Action Research Article.

You are required to write a 2000 words research article based on the action research
report written and presented in Task 1 and Task 2.

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 USING CHOOCHOO TRAIN ACTIVITY TO IMPROVE MY TEACHING OF CONSTRUCTING SIMPLE
SENTENCES

SITI NUR FATIN BINTI MOHD DARUS

AZLINA BINTI YACOB

ABSTRACT
Constructing sentences in English language need a lot of practice especially for beginners. Research shows that there
are several main problems that prevent people from writing complete, error free grammatical sentences. One of them is
lack of knowledge on subject-verb-object patterns. By modelling a train, teaching how to construct simple sentences id
made easy as compared to the traditional, boring, chalk and talk explanation on English grammar rules. The head of the
train represents the subject, the body of the train signifies the verb and the tail as the object. In order to move the
train, the three parts should be in order and so does when one is to construct a sentence. Thus, I would like to find out
whether the ChooChoo Train activity helps the pupils to construct sentences. Data was collected via pupils individual
works, semi-structured interview and followed by observation on the participants behaviour. The data of the pupils
individual works was analysed using a pictograph and triangulated with interviews and observations. The findings
showed that the ChooChoo Train activity did give a positive impact throughout the pupils on constructing error-free
grammatical sentences.
ABSTRAK
Membina ayat dalam subjek Bahasa Inggeris memerlukan banyak latihan pengukuhan terutama kepada yang baru
belajar. Kajian menunjukkan terdapat beberapa masalah utama yang menghalang pelajar daripada menulis ayat tanpa
sebarang kesalahan. Salah satu masalah utama pelajar ialah kurang ilmu pengetahuan mengenai struktur ayat Subject-
Verb Object. Dengan menggunakan imej keretaapi, pengajaran dan pembelajaran untuk membina ayat akan bertambah
mudah berbanding dengan pengajaran dan pembelajaran cara tradisional, kurang menarik serta kaedah chalk and talk
untuk penjelasan mengenai tatabahasa. Kepala keretapi melambangkan Subject, badan keretapi melambangkan verb
serta ekor keretapi melambangkan object. Untuk mengerakkan keretapi, ketiga-tiga bahagian patut berada dalam
kedudukan yang betul serta mengikut aturan, sebagimana konsep untuk membina ayat, struktur ayat harus sama dan
berada dalam kedudukan yang betul. Oleh itu, saya ingin mengetahui sama ada aktiviti ChooChoo Train activity
membantu murid untuk membina ayat. Data telah dikumpulkan melalui hasil kerja murid secara individu, wawancara
separuh berstruktur serta diikuti dengan pemerhatian terhadap tingkah laku pelajar semasa berada didalam kelas. Data
hasil kerja murid secara individu dianalisis menggunakan pictograph dan disahkan dengan temu bual serta
pemerhatian semasa Pelajar berada didalam kelas. Penemuan menunjukkan bahawa aktiviti 'ChooChoo Train' memberi
kesan positif ke atas murid-murid 'untuk membina ayat-ayat tatabahasa yang betul.

INTRODUCTION
I taught a mixed ability class in a school in Bandar Baru Nilai. Pupils in my Year 3 use English as a Second
Language (ESL) classroom generally managed to follow my instructions closely. Hence, I did not have any
difficulty in delivering the teaching and learning session using English. However, I experienced difficulty in
making sure my writing lessons objectives were achieved. It was because most of my pupils had difficulties
to write as they were unable to master the basic sentence structure which is Subject-Verb Object learnt in
the previous lesson. The situation reflected the effectiveness of the strategy used to teach on sentence
structure to my pupils especially when dealing with writing skill. I realized that the teaching of writing was
quite a challenge for me to carry out the lesson as it involved expressive skills.

FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION

My research issue was how I could improve my teaching of writing specifically in writing sentences structure
Subject-Verb Object. I could not manage to help all 38 pupils at the same time. The pupils failed to understand
the principles hence did not manage to construct simple sentences correctly and appropriately. This failure
had been an issue and problem to me, especially when it comes to writing activity as the skills of writing and
constructing sentences should be the priority, but the pupils did not manage to master it yet. According to
Houston (2004), a successful writing classroom is one in which the pupils achieve success by gaining the
skills and the concepts necessary to write about ideas well enough to communicate and to achieve the
purpose for, the work of written discourse. This issue had been my concern as the mastery of constructing
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sentences is a very important in language skills. Hence, improving the basic sentence construction of my
pupils helped me to improve their writing skills.

OBJECTIVE/RESEARCH QUESTION
I aimed to answer this question:
i. How can I improve my teaching of writing simple sentences through the use of ChooChoo Train
activity?

TARGET GROUP
I selected 9 pupils of Year 3 Arif as my research participants. However, the intervention was applied upon the
whole class as I want to ensure all the pupils would benefit from my intervention. My class comprised 99%
Malay pupils and 1 Portuguese. The table below shows the distribution of all the pupils in Year 3 Arif.

Table 1
Table of distribution of pupils in 3 Arif.

Gender Number
Boys 11
Girls 27
Total 38

The next table shows the distribution of the 9 selected pupils based on their achievement in the first classroom
writing exercise activity.

Table 2
Distribution of target pupils.

Gender Number
Boys 4
Girls 5
Total 9

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ACTION
Procedure of action

Plan Action
- Introduced the image of the - A handy sized user manual
train of 'ChooChoo Train' method
- Focussed on seqeunces - Implement during the
and differences of shapes practice and production
and colours. stage of writing.

Observation Reflection
- I recorded the effectiveness - I managed to achieve my
of the 'ChooChoo Train' teaching objectives
activity by using pupils' - Pupils managed to
individual works, semi- construct error-free
structured interview and grammatical sentences
observation. based on SVO

Figure 1. Procedures of intervention method by using Kemmis and McTaggarts model of action
research.

My recommended intervention revolves around the concept introduced by Maria Montessori by using shapes
and colours in introducing the classes of word Bourne (2009). I introduced the sentence pattern of SVO using
the ChooChoo Train activity in a writing lesson. I used the image of the train to explain the sequence of the
sentence pattern. I also explain the differences of the shapes and colours of the train to make the pupils to
be able to differentiate the patterns in order for them to write after the lesson. This intervention integrates
colours and shapes as well as sequence to enhance pupils mastery of Subject-Verb Object when
constructing sentences. Shape coding, designed by Susan Ebbels, is a well-known resource system used to
teach spoken and writer's grammar to school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This
system, which uses visual coding, aims to show a child rules for how words are placed in sentences, develops
understanding of spoken and written grammar as well as developed the child's ability to use grammar
effectively Ebbels (2007). Colour coding on the other hand, is a system for language that can be applied to
both written and pictorial presentation of words C.H.I.L.D. Association (2011). It offers children with learning
difficulties a mechanism which can support them visually specifically to understand grammatical elements.

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Data Collection Method

Figure 2. Triangulation of data collection methods.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

I analysed the pupils individual work by comparing the results of the marks before and after the
implementation of the ChooChoo Train activity. The graph below shows the result of pupils individual work:

PUPILS WORK BEFORE AND AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

CHOOCHOO TRAIN ACTIVITY
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pupil 1 Pupil 2 Pupil 3 Pupil 4 Pupil 5 Pupil 6 Pupil 7 Pupil 8 Pupil 9

Pre Intervention Marks (%) Post Intervention Marks (%)

Differences (Post - Pre)

Figure 3. Pupils work before and after the implementation of the ChooChoo Train activity.

Based on the graph above, I organized the result into two themes accordingly which are:
Theme 1: Pupils managed to construct sentences
Theme 2: Pupils managed to understand SVO

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According to the transcription and analysis of the interview, I came out with five keywords which involved the
analysis of the interview questions and response. The keywords can be categorized as follows:

Keyword 1: Interesting
Keyword 2: Enjoyable
Keyword 3: Able to construct sentences
Keyword 4: Able to understand SVO
Keyword 5: Helpful

The graph below shows the keywords for the analysis of the interview session.

AN ALY S I S O F S E M I - S T RU C T UR E D I N T E RV I E W
M1 Interesting M1 Enjoyable
A1 Able to construct sentences A1 Able to understand SVO
U1 Helpful

26% 25%

3%
20%
26%

Figure 4. Interview data analysis according to keywords.

I observed the classroom activity before and after the implementation of the ChooChoo Train activity. Bar
graph below explains the result of the finding based from the observation in the class. The observation is
based on the same theme mentioned in the pupils work.

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 Classroom observation

50% 50%

Manages to write SVO Understand SVO

Figure 5, Observation data analysis in the classroom.

FINDINGS
Research Question : How can I improve my teaching of writing simple sentences through the use of
ChooChoo Train activity?
According to the pupils individual work, I observed an increased percentage of the pupils performance after
the implementation of the ChooChoo Train activity. The pupils also showed positive reactions on the
ChooChoo Train activity as they referred to the user manual while completing the writing exercises. Thus,
the ChooChoo Train activity did help my pupils to write error-free grammatical sentences SVO.
As for the interview data, the pupils responded positively on the five keywords concerned. Pupils agreed that
the ChooChoo Train activity helped them to understand and remember to write SVO in writing exercises.
The use of colourful images would definitely make the pupils more eager to learn. As stated from Colours in
the Classroom Learning Environment Colour Your World (n,d) the use of colour can have a significant
impact on emotion, which can ultimately influence an individuals working and studying. It was very essential
for me to know the pupils reaction on the implementation of the ChooChoo Train activity because I needed
active participation in my classroom and the chosen strategy should be engaging for the pupils.
The observation data yielded the similar result, with a high percentage for both themes. I captured that the
pupils showed improvement in their writing exercises by managing to write SVO correctly. The ChooChoo
Train activity also helped my pupils to learn to write and know the sentence patterns, and indirectly improved
my teaching of writing as I managed to achieve my specific learning objectives of the lesson after this
intervention.

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Throughout the process of carrying out this action research, I noticed a few weaknesses in my intervention
that I would like to improve on. Besides, after consulting with a few experts, I managed to get new ideas on
how to further extend this research.
The first weakness that I would like to improve on is regarding my explanation on the Sentence Patterns.
According to Kolln & Funk (1998), there are all together ten sentence patterns that one must comprehend in
order to fully understand the topic. As for the ChooChoo Train activity intervention, I managed to cover only
one rule out of the ten rules of sentence patterns. Due to this matter, I faced some difficulties when my pupils
asked questions related to the rules that I did not cover. I believe that the ChooChoo Train activity intervention
would be more effective if I managed to cover all the ten rules of Sentence Patterns.
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Next, I would also like to turn my ChooChoo Train activity intervention into a mini booklet that would consist
on the explanation of the Subject-Verb Object, the explanation on the functions of the Subject-Verb object,
the steps to implement the activity, the exercises and also the writing worksheet. The idea came to my mind
after seeing some of the pupils having difficulty to remember the functions of the Subject-Verb Object during
the lesson. By turning this intervention into a mini booklet form, I believe that it would be easier for the pupils
to refer to the explanations as they are doing their task when I am not around.
Other than turning ChooChoo Train activity into a booklet, I would also like to include the use of technology
to make ChooChoo Train activity accessible to a greater number of audiences. Pupils nowadays are inclined
towards the use of technology in their daily life. Thus, I believe that they would be more engaged and
interested if I get to develop a mobile application or compute software out of ChooChoo Train activity. I believe
this kind of approach would be more effective as it is more student-centred, personal and enjoyable for the
pupils. Furthermore, I would also like the mobile application or the computer software to be easily utilised and
interactive that the pupils could use them independently. This kind of approach would be more effective as it
is more student-centred, personal and enjoyable for the pupils.
After completing this research, I felt that action research is a good platform for me to enhance my teaching
practices. It taught me to use my own weakness and develop it into a turning point for me to gain meaningful
insights and improve for the better.

REFERENCES
Bourne, L. n.d). Montessori for Everyone. Retrieved 6th March 2017
from,http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/About_ep_81-1.html
C.H.I.L.D Association. (n.d). Supporting children with primary language and related language and related
disorders. Retrieved 6th March 2017 from http://www.letstalk.org.au/pdf/colour_coded_writing.pdf
Classroom Learning Environment Color Your World. (n.d). Retrieved 6th March 2017 from
https://smithsystem.com/resource-library/article-library/color-world/#
Ebbels, S. H. (2007). Teaching grammar to school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment using
Shape Coding. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 23, pg. 67-93.
Houston, G. (2004). How writing works: Imposing organizational structure within the writing process.
Retrieved 6th March 2017, from https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-
education/program/Houston-How-Writing- Works-Imposing-Organizational-Structure-Within-the-
Writing-Process-My-Lab-School-Edition/PGM80994.html
Kolln, M & Funk, R. (1998). Retrieved 6th March 2017, from
http://www.oxfordtutorials.com/Ten_Sentence_Patterns.htm