USING INTERACTIVE WRITING TO IMPROVE YEAR 5 DEDIKASI IN WRITING

PARAGRAPH
1.0

INTRODUCTION
McDonough and Shaw (2004: pg-152) defined writing as a vehicle for
language practice which communicates the writer's ideas and thought. By having
people to communicate ideas and thought in written form, the process permits their
cognitive development to occur as they able to generate ideas independently and
creatively. The idea is supported by Defazlo & Jones (2010) who says that writing
also encompasses creative inspiration, problem-solving and reflection. In Malaysia,
the KSSR English language syllabus outlines that after six years of primary
schooling, pupils should be able to write a range of texts using appropriate
language, style and form through a variety of media. Thus, this stresses the
importance developing writing skill for primary school pupils.

1.1

REFLECTION ON TEACHING EXPERIENCE

During my attachment to a school in Kuala Lumpur for my second phase of
practicum, I had identified some learning problems encountered by the pupils. The
class consisted of 35 pupils. After I had taught them in few first lessons, I discovered
that the pupils level of proficiency could be classified in two levels: advanced and
intermediate. The pupils were quite competent in reading skill but not in writing. I
found that the previous teacher always made them copy her writing. That is why the
pupils writing skill did not develop. The pupils were struggling in prompting their
thought and ideas to write. They were unable to generate ideas if I asked them to
write about a topic. The ideas that they threw up were minimal and in chunks of
words.
In addition, I also encountered the same problem presently in my third phase
of practicum when the pupils are not able to develop their ideas and thoughts in
writing tasks. In the first week of practicum, before starting the lesson, I conducted a
diagnostic test to see their level of writing. In the writing section I gave a picture of a
situation in classroom with some words as guidance (Appendix II) which is related to
them and is still in their context to ease their process in writing. Contextual learning
helps students transfer knowledge and problem solving skills learned in school to
other life contexts as well as help them prepare for future careers, citizenship, or
continued learning (Lynch et al., 2002). I told them to write as many sentences they
can within 20 minutes. I observed that a few were struggling to write and prompt out
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their ideas on the paper. There were also some who tried to avoid attempting the
task. I marked the test for language and ideas and as expected most of them got low
marks for writing section.
I have also conducted few writing lessons and most of them were guided as I
have to provide few words to help them to have some ideas of what they have to
write. For example, the pupils were tasked to write few sentences based on picture
strips. This kind of writing task is really hard for them and it consumed so much time
and they were unable to complete the task in class. Then, I tried to provide pictures
and added on few words as guidance. The pupils seemed able to write sentences by
referring to the words and pictures and finished their task during the class. However,
when I checked their writing, I could see they were struggling to use the words to
construct sentences and some of them wrote the words back in the space given.
Thus, I realised that the pupils were not ready yet to write independently and
guidance from teacher should be given to them.
1.2

RELATED THEORY/ LITERATURE

In this section, I would talk about the theory and strategy that would be adapted into
this action research.
1.2.1

Vygotsky's Social Constructivist Theory

Another fundamental theory evident in interactive writing is social

constructivism which highlights the idea of scaffolding. As stated by Yang

and Wilson (2006) in their study, scaffolding refers to the support provided
by othersparents, peers, teachers or reference sources such as
dictionaries which enable students to perform increasingly well and achieve
great leaps forward in their language learning. The weak pupils need
scaffold from teacher and peers before they are ready to write
independently. By not giving enough scaffolds, it will lead to frustration and
disappointment for the weak ones to write individually. In addition, this
research adopts one of the most important principles of Vygotsky's work: the
More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) which refers to someone who has a
better understanding or higher ability level than the learners. In interactive
writing, teacher or pupils themselves will be the MKO who will scaffold weak
pupils to present their thoughts to construct sentences. The teacher acts as
the MKO by actively engaging in creating a comfortable social setting in the
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classroom that encourages the learners to interact with each other and
continue to actively make meaningful learning experiences. This kind of
social setting is required by my pupils since the problem of writing alone is a
hindrance to their emerging writing ability.
1.2.2

Collaborative Learning
The theory of social constructivism is related to collaborative learning
which is a process to facilitate the accomplishment of a specific end product
through people working together in groups. (Dooly, 2008). Throughout
interactive writing, pupils in Year 5 Dedikasi able to generate ideas together
as generating ideas may not be that easy for the young learners as they
may not be exposed with certain context and language which become a
barrier for them to present their thoughts. By discussing thoughts and ideas
with their peers and teacher as a facilitator, it allows the students to
brainstorm ideas to write. Yang and Wilson (2006) stated that learning is
both interactive in the sense that learners must interact with sources of
ideas/knowledge in social settings, as well as in the sense that they must
take an active part in reconstructing ideas/knowledge within their own mind.
More importantly, it means that students are responsible for one another's
learning as well as their own and that reaching the goal implies that students
have helped each other to understand and learn. (Dooly, 2008).
Collaboration between pupils and teacher will create positive learning
environment as they motivate each others to contribute ideas on what to
write. Having a positive interaction influences students motivation to learn
as

schoolchildren are able to learn a foreign language well if a teacher

finds a way to activate and encourage their desire to invest effort in the
learning activity. (Ur 2005: pg-286)

2.0

FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION/ ISSUE OF CONCERN

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Writing is definitely a challenging skill to develop in ESL young learners because they
usually do not want to write or find writing unexciting. This is what I observed in my
Year 5 Dedikasi class. The issue of concern is their difficulty to write and present
ideas in writing tasks. Thus, I intend to make my writing class more interactive with a
communicative purpose.
2.1

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Based on some activities that I carried out in class, I found that their
weakest area is in writing. Thus, I am interested to do a research on
encouraging pupils to write using interactive writing. In interactive writing,
pupils not only develop their writing skill but speaking and reading skills as
well. Clay as cited in Button et al. (1991) explained that children are active
constructors of their own language and literacy. Their competence grows as
they gain inner control over constructing meaning from print. This growth
does not take place without environmental support. It is with supportive
instruction that children will develop in language and literacy competence
(Vygotsky, 1962). For my research, I will facilitate the pupils by assisting them
to prompt ideas and thoughts during their writing tasks through interactive
writing strategy.

2.2

Preliminary Investigation
To identify the problem, I conducted a preliminary investigation. I used
three methods which are observation, diagnostic test and interview. I
observed pupils' behaviour during my writing class. I jotted down important
details to identify their problem. To further investigate the problem, an
interview session was carried out with the English teacher. Apart from that, I
also carried out a diagnostic test which helped me to choose the participants.
2.2.1

Observation
During teaching and learning, I observed pupils' behaviour, ability and

interest towards the lesson. I found that the pupils were less interested in
writing lesson as they claimed writing is boring and hard to them.

2.2.2 Interview

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To support the observation, I decided to interview the cooperating

teacher who is the regular English teacher. She shared details about each of
the pupils as she is their class teacher and has been teaching the pupils for 3
consecutive years. There were some problems with regards to proficiency in
the class but she specified that writing is the most difficult skill to teach as the
pupils are not motivated in their writing class. They ended up copying the
teachers sample most of the time. Besides that, she also suggested several
pupils as my target participants which was really helpful as the session gave
me the opportunity to obtain views and opinions from another experienced
teacher regarding the topic that has been chosen. The result of the interview
(Appendix I) helps me to identify my research topic and intervention that I
should carry out to help the pupils.
2.2.3

Diagnostic test
Archuleta (2001) claimed that diagnostic tests measure students'

understanding of a subject area or skills base. She added that the result will
be used to provide remedial instruction.(Archuleta,2001)I carried out two
diagnostic tests to test the pupils' proficiency which will pinpoint the area of
concern. In the first test, pupils needed to answer comprehension questions,
grammar questions, arranging words into a paragraph and constructing
sentences by referring to a picture. (The writing section is appended in
Appendix II) After narrowing down on skill that I want to focus in my
intervention, I carried out the second test which was writing about their
holiday. In the test, I just tell them to write about their holiday. Some of them
were able to write but it consumed quite a long time for them to write even five
sentences about the topic. I was able to find out the participants who were
having difficulty presenting ideas and writing them in the writing task given.
2.3

Analysis of preliminary of investigation

In the analysis stage, the data obtained from the various data collection methods was
analyzed.

2.3.1

Observation
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A non- structured observation was carried out during the investigation where I
jotted down vital information in terms of their participation and their behaviour.
When the writing task was given, the pupils started to sigh and some of them
procrastinated to start writing. In addition, they kept telling me that the task is
hard and I have to assist them again and again to complete the task.
2.3.2 Interview
Based on interview conducted with the teacher, it is agreed that the
weakest area of the participants was writing as they were hardly able to
present ideas and write them down especially when writing alone. Apart from
that, I found that participants hesitated and not motivated to write or express
anything in English even though they have ideas in mind as they were
intimidated to do so due to the lack of proficiency. The teacher suggested that
scaffolding might help them to write better and the participants will show some
progress.
2.3.3

Diagnostic test
In the first test, I found out that the pupils were able to write simple

sentences even though there were some errors. Since they were able to write
despite the

grammatical errors made, I continued the session with the

second test. The second test required the pupils to write anything about their
holiday. Some pupils were not able to describe their holiday due to low
proficiency level. It was hard for them to narrate some events about their own
holiday. Thus, I realized that I should carry on a research to help them
improve their writing on tasks given. After some reading, I found that
interactive writing may be the scaffold needed by the pupils.
2.4

CRITERIA OF SELECTION
2.4.1 Workability
In terms of workability, my targeted group of students are Year 5
students. I have the opportunity to assess them as I am in charge in teaching
them English during practicum. From our interactions, I am able to point out
what their problem is and decide what course of action will be suitable for
them. Apart from that, for this action research, I will focus only on ideas they
will present after prompts posed by me. This has rendered my research to be
workable as I do not have to delve into other aspects or writing.
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2.4.2 Significance
The study is significant because writing is a challenging skill to teach
for most teachers in an ESL classroom. Lee and Tajino (2008) agreed that
writing seems to be one of the most important, yet difficult, academic skills for
students to learn.

Therefore, interactive writing as an intervention is

significant to the pupils because the process of writing develops not only
writing, but also speaking and reading too. It is because the process of
interactive writing

requires children to dictate a text based on questions

posed by the teacher and brainstorming it into paragraph writing. The text is
then will be used as reading material for the pupils. Thus, it is essential for
teacher to carry out interactive writing with the pupils for their language
development holistically. Besides that, my pupils will be sitting for the UPSR
exam in a year's time so it is significant for them to master writing skill. It is a
good platform for me to nurture them and see whether interactive writing is
able to scaffold them to write. As required by curriculum specifications for Year
5, they should be able to write using at least simple language.
2.4.3

Practicality
In term of practicality, the intervention will be conducted in the

classroom using the resources that the students are familiar with such as
marker pen, paper and drawing paper. Furthermore, the session does not
require a lot of time as 20 to 30 minutes per session will be enough for the
pupils. Plus, the session can be carried out during the lesson as I can focus
on my target pupils to discuss details of a topic together with the help of their
friends.
2.4.4

Administratively
I have the authority over this research as the research and

intervention will be carried out by me alone. In other words, I will be the

person in charge who will decide when and where I should conduct the
implementation of this research. For instance, since I have taken English
class of Year 5 Dedikasi as a whole, I can use my teaching hours during
school days to do the intervention instead of holding extra classes with them.
2.4.5

Collaboration

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I will collaborate with the English teacher and my practicum mate for
this research. Since the English teacher is also the class teacher, she will
know her pupils achievement and acquisition in learning language better.
Before identifying the topic of my research, I will have to collaborate with her
to identify in which area the pupils are weak at and how is their proficiency
level in English language. From the interview, I can focus on certain pupils
who really need assistance and guidance in writing skill. Besides that, I will
also collaborate with my practicum mate for several sessions as she will
observe the participants' and complete the checklist provided.
2.4.6

Relevance to school
Even though my intervention will be done in a small group, it is still

relevant to be done in a lesson with a big group of pupils as the teacher can
always implement interactive writing during writing lesson. Patsalides (2012)
agrees that interactive writing can be taught in a whole class or small group
instruction. In addition, my intervention can be replicated by the school
teachers in other writing classes of different levels.
2.5

Definition of terms
This section will define the following terms as used in the context of this study.
2.5.1

Paragraph Writing
A paragraph is a group of related sentences that develop a main

thought, or idea, about a single topic. The structure of a paragraph is not

complex. There are usually three basic elements: (1) a topic, (2) a main idea,
or topic sentence, and (3) supporting details. The topic sentence states the
main point or controlling idea. The sentences that explain this main point are
called supporting details. These details may be facts, reasons, or examples
that provide further information about the topic sentence. (McWhorter, 2011)

2.5.2

Interactive Writing

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Interactive writing, a form of shared writing, is part of the early literacy

lesson framework developed by educators at The Ohio State University
(Pinnell & McCarrier, 1994) to provide rich, educative experiences for young
children, particularly those considered to be educationally at risk. (Button et
al., 1996) According to Swartz, Klein and Shook (2001), interactive writing is a
cooperative event in which teacher and children jointly compose and write
text. they are not only sharing ideas on what to write, they also share the
duties of scribe.

In this study, interactive writing refers to a writing class

conducted collaboratively where I prompt questions so that pupils can present

ideas and write a paragraph.

3.0

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

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Research objectives and the research questions are crucial elements in an action
research because they act as guidelines for the researcher. In this chapter, I will
elaborate on the general objective, specific objectives and also the research
questions for this research.
3.1

General Objective
General objective refers to the broad goal to be achieved and it states what
the researcher expects to achieve by the study in general terms (Jayesh,
2013).
3.1.1

Specific Objectives
Specific objective refers to the specific goal that the researcher aims
to achieve at the end of this research. It systematically addresses
various aspects of problem, the action that should be taken to cater
the problem and the purpose of the research (Jayesh, 2013). The
specific objectives of this research are:

1. To investigate whether interactive writing improve Year 5 Dedikasi

pupils' paragraph writing.
2. To identify how interactive writing improves Year 5 Dedikasi pupils
paragraph writing.
3.3

Research Questions
The following research questions are the basis of this study:
1. Does interactive writing improve Year 5 Dedikasi paragraph writing?
2. How does interactive writing improve Year 5 Dedikasi pupils
paragraph writing?

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4.0

TARGET PARTICIPANTS
My target participants for this study are pupils in Year 5 Dedikasi

of SK Bandar

Kinrara 2. My participants are all Malay and consist of two boys and two girls. Participant A is
a boy who scored 30/50 in the diagnostic test. He displays quite an active behaviour during
my lesson and he will try to answer my questions and accomplish tasks that being given.
Participant B is also a boy. He scored 17/50 in the diagnostic test. He is quite disruptive as
sometimes he tries to seek others' attention by teasing his friends. However, his behaviour is
still tolerable. Next participant C is a shy girl. She scored 36/50 in her diagnostic test. Her
mark is quite high as she was able to answer other sections of the paper well but low
proficiency in writing section. It is very difficult to have her speak or respond during my
lesson. She hardly answers my questions but she made interaction with her friends. My last
participant D is also a shy girl. She is not really actively engaged in my lesson or participated
in activity that I conducted but sometimes she would personally interact with me if she has
anything to ask. Her diagnostic test mark is 20/50.
The table below summarises details about the participant.
Participant

Gender

Boy

Race

Malay

Diagnostic

Behaviour during

test result

class

30/50

Actively engaged
during the lesson

Boy

Malay

17/50

Disruptive
behaviour and keep
teasing friends

Girl

Malay

36/50

Passive in lesson

Girl

Malay

20/50

Limited
engagement and
participation during
lesson.

Table 1: Details on participants.

5.0

RECOMMENDED ACTION
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In this chapter, I will explain briefly the model that I have chosen to be adopted for my action
research.
5.1

Model of Action Research

Action research models: Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)

5.2

Cycle 1
My action plan encompasses basically four stages which are planning, acting,

observing and reflecting. My concern is my pupils are having difficulties in paragraph

writing. Thus, I have my recommended plan for intervention which will go through a
series of phases (reflect, plan, action, observe,reflect) and since projects often do not
fit neatly into a cycle of planning, action, observation and reflection (Carr and
Kemmis, 1986) I may need to implement the improvised intervention for my second
cycle. I may discover ways to improve my action plan during the experience that I will
go through and based on feedbackfrom the pupils.

Figure 1: Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) model

Figure 1 shows the four steps in action; the movement from one critical cycle to
another, and the way in which progress may be made through the system. In order to
make the circle above clearer, below is the explanation of those steps:
1. Reflecting is thinking back on how pupils behave when they are given any
tasks or in which area they lacked on during teaching and learning lesson.
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2. Planning is related to the activity planning which is going to be held by in the

classroom.
3. Acting is the action after planning has been managed. It is when the
intervention is implemented.
4. Observing is to see how the activity is running; and to gather the data to be
analysed.
5. Reflecting is the stage to reflect how the research has been carried out; from
the planning to the observation stage.
5.2.1

Reflecting
In this stage, I will reflect on what skill the pupils are lacked on and not

interested with during my teaching and learning. I observed that the pupils will
sigh when they have to write anything during writing lesson. Plus, they will try
to procrastinate when I asked them to write. Thus, I realized that the pupils
are not motivated to write because writing will always make them bored.
5.2.2

Planning
In the planning stage of my research, after I have identified the

problem encountered by the pupils, I discussed and collaborated on some

related questions about the problem in the interview session with the class
teacher. Throughout the interview session, I could narrow down my problem
to more specific problem statement which is to improve pupils in paragraph
writing. To confirm the problem identified, I asked the pupils to write a
paragraph by using stimulus (words and pictures) and write on topic 'My
Holiday' (Appendix I). Then, I decided to solve the problem using interactive
writing. From my reading, I found that interactive writing can encourage pupils
to write. To implement interactive writing as my intervention, I will prepare a
schedule which consists of date of sessions and topics that will be discussed
during our interactive writing. A checklist will also be prepared to assess
pupils' behaviour and skill during the intervention.
5.2.3

Acting
Action stage describes the course of actions taken to overcome the

problem I had identified. During the pre intervention, a pre test will be
conducted by asking them to write about a topic in a paragraph. This
paragraph writing will be compared with the post- test during postintervention to check on their development and progress.
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Next, I will implement interactive writing to improve the participants to write in

a paragraph about the few other topics which related in Year 5 Document
Standard such as writing about their favourite places and people they admire
in about 100 - 150 words. I will also give chance for the participants to choose
a topic that they want to write. During this stage, I am scaffolding the writing
process by prompting questions for the pupils to present ideas. I will discuss
with the participants on their organisation of ideas and facilitate them to make
it more relevant.
Besides that, I will also review the checklist with participants. For the first
session of intervention, the details of checklist will be informed and discussed
with the pupils to help participants to gain a better understanding of the
elements of a good, complete response to a problem.
5.2.4

Observing
In this observation stage, I will collaborate with my peer to observe the

pupils behaviour during interactive writing using a checklist. (refer to page

26/26 of appended document). Throughout the observation and checklist,
more data and information will be gathered and analysed. Furthermore, the
data collection will be kept as prove so that I will be able to keep tract on
participants' improvement.
5.2.5

Reflecting
Based on the result of my intervention, I will identify the strengths and

weaknesses that should be addressed to improve my action plan in Cycle 2.

In this stage, I will reflect on the intervention by asking myself: Are they able to
present their ideas and write a paragraph by using interactive writing? Do they
enjoy writing interactively, thus improving their attitude towards writing skill? Is
there a need to modify the intervention and if so how? Reflecting on the action
plan that has been implemented is very essential as any learning technique or
process should identify and meet students learning needs; affect candidate
learning; and determine a professional development agenda. (NCATE, 2001,
p. 4).
5.3

Data Gathering Methods

Data gathering method is an important aspect of any type of research study. In order to
collect data for this research, I used some methods to evaluate the effectiveness of
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interactive writing to improve paragraph writing. The methods for my intervention are as
following:
5.3.1

Pre Test & Post Test

Pre test is a measurement of the learning received during the class to

measure a starting point or the amount of pre- existing knowledge on the

certain skills while post test is the result of learning received during the class.
For my research, a pre test will be conducted before the intervention and post
test will be administered after intervention. The format of both tests should be
the same and the result of both tests will be compared to see the
effectiveness of interactive writing to motivate pupils to write a paragraph. The
format of both tests may still be guided by pictures and words.(Appendix III)
5.3.2

Interview
I will be using open ended questions in the interview with participants

as the interviewed subjects viewpoints are more likely to be expressed in an

openly designed interview situation, than in a standardized interview (Flick,
2014 p. 207). The interview (Appendix IV) will be conducted with the
participants before and after intervention to get their own opinion and how
they perceive interactive writing approach. This interview data would further
enhance the observation data and make them manageable for interpretation.
5.3.3

Observation and checklist

Observation may take place in natural settings and avoid the observer

from taking lengthy and descriptive notes of what is happening in the

classroom during the intervention. The purpose of observing pupils' behavior
and reactions in the classroom during the intervention is to ensure whether
the strategy of interactive writing able to motivate them to write. While
conducting the intervention, I will administer an observation checklist to
observe the pupils interactions, behaviour, engagement and reaction during
the intervention. (Appendix V). The observation will be done by my practicum
mate as I will involve in the process of interactive writing.
5.3.4

Document Analysis
Document analysis will be used in the research as it is useful in

understanding a situation and setting a context (Kasturi, 1990). It is a concrete

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evidence as most documents are less likely to be manipulated (Grady, 1998).

In this research, the documents, which are students work, will be analyzed
and kept as evidence. For instance, I will keep their sample of writing and
analyze them to find any emerging pattern to identify their problem in writing
and their improvement after intervention. I choose document analysis as it
allows me to collect a concrete sample of work to analyze. Through the
participants written work, I will have the opportunity to scrutinize the progress
they made and to better identify which aspect I want to focus on to be used as
evidence in the research.
5.4

Data Analysis Methods

I will present data using descriptive statistics and tabulate data. The
pre and post- test which will be conducted before and after the intervention
which will serve as the evidence whether the use of interactive writing is able
to help to improve their paragraph writing. The comparison of before and after
result will be interpreted in the bar chart form and data tabulation.
Besides that, the interview that will be conducted during pre and post
intervention will be transcribed so that the important parts can be analysed. In
addition, participants' perception towards effectiveness of interactive writing
can be identified and reflected from the interview.
Next, I will use an observation checklist throughout the session to find
out how does interactive writing motivates participants to write. Throughout
the checklist I can discover participants' behavior, interest and response
during the intervention which will determine whether interactive writing really
helps participants in writing paragraph. The checklist will be ticked by the
observer if participants fulfill the requirement stated in it.
Document analysis which is the participants' written work will be
analyzed qualitatively to see how they present ideas and write in a paragraph.
At the post- intervention stage, their writing will again be assessed and
analyzed to find any improvement in their work compared to their written work
before intervention.

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6.0

IMPLEMENTING PLAN OF ACTION

Schedule and budget are crucial in order to carry out an action research. Here I will present
the schedule and budget of my research action.
6.1
No.

Schedule for Action Plan

Activities

Date

1.

Pre-test

1st April 2014

2.

Interview

2nd April 2014

3.

Implementation of cycle 1

6th- 7th April 2014

Remarks

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Intervention session 1
- Write

paragraph

about

'My

Favourite Place'
- The participants brainstorm ideas
about the topic among themselves

4.

and teacher facilitates.

- Reflects on the action taken.
Intervention session 2

13th - 14th April 2014

- The participants suggest on topic

they want to write.
- The participants brainstorm ideas
about the topic among themselves

5.

and teacher facilitates.

- Reflects on the action taken.
Intervention session 3

16th- 17th April 2014

- Teacher gives topic of what they

are going to write.
- Write about the topic interactively

7.

in 150 words
- Reflects on the action taken.
Post test

22th April 2015

8.

Analysing data

25th April 2015

6.2
No.

Budget

Materials

Quantity x The unit price

Total price

1.

Drawing paper

1 x RM 5.00

RM 5.00

3.

Marker pens

4 x RM 3.50

RM 14.00

4.

Paper files

4 x RM 1.00

RM 4.00

Total

RM 23.00

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Scenarios for sentence and paragraph writing (3rd ed., p. 144). New York: Pearson.
NCATE (2001). Standards for professional development schools. National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1-32.
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Parke, C. S., Lane, S., Silver, E. A., & Magone, M. E. (2003). Using assessment to improve
middlegrades mathematics teaching and learning. Reston, VA: National Council of
Teachers

of Mathematics.

Patsalides, L. (2012). An Overview of the Interactive Writing Process. Retrieved from

www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-elementary-school/5539-the-interactivewriting-process/

Swartz, S. L., Klein, A. F., & Shook, R. E. (2001). Interactive writing & interactive editing:
Making connections between writing and reading. Carlsbad, CA: Dominie Press, Inc.
Ur, Penny. 2005 , A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Th eory (ed) .
Cambridge University Press.
Yang, L., & Wilson, K. (2006). SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM READING: A SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH. The Reading Matrix, 6(3), 365.

Vygotsky, Lev (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.

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APPENDIX I
Interview session
Date: 6th February 2014

Venue: Staff Room

Time: 9.00 a.m.

Interviewee: class/ English teacher of Year 5 Dedikasi

Question

Responses

1. What is the skill that the students

really weak at?

2. Since 5 Dedikasi is a mixed ability

class, what are the problems you
usually encounter during writing
lesson?

The class that you get is an intermediate

class. Only a few of them are average and
the others are low especially in English
subject. Writing skill is quite hard for them.
They are still in word and simple sentences
level.
Most of the writing tasks are left incomplete.
Sometimes they will pretend like they are
writing but they do other things. I have to tell
them again and again to finish their work first
before they do other things.

3. How do you deal with the problem? Is For writing class, I always ask them to copy
writing from text book or I will write the text
it working?
on the board and they will copy. It is the only
way to get them to write and finish their
writing task.
4. What kind of writing tasks would you Like I said just now, they will copy any text
normally do with them? Were they that related to the topic and yes they will
able to complete the task?
complete their writing. If I give a task that
needs them to write on their own, they will
take like forever to finish it. For me, at least
the students get to write anything, it is okay.
5. Did all the students really participate Only some of them participated in the writing
in the writing activity during the activity but only if I keep forcing them to
volunteer or I call names. If not, very few will
lesson? To what extent?
volunteer. And they will only say chunks of
words and not in a complete sentence.
6. Did

you

scaffold

their

writing

throughout the lesson or activity?

Was it enough?

I have tried to help them to write, but with a

big group of class it is quite difficult. It will
also consume a lot of time to scaffold them
individually.

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APPENDIX II
Diagnostic Test 1

Diagnostic test 2 (Topic: My Holiday)

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APPENDIX III

Test 1

Test 2
APPENDIX IV
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Interview session
Date: .........................................

Venue: .............................

Time: ........................................
Interviewee: The participants
Question
1. How

Responses
do

you

feel

about

writing

activities that we carry out now?

2. What do you like the most with our
activity?
3. Is it easier for you to write with your
friends? How do you feel when you
work with your friends?
4. Do you have ideas to make our
activities fun and easier for you?
5. Will you complete you writing task
after this? Why do you think you
should complete your task?
6. Do you think you will be able to write
on your own now?

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APPENDIX V
OBSERVATION CHECKLIST
(Interactive Writing Session)
Participant's name: ................................

Date: ...............................

Teacher's name: ....................................

Session: .........................

RATING SCALE
Almost Always- the participant consistently involve during the intervention.
Often- the participant occasionally involve during the intervention.
Sometimes- the participant seldom involve during the intervention
Almost Never- the participant never or rarely involve during the intervention.

INTERACTIVE WRITING SESSSION

Almost
Often
Sometimes Never
Always
1.1 Participant's ability to express ideas

Does the participant understand the

topic and stimulus given?
Is the participant able to put thought on
papers?
Does the participant have word retrieval
difficulties?
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Is the thought produced logical with the

topic?
Is the participant able to develop topic
sentences and supporting details?
1.2 Participant's behaviour
Does the participant contribute ideas on
what to write?
Does the participant take turn to present
his/her ideas?
Does the participant reject his/her
peers' ideas in respecting manner?
Does the participant try to distract
others during the discussion?

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