ‘S’ for subject
and ‘V’ for verb. Then, they correct (fix) the verb, i.e. whether or not to plus ‘s’ or
‘es’. The teacher will demonstrate this on the board. This is how the strip looks:

They walks to school every morning.

S V Part

They walks to school every morning. them

Fix
S V
them
They walk to school every morning.

Mona Mustapha │Feb 2010

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 Every pupil will do this activity in The Book on SPT from Tuesday to Friday,
which takes 7 minutes before the lesson begins. After three weeks of this activity,
the pupils should have compiled 36 sentence strips.

5.3 Activity 3 : I Say… You Say…

This is a combination of both verbal and written activity which will be carried out
5 minutes before the lesson begins from Tuesday to Friday during the English
Language period for two weeks. The minute after greeting, the teacher will
choose five pupils to participate in this activity in standing position. The teacher
says a subject and the pupil continues with a verb. Below is an example of
conversation between the teacher and Pupil A:
Teacher : I say she, you say ……
Pupil A : Sleeps.
Pupils must answer correctly or they are not allowed to sit down until the activity
is over. It is an impromptu activity. The next five pupils will take turn in the next
round i.e. the next lesson. Those who fail to answer correctly owe the teacher and
will have to participate again after finishing the whole rounds. Every pupil in the
class must write down the phrase; She sleeps into The Book on SPT. By the
end of this activity, they should have compiled 41 phrases in the book.

5.4 Activity 4 : My Collection of Authentic Materials

This activity requires the pupils to collect authentic materials such as magazine or
newspaper cutting. The text can be a news report, story, poem or letter. Every
Friday, each pupil will bring and paste the material in The Book on SPT. They
must then identify 3 sentences with S-V agreement (using SIMPLE PRESENT
TENSE) from the text. They underline the sentences with three different colours
of pen and copy below the pasted material. After that, they part the sentence like
what they do in Activity 2. This activity will be carried out for three consecutive
Fridays for 30 minutes i.e. during the single period lesson. Meaning, by the end of
this actitvity, the pupils should have compiled 3 materials in the book.

5.5 Assessment Test

After all the activities above have been executed, the pupils will have to answer a
set of 30 questions in 45 minutes time. The questions require them to fill in the
blanks correctly. This is a form of assessment test to reflect how well they
understand the

Mona Mustapha │Feb 2010

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 stated grammar item. If one commits more than 3 mistakes, one will have to
repeat Activity 2 and Activity 4.

6. Schedule of Research Implementation

No. Activity Duration

Identifying pupils’ problem and difficulty as well as

1 1 week
collecting the raw data

2 Writing up the research proposal paper 1 week

Planning the activities and dividing pupils for group

3 1 week
activities

4 Execution of Activity 1 2 weeks

5 Execution of Activity 2 3 weeks

6 Execution of Activity 3 2 weeks

7 Execution of Activity 4 3 weeks

8 Discussion of problems 1 week

9 Assessment Test 1 week

10 Reflection on research 1 week

11 Writing up report on the research 2 weeks

12 Presentation of research to the panitia or school 1 week

7. Cost of the Research

Total
Quantity X per unit
No. Material cost
cost
(RM)
1 70gsm A4 paper 1 rim X RM 9.00 9.00

2 Manila card 10 pcs X RM 0.70 7.00

3 Marker pen 1 set X RM 14.00 14.00

4 Black ink cartridge 1 pc X RM 10.00 10.00

5 Note book 1 pc X RM 2.00 2.00

6 Photocopy of materials and report NIL 30.00

Grand Total 72.00

Mona Mustapha │Feb 2010