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    Volume III

    Issue 4

    December 2011

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    Tropical English Teacher Vol III #4 December 2011

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    Tropical English Teacher Vol III #4 December 2011

    TROPICAL ENGLISH TEACHER 

    Volume III

    Issue 4 

    December 2011 

    Tropical English Teacher is a refereed journal publication sponsored by CfBT Education Services

    (B) Sdn Bhd and circulated free of charge for private educational purposes.

    The views expressed herein are those of the respective authors of the articles and are not

    necessarily those of the sponsoring organisation.

    All effort has been made to acknowledge copyright where required of materials used in the

     journal. If you believe, however, that copyrighted material has been unwittingly used to which

    you have copyright entitlements, please contact the editor at [email protected] 

    or the Country Manager at [email protected]

    Requests for republication of materials should be addressed in the first instance to the editor.

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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    Tropical English Teacher [Contents]

    Tropical English Teacher Vol III #4 December 2011 Page 1

    Contents

    Introduction

    Editorial .........................................................................................................................page 3

    Greg Keaney, CfBT, Country Manager

    Letters ...........................................................................................................................page 5

    Students on Teachers ....................................................................................................page 6

    Research

     Action Research: Reading Clinic 2011 ............................................................................ page 10

    Deborah Sketchley and Hajah Fareeda Bibi Ismail, CfBT, MS Sultan Hassan [Temburong]

    MS English Department Action Research 2011 .............................................................. page 21

    Emma Rooney and Anne Crowley, CfBT, MS PSBS [Maktab Sains]

    Still Babbling On .......................................................................................................... page 38

    Linda Galbraith, CFBT, SM SMJA

    Ideas

     Assessment for Learning Information … ....................................................................... page 48

     Jean Kiekopf, CfBT, EPM

    How we learn and how to improve motivation and memory ......................................... page 52

     Alan D Fletcher, CfBT, SM PJNPH Abu Bakar

    Reading

    SM Sayyidina Husain Reading Programme … ................................................................ page 59

    Barry Johnson, CfBT, SM Sayyidina Husain

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    Tropical English Teacher [Contents]

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    Music and Song

    Sing a Song for Language ............................................................................................. page 66

    Rob Vohan, CfBT, SR Kiudang

    ELT Management

    The Educator and the Manager: A tale of two discourses ............................................. page 72

    Greg Keaney, CfBT, Country Manager

    Tropical English Teacher Fellowships

    Meet Lekishon: A Masai Teacher .................................................................................. page 82

    via Sue Hemingway, CfBT, Anthony Abell College

    Travels in Tanzania: How I accidentally climbed an active volcano ................................ page 86

    Sue Hemingway, CfBT, Anthony Abell College

    Professional Development

    Master of Letters Creative Writing ................................................................................ page 99

    Melissa Nourse, CfBT, Maktab Duli  

    Cambridge On-Line: A Review of the General Paper Course ......................................... Page 102

    Kimberly Lalone, CfBT, Sekolah Menengah Arab Laki-Laki Hassanal Bolkiah

    Lessons and Activities

    Running Dictation ..................................................................................................... page 109

    Melanie Blanchard, CfBT, SM Sayyidina Ali

    Peer Assessment on Puppet Play Performances .......................................................... page 117

    Linda Galbraith, CFBT, SM SMJA

    Wordplay 2011 ......................................................................................................... page 121

    Malcolm Orsborn

    CfBT Brunei 2011 Education Department Activities ..................................................... page 130

    CfBT Education Trust Research ................................................................................... page 139

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    Tropical English Teacher [ EDITORIAL ]  

    Tropical English Teacher Vol III #4 December 2011 Page 3

    EDITORIAL Greg Keaney, CfBT, Editor

    Welcome to the December 2011 issue of Tropical English Teacher. This impressive issue of the

     journal again demonstrates the breadth and the depth of the theory and practice of ‘tropical’

    English teaching.

    Our ironically titled journal aims to provoke discussion and consideration of two important

    issues in ELT. Firstly the notion of centres and peripheries and the construction of the ‘other’ in

    ELT teacher discourse. Secondly, to introduce a light-hearted and whimsical dimension to the‘business’ of academic and educational writing which all too often descend into turgid textual

    boredom. TET takes pride in showing off how much tropical English teachers know about

    effective language teaching and tries hard to frame the ‘serious stuff’ with a ‘look on the bright

    side of life’.

    One of the most influential texts in cultural and postcolonial studies  is Orientalism published in

    1978 by Edward Said. Said effectively redefined the term Orientalism to mean a constellation of

    false assumptions underlying traditional Western attitudes toward Asia and the Middle East

    marked by a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against ‘oriental’ peoples and their

    culture. In an analysis of how Asia was constructed in western fiction Said found the mostfrequently occurring theme to be the contrast and tension between a place or state of order and

    safety on the one hand (the West, home, the settled colony, the garrison, the club and the

    company of 'one's own kind') and a troubled hinterland on the other (the East, far from home,

    the frontier, the native world, 'out there'.) Crossing from one to the other often rewards

    protagonists with conquest, praise, wealth and gratification but doing so is also seen as

    dangerous, confusing and disillusioning.

    Despite the controversies associated with critical approaches to discourse creation and

    dissemination such as Said’s, it remains a fascinating area of concern. Tropical English Teacher

    has often touched on aspects of the ‘Tropics’ that find their way into the realm of oursubconscious assumptions. Images of jungles, danger, disease, confusion and uncertainty but

    also of warmth, beauty, relaxation, tastes, sensuality, spice, growth and abundance.

    Tropical English Teacher aims to deconstruct the dichotomy that Said warned against  – the ‘us’

    and ‘them’, the ‘inside’ reality of ‘home’ or ‘the west’ and an outside ‘exotica’ of life in a place

    with seemingly different value systems or educational objectives. The highest aim is to ensure

    that readers see that, in the end, there is no ‘them’, there is only ‘us’. 

    Like an ever abundant rainforest this issue of Tropical English Teacher contains its own amazing

    ecosystem  – a diversity of research, comments, ideas, teaching tips and experiences to match

    the complexity and subtlety of work and life as a Tropical English Teacher.

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    Tropical English Teacher [ EDITORIAL ]  

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    Deborah Sketchley and Fareeda Bibi Ismail bring Action Research to Temburong in their analysis

    of their weekly Reading Clinic. Emma Rooney and Anne Crowley outline their department’s research on the performance of different cohorts at their school. Teachers have long been

    encouraged to find their own answers to the specific issues that they encounter in their teaching

    and their article demonstrates some practical uses of research to identify problems and improve

    educational outcomes. Linda Galbraith continues her series of articles on the use of the CfBT

    Babble On Student Writing Journal with her classes  – showing that writing does not have to be

    the ‘hard end’ of the English syllabus. 

    Jean Kiekopf provides some useful information on the increasing use of effective Assessment for

    Learning in Bruneian schools while Alan Fletcher outlines the links between the brain and the

    way we learn. Barry Johnson highlights the reading programme at his school  – a programme thathas demonstrated real improvement in student motivation and performance. Rob Vohan tells us

    of the many and varied uses of music and song in the early years classrooms of Brunei. Visitors

    to Pra and early years classrooms in Brunei are always impressed with the scope of this initiative

    and the abundant enthusiasm and enjoyment of the children. An article on ELT management

    follows addressing some of the contestations and hopeful commonalities in the value systems of

    the manager and the educator.

    Sue Hemingway recounts her many and varied experience in Tanzania and has asked her

    Tanzanian Masai friend to contribute a piece about life for a Tropical English Teacher in Mfereji. I

    hope that readers of Lekishon’s article will be enthused to apply for Tropical English Teacher’snew Fellowships which will promote a sharing of teaching techniques with schools around our

    region. In the Professional Development section Melissa Nourse recounts her experiences doing

    a Masters of Letters in Creative Writing while Kimberly Lalone discusses the virtues and vices of

    an on-line CIE course on General Paper. For the classroom this issue Melanie Blanchard’s

    inspirational lesson on Procedural writing, in which her students followed a procedure to make

    potions, inspired her Education Project Manager, Jean Kiekopf, to take photographs and create

    this Running Dictation activity for 21 Magic Moments in the English Classroom. while Linda

    Galbraith outlines her work with a puppet production of Anne of Green Gables. Malcolm

    Orsborn gives us all a taste of Wordplay – see if you are smarter than a 7th grader!

    Finally the issue highlights a selection of the work of the CfBT Education Department in 2011 and

    gives a taste of CfBT Education Trust research into a range of educational issues.

    Thanks to all readers and contributors for helping our journal grow and thrive. There’s always

    room for another ecological niche in our rainforest so please contribute in 2012.

    And so, to conclude, after 11 wonderful years in Brunei and many more as a ‘Tropical English

    Teacher’ I am occasionally asked when I am going ‘home’.

    My reply?

    I am home.

    Happy holidays to all.

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    Tropical English Teacher [ LETTERS ]  

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    Letters

    Just read through some of the ‘stuff’ in the journal…. 

    As someone who works in English language and

    vocational education in Australia I’d just like to say that

    TET is brilliant.

    So to all contributors, in a very ‘Aussie’ way… 

    Good on’ ya! 

    Kiaran Green,

    Principal, Bridge Business College

    Sydney, Australia

    Just to let you all know that I recently I updated my

    "refereed publications list" which plays an important role

    in university rankings worldwide.

    Readers and contributors will be pleased to know that

    TET was listed as a reputable, refereed and appropriately-

    credentialed journal in the rarefied atmosphere of

    academia.

    Not long now before TET will be mentioned alongside

    Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine!

    Cheers,

    Clayton Barry

    CfBT 2010 –  now doing doctoral studies in Australia 

    Send us

    your letters,

    comments,

    feedback,complaints,

    mail,

    correspondence,

    suggestions,

    post,

    messages,emails,

    ideas,

    commentary,

    remarks,

    observations,

    clarifications,interpretations

    and anything else

    you have to say.

    [email protected] 

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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    Tropical English Teacher [STUDENTS ON TEACHERS]  

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    STUDENTS ON TEACHERS

    "My problems all started with my early education. I went to a school for mentally disturbed

    teachers." Woody Allen

    "I speak twelve languages. English is the bestest." Stefan Bergman

    "I have been described as a lighthouse in the middle of a bog: Brilliant but useless."

    Connor Cruise O'Brien.

    "Anyone who has been to an English public school will always feel comparatively at home in

    prison." Evelyn Waugh

    "Dublin University contains the cream of Ireland: Rich and thick." Samuel Beckett.

    "Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children." Dan Quayle.

    "I took the speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It's about Russia."Woody Allen

    "My school days were the happiest days of my life; which should give you some indication of the

    misery I've endured over the past twenty-five years." Paul Merton.

    "I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like:

    What I'm going to be if I grow up." Lenny Bruce.

    "The average PhD thesis is nothing but the transference of bones from one graveyard to

    another." JF Dobie

    "What's another word for thesaurus?" Steven Wright.

    Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.

    Beatrix Potter

    There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done:

    school and prison. William Glasser

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    I have never been jealous. Not even when my dad finished fifth grade a year before I did.

    Jeff Foxworthy

    There is nothing so stupid as the educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in.

    Will Rogers

    If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the

    world. Heinrich Heine

    I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of the

    girl sitting next to me. Woody Allen

    Education is a progressive discovery of your own ignorance. Will Durant

    It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. Albert Einstein

    My school was so tough the school newspaper had an obituary section. Norm Crosby

    You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year. Henry Ford

    I heard someone tried the monkeys-on-typewriters bit trying for the plays of William

    Shakespeare, but all they got was the collected works of Francis Bacon. - Bill Hirst

    Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to

    charge because you are a vegetarian. - Dennis Wholey

    Why don’t you write books people can read? - Nora Joyce, to her husband James

    Few things are harder to put up with than a good example. - Mark Twain

    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." Oscar Wilde

    You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.

    Yogi Berra

    I have an existential map; it has ‘you are here’ written all over it. Steven Wright

    As I get older I notice the syllabus less and the students more.

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    Tropical English Teacher [TROPICAL ENGLISH TEACHER]  

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    Can you handle the pressure?

    Interested in writing or editing for

    Tropical English Teacher?

    Contact [email protected] for more info.

    TROPICAL ENGLISH TEACHER FELLOWSHIPS 2012

    Do something for yourself… 

    Who? All teachers and managers working for CfBT in Brunei are eligible to apply.

    What?2012 pilot scheme for teaching, capacity building and sharing experience in schools in

    nearby countries as part of our ongoing professional development programmeWhere? ASEAN countries

    When?Typically one working week in a school. For CfBT teachers the week will need to

    coincide with regular Brunei Ministry of Education holidays

    Why? To learn from and to share with other tropical English teachers in a variety of contexts

    How?Contact Greg Keaney, [email protected] 

    for more information or to register an expression of interest

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    Research

    Help... help... I’m being researched... 

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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     ACTION RESEARCH: READING CLINIC

    Select Pre-Secondary Vocational Students

    Sekolah Menengah Sultan Hassan, Bangar, Temburong, Brunei

    2011

    Deborah Sketchley and Hajah Fareeda Bibi Ismail, CfBT, SM Sultan Hassan Temburong

    [email protected]   [email protected] 

    Temburong District and School Background

    Temburong District is one of the four districts of Negara Brunei Darussalam. Temburong District

    is physically separated from the rest of Brunei, as one must travel through the Malaysian

    province of Sarawak in order to get to Temburong. Optionally, one may travel by passenger

    boat along the river and mangrove systems and eventually through Brunei Bay to reach the

    capital of Brunei; Bandar Seri Begawan. Temburong is referred to as the isolated district by

    Bruneians. Geographically the majority of the district remains covered in primary rain forest

    (average temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and a high humidity level) full of an array of jungle

    flora and fauna. It boasts a population of approximately 9,000 including an ethnic mixture of

    Malay, Lun Bawang, Iban, and Chinese, along with a small population of Dusun. Thus, our

    students grow up in a district which is rich in languages and cultures, and many are from multi-lingual backgrounds.

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    Sekolah Menengah Sultan Hassan (Sultan Hassan Secondary School) will be celebrating its 25th 

    Anniversary Jubilee this November. It is the only secondary school and is fed by approximately

    10 primary schools. Our school population fluctuates between 800 and 1200 students with a

    teaching staff of approximately 85 to 95 teachers (including administration). In 2006 one of the

    school buildings was condemned, followed by a further three sections of the original five

    sections being condemned in January 2010. As a result, we were left with one section only, the

    administrative block. Fortunately a three-storey block was built in 2007. As a result of this 2010

    school year was literally full of hurdles and shifting classrooms. The 2010 PMV Year 7 students

    were without an established classroom and “floated around” finding a classroom for half of the

    school year before port-a-cabins were in place. As a result, this had a tremendous effect upon

    the students, resulting in a very unsettled school year. 

    Introduction

    The Reading Clinic came out of several conversations with our school Deputy Principal

    Administration, the Head of English Department and a fellow colleague. During my nine years at

    the school I have occasionally taught Pre-Secondary Vocational (Pra-Menengah Vocasional:

    PMV) students in large classes of 30 or more students. Many of the students had limited English

    vocabulary and/or understanding. These students had been through a Primary system where

    they would have received daily lessons in English; however, their retention of English and their

    ability to use English was limited.

    Every year, our school offers its students Co-Curricular activities (CCA: sports, drama, Scrabble,

    Newsletter, etc.) once a week over the first and second term. After the previously mentioned

    conversations, my Deputy Principal Administration and Academic were approached with our

    proposal to offer a remedial class once a week for a select group of PMV students of Year 7 and

    Year 8, in order to provide one-on-one instruction. This was approved and we then approached

    the CCA Coordinators and spoke to them about the programme being offered during CCA time.

    Once we received full approval we approached my English language colleagues who teach PMV

    7 and PMV 8 and asked them for a list of 4 students each (providing a ratio of one teacher to

    four students) who would benefit from a weekly remedial lesson in English. We received the

    names of 8 students. They consisted of 4 boys from PMV 81 (29 students in total; 23 boys and 6

    girls) and 2 boys and 2 girls from PMV 7 (15 students in total; 13 boys and 2 girls).

    Methodology and Programme

    Although my colleague, Fareeda Bibi Ismail and myself, Deborah Sketchley, both trained as

    Primary school teachers, we had both been teaching in the secondary school system for a time

      1 Two boys from PMV8, Student G (14 years old) and Student H (14 years old)were removed from the Reading Clinic due to severe behaviour issues. Uponconsultation with Class teachers and Discipline Department, it appears that these two

    boys have a history of the type of severe behaviour issues which we experienced withthem in the Reading Clinic. It was decided that it would be better to remove them fromthe programme in order to ensure that the others would actually benefit from theReading Clinic. 

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    (Fareeda: approximately 10 years; Deborah: approximately 15 years). Therefore it had been a

    considerable time since either of us had worked exclusively with primary. Even though it had

    been awhile, we both believed that it would be our primary teaching skills which would be called

    upon to bring about a beneficial experience to our group of students. In addition, neither of us

    had actually been in this type of situation before, nor are we reading specialists. However, we

    both believed that we could make a difference with these students and chose to pursue it.

    The Reading Clinic was conducted once a week during the CCA time. CCAs began on the 5th 

    January 2011 and ended on 27th July 2011 making a total of 17 sessions (taking into account

    School Term Holidays, Public Holidays, Examinations, and Cancelled Sessions due to School

    Sports events). We had an exceptionally high attendance rate of 93.14% throughout the term at

    the Reading Clinic.2 

    We decided that our objectives should focus on:

    1.  making English fun for students to learn

    2.   promoting confidence in using the English language

    3.   providing engaged practice using all 4 skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing

    Before we could begin to implement the programme, we carried out individual assessment on

    each of the students using DOLCH sight words at Pre-Primer, Primer, First Grade, Second Grade,

    and if necessary Third Grade Sight words.

    Student

    Class

    Age

    Pre-Primer Score

    / 40 words

    Primer Score

    /52 words

    First Grade

    /41 words

    Second Grade

    /46 words

    Student A

    PMV 7

    13 years old

    16

    (40%)

    6

    (12%)

     _ _

    Student B

    PMV 7

    11 years old

    28

    (70%)

    25

    (48%)

    21

    (51%)

    15

    (33%)

    Student C

    PMV 7

    13 years old

    24

    (60%)

    27

    (52%)

    18

    (44%)

    18

    (39%)

    Student D

    PMV 7

    12 years old

    24

    (60%)

    17

    (33%)

    9

    (22%)

     _

    Student E

    PMV 8

    16

    (40%)

    9

    (17%)

    4

    (10%)

     _

      2 The CCA programme at our school normally only runs Terms 1 and 2. The CCA

    time is then made into Enrichment time. We sought permission to continue the ReadingClinic in Term 3, with the condition that we would hold Reading Clinic for two weeks ina row and then one week for our enrichment. This was accepted and agreed upon byour Deputy Principal Academic.

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    13 years old

    Student FPMV 8

    12 years old

    19(48%) 15(29%) 2(5%)  _

    The results of the DOLCH testing show a significant difference between the students’

    chronological age and their reading ability. As such, it would be necessary and important to

    balance the specific needs of the students with their interest level (not too babyish).In addition;

    the DOLCH testing results determined our starting point for the Reading Clinic. We began by

    focusing on alphabet/phonics recognition through the use of visuals (Flash Cards: alphabets

    phonics and (PM Alphabet Starters) and eliciting the words from the students and writing on the

    board. We then went through a series of repetition and review. In addition, we provided single

    alphabet booklets (My Alphabet Fold-A-Book ) for the students where we engaged in eliciting,

    repeating, identifying, writing and reading. We continued along this avenue for approximately 4

    sessions. At this time, we noticed that the students were becoming restless and in need of a

    change to keep them interested and engaged. We then introduced students to phonics blends (-

    am, -at, -an, etc.) focusing on Starter Readers through free materials offered at www.readinga-

    z.com and through www.abcteach.com. These activities also incorporated eliciting words from

    students through visuals, repetition, matching pictures to words, reading sentences as a group,

    with a partner, and individually. After exhausting the free materials we felt were suitable for our

    students, we thought that a more organized programme would be might prove to be a better fit

    for our students’ needs. We chose from the English Language Learning Series: Chatterbox Pupil’s

    Book 1; Chatterbox Activity Book 1; Chatterbox Book 1 Cassette (Please see Appendix) from

    0 20 40 60 80

    A

    B

    C

    D

    E

    F

    Second Grade

    First Grade

    Primer Score

    Pre-Primer Score

    http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    Oxford University Press. We then chose which activities would benefit our students.3 It is

    important to note that every lesson incorporated listening, speaking, reading and writing.

    As previously stated, neither teacher had been in this type of situation before. Therefore it was

    necessary to engage in active reflection af ter each session to take into account the students’

    reactions to the lesson and what direction we should move in. This was paramount in providing

    a positive English language learning environment in order to achieve our objectives. From the

    outside it may appear to be an ad hoc programme, but in fact we remained focused on

    addressing our objectives as best as we could.

     STUDENT FEEDBACK

    When the questionnaire was being conducted Students D, E and F were absent.

      3 Please see Reference Page for a table of language points covered fromChatterbox.

    Questions Student A Student B Student C

    Which activity did you enjoythe most ?

    I enjoyed colouring and readingthe book on animals. 

    Saya suka semasa kamimembaca buku tentangbinatang dan mewarna.

    I enjoyed reading and learningwords on parts of the face.

    Saya suka membaca danbelajar perkataan-perkataanbahagian muka.

    I enjoyed reading andpronouncing words after theteacher. I also enjoyedcolourimg.

    Saya suka membaca danmengikutkan apa yang disebutoleh cikgu. Saya juga sukamewarna. 

    Which activity did you enjoythe least ?

    When I had to read by myself.

    Semasa saya membaca sendiri.

    Singing, because I was shy.

    Sewaktu activity nyanyiankerana saya malu.

    When I had to stand and talk in

    front of the class. 

    Sewaktu disuruh bercakap didepan kelas.

    What were your friends’feelings or reactions on the

    activities?

    Some of them did not like the activities and they were lazy. 

    Beberapa orang tidak mengemari aktiviti-aktiviti yang dijalankan dan ada yang malas.

    How has the Reading Clinichelped you?

    It helps me when I read alone. Iremember some words like ‘the’

    and ‘food’. 

    Ianya menolong saya membacaterutama semasa sayamembaca seorang diri. Sayaboleh ingat perkataan seperti‘the’ dan ‘food’. 

    I can pronounce some wordscorrectly.

    Saya dapat menyebut perkataan seperti yang disebutoleh cikgu. 

    I could bring books home toread because I don’t have

    books at home.

    Saya boleh membawa bukuuntuk dibawa ke rumah keranasaya tidak mempunyai bukubacaan di rumah. 

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    Tropical English Teacher [ RESEARCH  ]  

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    Case Study: Student F

    Student F is a 13 year old PMV 8 student who was selected by his English teacher as it was feltthat he was not able to read on his own and would benefit from learning how to read. He

    showed reluctance in attending the Reading Clinic. He was often found wandering about outside

    the classroom and required a teacher to lead him to the classroom for the session. He was often

    resistant to engaging in any of the activities and preferred to keep himself separate from the

    others. It appeared that he did not seem to be entirely focused on what was happening in the

    class. However, at times he engaged with the others. He specifically enjoyed learning the

    children’s chant; Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. This was one of the few times where he

    smiled.

    Both teachers took the opportunity to work with him, one on one. After consultation between

    the teachers, it was noted that:1.  no recollection of sounds and or words learned one week to be recalled the following

    week

    2.  no correspondence between initial letter and what the initial sound is. For example:

    when shown the word snake, without a picture, he will say a word starting with another

    letter, other than ‘s’  

    3.  he would only read one word at a time, after it has been said by the teacher

    4.  he was unable to sound out words

    5.  he showed a minimal retention of any words and or sounds taught from one week to the

    next

    6.  he was unable to focus on a task for any more than a few minutes at a time

    7.  it was like starting at the beginning/starting all over again every session

    Both teachers agreed that we would seek out advice from the Teacher in Charge of Special

    Needs Students. Upon consulting with this teacher, it was brought to our attention that all of his

    subject teachers at Primary and Secondary had asked that he be referred to Special Needs for

    further testing, as we were all experiencing a similar situation with him. It was suggested that

    this student may benefit from a Special Needs programme as he was unable to cope in the

    classroom. Deborah was then asked to carry out English Language Screening Tests, provided by

    the Special Education Department. Deborah carried out these Screening Tests and submitted the

    results, along with a report to the Teacher in Charge of Special Needs Students, who sent them

    on to Special Education Department. This testing was done the beginning of June and we are

    waiting for Feedback.

     Self Reflection: Deborah

    One of my biggest challenges was explaining that there is a difference between enrichment and

    remedial classes. In the context of my school, both terms are used interchangeably to mean an

    “extra lesson”. For me, remedial is taking a small group of students (so that you have a small

    student to teacher ratio) and working with those students to help them in their specific,

    individual learning areas. This was a programme completely new to my school and many of my

    colleagues had difficulty in understanding what we were trying to do. It was important for me to

    take the time and speak individually with each of the people involved for them to get a clearer

    idea of what we were doing. Once this was done, my colleagues were very supportive of theprogramme.

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    Some of the highlights for me included:

    1.  Working with a small group of students and seeing their enthusiasm and individual

     progress.

    2.  The two PMV 7 girls waiting outside our staff room door every Wednesday, with huge

    smiles, waiting to go for our session.

    3.  Singing along with the students and the cassette

    4.  The impromptu “Public Speaking” where each student stood up in front of the class and

    told their name, age, and what they like to eat and drink.4 

    5.  Teaching them “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and laughing with them 

    6.  Listening to each of the students sound out words on their own and reading the

    sentences

    7.  Smiles, smiles, smiles every session

    My colleague and I worked very well together. I felt comfortable working with her, sharing my

    ideas and listening to hers. We definitely worked as a partnership where each of us took

    responsibility for finding materials and delivering the sessions.

    Before I knew it the sessions were at an end. Unfortunately the sessions came to an abrupt end

    without prior notice.

     Self Reflection: Fareeda

    There were continuous ongoing evaluations of our methods, resources, activities and approach

    to the whole programme. This enabled us to determine the effectiveness of our materials and

    methods. There were also continuous discussions between my colleague and me to determine

    how best we could achieve our outcomes. I found the programme very intense as I was

    constantly aware of the responsibility of ensuring that at no stage should the confidence and self

    esteem of these learners be threatened or undermined. What I learnt from this pilot programme

    was that it did not matter how small our intervention was, because it did ensure progress and

    growth in our learners. This left me with an immense feeling of self satisfaction and gratitude.

    Some of the highlights for me included:

      The rapport that we as a team developed with these learners.

      The relaxed atmosphere that prevailed during these lessons.  The eagerness with which the students awaited each lesson.

    My colleague and I functioned cohesively as a team and consequently we were effective in

    achieving the outcomes of the programme. Working with Deborah was an experience that was

    both motivating and inspiring.

      4  The previous week the English Department held a “Public Speaking

    Competition” for each year level. However the PMV 7 and PMV 8 classe s were not

    involved. The students asked at the beginning of that lesson to do „public speaking‟ asthey enjoyed watching the competition and were eager to show that they also could takepart in such an activity.

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    Recommendations

    Our recommendations are as follows:

    1.  Currently the terms enrichment and remedial   are used inter  –  changeably. There

    should be a clear understanding of the difference between these terms, only then will

    one be able to implement an effective remedial programme.

    2.  The appointment of a full – time Specialist Education Teacher, whose specialty should be

    Reading Recovery. The learners would benefit tremendously from continuous

    professional guidance and support.

    3.  There should also be a structure or policy in place to assist and guide teachers

    undertaking such a programme.

    4.  Goals should be set for each term to ensure that there is a systematic progress in

    reading. There should also be continuous assessments to determine ongoing progress.5.  A pre – determined time frame for the programme is also essential to ensure continuity

    and progress throughout resulting in a smooth closure. Ours came to an abrupt end and

    it felt like the programme was left “hanging in the air.” 

    6.  There is also a need for resources, such as games, focusing on high frequency words,

    phonics and graded readers.

     Acknowledgements

    We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the following members of staff for

    their continuous assistance and support:

    1)  Awg Yusuf bin Hj Mohmad- Principal

    2)  Dyg Riman binti Sitai- Deputy Principal ( Admin)

    3)  Awg Chong Yun Onn- Deputy Principal ( Academic)

    4)  Awg Balan Anak Jang- HOD P.E.

    5)  Dyg Rupan Binti Kasim- CCA Coordinator

    6)  Dyg Suzana Elami binti Elan Form Teacher – PMVY7

    7)  Awg Md Wafiyuddin Tan bin Abdullah Tan Form Teacher – PMVY8

    8)  Awg Mohamad Zulnazri bin Donglah- Career Guidance

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     Appendix

    Table for: Chatterbox Pupil’s Book 1 by Derek Strange, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK

    .1989.

    Unit Language Items Functions and Topics

    1 Hello. Goodbye

    What’s your name?

    I’m … 

    My name’s … 

    Who’s this? This is … 

    Possessives: my/your

    The alphabet

    Greeting and saying farewell

    Asking someone’s name 

    Introducing yourself

    Introducing others

    Talking about possession

    2 Listen, please.

    What’s this? 

    Article: a + noun

    Good morning. How are you?

    I’m fine, thank you. 

    Commands

    Identifying things

    Further greetings and responses

    3 Numbers 1 – 10

    How old are you? I’m … 

    Article: an + a e i o w

    Counting

    Talking about age

    4 It’s a kite.  Naming common toys and household

    objects

    5 He’s seven. She’s eight. 

    Possessives: his/her.

    Revision.

    Talking about possession

    6 Is it an aeroplane?

    Yes, it is. / No, it isn’t. 

    Article: the + noun

    Adjectives: the big / small box.

    Asking for information

    Specifying particular objects

    7 I’ve got a big nose.

    This is my mother.

    She’s got big eyes. 

    Describing people: faces and hair.

    Members of the family.

    8 Has she got her umbrella?

    Yes, she has. / No, she hasn’t. 

    Adjectives: tall, short, etc.

    Asking for information

    Describing people

    9 Can you see an elephant?

    Yes, I can. / No, I can’t. 

    Talking about ability

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    Resources

    “Chatterbox Book 1 Cassette”, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK 

    Randell, Beverly. 1995, “PM Alphabet Starters”, Nelson Price Milburn, New Zealand 

    Strange, Derek. 1989, “Chatterbox: Activity Book 1”, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK 

    Strange, Derek. 1989, “Chatterbox: Pupil’s Book 1”, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK 

    http://www.abcteach.com 

    “Fun with words” 

    http://www.MrsPerkins.com 

    “DOLCH Sight Words Activities 2008” 

    “DOLCH Sight Vocabulary 1998” 

    http://www.readinga-z.com 

    “A Reading A-Z Decodable Phonogram Book: Nat’s Cat” 

    http://www.ricgroup.com.au 

    “My Alphabet Fold-A-Book”, I.C. Publications 

    http://www.abcteach.com/http://www.abcteach.com/http://www.mrsperkins.com/http://www.mrsperkins.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.ricgroup.com.au/http://www.ricgroup.com.au/http://www.ricgroup.com.au/http://www.readinga-z.com/http://www.mrsperkins.com/http://www.abcteach.com/

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      Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes… 

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    particular classes, according to the findings of the questionnaires. Overall progress and

    attainment of the students in these two year groups would be measured and monitored througha series of Common Assessment Tasks during Terms 1 and 2. These tasks would be genuine past-

    paper ‘O’ Level tasks in Creative Writing (Term 1), Directed Writing (Term 2) and Reading for

    Meaning (Term 2).

    The results of these Common Assessment Tasks were forwarded to the researchers by the start

    of Term 3, and the data collated. It was analysed, and conclusions drawn regarding:

      The level of impact (measurable in the rate of progress and overall attainment) achieved

    by the teaching initiatives undertaken by each Yr10 and MA5 teacher

      Any remaining ‘weak spots’ in the students’ attainment in both sorts of Writing task as

    well as in their Reading for Meaning comprehension skills  A ‘like for like’ comparison of Year 10 with MA5, of boys with girls, and of the differing

    measures implemented by different teachers, to inform future planning within the

    department.

    The intended next step had been to circulate these conclusions to all Year 10 and MA5 teachers

    almost immediately, to facilitate a well informed and accurately targeted ‘final push’ in the run-

    up to the Qualifying Exams at the end of this term (Term 3). Regrettably, there were so many

    other pressures on the researchers’ time during Term 3 that they were unable to carry out this

    step.

    The QE exam results were forwarded to the researchers during Term 4 and collated nonetheless,

    in order that the researchers could analyse the attainment of the two cohorts in the same ways

    that the CATs results had been analysed earlier in the year.

    Again, the intention had been to circulate the key findings from the QE results data to all Year 10

    and MA5 teachers to enable them to make best use of this information for the benefit of their

    individual classes in the final few weeks of normal lessons (before the start of the exam period).

    However, as before, there turned out to be too many other demands upon the researchers’ time

    during the start of Term 4 for this to happen.

    The next section of this report, therefore, details the data collected and the Analysis of it that

    was undertaken.

    The final section of this report identifies the overall evaluation of the data results, and the Action

    Research Project’s Conclusions and Recommendations for the future.

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    Questionnaire Results: Main Findings

    YEAR 9/10:

    The table below summarises the responses gleaned from the questionnaires given out to

    students in the Yr9 cohort (this year’s Yr10) at the end of 2010. The percentages indicate the

    volume of students who ticked these things on their questionnaires to show they felt these were

    factors that had hindered their performance in the end-of-year exams.

    Key:

    DW = Directed Writing task (Paper 1, Sec 1)

    CW = Creative Writing task (Paper 1, Sec 2)

    R1 = ‘Reading for Ideas’ comprehension (Paper 2, Sec 1) Yr9 BOYS (2010) Yr9 GIRLS (2010)

    (No widespread concerns)   Unsure what to revise 51% 

    Poor time management on DW task 58%  Poor time management on DW task 58% 

    (No widespread concerns)   Unsure of requirements in DW task 54% 

    Poor time management on CW task 50%  Poor time management on CW task 50% 

    Unsure of successful strategies for CW task 50%  (No widespread concerns)  

    Didn’t plan CW answer before I began to write 50%  Didn’t plan CW answer before I began to write 54% 

    Identifying main points from text in R1 task 53% Identifying main points from text in R1 task 60% 

    Generally, this cohort was far less concerned about aspects of their English exam performancethan the MA4/MA5 cohort. This could be because they are less aware of what the exams entail

    than the older students!

    The figures highlighted in red pertain to the concerns of many students about how to produce a

    successful narrative (the option they are encouraged to do for the Creative Writing task on

    Paper 1) inside of the time allowed. Indeed, very few students in this cohort were good ‘exam-

    style’ storywriters at this stage (although, notably, the girls seemed to think they knew what

    made for a successful story!) However, the SoW followed by teachers in 2011 sought to address

    these issues head-on, with much of the teaching in the lead-up to CAT 1 (Creative Writing)

    focusing on teaching the students planning strategies, how to ‘shape’ a narrative skilfully,characterisation techniques, how to select ‘effective’ vocabulary, and how to organise their

    time. The results from CAT 1 (see next section) were testament to the success of these teaching

    focuses: Credit pass rates from this cohort for this assessment were very high.

    The details highlighted in pink are also of interest. The boys seemed to feel they knew how to

    approach Directed Writing tasks effectively; girls, however, were more willing to acknowledge

    they were unsure. A few months later in CAT 2ii - the Directed Writing assessment - girls

    generally did really well, whereas the boys achieved Credits in far smaller numbers. Could this be

    due to the fact that the boys thought  they knew it all, so were less ‘open’ to being taught how to

    do it well than the girls were? Compared to the improvements noted in the boys’ Creative

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    Writing skills - a skill area they knew  they were poor at - the improvements in Directed Writing

    were disappointing.

    In conclusion, therefore, what might be pivotal in facilitating progress and improvements in boys 

    in particular is getting them to recognise and acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses

    with accuracy. If they believe they are already good at something, they seem to close

    themselves off from the subsequent teaching on that topic, and therefore fail to make further

    improvements.

    MA4/MA5:

    The table below summarises the responses gleaned from the questionnaires given out to

    students in the MA4 cohort (this year’s MA5) at the end of 2010. The percentages indicate thevolume of students who ticked these things on their questionnaires to show they felt these were

    factors that had hindered their performance in the end-of-year exams.

    Key:

    DW = Directed Writing task (Paper 1, Sec 1)

    CW = Creative Writing task (Paper 1, Sec 2)

    R1 = ‘Reading for Ideas’ comprehension (Paper 2, Sec 1) 

    R2 = ‘Reading for Meaning’ comprehension (Paper 2, Sec 2) 

    MA4 BOYS (2010) MA4 GIRLS (2010)

    Unsure what to revise 53%  Unsure what to revise 60% 

    Unsure what would be beneficial revision

    activities 54% 

    (No widespread concerns)

    Poor time management on DW task 80%  Poor time management on DW task 84% 

    Unsure of requirements in DW task 53%  Unsure of requirements in DW task 60% 

    Covering all of the bullet points in the DW task

    55% 

    (No widespread concerns)  

    Writing too little/too much for the DW task 62%  Writing too little/too much for the DW task

    56% 

    Poor time management on CW task 75%  Poor time management on CW task 62% 

    Unsure of successful strategies for CW task 51%  Unsure of successful strategies for CW task

    56% 

    (No widespread concerns)   Unsure how to tackle R1 questions 64% 

    R1 - didn't understand text 50%  (No widespread concerns)  

    Identifying main points from text in R1 task 58%  Identifying main points from text in R1 task

    60% 

    Unsure how to write a summary 53%  (No widespread concerns)  

    R2 - didn't understand text 51%  R2 - didn't understand text 51% 

    Vocabulary task 58%  Vocabulary task 53% 

    The figures highlighted in red show the students’ concerns about Directed Writing. Significantnumbers of boys (55% of them) felt they did not do well at addressing all required bullet points

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    in this type of task (possibly this is linked to their issues with time management here). The CAT 2i

    results (from Term 2 of 2011) showed a large gender difference here in terms of achievement,reflecting that the boys were probably correct in their own assessments of their (lack of) skills

    here.

    The figures highlighted in yellow pertain to concerns the students have about Reading. As is

    evident, boys had concerns about a wider range of aspects of Reading skills than girls. The 2011

    assessment data in the next section confirms that boys are significantly weaker than girls on

    Reading tasks, although the MA5 boys’ Reading skills did significantly improve over the course of

    2011 - indicating strongly that boys’ Reading skills may really benefit from an additional year of

    secondary education; in contrast, girls’ Reading skills actually deteriorated  during this year from

    where they were in MA4, although their Writing skills improved.

     ANALYSIS of the 2011 ASSESSMENT DATA - Year 10

    The key question this Action Research sought an answer for with regard to the current Year 10

    cohort is:

    “Are we, as a department, effectively facilitating the accelerated rates of progress necessary in

    our Upper Secondary students in order to maximise Credit pass rates in a two year timeframe as

    opposed to a three year timeframe?” 

    The answer to this question is pivotal if we are to be able to evaluate the Scheme of Work (SoW)

    used this year with Yr10 (and MA5) students and comment on its effectiveness. It is assumed

    that the policy for next year and beyond will continue to be that all students undertake only two

    years of Upper Secondary education before taking ‘O’ Level English Language; therefore, a SoW

    is needed that facilitates rapid progress in attainment, so that Credit-worthy performance levels

    can be reached in a shorter length of time than the traditional three-year timeframe.

    The table below shows the percentages of students who made ‘significant progress’ (i.e.

    improved by 5% or more in comparison to their overall end-of-Yr9 exam result) in each of the

    benchmark assessments during Year 10. The details in green show the Credit passes for eachassessment component.

    The results were analysed by gender to ascertain if there were any areas of gender difference; as

    is evident below, boys - somewhat surprisingly! - have made improvements in greater numbers

    than girls where Reading tasks are concerned, whereas more girls than boys have improved their

    Writing. However, there exist quite significant gender differences in terms of achievement,

    with boys lagging behind the girls in every assessment.

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    YEAR 10 RESULTS

    Assessment Type BOYS: 111 students GIRLS: 181 students

    Percentage on Credit or above at

    end of Yr9

    49% 66%

    *CAT 1 (Creative Writing) 64% 82%

    Credit pass rates for CAT 1 83% 94%

    *CAT 2i (Reading for Meaning) 26% 20%

    Credit pass rates for CAT 2i 42% 58%

    *CAT 2ii (Directed Writing) 33% 46%

    Credit pas rates for CAT 2ii 54% 83%

    ^QE Paper 1 (Writing) 45% 51%

    Credit pass rates for QE P1 63% 83%

    ^QE Paper 2 (Reading) 23% 14%

    Credit pass rates for QE P2 44% 53%

    ^QE overall result (P1 + P2) 34% 29%

    Percentage on Credit or above at

    end of Yr10 

    50% 70%

    *CAT = Common Assessment Task ^QE + Qualifying Exam

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    Key Findings + Analysis:

    1.  The highest rates of improvements (in both genders) were seen in CAT1, the CreativeWriting task, where all classes were set a Narrative Writing task. Not only did the results

    here show students improving in the highest numbers, but individual students made their

    highest improvements here: some students made improvements of 20-30% on their end-

    of-Yr9 performance! This leads the researchers to conclude:

    a.  Progress and improvements in this type of writing are easier to facilitate than for

    most other skill areas (i.e. teaching students how to do well is a more

    straightforward process here than with some other components of the ‘O’ Level

    papers)

    b.  The widespread use of AfL activities (such as scrutiny of exemplar material),

    coupled with a focus on planning and time management strategies, guidance on

    ‘structuring of a narrative’, effective vocabulary use and effective openings byYr10 teachers in the preparation of students for this task all proved to be highly

    successful teaching strategies.

    2.  Improvements in Directed Writing skills were harder to achieve than improvements in

    Creative Writing, due to the fact that students find the issue of ‘register’ harder to get to

    grips with. It is also far less likely that students will have much in the way of personal

    experience of encounters with most forms of Directed Writing (i.e. formal letters,

    eyewitness accounts, newspaper articles, reports, etc), which in turn makes it that much

    harder for them to know how to emulate successfully these forms of text. That being

    said, though, the girls scored far better than the boys here (83% of girls vs. 54% of boys

    on Credits), suggesting that boys struggle far more than girls with the issue of register.

    The poorer improvements for boys here could also be due to issues to do with theirperceptions of their own ability, as discussed in the previous section.

    3.  There were significantly lower numbers of students (in both genders) making progress in

    Reading skills than in Writing skills. This could suggest that:

    a.  Students are unclear about how to ‘move forward’ with their Reading skills (or

    they may simply be reluctant to do what is required).

    b.  Improvements in Reading ability cannot actually be achieved in a short, condensed

    period of time, but instead develop slowly with maturity and exposure to a wealth

    of reading materials. Thus, progress rates in Reading skills will always inevitably lag

    behind those of Writing skills by their very nature.

    c.  Proficiency in Reading cannot be acquired through memorising a specific strategy

    or repeatedly doing tests; it can only be acquired through regular and sustained

    exposure to a wide range of suitably challenging reading material. This is the ethos

    underpinning the department’s scheduling of regular Reading Room sessions with

    these classes; however, it has been noted that some students are reluctant to read

    during these sessions (and avoid it by spending long periods ‘looking for a book’),

    rarely take books out to read at home, or only ever look at non-fiction texts (such

    as newspapers and reference books) that they flick through rather than read in

    detail.

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    4.  More boys than girls showed improvements in Reading skills - evident both in CAT 2i

    and the Qualifying Exam Paper 2 (Reading). This is partly accounted for by the fact that

    more boys than girls were weaker at Reading at the end of Year 9, therefore there was

    more scope  for improvements in boys. However, the raw data also shows that the

    number of girls improving their Reading skills during the year tailed off, whereas the

    number of boys improving between CAT 2i and QE Paper 2 went up . This led the

    researchers to consider the following possible explanations:

    a.  The boys were more motivated to improve their Reading skills, seeing it as the

    reason they were generally weaker than the girls at English.

    b.  The boys were better than the girls at implementing the advice given by their

    teachers about how to score more highly on the Reading paper.

    5.  The raw data showed very clearly that, across all of the assessments during Year 10,

    progress was good  in students who had scored below a Credit at the end of Yr9 .

    However, there was little or no progress at all in the bulk of the students who had

    achieved 60% or above at the end of Yr9. This phenomenon was evident for both the boys

    and the girls, leading the researchers to offer the following possible explanations:

    a.  As a department, as well across the whole school, we are strongly encouraged by

    the Administration to focus our attention as teachers on the students who are

    ‘failing’ (i.e. not achieving a Credit) in our subject area. Initiatives such as the ‘StAR

    Students’ programme, remedial/extra classes, etc. are all targeted to bolster the

    performance of these weaker students. These programmes may well have

    contributed to the positive rates of progress noted, but they can take up a

    disproportionate amount of English teachers’ time; as a consequence, the needs of

    the more able students have not always been prioritised in the same way, and this

    fact may explain their general lack of progress in Year 10.

    b.  The students themselves may hold the perception that, if they are already

    attaining Credit-worthy performances in English, then they don’t need to continue

    to push themselves and seek to improve. They may, instead, direct their energy

    and attention into improving their performance in other, weaker subject areas,

    and simply ‘coast’ along in English, not striving to improve. 

    6.  During the year, boys actually lost ground in their Writing skills, with the number of Credit

    passes falling from approx 70% in Term 1&2 to 63% by Term 3, a decrease of 7%, although

    the number of Credit passes for Reading increased by 2%. For girls, an even worse patternwas noticed during the year: their Writing pass rates decreased by approx 6%, and their

    Reading pass rates decreased by 5%. Although progress across the year was still achieved

    when compared to their performance at the end of Yr9 (see point 7 below), this

    phenomenon highlights a major concern expressed many times by the Year 10 teachers:

    that the students in Year 10 have been placed under enormous pressure this year - from

    factors such as huge volumes of homework given by some other subjects, the June ‘O’

    Levels (for those students who opted to do them), etc - and, as a consequence, they have

    simply been unable to ‘maintain the pace’ consistently in English, and progress rates have

    been seriously affected. 

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    7.  By the end of the year, the overall number of students capable of gaining a Credit in

    English had increased for both boys (a 1% increase) and girls (a 4% increase). It is likelythat the Department could have achieved better, were it not for the factors mentioned in

    point 6 (above). It will be interesting to see how these internally-generated assessment

    figures compare to the ‘O’ Level results when they are published in January 2012.

     ANALYSIS of the 2011 ASSESSMENT DATA - MA5

    The key question this Action Research sought an answer for with regard to the current MA5

    cohort is:

    “What key differences in academic performance exist - if any - between those students in Yr10

    and the MA5 students, possibly as a result of the different lengths of Secondary education theyhave had?”  

    The answer to this question is pivotal if we are to be able to speculate about the impact of the

    shortening of the Upper Secondary stage upon the exam results in English.

    The data collected from the MA5 teaching team was incomplete due to circumstances beyond

    the researchers’ control; therefore, a comprehensive ‘like for like’ comparison of progress with

    the Year 10 cohort was not possible. The table below therefore shows only Credit pass rates for

    each of the individual assessments during the year, data that can be compared on a ‘like for like’

    basis with the results for Year 10. 

    The results were analysed by gender to ascertain if there were any areas of gender difference; as

    is evident below, a significant gender gap is still evident in all assessments.

    Identify theProblem

    Gather Data

    InterpretData

    Act onEvidence

    EvaluateResults

    Next Steps,(Reflection)

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    Assessment Type BOYS: 83 students GIRLS: 139 students

    Percentage on Credit or above at

    end of Yr10

    (incomplete data) (incomplete data)

    Credit pass rates for *CAT 1

    (Creative Writing)

    40% 67%

    Credit pass rates for *CAT 2i

    (Reading for Meaning)

    40% 86%

    Credit pass rates for *CAT 2ii

    (Directed Writing)

    59% 71%

    Credit pass rates for ^QE P1

    (Writing)

    60% 86%

    Credit pass rates for ^QE P2

    (Reading)

    52% 68%

    Percentage on Credit or above at

    end of MA5

    72% 85%

    *CAT = Common Assessment Task ^QE + Qualifying Exam

    Key Findings + Analysis:

    1.  There is a ‘gender gap of between 12% and 46% on every assessment; boys are still

    doing significantly worse than the girls. This phenomenon is a worldwide one: boys do

    not match girls in achievements in English, and in many western countries, the gap

    between the sexes widens year on year. However, in a two-year project conducted by

    Emma Roberts in her school in the UK, the gender gap at GCSE level was effectively

    eliminated. Strategies used in that project may well prove equally effective here if

    implemented. Please see the ‘Recommendations’ section at the end of this Action

    Research Project. 2.  The boys actually improved more overall than the girls during the year, but this is

    partly explained by the fact that the boys’ achievement was far below that of the girls at

    the start of the year. However, a pleasing increase of 12% (in pass rates) is seen in boys’

    Reading skills between Term 2 and Term 3, and an increase of approx. 10% (in pass

    rates) in their Writing skills between Term 1&2 and Term 3. In contrast, the girls’

    performance was more mixed. Their pass rates for Reading decreased by 18% between

    Term 2 and Term 3; but their pass rates for Writing increased by 17% between Term

    1&2 and Term 3.

    3.  Feedback from the MA5 teachers reveals that, like the Year 10 teachers, they used a

    wide range of teaching strategies, and that they personalised the curriculum effectively

    in response to the needs of their students.

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    4.  By the end of the year, the overall number of students capable of gaining a Credit in

    English was good for both boys and girls, although there still exists a sizeable gender

    gap of 13% in the girls’ favour. It will be interesting to see how these internally-

    generated assessment figures compare to the ‘O’ Level results when they are published

    in January 2012.

    CONCLUSIONS

    1)  There is evidence from this study to suggest that we, as a department, mark ‘O’ Level

    pieces too harshly, particularly Reading tasks. In the June 2011 ‘O’ Level series, the

    students from MA5 and Year 10 who sat for the English Language exams generally secured

    grades that were higher than their English teachers’ predicted grades and also were far

    higher than the marks they had scored for the CATs and QEs. The other possibleexplanation for this phenomenon is that the students don’t try as hard for internal

    assessment tasks as they do for external assessments, but this seems a less likely

    explanation, given that it is seen so consistently and across such a wide number of

    students within the two cohorts.

    2)  There is a noticeable ‘gender gap’ in the performance of both cohorts. Clearly, there is

    scope here for exploring the issue of under-achievement and lack of progress in boys. This

    would be a valid area for a subsequent Action Research Project.

    3)  What is worrying is what some English teachers noted during the Qualifying Exam season

    and the October ‘O’ Level season; immediately before the students’ English exams,

    students were revising not for English, but for their subsequent Physics, Biology, or

    Chemistry exams. This meant they were entering these English exams with their headsfilled with science-related revision - and not the relevant knowledge and skills needed

    for a strong performance in English. This would imply that the students don’t believe that

    it is important to ‘revise’ for English, or that they still don’t know how/what to revise -

    despite the fact that this issue has been addressed repeatedly and explicitly by all Yr10 and

    MA5 teachers this year. It is therefore recommended that English teachers continue to

    reinforce the importance of revising for English, and making explicit to the students

    what exactly ‘revision’ for English entails.

    4)  Progress of all students - boys and girls - has been affected by factors beyond the control

    of the English teachers, including the apparent tendency of some subject areas to

    dominate the homework schedules of students at some points in the year. Examples

    would be when students are given a series of test papers which they have to complete bythe following day, or they are given homework for the same subject to do every night

    throughout an entire week. On occasions, students have been caught trying to study/do

    homework for other subjects during English lessons, or they fail to complete homework

    set for English because they claim they already have too much from their other teachers.

    This phenomenon is unlikely to be simply the result of ‘laziness’, although poor time-

    management skills could be a factor. Maybe, too, many of these students have hours of

    Tuition in the evenings, and this could be the cause of the problems they have in

    completing homework set by their teachers. Whatever the root cause, the students

    genuinely appear to be totally overloaded at times, which has made it very difficult for

    English teachers to assign homework tasks with any degree of regularity this year. 

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    RECOMMENDATIONS

    1)  As a department, we need to undertake regular moderation of ‘O’ Level pieces of workto ensure our marking is accurate and consistent. CfBT has an ‘O’ Level SIG (Special

    Interest Group) that conducts such moderation workshops, and is in the process of

    creating a bank of exemplar material. The SIG welcomes attendance both from CfBT and

    local English teachers. It would be useful for MSPSBS teachers of ‘O’ Level English to

    attend these sessions. In addition, it would be of great benefit if the MSPSBS teachers of

    English in Upper Secondary were allocated ‘meeting time’ in school at regular junctures

    throughout the year to conduct internal moderation and sharing sessions on the teaching

    and assessing of ‘O’ Level English. 

    2)  If Credit pass rates are to be maximised and the highest possible number of top grades

    achieved, it would be worth considering a more ‘flexible’ Upper Secondary programme  -

    one in which students, especially boys, are given the option to defer taking their ‘O’ LevelEnglish until the end of Year 11. This would allow for greater progression, especially in the

    development of Reading skills in boys, that would lead to better final grades and higher

    numbers of Credits overall.

    3)  More ‘boy-friendly’ teaching approaches need to be implemented across the

    department. In line with the recommendations from Emma Roberts’ UK-based study

    (2010) into boys’ achievement, this would entail: 

    a.  Improving boys’ strategic skills, through lots of activities that involve planning 

    answers to tasks (as opposed to activities where they just keep producing full-

    length answers). Repeated practice in planning an answer also raises their

    awareness of how to address the success criteria.

    b.  Offering regular practice in time-management (writing answers - or parts ofanswers - in an authentic time limit), to encourage implementation of their

    acquired strategic skills in a successful way.

    c.  Use of a wide range of AfL activities, where the ‘decoding’ of the success criteria

    is made explicit - through the scrutiny of high quality exemplar material, valid

    peer and self assessment, and the translation of mark schemes into ‘student-

    speak’. 

    d.  Avoiding an approach to skills development (especially writing) where repeated

    ‘redrafting’ is required; boys do not like being asked to redraft - it feels like

    you’re asking them to write something with the expectation that their first

    version will be a failure, and this is extremely demotivating for boys. Instead, put

    in lots of AfL-style teaching on the skills required before they start to write theirown piece, and, if necessary, suggest adjustments and improvements during the

    drafting process - not at the end of it.

    e.  Introducing an element of competition into English lessons. Boys like the

    challenge of a competitive atmosphere, so try to build in activities that offer

    opportunities for this. ‘Naming-and-praising’ is very motivating, but be aware

    that ‘naming-and-shaming’ is not, so devise competitions that will highlight

    success and excellence.

    f.  Offering boys the opportunity to work collaboratively. It is often assumed that

    boys work best independently, but this is not necessarily the case. Offering boys

    the opportunity to collaborate on a venture, or to discuss ideas and responses

    with other before committing their own ideas to paper, are very good strategiesto use in helping boys to produce good quality pieces of work.

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    4)  A whole-school Homework Timetable is needed to ensure a fair and even distribution of

    homework from subject teachers; this is to be fair both to subject teachers and to the

    students, as it would prevent any one department from being able to monopolise the

    students’ evening study time, and would also allow all departments to plan their

    scheduling of homework more easily in advance. This would help promote better time-

    management skills in the students themselves, and allow teachers, tutors and parents to

    monitor students’ completion of homework more effectively. In addition, a ‘homework

    amnesty’ during periods of intense internal assessments (e.g. towards the ends of each

    term) and during the run-up to the June and November ‘O’ Levels would allow students

    the chance to focus of preparing for these particular assessments, and not have to worry

    about completing less pressing pieces of work.

    5)  There are concerns about the impact of Tuition on the students’ progress and

    performance in English. The possibility has already been mooted here that long periods of

    time spent attending Tuition after school could be impacting on students’ ability to

    complete their regular school homework. In addition, there have been instances where

    students have been taught things by their Tuition teachers that are inaccurate; for

    example, one Yr10 student was given completely inaccurate information by her Tuition

    teacher about how to compose a formal letter, which, luckily, her English teacher here was

    able to rectify before the ‘O’ Level exam. A study into precisely what impact Tuition has

    on achievements in English would be very interesting, especially given that so many of

    the MSPSBS students seem to attend extra tuition classes.

    6)  Remedial Classes: This year, the Admin timetabled remedial classes for many subjects in

    the afternoons. Although the scheduling of these extra sessions was appreciated by the

    English Department, the timing of them - 3pm to 4pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays -

    meant they were almost entirely useless as an opportunity to facilitate learning in the

    students who attended. This is because, by the time the students arrived for their extra

    English class, they had been at school for seven and a half hours already! Without

    exception, they arrived exhausted and ‘brain-dead’, and eager to go home. In addition,

    attendance at these sessions was erratic, and so there was limited continuity from one

    session to another. In view of this, it is unlikely that the Remedial classes this year had the

    level of impact the department had hoped for. In future, therefore, if Remedial classes

    are offered by the English Department, they will need to be scheduled for far earlier in

    the day, before the students become too tired and over-loaded. 

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     APPENDIX

    YEAR 9 & MA4: END-OF-YEAR ENGLISH EXAM REVIEW

    The purpose of this exercise is for you to reflect on your performance in the recent English exams (Paper 1

    and Paper 2), and to understand clearly how you could improve your performance next time by identifying

    some ‘targets for improvement’ for yourself. 

    Please think carefully about the following statements, and CIRCLE, HIGHLIGHT or UNDERLINE the ones

    that you think apply to you.

    PRIOR TO THE EXAMS

      I was unsure about what to revise for one/both papers

      I was unsure about what sorts of revision activities would be beneficial to me

      I am unsure what ‘Writing skills’ are, and so did not go into Paper 1 with a clear idea of

    what I was being asked to show I could do

      I am unsure what ‘Reading skills’ are, and so did not go into Paper 2 with a clear idea of

    what I was being asked to show I could do

      I am unsure about how to choose and how to form correct verb tenses

      I am unsure about how to choose appropriate vocabulary for different contexts

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    PAPER 1: WRITING

    SECTION 1 – Directed Writing *delete as appropriate 

      I spent too long/too little time* on this writing task (you should have spent approx

    40mins on it)

      I was unsure about the requirements of this particular task – who my audience

    was/what the purpose of the piece was/what the conventions of a newspaper report

    are/what sort of language would be appropriate*

      I didn’t cover all of the bullet points. This was because… 

      I wrote too much/too little* for the task. This was because … 

      I wasted precious time by counting the number of words I had used

    SECTION 2 – Creative Writing *delete as appropriate 

      I spent too long/too little time* on this writing task (you should have spent approx

    50mins on it)

      I am unsure about what type of ‘creative writing’ I am best at – discursive, descriptive or

    narrative – and so didn’t use this as the basis for my choice of task in Section 2 

      I am unsure of what strategies I could have used in my chosen task type in order to have

    produced a really successful piece of writing

      I knew what strategies I could have used, I just didn’t use them on this occasion. This

    was because

      I was unsure about the requirements of the particular task I chose – who my audience

    was/what the purpose of the piece was/what the conventions of the task type I chose

    are/what sort of language would be appropriate*

      I didn’t plan my answer before I began to write. This is because I don’t know how to

    plan/I didn’t have time to plan* 

      I wrote too much/too little* for the task. This was because

      I wasted precious time by counting the number of words I had used

    WRITING: ACTION POINTS

    If you are to avoid making the same mistakes again in the real ‘O’ Level exams, you need

    to do something about the things you have picked out. Identify THREE clear and precise

    things that you are going to take responsibility for – and actually DO! – before March,

    that will make a real, measurable difference to your performance in the Writing paper:

    1. 

    2. 

    3. 

    Now, get your teacher to check what you have written, and sign this review sheet to indicate

    that your action points are appropriate.

    Teacher’s signature: _________________________________ 

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    PAPER 2: READING

    SECTION 1 – Reading for Ideas *delete as appropriate

      I spent too long/too little time* on this section of the paper (you should have spent

    approx 50mins on it)

      I didn’t fully understand the text

      I was unsure what the questions actually wanted me to do, and didn’t know how to

    ‘decode’ them 

      I was unsure how to work out how much I should write for some/all of the questions in

    this section

      I was unsure how to use the details from the text to help me answer the questions (Did I

    have to copy something out? Put it into my own words? etc)

      I was unsure how to identify the ‘main points’ from the text 

      I am unsure about how to create a summary from my list of bullet-pointed main ideas

    SECTION 2 – Reading for Meaning *delete as appropriate

      I spent too long/too little time* on this section of the paper (you should have spent

    approx 50mins on it)

      I didn’t fully understand the text 

      I was unsure what the questions actually wanted me to do, and didn’t know how to

    ‘decode’ them 

      I was unsure how to work out how much I should write for some/all of the questions in

    this section

      I was unsure how to use the details from the text to help me answer the questions (Did I

    have to copy something out? Put it into my own words? etc)

      I wasn’t clear about the meaning of the vocabulary in the last question, and I don’t know

    what strategies I could have used to work out their meanings correctly

    READING: ACTION POINTS

    If you are to avoid making the same mistakes again in the real ‘O’ Level exams, you need

    to do something about the things you have picked out. Identify THREE clear and precise

    things that you are going to take responsibility for – and actually DO! – before March,

    that will make a real, measurable difference to your performance in the Reading paper:

    4. 

    5. 

    6. 

    Now, get your teacher to check what you have written, and sign this review sheet to indicate

    that your action points are appropriate.

    Teacher’s signature: _________________________________

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    2011 JOURNAL WRITING:

    STILL BABBLING ON

    Linda Galbraith, CfBT, SM SMJA, [email protected] 

    Journal writing in 2011 was a little more challenging for students and the teacher as there were

    four classes, two year 9 and two year 10 classes, with a total of 140 students. For all the students

    it was their first experience of journal writing. Further complicating the process was thereduction from seven to six English lessons a week putting some pressure on everyone to cover

    all areas of the English scheme of work. Each class completed ten entries including a reflection of

    the process over three terms. No journal writing was done in fourth term due to the exam time-

    table.

    It was time consuming to read all the entries but extremely worthwhile for the students and for

    the teacher who was given insights into the lives of her students about their dreams, their fears,

    their favourite places, their activities, their tastes in music, their use of the internet, their movie

    viewing and the important people in their lives, finishing with their thoughts and feelings aboutthe journal writing process. Some entries were written in class and some were written at home.

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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    Those done in class were to develop the habit of completing a task in a given time. Students

    tended to write more in the entries done at home.

    The journal is a book and as such each student decorated the cover, and did both a title page

    and a contents page. The framework was established and the work of writing began in first term.

    The template was very useful for all students giving the least able ones a format to follow and

    the most able a springboard from which to be adventurous with language and ideas. Some of

    the books became works of art in themselves reflecting the creative talents of the authors. Many

    students in 9A4 (twenty eight boys, eight girls) did not have the resources for making a cover so

    the teacher provided Flight magazines and some Golf  magazines which enabled the boys to

    design interesting covers using words and pictures from these magazines.

     A Bit about Me (1)

    This was the first entry and as such was “a bit” short with students perhaps a bit reluctant to

    write too much about themselves so they mainly said who was in their family and what sports

    they played. Some described themselves as “shy” others as “cute” while others wrote they were

     just “normal.” 

     Someone Important To Me (2)

    The list of people who are “important” is shown in the table. Mothers are the top, followed by

    Siblings and Best Friends.

    Someone Important to Me

    10A 10E 9S3 9A4 Total

    Mother 8 12 8 8