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Using Body Gestures To Improve Reading Words with Diphthongs among Year 2 Bestari in SK
Beluru
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of The Study
In most ESL classrooms, recent changes in reading instruction have included a movement away
from the traditional skill-based approach to what has been termed reading through phonics
(Roach, 2000). However, many question the effectiveness in the traditional approach as
compared to the new and hip approach which is practiced worldwide as being termed as the
whole language approach.
The common element of these reading approaches is still focus on teaching of English
grapheme-phoneme correspondence to read and write alphabetically (decoding and encoding).
Thus, for most ESL teachers, early and systematic emphasis on decoding leads to better
achievement than less systematic phonics instruction. Although most studies on beginning
reading provide strong evidence that explicit teaching of phonics improves word identification in
reading (Chall, 2007), they say little about the differences in ways of learning phonics under the
various kinds of reading instruction. Various lines of research demonstrate that children do not
need intensive phonics instruction to develop the functional command of letter or sound patterns
that they need as readers (Weaver, 2000). It is assumed that embedded phonics instruction in
the context of reading authentic literature and invented spelling may be as effective as other
forms of phonics instruction (Freppon, Dahl, 2007).

1.2 Context
For practicum phase three, I was placed in SK Beluru, Kuala Kangsar, Perak. The school was
located in a sub-rural area in Kuala Kangsar. The school was equipped with basic facilities. The
school compound was small because it was situated in a remote area but the administration and
the school staffs has done a good job in maintaining the school in a good condition. SK Beluru
was categorized as a Grade B school because of the inadequate facilities. There were about
168 pupils that went to the school and all the pupils were Malays.
I was assigned to teach English Language to the Year 2 Bestari, which had a total
enrolment of 29 pupils. The class consists of 21 boys and 8 girls. The range of the pupils age is
from 7 to 8 years old. The duration of my service as their English teacher was three months
starting from 25th January 2016 until 29th April 2016. This school only had one class for each
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standard due to the minimum number of pupils enrolment for each standard. Since this is the
only class for Year 2, I had mixed abilities pupils in my classroom. So far, I had experienced
mild problems in terms of attitude, behaviour and classroom management. For this class, I have
identified that the pupils were very active and kinaesthetic learners. Unfortunately, most of the
pupils have short attention span in learning. They able to participate actively in the lesson and
shows readiness in learning during my class. However, my students have problems in terms of
reading skill to articulate words with diphthongs.
The pupils levels of proficiencies were ranging from average to weak. I did a minor
background check from the 2 Bestari classroom teacher and found out that, most of the pupils
came from nearby villages which near the palm and rubber plantations. Generally, the pupils
parents worked as farmers, plumbers, rubber tappers, grocers and teachers. They worked from
early morning and they had no time to look at their childrens development in school. Some of
the pupils parents were not concern about their children development in school. This could be
the possible reasons that demotivate the pupils in learning.
Besides the parents involvement in learning, some of the pupils also having severe
discipline problems. One of my pupils likes to steal things from her classmates and sometimes
the teachers. This issue has been raised up to the school authorities to be taken serious action.
Other than that, I had 6 pupils who were remedial pupils and in need of serious attention on the
learning. They were involved with the school LINUS programme, however, the school does not
offered LINUS remedial programme for English Language. Hence, I as the English Language
teacher had to prepare a different set of activities and worksheet for the particular pupils.
I also noticed that the pupils had a very high absentees and sometimes they were
absent for almost a week. This shows that some of their parents did not really stress on their
childrens school attendance. I could also see that some of the pupils had low motivation
towards learning especially in English subject as the English teacher told me that the pupils
barely did their homework. The teachers of the school also told me that most pupils come to
school just to play with their friends.
The next troublesome issue is the pupils reading especially in phonics. For the purpose
of this research, I narrowed down the scope to the sound of vowels. The pupils often encounter
problem when the word contains two same vowel sounds next to each other. There is a long e,
then a schwa that sounds like short u sound. According to Roach (2010), schwa has no distinct
sound of its own. When there are two vowel sounds next to each other in a word, native
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speakers add a very quick w sound or y sound between the vowels. Take for example the word
idea, my pupils tend read the word as i-de-aa as three syllables words. I need to help the
pupils to be able to blend one vowel sound into the next, which is not permitted in Malay
Language. Failure in doing so, the pupils tend to add a glottal stop between the vowels. A glottal
stop is the sound in the middle of word. The pronunciation was incorrect and sound choppy.
The influence of the pupils mother tongue, in this case is Malay Language, the pupils
had problem in reading words with diphthongs especially the word made up of same vowels.
For Malay Language, the pronunciation and spelling were direct and simple. But for English
Language, the pronunciation and articulation of the vowel depending on the blending of the
vowel sounds in the words. Cruttenden (2001) mentioned in his book Gimsons pronunciation of
English (6th edition), that American speakers have about sixteen vowels (though some have
fewer), and British speakers may have about twenty vowels, though there may be more
depending on the recent research done by linguists.
1.3 Reflection of Past Teaching and Learning
1.3.1 SK Ho Seng Ong, Ipoh
I was teaching in SK Ho Seng Ong, Ipoh for my first practicum. SK Ho Seng Ong was located in
housing area in Taman Canning, Ipoh. It is a semi-urban school where the school was equipped
with basic facilities like library and computer laboratory. I was assigned to teach 4 Budi class
with fifteen pupils, aged between 10 11 years old. I taught them English Language for the
whole duration of the practicum, which was 4 weeks to be exact. The proficiency levels among
the pupils in the class were low to average and most of them cannot read well in English.
Besides that, the pupils had not exposed to English other than English language class in school.
In the classroom, the pupils were actively participated in English lesson. They like to
answers my questions although some of their answers were incorrect. During reading lessons, I
noticed that the pupils like to read loudly despite their incorrect pronunciation. Thus, I had to
correct the pupils pronunciation right away so that the errors will not be fossilized. When
reading the words with short and long vowels, the pupils tend to mixed up the pronunciation. I
had to use gestures and intonation so that my pupils able to discriminate the long and short
vowel. Majority of 4 Budi pupils were Indian, they spoke their native language even during
English Language class. I had to establish rules pertaining English Speaking Zone so that the
pupils will try to communicate using English during English Language class.

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Through repetition and drilling, most of the 4 Budi pupils able to read words with long
and short vowel correctly. Besides that, I always add the element of sound like songs and jazz
chant to reinforce the phonemic awareness to the pupils. According to Balkin (2009), songs and
jazz chant were useful as a tool to expose the pupils with phonics. Although the pupils had
major difficulties in reading, I am always impressed by the pupils determination in learning.
They exhibit readiness in learning and shows interest to learn new things.
1.3.2 SK Raja Perempuan Ipoh
For second phase of practicum, I was assigned to teach English Language to Year 4 Amanah in
SK Raja Perempuan, Ipoh. The school was located in the main city of Ipoh which had
congested traffic roadway during peak hours. Based on the pupils socio background, most of
the pupils came from high-educated families like lecturers, doctor and even high-positioned
government officer. I had 25 pupils and all of them were girls. Their ages were range from 10 to
11 years old. 4 Amanah was the first class in Standard 4. Thus, the levels of proficiencies were
ranged from average to advance.
Year 4 Amanah also had a good reputation in school. Most of the pupils were school
prefect and holds high positions in Co-curriculum activities. There also quite a few number of
the SK Raja Perempuan teachers daughters were placed in 4 Amanah. Therefore, I had no
trouble in managing Year 4 Amanah. Most of my English Language lessons were running
smoothly. However, I need to carefully select my activities for 4 Amanah. I need to design
activities which are challenging yet achievable for 4 Amanah pupils. The 4 Amanah pupils had
no difficulties in receptive skills like reading and listening. However, they faced some difficulties
in mastering English Language productive skills like speaking and writing. This issue drove me
to sharpen what they have been lacking of. I have utilized communicative-approach and taskbased approach which require the pupils to be more active in producing literary work in English.
There also the emerging of minor pronunciation problems during reading session. For
the purpose of this proposal, I am focussing on their pronunciation to sounding of diphthongs
sounds. Therefore, I often did model reading session before I instructed the pupils to do pair
reading or whole-class reading. The pupils often confused which word should be articulated
longer or shorter. As a reinforcement, I also planned a role-play activity where the pupils can
use the words they learnt into the dialogue. Since the pupils were quite fluent in English, I just
have to provide the pupils with keywords and situations. Later, the pupils composed their own

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dialogue using the words given. By observing the pupils role-plays, I noticed that they able to
pronounce the word with diphthongs correctly with minimum errors.
Willis J. (2006) stated that, communicative-based activities were proven effective in
enhancing the pupils vocabulary as well as to boost up the pupils confidence in learning.
Besides that, activity which involves dialogue and acting requires the pupils to use their own
imaginations to predict what will happen on the given situation. Thus, this aligned with our new
KSSR principle which is learning should be fun and meaningful.
To summarize my learning experience in teaching English Language, teaching phonics
in context and through discussion and collaborative activities seems to be effective with the
advanced learner. Additionally, more intensive and systematic teaching of phonemic awareness
and phonics skills can be provided in daily tutorial sessions for children who appear to need it-either within the classroom, or in pull-out programs (Baumell, 2003). Together, such instruction
and support can enable the pupils to develop phonological and phonics skills. Furthermore,
most of the pupils in classrooms where skills are taught in the context of reading and writing
whole texts learn to read for meaning and get a better start on becoming proficient and
independent readers of texts, not mere word-callers (Dahl & Freppon, 2007)
As for teacher, I found out that there is no one-size fit all. The teacher should be flexible
and able to cater the pupils need in learning. Take for example the two schools that I have been
to for practicum phase one and two; SK Ho Seng Ong and SK Raja Perempuan. Although the
pupils have the same range of ages, but their level of proficiency in English were differ in a great
amount. It requires the teachers effort to make the learning to become meaningful and
purposeful so that the pupils will be motivated to learn English inside and outside the classroom.
1.4 Preliminary Investigation
Based on the problems faced by the pupils, I carried out preliminary investigation to identify the
root cause of the problem. The identification of the root cause determines whether the problem
is within my capabilities as English Language teacher to rectify the problem.
Based on my observation, I found out that most of 2 Bestari pupils cannot read fluently
basic sight words that they have learnt in Standard One. The pupils still grasping to guess the
sound of the particular words. Before getting into the essence of the lesson, I have planned a
pre-reading activity which involves the reader to familiarize themselves to the words shown.
Especially the words with two or three syllables like visit and holiday. I introduced the words
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before getting into reading stage. This is to relate the pupils prior knowledge. Besides that, I
often use the repetition and drilling method in introducing the vocabulary so that the new words
will be permanent, hence, can be used for further activity on the lesson.
Besides classroom observation and checklist form, I also checked the pupils works like
their workbook and exercise book. According to Ur (2006), evidence of pupils learning can take
many forms, and the most useful are those in which the teacher can demonstrate quite clearly
the developments in the pupils understanding. The pupils activity books were one of the proven
evidence that the pupils havent master reading and phonics to a satisfactory level. Refer to
Appendix 1.
Based on the pupils exercise book, the pupils unable to distinguish the word with same
vowel sound when segmenting or blending the sound. Most of the pupils got below 3 out of 5
correct answer for this questions. This question is highly related to reading activity and phonics
where it also relates to the pupils reading fluency. This evidence exhibit a stronger position to
support my conclusion.
By having field notes, I also noticed that reading difficulties often emerging during
individual reading session. During whole-class reading session, the problem were less obvious
because some of the pupils can read basic words fluently but happen to face difficulties in
reading words with diphthongs. My reflection entry on the first week mentioned that my pupils
have not yet possessed the skill of blending and segmenting the phonics sound. This evidence
is significant as it emerge in every reading lesson. The pupils unable to read and pronounce the
word that contains diphthongs correctly and I have to correct them each time the pupils read the
particular word. This encourages me to help the pupils to gain phonemic awareness especially
in articulation of diphthongs in English Language.

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2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

2.1 Research Investigation
The research conducted focussing on the problem in reading words with diphthongs. Body
gestures methods are expected to enhance the pupils understanding and mastery of reading
skill, especially in the issue of phonics awareness. Even though I detected many problems
faced by my pupils, I will focus this research to problems in reading skill which is reading words
with diphthongs.
Based on the prior teaching and learning sessions conducted, I found that the pupils
shows less interest in learning English. This could be one of the cause of the problem occurs.
The problem became more apparent based on the observation and reading exercises
conducted. The pupils unable to read basic sight words correctly without error in articulating the
diphthongs. This often happened when the pupils encounter words with same vowel next to
each other. The pupils often read with direct translation from Malay Language.
Chall discovered that children that learn to read by using the phonics approach showed
greater achievement in word recognition as well as reading comprehension (Chall, 2007).
Flesch (2007) supported the finding by claiming that children who learn phonics first can read
more words at the end of their first grade as compared to the look and say learners. Flesch
further explained that those children who learn to read by the latter method rely much on the
pictures and context clues so that they dont learn the mechanics of learning to read as it is
often a guessing game (Flesch, 2007). Baird (2006) state that a phonemic awareness approach
was claimed to be superior to the whole language, as the whole language readers who are
taught to read words and stories begin with the same steps of children who learn to read by
using the phonics based approach. Chall (2007) observed that most teachers agree that
childrens acquisition of phonics skills is a vital part of learning to read. They concur that
children who start slowly in acquiring decoding skills rarely become strong readers (Flesch,
2007).

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2.2 Plan of Action

2.2.1 Action Research Model
For this research, I have chosen the Kurt Lewin (1946) Action Research model. The following
table describes the concept of Kurt Lewin Action Research model:

Figure 1: Kurt Lewin Research Model (1946)

Kurt Lewin Research Model (1946) used when the problems were identified. Kurt Lewin
explained that the action research consists of four stages in a cycle, starting with planning
followed by action, observation and reflection. The cycle can be repeated until the problems
encountered can finally resolve.
2.2.2 Approaches and Theories Related to Reading Skill (Phonics)
There is a belief that stated most children will learn to read no matter what method of instruction
is used (Baumell, 2003). However, if children are struggling with this literacy skill since the early
age, the negative impact will affect the other cognitive skills in listening, speaking and writing.
Reading has long been considered as the essential skill that children need to learn. Once the
children acquire the reading skill, they will be able to obtain any information from any reading
materials as well as to enjoy the literature read. Thus, there have been debates over the best
method to teach children the reading skill. Figure 2 discusses the reading instruction which can
be referred to three types of language instruction; whole language approach, whole word
approach, phonics-based approach.

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Figure 2: Reading Instruction Approaches

The whole language proponents also claim that phonetic decoding skills are essential for
fluent reading as the skills are learned through reading experience (Smith, 2008). This shows
that the whole language proponents believe that phonetic decoding skills should be acquire by
early readers but in an explicit ways rather than teaching the phonetics skill as an isolated skill.
However, the question often arises on the effectiveness of using the decoding skills in reading
because its lacks of meaningful literature. According to Flesch (2007), through phonics ones can
learn the natural system of learning how to read. For years, researches have shown that
people learned to read by memorizing letters and sounds with much ease by phonics approach.
As time goes by, the teaching of reading word by word had claimed to become tedious, boring
and primitive. It resembled the time when people had to memorize pictures and symbols for
words (Flesch, 2007).
2.2.3 The Intervention (Body Gestures Technique)
For this research, I have chosen body gestures as the intervention to the pupils reading
problem. Body gesture in this context is also known as kinesthetic learning. Kinesthetic learning
deals with body and movement, learning and knowing through physical activity and motion.
Simple strategies can make better use of the whole brain and can dramatically improve learning
and performance skills.
Rohwer (2006) investigated various kinds of associative mnemonics in young children
and found that the best connective for remembering words were meaningful "actor-actionobject" relationships." (Ehri, Deffner, & Wilce, 2004, p. 881) Further research (Fleming & Stern,
2000) supports, "The tactile-receptive systems of the hands provide for another access to the
hemispheres

...

The

consistent

results

of

the

various

investigations

may warrant

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recommendation that the right hemisphere ... should be directly stimulated in order to improve
(student's) accuracy and efficiency in reading and spelling" (p. 358).
Because there is nothing inherent in the visual symbol of a letter that suggests its name
or sound, one must develop that "something" that causes the child to make the letter/sound
connections. (Ehri, 1984) If pictures are used that relate to the sounds of the letters and the
child's modalities are used to learn and remember the sounds, these techniques will provide a
safety net for memory and retrieval. Without connections there will be no understanding.
Without understanding, there is no retention, usage or transference.
When implementing the intervention, I should bear in mind that simply showing the
words, performing the gesture once or twice by the teacher is not going to get it done. It is
imperative that I give my pupils the opportunity to teach and discuss with other pupils. The key
is for the kids to verbalize (output for the pupils) the sounds and perform gestures. According to
Annie (2009), young learners need massive amounts of repetition when learning sounds; the
gestures and activities make learning the sounds fun and help keep the students actively
engaged. By having pupils work in small groups, I am encouraging them to take risks they
would never take if they had to speak in a whole group setting. Along with list of words and
gestures for each sound, I have included fun activities to introduce diphthongs to 2 Bestari.
3.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
3.1 Research Objectives
The objective of this action research is to:
i.

Improve reading words with diphthongs among Year 2 Bestari in SK Beluru using body

ii.

gestures.
Using body gestures to help in teaching reading words with diphthongs.

3.2 Research Questions

The question of this action research is to:
i.

Does using body gestures help in improve reading words with diphthongs among Year 2

ii.

Bestari in SK Beluru?
How does using body gestures can help in teaching reading words with diphthongs?

4.0 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

Through a randomized selection procedure, I have selected five participants for this research.
The participants were well matched in terms of age, gender, academic levels and reading
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fluency scores. The selected participants were Year 2 Bestari pupils, members of same class in
a same school, located in sub-urban area in Kampung Beluru, Kuala Kangsar. The participants
come from nearly identical in terms of socio-economic and ethnic background. At the beginning
of the school year, all the pupils which are similar in the age (the average is 8) is placed in one
classroom since the numbers of the pupils were only fit for one classroom only. The language
proficiency was varied; weak, average and advanced level. I devoted between 5 to 6 hours per
week of teaching English Language to 2 Bestari class.
The five participants, three boys and two girls were selected from 2 Bestari in SK Beluru,
in the Kuala Kangsar district. All the participants are Malay-only speaker, and had no prior
history of vision or hearing problems. The five participants were narrowed from a group of 29
Year 2 Bestari pupils who were enrolled in a mixed abilities class. The parents of all the
participants reported their child experiencing academic difficulties, mostly related to problems
with reading. In the month prior to the commencement of this study each participant was given a
progress monitoring assessment for oral reading fluency as part of an on-going English reading
lesson.
5.0 RESEARCH PLANNING AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Implementation of Action Plan
This action research was conducted to improve five pupils of Year 2 Bestari to read words with
diphthongs correctly. I intend to spend five days to carry out this study. During the five days I
have made careful planning to ensure that my action plan will be implemented smoothly. In
order to improve the pupils reading skill, I decided to use body gestures as the intervention to
improve the pupils reading. The intervention (using body gestures to improve reading), will be
implemented during one-hour reading lesson. For the purpose of this research, I planned a twodays interventions where the intervention will be implement for two days in reading lessons. The
rationale of this alternative is to strengthen the skills and knowledge that the pupils have learnt.
Besides that, I have identified that my pupils were ranged from average to low proficiency in
English Language. Thus, I need to have more than one day lesson in order to make the pupils
understand and applied the method taught for further reading activities.
The intervention will be implemented as a whole-class approach. Although I will need
only 5 participants for the intervention, it is unethical if the focus only towards the selected
participants. Therefore, the intervention will be done as a normal lesson where the teacher will
teach the whole class with no biasness towards the selected participant or otherwise.
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on what I have planned, the intervention will be imposed on the second week of internship
period. The action plan is shown in Figure 3;

Figure 3: Action Plan

5.1.1 Pre-Intervention Reading Test
The Pre-Intervention Reading test will be administered to determine whether the pupils can read
words with diphthongs correctly or otherwise. Based on the pre-intervention reading test, the
pupils prior problems will be detected and analysed.
5.1.2 Step One: Explanation of body gestures technique
The intervention, using the body gestures to improve the pupils reading, will be implemented on
presentation as well as practice stage. During presentation stage, the pupils will be taught on
body gestures (bending forward and backward) and produce certain diphthong sounds. The
teacher will demonstrate the example and the pupils will follow. During the intervention on the
presentation stage, the teacher will use 5 words that contain the certain diphthong sounds. The
teacher shows the words using flash cards and reads it. Then, the teacher will bend (whether
backward or forward, depending on the word used) and say the word out loud. The pupils will
only need to follow the teachers actions and instructions.
5.1.3 Step Two: Pupils Experimentation with body gestures
During practice stage, the teacher will use the same flash cards and only reads it to the pupils.
Then the pupils will need to show the correct body gestures for the word in the flash cards. The

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pupils might use try-and-error methods before get the correct answer. The teacher will observe
the pupils reactions and responses.
5.1.4 Step Three: Implementation of body gestures technique for group work activity
For production stage, the body gestures technique will be implemented for group work activity. I
will groups the 2 Bestari pupils to five different groups. The flash cards contains words with
diphthongs will be used as teaching aid for this stage. Each group will be given a set jumbled up
letter. I will instruct each group to form a word based on my instructions. Before form the word,
the pupils are instructed to apply the body gestures techniques that they have learnt.
5.1.5 Step Four: Sing Along Nursery Rhymes
Lastly, for closure, I have planned a sing along activity for 2 Bestari pupils. The rationale of
having nursery rhymes is to strengthen the pupils knowledge on diphthongs sounds by using
musical element. Most of my 2 Bestari pupils were musical learners; they loved when I use
songs during my lesson. From there, I decided to use nursery rhymes at the end of the lesson.
5.1.6 Post-Intervention Reading Test
Then, I will administer Post-Intervention Reading Test to see the effectiveness of body gestures
technique. The test will be conducted after the intervention implemented. The same reading test
content that were used for pre-intervention test will be used for post-intervention test. The postintervention reading test will be evaluated individually.
5.2 Data Collection Methods
In this research, I will use three types of instruments for collecting data as well as data and
information. The selected instruments are as follows:
i. Pre and post Intervention Test
ii. Observations
iii. Documents Analysis
5.2.1 Pre and Post-Intervention Test
Based on Work Schedule (Appendix 2), the pre-intervention test will be administered on the first
contact week and post-intervention test will be administered on the third contact week. I decided
to use pre and post intervention due to its suitability for quantitative data analysis. The test was
carried out to test the pupils understandings on particular topics (Goh, 2012). I intend to use two
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sets of similar test question which is before and after the intervention (pre and post-intervention
test). The test will be in a form reading test (refer to Appendix 3). This is to test the pupils
mastery of sounds, their confidence in sounding out words and their competence in reading
aloud. The Pre-intervention reading test will be conducted to find out the pupils confidence level
and how much they know. The same test (Post-Intervention reading test) will be conducted
again after the intervention to measure the pupils change in performance and confidence level.
The results for the pre and post-intervention test will be analyzed and presented in tables and
diagrams. The results then compared to see the percentage and the percentage increase in
both these tests.

5.2.2 Observation
Observation is one of the best instruments that can be used to collect data for qualitative
data .The observations will be conducted during the on-going lesson to check and jot down the
pupils progress, their problems and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. A simple
checklist is used to monitor the pupils progress during the research period and field note is
used to record every development shown by the pupils. There are few criteria that will be
assessed based on observation made. The observation instruments will be structuredobservation where I had pre-planned the criteria that need to be assessed. The observation
method has high reliability and validity if conducted properly and systematically while observed
by non-participating observer (Cresswell, 2014).

5.2.3 Document Analysis

Besides having pre and post intervention test and observation, I will also use technical analysis
to obtain qualitative data. Collection of data and information from this document allows me to
add, compare and strengthen the data obtained from observation and pre post intervention test.
Documents like post-lesson reflection and journal entry will be analyzed to review the changes
and development of shapes, patterns, trends as well as to provide evidence to support the
validity of the pre and post intervention test and observation techniques.
According to Cresswell (2014), post-lesson reflection is written evidence of the teachers
inner voice as the teacher contemplates before, during and after the lesson. The write-ups are
invaluable in enriching the research data. The post-lesson reflection appended in Appendix 8 is
the reflection before the intervention begins. Besides that, I will analyse the journal entry before
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the implementation of the intervention. The journal entry (Appendix 9) is evidence that the pupils
faced problem with reading. The written journal emphasized on the learning through questioning
and investigations to help the teacher to have better insight of pupils with reading problem.
5.3 Data Analysis Methods
Initially, as I have gathering the necessary data, the next step is the process of analysing the
data. All the raw data collected during the research will be analysed and interpreted. The data
analysis are as follows;
i.
ii.
iii.

Pre-Post Intervention Test Analysis

Observation Analysis
Document Analysis

5.3.1 Pre-post Intervention Test Analysis

I intend to analyse the scores from the pre and post-intervention reading test and present the
data in the form of percentages in table. According to Goh (2012), descriptive statistics
presented quantitative data in measures like percentages. The data are arranged in this way to
facilitate me in data interpretation to answer the research question. This is because I intend to
interpret the changes of scores from both tests as an indicator that the intervention has
succeeded to help the pupils in improving reading words with long vowels correctly. Hence, the
different scores would provide information to show how each respondents performance has
improved based on the test scores. (Cresswell, 2014). For instance, when comparing both
scores, if the scores in post-intervention test are higher than the scores in pre-intervention test,
this proves that the intervention has worked in helping the pupils to solve their reading problem
in articulating the long vowel. On the other hand, if there are no changes of scores or if the
scores from the post-intervention test decreased, this illustrated that the intervention did not
went well on the pupils. The results of the pre and post will be analyzed in terms of scheduling
marks and plotting graphs. Pupils Record Form is appended in appendix 6.
5.3.2 Observation Analysis
Maturity can be seen when a research has validity and reliability (Laurence,2011). Therefore, I
include observation checklist form to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention to the pupils.
For observational data, I use the structured checklist. The checklist will be given to nonparticipate observer while the intervention being implemented. The checklist data then will be
summarized, compared and interpreted. The observation checklist is appended in appendix 7.

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5.3.3 Document Analysis

On the other hand, qualitative data analysis requires coding, coding is the process of examining
the words, phrases, sentences, or paragraph in the text for pertinent information related to the
research and assign different codes or labels. According to Cresswell (2014), the coding
process based on the collected data allows the researcher to form categories of the findings and
aid the researcher in writing out the results. In order to answer my research question, I intend to
use post-lesson reflection (Appendix 4) and journal entry (Appendix 5). The raw data will be
categorised based on themes. I decided to make my qualitative data analysis based on the
content which also known as content analysis. The data collected will be examined thoroughly
and the important details that pertain to my research question will be highlighted. The related
themes, ideas, and terms will be extracted from the documents (post-lesson reflection and
journal entry). Later, I will determine the category or code names for the details found. Lastly,
the relevant sections of data with corresponding category will be label to ease the analysing
process. The codes will be labelled based on the themes, ideas, terms, phrases and keywords
found through post-reflection and journal entry. As I go through the data set, the number of code
will evolve and grow as more themes become apparent. By doing this, it will provide an in-depth
overview of the performances of the participants and help me to illustrate on ways the
intervention helped them to improved reading words with long vowels.
5.4 Data Collection Considerations
According to Cresswell (2014), triangulation is the process of corroborating evidence from
different types of data or methods of data collection in descriptions and themes in qualitative
research. Pre-Intervention Test and Post-Intervention Test, observations and document analysis
are triangulated to increase the validity and to reduce the like hood of errors in the findings
when similar results are analysed from many sources. By doing this, it will provide an accurate
measurement of the scale in the performances of the participants and help me to illustrate on
ways the intervention helped them to improved their reading on words that have diphthongs.
The research requires quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Checklist data,
observation data and document analysis data will be compiled. Each observation will be
summarized and compared in order to draw appropriate conclusions and interpretations. The
post-lesson reflection and journal entry analysis will be grouped and coded to strengthen the
basis of argument. The score of the tests will be recorded and compared to measure the
change of behavior and progression. As mentioned by Goh (2012), triangulation of data that

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involves combination of methods will reduce biasness and increase confidence in reporting
research, clearer and more understanding on the issue.
5.5 Work Schedule
Activity
Meeting the Supervisor and Teacher
Gathering the Initial Data

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Administering Pre-Intervention

Reading Test
Reviewing the Related Literature
Intervention Session

Implementing Body Gesture

Technique
Conducting Observational Data
(Checklist)
Gathering the Final Data

Document Analysis
Administer Post-Intervention

Reading Test
Analyzing and Interpretating Data

Observational Data (Checklist)

Document Analysis
Pre and Post Intervention Reading

Test Results
Reviewing the Report
Finalizing the Action Research Report
Submission of Report

5.6 Estimated Cost

Number

Materials / Items

Price per unit (RM)

17

Unit

Total (RM)

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1.
2.

A4 Paper

RM 11.50
(450 sheet)
RM 5.90

Colour Paper
Ink Printer

4.

Manila Cards

5.

Laminating Films

RM 5.90

RM 29.90

RM 119.60

RM 1.00

RM 5.00

RM 28.00

RM 10.00

RM 28.00
(30 sheet)

6.

Cost of Printing

RM 11.50

(50 sheets)
3.

RM 10.00

RM 180.00

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REFERENCES
1. Annie R. (2009). Reading achievement in first grade classrooms: Phonics
Learning. Reading Improvement 26:323-329
2. Baird, C. (2007). Reading Process and Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
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5. Chall, J. (1967). Learning to read: The great debate. New York: McGraw-Hill
6. Dahl, D., & Freppon. (2007). Wheres the phonics? Making a case (again) for
integrated code instruction. The Reading Teacher, 50, 696-700
7. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. United Kingdom: Pearson
Limited Edition
8. Cruttenden, A. (2001). Gimsons pronunciation of English (6th edition). London:
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Education, 1,1-57
10. Fleming & Stern. (2000). Strategies for developing emergent literacy. Boston:
McGraw
Hill Higher Education Purewal, S. (2008). Synthetic phonics and the literacy
development of second language young learners. University of Leeds. UK
11. Flesch, J. (2007). Phonics vs. whole language: Which is better? Retrieved from
http://wwwsuperkids.com/aweb/pages/features/reading/phonics.shtml
12. Goh, L. H. (2012). A Practical Guide to Writing Your Action Research. Selangor:
Penerbitan Multimedia
13. Lauren (2011). Language, literacy and learning. London: Routledge Kagan Paul
14. Laurence (2001). The Influence of Instructional Supports and Teaching Practices
On Analysing Document. Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publisher

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15. Lewin K. (1946). Basic of Action Research: Retrieved from

http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/reading2.html
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SAGE Publishers.
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edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
18. Rohwer, J. (2006). Importance of Mnemonics. London: Routledge Kagan Paul
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http://explorable.com/pretest-posttest-designs
20. Smith F. (2008). Whole Language Approach. Katonah, NY: Owen
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California
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Longman.

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