1
Volume 3
Contents
Introduction
Simon Borg................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
An Introduction to the English Language Teacher Development Project (ELTDP)
Rachel Bowden......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Grammar matters in Year 3
Dulcey Pau................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
I hated my pupils
Jocelyn James........................................................................................................................................................................ 12
Increasing pupils’ motivation in English lessons
Rosmah Binti James............................................................................................................................................................. 15
Learning my own lesson: Proper preparation produces positive performance
Patricia Urie............................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Meeting the challenges of teaching ‘lower ability’ classes
Hajar binti Abdul Aziz........................................................................................................................................................... 19
Developing resources to motivate pupils – and the teacher!
DeQuincey Darreno Lojinin................................................................................................................................................22
Motivating learners through games
Halijah Arif................................................................................................................................................................................25
Organizing a language day
Irene Wong...............................................................................................................................................................................27
The English carnival
Noor Bee Bt Abdul Jabbar & Suriati Bt Kiprawi..........................................................................................................30
A fun writing project brings two schools together
Sabdin Ibrahim........................................................................................................................................................................32
Motivating learners to write independently
Jenifer Andrew Bugat..........................................................................................................................................................34
Using task-based learning In teaching primary English
Morinie Linus...........................................................................................................................................................................36
Implementing task-based learning in Year 1
Anna Stevens, Chin Nyok Fong, Izatil Aqmar Binti Mohd Zamzam, & Hernanie Paidilin...............................38
1
Introduction
Simon Borg
Current trends in teacher development argue
for a move away from excessive reliance
on conventional models of standardised,
course-based in-service training packages or
products. This is not to suggest that input-based
workshops and courses delivered by trainers
cannot support teacher development; the
point, though, is that this model has dominated
teacher development for many years and
there is increasing evidence that it often fails
to generate the longer-term transformative
changes in teachers’ beliefs and practices – and
ultimately in student achievement - that are
hoped for.
In contrast, contemporary thinking supports
the view that professional development is
more likely to have transformative impact
when: it builds on what teachers already know;
promotes active learning; involves teachers in
decision-making; is collaborative, job-embedded
and aligned with the system teachers work
in; is supported by school leaders, inquirybased, and sustained. The English Language
Teacher Development Project (ELTDP) in
Malaysia reflects these principles and the
teacher narratives we present in this volume
demonstrate the value of this more organic
approach to supporting teacher learning and
educational change more generally.
An overview of the project is provided in the
next chapter; in brief, though, this was situated
within broader educational reforms taking place
in Malaysia in which improving the teaching and
learning of English in primary schools played a
central role. The new national curriculum (the
KSSR) promotes a communicative approach
to language teaching which represents a
significant move away from established
practices; teachers (not all of whom had been
originally trained to teach English) also needed
to develop skills which would allow them to
work effectively with young children who had no
previous experience of or exposure to English;
these children were in many cases also learning
the national language (Bahasa Malaysia) in
2
addition their first language. ELTDP approached
these challenges by grounding teacher
development in the realities of teachers’ own
classrooms, schools and communities. Mentors
were assigned to teachers not as trainers but
as experienced professionals who could work
with teachers in schools and support them in
implementing, via reflective practice, changes
in their teaching. The scale of the project
- 120 mentors working intensively with 1200
teachers for up to three years – provided scope
for widespread impact on children, teachers,
classrooms, schools and communities – and
the narratives we present here, all written by
teachers themselves for an audience of fellow
practitioners, provide insights into the range of
impacts the project has achieved.
This is the third of three volumes in this series
of publications from ELTDP and (following
this Introduction and the background chapter
which follows), the narratives we include here
explore a range of strategies for engaging and
motivating young learners in learning English.
Each chapter is organised under the same four
headings; Context introduces the setting for
the work that will be discussed; Focus defines
the particular issue that will be addressed;
Activity is where teachers describe what they
did to support the teaching and learning of
English; and Reflections provides concluding
thoughts on the impact of the activity and of
any challenges the teachers experienced.
Dulcey Pau starts the volume by discussing
her approach to teaching grammar with Year
3 pupils. At this stage in their learning children
are ready to start considering grammar more
explicitly and Dulcey illustrates how she does
this using a range of interesting, enjoyable and
attractive resources. The teacher’s focus is on
helping the pupils understand grammar, relating
it as far as possible to their own lives, and
avoiding the complex explanations which are
often encountered in textbooks.
The next six contributions are linked by a
common theme: improving pupils’ motivation
to learn English. In a frank analysis of her work,
Jocelyn James reflects on the challenges she
faced in managing the behaviour of a Year 1
class and describes the strategies she used
to gradually win the children over. Through a
combination of rewards for positive behaviour
and engaging activities, Jocelyn achieved a
marked changed in the motivation of her pupils,
and indeed, in her own. DeQuincey Darreno
Lojinin experienced a similar transformation
- he did not previously enjoy teaching young
learners due a lack of understanding of how
to work with them. However, supported by
his mentor, he started to develop her own
materials rather than just teaching the textbook.
Pupils responded very positively and the
teacher realised just how capable they were.
The teacher found, too, that her own attitudes
towards teaching children had become much
more positive.
Rosmah Binti James also struggled to motivate
her Level 1 pupils. Like many children from
rural areas, they had practically no exposure to
English outside school and did not have positive
attitudes towards learning the language. The
teacher’s response was to observe her pupils
closely and to make notes about their likes and
dislikes. She then used this information to plan
activities that encouraged the children to speak
and which made use of a range of enjoyable
resources. Rosmah concludes that by focusing
on the children, their preferences and needs,
rather than just teaching the syllabus, she was
able to engage them more fully in lessons.
Making lessons fun was also an important
element in her success, something that Halijah
Arif also illustrates in the next chapter through
her discussion of how she used games to
encourage children to participate in English
lessons.
A further narrative about increasing pupil
motivation to learn English comes from Patricia
Urie. In her candid account, Patricia reflects
on the gap that sometimes exists between
what she knows in theory (i.e. that well-planned
interesting lessons are more effective) and
what happens in practice. She then provides
examples from her own work of how she
responded to this gap. The practical ideas she
describes highlight once more the positive
impact – on pupils and teachers – that creative,
interactive, fun, and well-planned lessons can
have.
For Hajar binti Abdul Aziz, the challenge
was how to motivate a Year 2 class who had
been labelled ‘lower ability’ by the school’s
streaming system. On first meeting this
class she encountered a rather chaotic and
uncontrolled situation; over time, though, her
efforts in getting to know the pupils, involving
them in lessons, and celebrating their small
achievements led to clear changes in their
behaviour during English lessons. Careful
planning was again a central element in her
success; having a sense of humour when things
did not go as planned was also a disposition the
teacher found helpful.
The next two articles describe whole-school
activities aimed at promoting positive attitudes
towards languages. Irene Wong discusses
a ‘Language Day’ held at her school where
children engaged in a series of fun activities
involving not just English but also Chinese
and Malay. Extra motivation was provided by
a ‘redemption table’ where children were able
to exchange for gifts the stickers they earned
for successfully completing the language
activities. Noor Bee Bt Abdul Jabbar and Suriati
Bt Kiprawi write about a whole-school event
with two key differences to that above: it was an
English Carnival, and parents also participated.
The aim of the event was to promote English
in the school and the community as well as to
strengthen connections between home and
school. Both these events achieved their goals
by creating a sense of excitement around
languages which was motivating and enjoyable
for everyone involved. These activities also
illustrate what can be achieved when teachers,
parents and children work together and are
supported by their schools.
Writing is the focus of the next set of two
articles. Sabdin Ibrahim describes a pen pal
activity through which pupils from two schools
exchanged letters. Apart from creating a
meaningful context for writing, the activity also
grew to include a school visit – one class visited
the other and actually got to meet the children
they had been exchanging letters with. This
is another excellent example of how learning
English can extend beyond the textbook and
the classroom. In the second article on writing,
Jenifer Andrew Bugat narrates her experience
of introducing independent writing activities
3
with her Year 2 class. She found that the key
to engaging children was creating meaningful
writing contexts for them; establishing a safe
atmosphere for writing was also important as
many children were initially reluctant to show
anyone their work because of their errors. Using
group work was one strategy the teacher used
to create a supportive context for writing. Over
time, the children became more motivated not
only to write but to let others, including the
teacher, see their work.
The final two contributions here explore the
use of task-based learning as a strategy for
engaging pupils more fully in learning English.
The first article narrates the experience of
Morinie Linus as she came to grips with this
new way of approaching the teaching of
English. In the second article Chin Nyok Fong,
Izatil Aqmar Binti Mohd Zamzam, and Hernanie
Paidilin provide brief individual accounts of
how they adopted task-based learning in their
classrooms. For the authors of these articles,
planning normally occurred at the level of
individual lessons. Task-based learning, though,
required them to plan blocks of lessons in which
they were prepared children for the task and did
the task itself. The teachers found the process
challenging to begin with (particularly as they
had to map their planning onto the syllabus)
but in time they saw the benefits of planning
beyond each single lesson. They also saw value,
for each block of lessons, in working towards
a task in which the children did something
meaningful and concrete with English. Examples
of these tasks are given in the articles, together
with the teachers’ positive reflections on their
experience of this innovation.
We hope you enjoy these stories. They provide
vivid yet realistic accounts of a range of
innovative ways in which teachers can enhance
children’s motivation and engagement in
learning English. The narratives also serve
as a source of inspiration, showing how the
processes of reflection, collaboration, and
exploration, combined with commitment and
appropriate support, can lead to significant
changes in teaching and learning even in
challenging circumstances.
4
The Editor
Simon Borg ([email protected]) is
Professor of TESOL at the University of Leeds,
UK. Full details of his work are available at
http://simon-borg.co.uk/.
Introduction to the English Language
Teacher Development Project (ELTDP)
Rachel Bowden
Background
Language policy in Malaysia, seen as central
to establishing national identity and unity, has
proved polemic over several decades (Ali, Hamid
and Moni, 2011). Post-independence (1957)
Bahasa Malaysia (BM), the National Language,
replaced English to become the medium of
instruction in schools. This came in to effect fully
from the early 1970s in West Malaysia and from
the mid 1980s in East Malaysia. Although English
remained a core subject within the curriculum,
it is recognised that the demand for proficient
English speakers (particularly in the private
sector) has not been met by the state education
system. National aspirations to move towards
a knowledge economy and increase global
competitiveness have lent increasing urgency
to raising standards in English (Gill, 2005; MoE
2012).
In order to increase students’ communicative
competence in English it was decided to
reinstate English medium instruction in all
schools for maths and science, a policy which
was enacted from 2003 onwards. However in the
year after this policy was fully implemented (the
first cohort having taken their end of primary
examination, the UPSR) the decision was taken
to reverse it. Beyond overall lower attainment by
pupils under the policy, concerns focused on the
unequal access to English between urban and
rural pupils, and the ability of teachers to teach
in English (Ali, Hamid and Moni, 2011).
Since this reversal the Malaysian government has
introduced a new policy ‘Strengthening English,
whilst Upholding the Malay language’ (MBMMBI).
This has included, from 2011, a new primary
school curriculum (KSSR), a 90 minute increase
in weekly English lessons for all pupils, and an
emphasis on the professional development of
English teachers.
The focus on professional development
within this policy reflects the widely accepted
understanding that teachers are ‘the most
significant change agents in (educational)
reforms’ (Villegas-Reimers 2003 p.7). Certainly it
is teachers who must interpret the opportunities
presented by the KSSR and increased lesson time
into meaningful learning experiences for pupils.
From 2011 the Ministry of Education launched
the nationwide Native Speaker Programme,
which was implemented in East Malaysia by the
British Council as the ‘English Language Teacher
Development Project’ (ELTDP).
Introducing ELTDP
The English Language Teacher Development
Project (ELTDP) was implemented on behalf of
the Malaysian Ministry of Education in Sabah,
Sarawak and Labuan by the British Council from
2011-2013. Its aims were to improve (a) the
quality of teaching and learning, (b) teachers’
language proficiency, (c) teachers’ ability to
utilise teaching and learning resources, and (d)
relationships between key stakeholders in and
around schools. ELTDP was a mentoring project,
with British Council mentors working alongside
teachers in schools to develop their thinking,
knowledge and practices.
The figures
• 600 state primary schools spread across
Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan
• 1200 level 1 (Year 1-3) English teachers
received a minimum of 75 hours mentoring
support per year
• 2000+ other teachers involved in related
school and district level activities
• 120 mentors on the project (each mentor
worked with five schools)
Each of the 120 mentors worked with five
schools, and districts typically had three
mentors. All mentors were ELT professionals, had
ELT qualifications, experience teaching young
learners, and were educated to degree level.
Many had recognised state education teaching
qualifications, post graduate qualifications and
teacher development experience.
5
Each mentor worked with 10 ‘core teachers’
from their five schools, usually two teachers
per school. These teachers taught English at
level 1 and were either ‘optionist’ (trained to
teach English as a specialism) or ‘non-optionist’
(specialists in other subjects who also teach
English). As the new curriculum (KSSR) was
phased in from 2011 to 2013, mentors worked
progressively with teachers from Year 1, 2 and
3. In addition mentors worked with other English
teachers, teachers of other subjects, and school
administration staff as well as facilitating work
with local communities.
Approach
ELTDP’s mentoring approach was based on
an increasing body of work which shows
that engaging teachers in reflective thinking,
classroom enquiry and collegial collaboration
supports sustainable change (for example see
Villegas- Reimers, 2003; Ohata, 2007; Nalliah
and Thiyagarajah, 2002; Kabilan and Veratharaju,
2013; Lee, 2002; Hayes, 1995; Pollard, 2008).
decide how they wish to work in terms of
interactions, tools and activities (ELTDP,
2011).
Classroom research methods were suggested
as a means for teachers to gather and evaluate
evidence from their own classrooms to inform
further development (ELTDP, 2011; Hopkins,
2008). In addition to teacher enquiry, other
elements of reflective practice, for example
dialogue with colleagues, professional
collaboration and accessing educational
research were emphasised (Pollard, 2008).
In practice British Council mentors helped
Malaysian teachers identify, investigate and
address the needs and opportunities presented
in their classrooms and schools. The project also
prioritised collaboration with other teachers,
with pupils, with school and district level
administration, and the surrounding community.
By supporting such processes and relationships
we believe we built teachers’ capacities to
engage in meaningful development work well
beyond the life of the project.
Implementation
Figure 1: The reflective cycle
Developmental processes were conceptualised
around the ‘reflective cycle’, (above) ‘look, plan,
do and review’, where those involved:
(…) identify what the current
situation is, and areas they want to learn
more about or change (the ‘look and
think’ elements of a reflective cycle).
[Mentors] then work together with
teachers to plan research, development
or classroom intervention activities
based on this (plan and do), and then
evaluate the success of the activities
(look/review). Mentors and teachers
prioritise objectives to focus on and
6
With no standard training package, project
activities varied from school to school and
teacher to teacher. This flexibility meant activities
could be selected based on the contexts, needs
and priorities of specific teachers, classes
and schools; an idea which is well supported
in the literature (Villegas-Reimers, 2003). The
wide range of models and tools which mentors
and teachers used to support the process
of observation, analysis, collaboration and
evaluation included: classroom research and
action research, reflective journals and learning
portfolios; in-depth interviews, focus groups
and group discussions with teachers and
others; lesson observations, peer observations,
video observations and ‘blind’ observations ;
questionnaires and surveys; websites, blogs,
journals and resource books; story telling and
role play, drawings and diagrams. This variety
enabled mentors, teachers and others (parents,
pupils, school administrators) to be involved in
the learning process, and to find what works best
for them.
Achievements
In one year of the project (2012), our mentors
worked with 3,192 Malaysian teachers for a
total of 116,624 hours using a variety of tools,
methods and strategies. Over the year a total
of 46,149 visits were logged - around once
a week per teacher. Because of this highintensity, regular support, we saw strong and
tangible improvements in teaching and learning.
This included evidence of a wider range of
teaching and learning strategies, higher student
engagement, more collaboration between
teachers and other key stakeholders, and
significant improvements in language proficiency.
For example, improvements in teachers’
language proficiency (rated using the Common
European Framework for language assessment
(CEF) at the start of the project and again at
the end of 2012) showed teachers improved at
or above the rate expected from study for the
equivalent number of hours teachers received
through mentoring (Cambridge ESOL, 2013).
These improvements were gained through
teachers using English to communicate with
mentors, colleagues and in the classroom as they
focussed on improving teaching and learning;
not by directly ‘studying’ English.
An independent evaluation of the project
reported that:
“ELTDP has achieved an impressive level of
‘deep’ change within a relatively short time. This
includes:
has only been possible based on the ongoing
participation and support of our partners in the
Ministry of Education Malaysia. This includes staff
in the central Ministry of Education, in State and
District Education Offices and in schools across
Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan.
Narratives of Teacher Development
This publication is comprised of teachers’
accounts of activities undertaken as part of
ELTDP. In each article the teachers describe
their particular contexts, the focus and process
of work, and the impacts which have resulted.
It is hoped that these stories will inspire fellow
teachers and others as they see the professional
commitment and creativity that these teachers
have shown in improving the teaching and
learning of English in their schools.
There are three volumes in this series:
• Reading and Speaking
• Stories and Songs
• Engaging young learners
All of the articles featured in this series are also
available to download on the ‘Engaging Malaysian
Schools in English’ (EMSE) website: http://www.
emse.com.my/. This site also contains KSSR
lesson ideas, forums for discussion, teaching tips
and links to other useful websites.
Further Resources and Reading
• Changes in the relationships between
members of school communities (in and
outside of schools)
• Changes in teachers’ attitudes and practices
to teaching and learning
• Changes in understanding about teaching,
learning and assessment
• Improvements in students’ and teachers’
confidence in using English.” (Kaplan, 2012
pp.3-4)
ELTDP Symposium ‘teacher as researcher’
Moreover the evaluation noted that ‘the
accumulated mass of these small changes in
school communities in Sabah, Sarawak and
Labuan, at the district and state level (PPD and
JPN), as well as the KPM in Putra Jaya (Ministry
of Education), support larger, more systemic
changes in how teaching and learning is
understood, practiced and measured’ (Ibid).
ELTDP Publications
In February 2013 ELTDP held a symposium
in which 70 teachers from across the project
came together in Kuching to present their work
to an audience of peers and colleagues from
within the Malaysian Education system. Many
of the presentations, and more information
on the symposium, are available here: http://
teacherasresearcher.weebly.com/index.html
Available to download for free at
http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/englishlanguage-teachers-development
(ELTDP, 2011) Project Introduction
Guidance on the project approach and
infrastructure written for project stakeholders
It must be stated that such positive change
7
(Kaplan, 2012 and 2013) Interim and Final
External Evaluation Reports
Outputs from the Participatory Impact Monitoring
and Evaluation (PIME) implemented by EENET CIC
Kabilan, M.K.,(2013) The English Language
Teacher Development Project: Research, Theory
and Practice (British Council Malaysia and
Universiti Sains Malaysia) Academic work around
the project
The author
Rachel Bowden ([email protected]) worked
as a Project Manager on the ELTDP from 2011
until 2013
References
Ali, N., Hamid, M. & Moni, K. (2011). English in
primary education in Malaysia: policies,
outcomes and stakeholders’ lived
experiences. Current Issues in Language
Planning, 12(2), 147-166.
Cambridge ESOL (2013) http://www.
cambridgeenglish.org/about-us/what-we-do/
international-language-standards/ [accessed
online 21.07.2013]
ELTDP (2011). The English Language Teacher
Development Project: Project Introduction.
http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/
english-language-teachers-development/
project-introduction [10.07.2013].
Gill, S. K. (2005). Language policy in Malaysia:
Reversing direction. Language Policy, 4(3),
241-260.
Hayes, D. (1995). In-service teacher
development: some basic principles. ELT
Journal, 49(3), 252-261.
Kabilan, M. and Veratharaju, K. (2013).
Professional development needs of primary
school English-language teachers in
Malaysia, in Professional Development in
Education, DOI:10.1080/19415257.2012.76
2418
Kaplan, I. (2012) ELTDP Mid Project Evaluation
Report http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.
org/participatory-project-evaluation/reports
[10.07.2013]
Lee, M. (2002). Educational change in Malaysia.
Penang: Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of
Educational Studies, Monograph Series No:
3/2003
Nalliah, M. and Thiyagarajah, R. (2002). ‘Teacher
education for TESOL in Malaysia: The
Pursuance of conformity in the context of
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cultural diversity’. In Cheng, Y., Tsui, K., Chow,
K., and Mok., M. (eds.), Subject Teaching
and Teacher Education in the new century:
Research and Innovation (pp.439-456). Hong
Kong: The Hong Kong Institute for Education
and Kluwer Academic
Ministry of Education Malaysia, (2012). Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025 http://www4.
unescobkk.org/nespap/sites/default/files/
Preliminary-Blueprint-ExecSummary-Eng_0.
pdf [21.12.12]
Ohata, K. (2007). Teacher development or
training? Recent developments in second/
foreign language teacher education.
Language Research Bulletin (22(1), 1-16.
http://web.icu.ac.jp/lrb/vol_22/Kota%20
LRB%20V22.pdf
Pollard, A ., Anderson, J., Maddock, M., Swaffield,
S., Warin, J., Warwick, P. (2008) Reflective
teaching. London: Continuum.
Pollard, A. (ed.) (2010). Professionalism and
Pedagogy: A Contemporary Opportunity. A
commentary by TLRP and GTCE. London:
TLRP
Villegas-Reimers, E. (2003). Teacher
professional development: an international
review of the literature. IIEP http://unesdoc.
unesco.org/images/0013/001330/133010e.
pdf [25.06.2013]
.
Grammar matters in Year 3
Dulcey Pau
Context
Activity
My school, SK Nanga Gayau is near Debak,
Betong, Sarawak in a rural location where the
general standard of living is very low. Literacy
levels are poor and very little English is spoken.
There is no village, the pupils are Iban and come
from 25 longhouses in the surrounding area
and half are boarders. The school buildings are
in need of renovation. This is my first year of
teaching KSSR, having previously taught Level
2 pupils where the emphasis was on the formal
teaching of grammar. I am currently teaching
Year 3.
The textbook gives me some guidelines on what
to teach, but not on how to present it, so I am
being visually creative in producing resources
for both presentation and practice. Furthermore,
I find that the textbook does not introduce
grammar systematically – it is not ‘scaffolded’
and topics seem to jump around with no logical
sequence. For example, pupils have been using
the present tense for some time and although
there are passages which use it extensively in
the first part of the textbook, it is not actually
introduced (rule-wise) until a third of the way
through! A few pages later, the past simple is
introduced. Negative forms, short answers and
forming questions do not figure in the textbook,
yet these are all necessary if the children are
going to develop their conversational skills.
What I want to do is to describe what I have
done so far to make lessons both instructive and
enjoyable.
Focus
Following two years of teaching by my colleague,
Joseph Anak Degat, who placed great emphasis
on communicative activities, my pupils are
enthusiastic and motivated to use English. I see
my task now as refining and adding to what they
have already learned by teaching basic grammar
(in the KSSR syllabus it is not introduced until
Year 3). At the same time I wish to continue the
emphasis on speaking activities.
The title of my article has two meanings. ‘Matters’
(as used as a verb) suggests that grammar is
important which, of course, it is. But in accepting
the desirability of introducing grammar in
Year 3, the focus of my discussion will be the
‘matters’ - in the sense of situations, challenges
and concerns - that arise in teaching it. My
contention will be that it must be introduced
creatively and systematically; with ample
opportunity for oral use and imaginative writing
without overburdening pupils with superfluous
terminology (e.g. I really do not feel that pupils
need to know the term ‘Declarative sentence’!).
The rules are necessary, but need to be kept
simple and presentation needs to be followed up
by creative practice.
In their first two years, the pupils have been
exposed to quite a lot of language, but they
have learned sentence chunks. Any grammar
that they have picked up has been incidental. In
other words, they have got an idea of grammar
and sentence patterns but have not learned
the rules. So, firstly, I begin my grammar lesson
with a positive questions and responses activity
and this activity helps me to detect pupils’
grammatical errors. I encourage the pupils to
talk freely without drawing their attention to the
grammar. I do not correct errors or attempt to
explain the grammar rules immediately, but note
them so I can deal with them. I try to maintain a
warm, supportive and chatty atmosphere (the
pupils sit around me at the front of the class for
this part of the lesson) so that they are not afraid
to take risks in speaking.
I use realia, word cards, pictures cards and
grammar charts to explain the rules more
clearly. I do not simply photocopy grammar rules
from books or download information from the
internet. Such explanations tend to be cluttered,
9
complicated and off-putting. The next stage is
show further examples of the grammar in use
by using additional cards with situation and
sentence examples. Sometimes I will leave gaps
so key words can be substituted using additional
word cards I have created and I call upon
individual pupils to choose the correct card to
insert.
Using attractive card resources is far more
interesting for the pupils and easier for them to
understand than simply using the textbook or
watching me write on the board. The pupils can
practise in front of their friends and throughout
we can keep up the communicative, chatty
atmosphere of the lesson.
An example of the way I approach grammar is
the sequence I used for teaching plurals and
quantifiers:
a) First, I pasted up cards with various
examples and rules e.g. dress > ss + es =
dresses.
c) Then, introduced quantifiers (a/an and
some) and got pupils to write examples on
the board (e.g. benches – some benches,
brushes – some brushes).
d) Afterwards, I got the pupils to make simple
sentences using the grammar they have
learned. E.g. There is a cherry in the basket /
There are some cherries in the basket.
What I have tried to explain so far is that I take
an approach to teaching grammar in Year 3
which is systematic, but which overcomes the
risk of being boring and uninteresting by being
creative, visually attractive and fun. There is a
lot of ‘hands-on’ activity by pupils in front of the
whole class before we get down to individual
writing activities. There is also a lot of speaking
and interaction. Usually, I take three days to
teach a particular point of grammar and to
integrate the grammar with writing skills, but
at other times it takes a week to teach one
grammar aspect because some grammar is
harder to understand.
Reflections
Explaining grammar rules using cards
b) Then, I selected individual pupils to change
other words to plural.
Pupils practising grammar
10
I am very conscious that, thanks to my
colleague, Joseph who had them in Years 1
and 2, I have inherited a highly, motivated class
which is used to communicative activities. For
the children to now be able to communicate in a
much more flexible way, to be able to construct
their own sentences rather than using chunks
and sentence patterns, grammar is obviously
important, but it is important that the children
do not get put off. An outcome of my approach
is that my pupils continue to be motivated and
do not see grammar as a drudge. I know they
like the resources I produce as when I arrive for
a lesson they cannot wait to see what is in the
box.
Although the new textbooks are an
improvement on the previous ones, I feel that
actual grammar rules are not presented clearly;
examples and practice are often too complex
with vocabulary and situations unrelated to the
children’s everyday life. In contrast, I approach
grammar more systematically and trying as far
as possible to relate to the children’s daily life
and routines. The outcome is that the children
are now able to speak about their daily routines
i.e. answer questions such as “what do you do
before you come to school?” I consider this far
more relevant and motivating than teaching
them to say (as the textbook does) ‘seahorses
swim upright’!
What is also rewarding is that the pupils
correct each other. For example, I asked a
pupil “What does Vivian do every afternoon?”.
The pupil replied “She play badminton” and
immediately other pupils corrected him saying,
“No, she plays badminton”. Other instances
of spontaneous peer correction are when
pupils remind each other to use plurals and
the quantifier ‘some’. I believe this is further
evidence that my approach is working
There is much I still have to figure out how
to approach. I mentioned at the beginning of
this article, for example, that negative forms,
short answers and forming questions are not
specifically covered in the textbook but they are
necessary if the pupils are going to be able to
have meaningful conversations. I am optimistic,
however. Recently, I began trying to introduce
short answer forms, including negatives, to
the question ‘Can you ….?”. The first day of
doing it was difficult, but on the second day,
they seemed to start to get the hang of it and
were pleased with themselves. It was really
encouraging.
So for my future lessons, I will continue trying
to approach grammar matters in a systematic,
creative way, making the lessons instructive,
but at the same time taking care to ensure the
children have fun while learning and continue
to feel motivated and confident about speaking
without being afraid of making mistakes.
Grammar matters. So does the way we teach it.
The Author
Dulcey Pau ([email protected] ) teaches
at SK Nanga Gayau, Debak . She has been
teaching English for ten years. Her mentor is
Steve Ellis.
11
I hated my pupils
Jocelyn James
Context
I was posted to SK Abang Leman in January last
year. There were so many differences to my
previous school where there were only two to
three pupils in each class and 13 or 14 in the
whole school. Class management used to be
a piece of cake to me and the other teachers
in that school but we struggled with the pupils’
achievement. In contrast, SK Abang Leman has
about 853 pupils and 63 teachers. In my English
classes there were 30 pupils and this was very
different to my previous experience.
Focus
I will discuss my Year 1 pupils in this article. The
key challenge with them was managing their
behaviour, especially with most of the boys. The
girls were positive, but the boys dominated. So
when the boys misbehaved, the girls did not
apply any peer pressure to try to stop them. The
boys ran in and out of the classroom, jumping
on furniture, tearing up paper and cutting up
erasers.
Activity
First I talked to other teachers who taught the
class. Their advice was to hit the children and
yell at the class. But this is not my way. I think the
more you yell, the more the children yell. With
the mentor, I tried a traffic light game, where red
means stop, green means go and yellow means
sit down. But that didn’t really work for long. Then
I tried giving very clear, but simple instructions
such as look, listen and zip (zip means close your
mouth) with doing the actions. It worked a little
bit, but then they would get restless again. So, I
decided to think about why this was happening
and I decided these were the things that caused
the bad behaviour:
• I was not ready for a big class of unruly
young learners because it was the first time
I had taught a class with more than three
children in it!
12
• I looked nervous and unprepared and the
children didn’t have confidence that I could
control the class.
• The children didn’t make eye contact with
me or listen because they didn’t trust me
and thought I couldn’t control them.
• The class didn’t understand rules and their
duties and responsibilities in the class. They
thought they were there to play.
• My lessons were not interesting enough to
get their attention and to get them involved.
Other teachers thought that rewarding the class
with food and pencils was a good way to control
them. I didn’t want to do this, but I noticed that
the children (and my niece) were buying glitter
stickers and they loved them. I thought this might
work as a good behaviour reward. So I started to
use them as rewards. I didn’t work at first until I
made a system so that when they got so many
stickers, then the person with the best behaviour
got a prize.
I used this system to control their behaviour.
Back then, when I entered the class itI was hard
for me to make them sit and get ready with their
book. I gave stickers for those who were first to
sit and be ready for the lesson. In few days they
were ready before I entered the class. Then I
used stickers to control their behaviour. I gave
stickers for those who did their work neatly,
coloured pictures beautifully, and answered
questions in English, and for other positive
behaviours. After a few weeks the changes were
really good. I gave fewer stickers than before
so the pupils had to work harder to get stickers
from me.
Eventually, the pupils start bonding with me. I
am no longer relying on that system to make
them listen to me. They pay greater attention in
my lessons now. It is not perfect but it is much
better. Now I can start to focus more on the
content of my lessons and less on managing
their behaviour.
Stickers collected by pupils.
The school then received new books as part
of the ‘Power of Reading’ project. I discovered
that the children loved simple, repetitive stories,
especially books with animals or something they
knew about. They listened very well. I try to read
as many books as I can. They are comfortable
with books now. Even though they cannot read
every word, because they are familiar with the
stories they have become more confident.
Boys looking for words and listing them in their
exercise book
I also used songs and jazz chants to manage the
class. They like it very much when I teach them
a song and add some actions in it. Whenever
they look restless or unfocused, I will ask them
to sing. They have also memorised some jazz
chants.
Reflections
I learned that I must know what my strengths
are. I discovered that being a ‘fierce teacher’
does not work for me. With help from my
mentor and colleagues, I managed to implement
my ideas. I must first trust myself that I am a
good teacher. My pupils could see that I was
nervous and not prepared for them. I also have
to be a good actress. I have to pretend that I
am a superwoman so that I look confident, even
though my heart beats like crazy.
Reading a storybook to the pupils.
I even use the storybooks in my lessons. My first
attempt was while I was teaching phonics. We
practised listening and speaking, then I asked
the pupils to find words in the books that related
to the phoneme we were learning. They liked it
very much. It was as if now they had a purpose
when they are looking at the book. It was good
progress for us because instead of looking at
pictures, now they were looking at the words.
For me this is a little step that will lead them to
another big change.
In my first few months with these pupils, I really
hated it when it was time for English with my
Year 1. It was not the pupils I hated, it was me.
I hated that I was useless and the pupils were
not learning anything from me. I got frustrated
all the time because even when I prepared a
very nice lesson and interesting activities, I still
I could not carry it out because nobody was
listening. Now we are learning in a much better
environment. I can achieve my lesson objectives
and I always look forward to teaching them.
They are in Year 2 now.
I also noticed some changes in the children.
After some time they didn’t rely on getting
stickers anymore and no longer looked like they
were being forced to learn. They really enjoyed
the lesson and were intrinsically motivated to
13
learn, so didn’t need physical rewards because
of their more mature attitude to learning.
I also found that they improved not only in
they behaviour but also in their performance.
There was marked improvement in all four
skills - listening, speaking reading and writing.
First, they became more confident speakers
because of repetition when sharing and
reading books. They were more able writers
because they had seen writing in books and
had a clear understanding of the purpose of
writing. Therefore, they were keen to make their
own booklets after hearing the stories of ‘The
Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘Peace at Last’.
Sadly, I have received a letter telling me that I
have to transfer to another local school. I will
definitely miss my pupils because we were in
the darkest night and I have to depart when
we are seeing the morning sunrise. I know that
even though I have very little experience in
teaching, I am sure we could have achieved
more if we were given a little more time
together. I no longer hate my pupils and I am
very sad to leave them. But I know I can use
everything I have learned with the pupils in
my new school. I will take my stickers and be a
good actress from day one!
The Author
Jocelyn James ([email protected])
has been a teacher of English for three years
and currently works at SK To’ Eman Nyabor. Her
mentor is Susan Goodman.
14
Increasing pupil motivation in
English lessons
Rosmah Binti James
Context
After two years teaching in a big school in
Johor, I transferred to Sarawak, my home state.
I was posted to SK Lela Pahlawan, Lingga, Sri
Aman. It is a small rural school. Most pupils are
Malays and they only use English at school.
Being asked to teach Level 1 pupils there was a
great challenge for me as the children have very
limited exposure to English and most answers or
responses that I got were in their mother-tongue.
I tried my best to help them learn, but my pupils
did not show any interest in learning this subject.
Then, I realised that motivation was their biggest
issue in learning English.
In a school this involves repeatedly observing
what happens during classes and thinking about
how the teacher’s actions affect the pupils.
I started by keeping notes on what I noticed
about pupils’ skills in listening, writing, reading,
vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. I did
this by observing and taking notes on my pupils’
skills and all their attitudes in learning English.
I have 14 pupils in my class, so, by doing this I
was able to note their strengths and weaknesses
in learning English and used this information to
help me in planning my lesson. I also noted what
my pupils’ enjoyed, did well and when they used
English, then I used this information to help me
to motivate my pupils.
Focus
Most of my pupils lacked motivation and selfesteem. I realised this through observing how
pupils responded towards my lessons, the
activities conducted, pupils’ involvement in
the teaching and learning process and also by
having some discussions with my colleagues.
From my observations, I realised that this
problem arose because pupils have a negative
mindset about learning English, making them
feel unmotivated. Some of the pupils preferred
to keep quiet and passive during my lessons.
They did not want to respond when I asked them
questions in English and mostly answered in
Malay. These learners concerned me because
their behaviour suggested that my lessons were
unsuccessful. Sometimes, I felt so frustrated
with myself for not helping the children. So, the
focus of this article is on the strategies I used to
improve my pupils’ motivation.
Activity
First, I started to reflect on my classroom by
doing an action research project. Action research
(see http://tinyurl.com/2rarbb) is “a reflective
process of progressive problem solving led by
individuals working with others in teams or as
part of a community of practice to improve the
way they address issues and solve problems”.
I observed my pupils and made notes about
them
I then started to think about places in my lessons
where speaking is possible and what I could do
to help the pupils speak, even in a simple way.
For example, “Are you ready?” or “Do you have
a pencil?” “Yes” or “No”. I did this by scripting
the key instructions and speaking tasks, then
trying to use simple concept checks as often
as possible. I found post-it notes very useful for
prompting myself in class; clear board displays
and examples also helped pupils follow the
lesson and simple rewards like stars in their
books motivated them to perform.
15
choice (e.g. song or quiz). I learnt that pupils
are more interested in teaching and learning
activities when they feel they are involved
in decision-making and this makes them feel
motivated to learn.
4. Fourth, practise written work orally
beforehand. For example, writing about
things in the classroom “what can you see?”,
“I can see a pencil, etc.” I learnt that it is
good to drill orally before asking the pupils
to write. Besides, it makes the pupils more
confident to write.
Clear display of vocabulary and sentences
As part of my project I also employed four
strategies to encourage my pupils to speak and
to make lessons easy to understand,
1. Adapt some activities in the book and
recycle successful activities to practise
other language points later on in the year. I
learnt not to depend 100% on the activities
given in the textbook or the activity book.
The pupils responded well to this variety
and I was also able to better understand
their preferences. For example, I noticed
that my pupils were involved actively when I
used quizzes, language games or songs with
them. I also simplified some of the activities
in the textbook to make them more suitable
for my learners.
2. Set pupils tasks where they have to give
personalised answers. For example, a pupil
asks his friend what he likes to eat or about
his hobbies. I learnt that it is a good activity
to practise speaking. I observed that it
helped to increase pupils’ confidence in
using English and motivated the pupils to
use English. I also noticed that it is a good
way to identify which pupils are good at
speaking and which pupils are struggling.
By doing this, I can spend more time with
the struggling pupils and, at the same time,
the better pupils are more motivated to
use English in my classes. By doing this
consistently, I am happy to hear more
English during my lesson.
3. Third, give pupils choices sometimes over
games, activities, songs, or types of practice.
I did this by asking the pupils to choose
activities they liked but I would minimize the
16
Reflections
Being involved under the ELTDP Project, I’ve
learnt many useful things that have helped me to
improve my teaching skills. The most important
thing that I’ve learnt is that I can use action
research to inform my teaching and planning.
Action research helped me in these ways. First,
it helped me identify the main issue or problem
in my class. Second, it is a good way for me to
reflect more on my classroom teaching and
planning. Third, it helped me think about any
issue or problem that happened in my classroom
and helped me explore solutions. Before doing
action research I used to blame myself and also
my children if my lesson was unsuccessful. Now,
I can see my classroom in a different perspective
after doing this project. I learnt that the success
of lessons does not come from what I want
from my pupils, but it is about what they want
from me. Before I did my action research, I was
teaching just to finish my syllabus but I realised
I was making a big mistake. I did not care about
what the pupils wanted from me. After doing
this project I noticed that most of my pupils are
motivated to learn English with me and seeing
that they can respond in English during my
lessons make me feel happy as I know my pupils
are learning better now.
The author
Rosmah James has been teaching English for
seven years and worked at SK Lela Pahlawan
Lingga when she was in the ELTDP in 2011 and
2012. Her mentor was Tim Hughes. She currently
works at SK Nanga Lidong, Betong.
Learning my own lesson:
Proper preparation produces
positive performance
Patricia Urie
Context
My school, SK Datuk Bandar, is situated in a small
town in a rural area near Betong in Sarawak. The
general standard of living is very low. Literacy
levels are poor and approximately 30% of adults
are not educated beyond primary level. Very
little English is spoken. The school has about
650 pupils. I have been teaching for 16 years,
although I only joined this school last year. I am
currently teaching Year 2 (25 pupils) and also
Years 5 and 6.
Focus
This article is a self-critical reflection on my
own performance as I am aware that generally
lessons which do not go well are the result of my
own lack of preparation. This is frustrating as I
have 16 years’ teaching experience, am currently
studying for a Bachelor’s degree, ‘Teaching in
Primary Education’ and a recent assignment
I completed was about how to make lessons
interesting and avoid pupil boredom. I began the
essay by stating that “Students’ boredom is one
of the main deterrents to successful teaching
in the language classroom” and then went on
to describe methods for avoiding this. I need to
practise what I preach!
Of course, like all of us, I can find reasons
(excuses): I am pushed for time as I am also
teaching Years 5 and 6, as well as being Head
of English Panel and I have a young family
and elderly relatives to care for. Life can be
stressful! But then again, so can lessons and the
main reason tends to be lack of pupil attention
and motivation and classroom management
- problems which I know I can avoid through
better planning; because when I do prepare well,
lessons are stress-free, effective and enjoyable!
I know when I do not prepare properly and just
rely on the text book, activity book and the same
old tired routines, it leads to lesson inertia. My
dullness is reflected in pupil apathy and often in
classroom management problems.
I do not want to dwell on the negatives, however;
I want to contrast them to what happens when
I plan well so I am just going to use a couple of
examples of lessons which I did in the last few
weeks which were fun, productive and enjoyable
for both myself and the pupils.
Something very simple, yet effective, I have
done is to make a vocabulary box and in it I put
words and picture cards which we have used
in previous lessons. Now the vocabulary box is
always with me so I can regularly get the pupils
to dip into it to practise and revise vocabulary.
This is something which some colleagues had
already done in their first year with our mentor,
but I had been slow in doing it myself. Recently
at our team meeting, we were sharing ideas and
watching videos of each other’s lessons. I liked
the way that a couple of my teacher friends
created great enthusiasm with their pupils by
using their vocabulary boxes musically so I did it.
I placed my pupils in a circle then played music
while the children passed the vocabulary box to
each other. When I stopped the music the child
holding the box had to take out one card and say
the word. I adapted the game and used verbs so
the pupils not only had to say the word but also
mime the action. The pupils really enjoyed the
game.
Another thing I did was to use a cardboard bus
I made some time ago to teach shapes. The
lesson simply consists of the pupils identifying
the shapes on the bus - the wheels are circles,
windows are squares, doors are rectangles,
the front is a triangle. This was actually a
revision lesson as we did shapes in Year 1, but
using it again brought home to me just how
enthusiastically the children respond when I use
bright, cheerful visual aids.
17
Reflections
I realise that the above examples are nothing
revolutionary or particularly novel. The point I
am trying to make, really to myself as much as
to readers, is that I am a capable, experienced
teacher but I need to put my skills into
practice rather than just writing about them for
academic achievement as I have done on the
degree course which I am doing. The lessons
(or part lessons) I have described above were
hugely enjoyable and productive for both me
and the pupils and far less stressful for me than
when I do lessons which are unprepared.
Using a cardboard bus to teach shapes
My classroom is a bit cramped so I decided to
take the children out onto the veranda to do the
‘Toss the bean bag’ game. This is basically to
match vocabulary/phonic cards with the relevant
pictures. I divided the class into two teams and
spread the word cards out onto the floor with
the picture cards displayed on the wall behind.
The teams then competed in a sort of tag race.
A pupil from each team had to throw a bean bag
onto the word cards and then when it landed
on one, they had to run forward pick up the
card, say what the word was and then run to the
wall to paste it onto the correct picture. When
the pupil had done it correctly, the next team
member came forward and threw a bean bag
and so on. The winning team was the one which
matched all the cards and had none left on the
floor. The children really enjoyed the game. It
was so refreshing to see them actually having fun
and learning at the same time and even some
pupils who are normally restless and a bit difficult
to control were enthusiastic.
If I walk into the class and try to just use the
text book and activity book, throwing in the
occasional song or activity which we have done
before, then I am constantly battling to keep my
pupils’ attention and keep them motivated. That
is not to say that I never prepare resources. Of
course, I do, but sometimes I neglect to do so
properly and creatively. Then I have to resort to
writing things on the blackboard and apart from
it not being visually attractive, while I am doing
this I am losing the pupils’ interest.
I have loads of ideas, both my own and those
which other ELTDP project teachers in my
zone have shared. I know that when I create
attractive resources, use interactive games,
introduce new songs and stories, use role
play, pace the lesson and, crucially, anticipate
classroom management problems, my lessons
are effective and enjoyable. When lessons are
like that I think I release the qualities inside me
which my mentor and colleagues keep telling
me that I evidently have in abundance and am
not using - energy, fun and vitality.
So for me it really is a case of listening to my
inner voice:
“Proper preparation produces positive
performance, Patricia!”
The Author
Patricia Urie ([email protected]) is
Head of English Panel at SK Datuk Bandar,
Debak and has been teaching lower to upper
primary for 16 years. Her mentor is Steve Ellis.
The bean bag game
18
Meeting the challenges of teaching
‘lower ability’ classes
Hajar binti Abdul Aziz
Context
My school, SK Datuk Bandar, is situated in a small
town in a rural area near Betong in Sarawak. The
general standard of living is very low. Literacy
levels are poor with approximately 30% of
adults not past primary level. Very little English
is spoken. The school has about 650 pupils
and significant to the context of this article, the
school operates a streaming policy i.e. it streams
pupils by ability into three class levels from Year
1 to Year 6. I am currently teaching the lower
ability classes in Years 2 and 3.
Focus
Although I do not intend to discuss the pros
and cons of streaming, a brief background
explanation is necessary. There is no doubt that
the lower level classes are marked as ‘problem’
classes from Year 1. Last year, along with my
mentor and other English teachers, I did some
interviews and found that this perception
seems to be held by teachers, parents, and
pupils themselves, with differing views on the
advantages or disadvantages of lumping all
the ‘problem’ children together. Many believe
it is unavoidable to give the more able and
motivated pupils a better chance of success in
our competitive, exam-orientated environment.
But there is no doubt that the less able pupils,
the ones who need considerable attention to
develop their abilities and self-esteem, continue
to be disadvantaged unless the teacher is willing
and able to adopt different approaches. My
article will focus upon my response to meeting
the challenges of teaching a class of ‘low
achievers’.
Year 1, who was in his first year of teaching, had
experienced considerable difficulties in handling
them.
When I first stepped into the classroom, I was
terribly frustrated. Some pupils were running
about, others hiding under the desks, and many
children were shouting and screaming; others
looked quiet and bored, some rested their heads
on the table dozing; the behaviour of a few
was disgusting as they played ‘spitball’. They all
ignored me!
I despaired of getting their attention, but
eventually I managed it even though I had to
physically fetch children to the front of the class.
These children had no concept of rules, did not
seem to understand even simple instructions and
certainly could not read well enough to follow
any written directions. Producing posters with
explicit pictures helped, but of much more use,
and of motivational value, was getting pupils to
role play and then getting the others to say the
rules for that situation. I had to do this before
I could actually teach. Also, I felt that not only
knowing them better as individuals, but also
letting them know that they were valued was
important, so I made a determined effort to
quickly learn and use their names.
I feel I have moved on quite a way since those
early days. Effective lesson preparation has been
essential. For phonics, initially I made my own
board out of card on which I could slide letters
together to make it easier to teach blending and
segmenting. Later I managed to get hold of a
magnetic white board. The latter has been vital in
teaching phonics where I really had to start from
scratch.
Activity
I will discuss the class I took over in Year 2 at the
beginning of 2012 and have now taken into Year
3 ((28 pupils). I did so with the encouragement
of my mentor who felt the class needed help,
because of the particular mix of pupils and also
because the teacher who had taught them in
19
Monitoring small groups
Phonics work using the board I made
Ensuring that my lessons have a good pace and
mix of activities to keep them motivated was
very important. But when getting the pupils to do
games together sometimes it did not work well
as the good ones did it alone, leaving the weaker
pupils out. Subsequently I insisted everyone take
turns or otherwise lose the game. In this way, my
pupils learned teamwork
Speaking activities, especially, needed careful
forethought. For one exercise, I started with
forming a large circle where the pupils took turns
to speak, but I lost control. So then I tried doing
it with smaller groups and it worked because
I could go round monitoring them. Similarly,
mingling activities were much more effective
when I got them to circulate in groups instead of
as a whole class.
Keeping them motivated all the time takes a lot
of energy and can be quite exhausting as I like
to move amongst pupils so that I can create a
more dynamic environment. My mentor often
tells me it exhausts him too just watching me, but
we both know it is necessary with this class. It is
not possible to relax even for a few seconds. I do
not relax when giving the pupils writing activities
either as if I am not walking around checking
their work, I use the opportunity to spend more
time with groups of less able pupils.
Story-telling has proved very popular with the
class. I know that rhythm and intonation keeps
their attention and sometimes the pupils laugh
at my funny facial expressions, but it obviously
enthuses them because when it is their turn to
do the role play everybody wants to participate.
Reflections
I have not overcome all the problems, but
seeing the improvements that the children have
made has been rewarding. Their behaviour has
changed slowly, but now they are more obedient,
self-reliant and show respect. Their awareness
towards cleanliness in the classroom is a credit
because everyone has done a good job, knows
their duty and responsibility. In fact, these
children are now caring for each other like a
family after being together so much.
The children are now much better listeners,
show enthusiasm and encourage each other.
As they have learned more vocabulary, they
have become more confident and now they
enjoy having a go at speaking activities as well
as reciting rhymes and singing songs. There
is not the shyness that there used to be and
many hands go up wanting to take part. They
enjoy working in groups, such as when they do a
sentence race, showing cooperation in accepting
each other’s opinions when rearranging words
or phrases to form correct sentences. There are
also some who can now be team leaders when
we are doing group activity
The girls, especially, are eager to progress and
compete with one another when doing their
work. The boys still tend to be a little boisterous
at times, but they certainly show more interest in
learning. There is one big tough boy who tended
to be lazy, but now is hardworking and confident
20
in what he is involved in. His progress is setting
an example to the others.
Every lesson continues to be a challenge; at
times progress is frustratingly slow. But then, with
patience and repetition, usually something clicks
and we are able to move on a stage. Basically,
it is a process of thinking about what worked
and what did not, experimenting with new
approaches and perhaps, importantly, keeping a
sense of humour.
Sometimes the children’s’ mischievousness has
actually been motivating as it has shown that
they have some spirit. My most challenging
pupil has been a little boy who obviously has
both severe behavioural problems and learning
difficulties. But this same little boy is also eager
to contribute and shows evident joy when he
volunteers an answer which is right – or even
sort of right: as when he replied ‘I go to the
toilet’ when asked what he did on Mondays!
In an earlier lesson he demonstrated that any
learning difficulties he has have not dampened
his wit by sticking a ‘hen’ flashcard on my back
without my realising it, much to the amusement
of my mentor. But in turn I also had occasion to
laugh when my mentor, having misplaced his
spectacles, suddenly realised that this same little
boy was wearing them and attempting to look
innocent.
In conclusion, I have not discovered any magical
solution to teaching my ‘low ability class’; rather
it is a case of continual experimentation, never
losing passion or energy and remembering
that for these children, especially those with
learning difficulties, even small achievements are
significant. I actually ‘get a kick’ out of teaching
my ‘low ability’ children, seeing the pleasure
they get out of making progress, even if in
comparison with higher ability classes they lag
behind. I am now looking forward to building up
their confidence so that they can perform on
stage for their parents, singing and doing roleplay. For them, that would be a real achievement.
The Author
Hajar binti Abdul Aziz (salwahajar1@hotmail.
com ) has 22 years of teaching experience from
lower to upper primary school. She teaches at SK
Datuk Bandar, Debak. Her mentor is Steve Ellis.
21
Developing resources to motivate
pupils – and the teacher!
DeQuincey Darreno Lojinin
Context
Focus
I still feel like I am a new teacher - not in the
sense that I feel like I’m beginning a new day
every time the school bell rings, but I am just
so inexperienced at teaching young children. I
started teaching in 2009, freshly graduated from
college, and ready to take on a new challenge.
And Malinsau was where I was sent, a place with
no electricity and no tap water. My school is in
the Sabah interior, roughly 60km away from the
nearest town on dirt roads.
Resources, for me, are an important part of a
teacher’s toolkit. I used to just use the resources
provided for me by the Ministry – the textbook
and activity book – as well as the whiteboard.
However, my pupils can’t follow the textbook
too well, they can’t read it, and so I feel it is
more appropriate for me to create resources to
help them to understand the topics better. By
resources, in this article, I mean realia, flashcards,
printed materials, teaching aids, and behaviour
charts. Basically, anything that engages pupils,
that helps them to understand and to pay
attention to me.
I didn’t enjoy my first year of teaching. The
children were at a frustratingly low level, the
classrooms in really terrible shape. Not my idea
of an ideal school to be in. My inexperience at
teaching Level 1 pupils really took its toll and
it wasn’t just on me, but on my pupils as well. I
didn’t know what to do and how to start, I just
entered class and opened the textbook and
taught as if I were teaching adults. I didn’t find
out what they already knew. I never knew how
to approach the pupils or how to connect with
them. I simply imagined I was with adults the
whole time. My plan didn’t work out. And it didn’t
help either that these pupils had no English
background and had little exposure to the
language. I felt hopeless, like a lost boy scout in
the forest who had every tool he needed, but
didn’t know how to use them. My pupils’ parents
spoke mostly Dusun or Malay, which made it even
harder because they had little use for the English
language. I had no idea how to convince these
children (and even myself) that learning English
is as important as learning their mother tongue.
Come 2011, there were rumours circulating
about some foreigners coming and aiding English
teachers in classrooms. I thought to myself, what
help could they possibly offer to me, an English
teacher who came out of college having every
tool I needed to conduct my class as deemed
fit (or so I thought). I wasn’t too overjoyed about
it at first, but when help actually did come in
August that year, I was surprised at how much
help we actually received.
22
Activity
Creating a collection of resources which I could
use in class had always been on my mind. I knew
that by using them in class, it would significantly
raise the interest of my children in learning the
language. But it was a mere dream I had, nothing
more. I just didn’t have enough motivation to do
what I really wanted to. The arrival of the British
Council mentor in my school didn’t have much
impact at first; I waited too long to start anything
and began to lose interest in my dream.
Then I started to try out some of my mentor’s
ideas in class. I used to say, “That won’t work”,
but she pushed me to experiment a little, and I
started to notice big changes in my pupils: they
were more interested in the language, and better
at it. Now, even though I wouldn’t say I have a
large collection of resources at hand, my dream
has started to take shape.
Our new national curriculum changed a lot from
the previous one. There were just so many new
things to teach, and I didn’t really know how or
where to start. My mentor guided me, and we laid
out plans for what I wanted to do, and how to do
it. I finally knew how and where to start.
We started out doing something that was
unorthodox for me, something that had never
really been a part of me that I’d like to show. It
was the artistic side of me that I’d hidden away
after so many years of being a logical person.
I never had the chance to develop it. Pupils
around me always showed that side of them
every day, I just never really cared. With help
from my mentor, we managed to get that small
part of me out. There was just enough left for
me to ‘kick start’ my artistic side again. During
meetings with her, we would brainstorm an idea,
and then I would start to create resources there
and then, with her support. I learnt more about
how to create flashcards that are useful – for
example, I now make sure that flashcards for
Year 1 have handwriting guidelines on them so
that pupils can see how to write the words neatly.
Flashcards with handwriting guidelines
I also sometimes make resources on my
computer – flashcards, for example – and have
developed my skills in finding and adapting
resources online. This has made me more
creative in my use of the flashcards as well, and
I now use more games in my class as a result
of having a wider range of resources – games
like Board Match, puzzles, Simon Says, and Show
Me The …, all of which are very popular with my
pupils!
Even though we collected an impressive amount
of resources for teaching, not all of them turned
out to be useful. While using a behavioural
chart to monitor pupil discipline worked for the
first few times, pupils lost interest when it was
vandalised by others. A second version with a
much neater appearance regained their interest
in maintaining fun but orderly class manners.
We slowly but steadily created bundles of
resources, and it means a lot to my pupils.
These resources have not just made me a better
teacher, but my pupils better learners, and that is
an achievement that I can be proud of.
Pupils really appreciate the new resources
Reflections
I have noticed a significant increase in the
interest of my children in English classes.
The resources I’ve created together with my
colleagues and mentor have made my classes a
lot more fun and a whole lot more educational.
My attitude towards the children has grown and
changed. I have more confidence in their abilities
these days: I know they can speak English, and
instead of “writing off” a weak pupil, I try to think
of resources that I can create to engage that
pupil and help him to reach his full potential.
This project has not only changed the way I’m
teaching, but also the way I think as a whole
person. Never in my mind had I ever thought
of being able to take the lead in anything. I
was always the participant, and never ever the
speaker. I would never sit at the front, and never
ask questions. I was quite happy to be along for
the ride, as long as I never had to do anything.
Now, I like to challenge myself, take on new
things, and even lead! Sometimes I surprise
myself! I believe there is a good leader in all of
us, no matter how small a voice you have, or how
big a position you hold. Everyone deserves to be
heard, and respected.
Taking part in the Kuching Symposium and in a
zone mini-symposium in Lohan has developed
my presentation and leadership skills, and I
have also realised through these and other
sharing events that the resources I create are
appreciated by other teachers; sharing my ideas
with teachers and mentees has further helped to
grow my confidence in myself.
23
The British Council mentoring program has
helped me mature as a teacher, and as an
educator. I no longer see myself solely as a
teacher, but a surrogate parent, a mentor, a
counsellor, and more importantly, a friend to my
pupils. This has changed my pupils and myself in
so many ways. Classes are now more enjoyable,
time is no longer wasted, and lessons are
something to look forward to. I just wish help had
come sooner, but better late than never!
The author
DeQuincey Darreno Lojinin has been a teacher of
English at SK Malinsau, Ranau for five years. His
mentor is Emily Davies.
24
Motivating learners through games
Halijah Arif
Context
Process
I am a Year 2 English teacher in SK Kulambai,
near Kota Belud in Sabah. The school is quite big
and located in a rural area. Most of the people
here are involved in the agricultural sector
most of my pupils are not exposed to an English
environment. Most of them speak in their mother
tongue, Malay, but almost 95% cannot speak
English.
First, I look for relevant games by consulting
websites, books, colleagues or even my pupils.
Then, I will adapt the activities to suit my lesson
plan. For example, when I taught my pupils Unit 4
“Read Me a Story”, instead of using the textbook,
I chose a book entitled “A Bit Lost”. The story
is very simple, with simple sentence patterns,
and illustrations that are easy to understand
for my pupils. After I read them the story, I
then divided them into groups according to
the characters in the book. While I read it once
again, the characters (i.e. pupils pretending to
be the characters) came out one after another
according to the story line. Here, they repeated
the sentence patterns they heard. Sometimes
I could hear new words or phrases used. They
were supposed to say “Where’s my mommy,
where’s my mommy” but some of them would
say “Where’s my papa, my sister, my friends”. So,
their confidence to speak English has increased.
Then, at the end of the story, the pupils needed
to guess what will happen to the characters in
the story. My pupils were able to give responses.
Before, I used to give them choices of answers
but now they can give their own opinion even
though they use their mother tongue a little.
All the pupils in Year 2 are 9 years old and overall
enrolment is 86 pupils. To ease the teaching
process, we stream them into quick learners,
intermediate and slow learners. In terms of the
English class, the pupils are almost all of the
same level. I notice, though, that the brighter
pupils are very keen to do activities related to
writing while the slower learners are actively
involved in reading and speaking activities.
Focus
I am really interested in teaching listening and
speaking skills and believe that stories and
games can help me do so. In the previous
curriculum the emphasis was on reading and
writing, with a focus on passing exams, and this
didn’t prepare pupils to be competent users of
the language outside of the class. However, the
new curriculum gives equal importance to all
four skills.
Most of my bright pupils are quite good at writing
and reading but find listening and speaking much
harder. As a result their confidence in speaking
is quite low. For this reason usually, when I teach
them new unit, I focus in particular on listening
and speaking activities. These activities I have
found are crucial because if the pupils are able
to understand and get the content through
listening and speaking, they can usually carry
out the reading and writing activities as well.
So, I decided to introduce many speaking and
listening games and activities that are applicable
to the unit as well as my objectives.
Within the same unit, I taught them phonemic
awareness of “oo” /u:/, “uh” /^/ and “ar” /a:/.
These sounds link to animals which make the
same noise: the owl, the monkey and the crow,
with actions for each. So, I played the “In the
Woods” game. Since they were already exposed
to the sound of owls from the story, I divided my
pupils into three groups of the monkeys, owls
and the crows. Whenever I showed them cards
of words with these particular sounds, they
repeated it together with the actions.
I was so happy because even my slow learners
were able to pronounce the words by playing
these games. As long as I said games, my pupils
would join the activities joyfully without feeling
burdened or bored. My pupils really enjoy minicompetitions which involve drawing, colouring,
25
and making word cards. I organize mini-contests
that suit my lesson plan and pupils work together
cheerfully.
Children enjoy drawing activities
Reflections
Using games and fun activities has really helped
me focus more on developing all their language
skills. The fun element means pupils don’t feel
burdened by learning English, they are more
relaxed and often don’t realise they are learning.
When I mention games they are extremely
motivated – even late in the day, when usually
they would be tired, they still want more. This has
enabled me to push them to achieve more and
often I’m surprised how much they can do. This
in turn has motivated me, making me very proud
of my pupils and myself.
The change in teaching has had a dramatic
effect on absenteeism, a big problem before.
Now pupils don’t miss a class and are eager to
come to school every day. One girl who regularly
missed classes over months, just started coming
regularly, saying she didn’t want to miss what was
happening in the stories – now she never misses
a class. I realise that the pupils’ self-esteem really
helps them to be confident and when they feel
confident they are keen to learn English and
come to school.
Also before, it was hard for me to obtain
materials from the pupils due to lack of
understanding between what I was doing in my
English class and the parents. Now, I can see
my lesson is well supported by the parents –
they can see how happy and positive the pupils
are about English and so equally support their
children and me.
26
The Author
Halijah Arif teaches English at SK Kulambai and
has been working on the ELTDP for two and a
half years. Her mentor is Gary Robert.
Organizing a language day
Irene Wong
Context
I am teaching in a rural school, SJK Chung Hua
Buntal in Kampung Buntal, Sarawak. The school
is located in a coastal fishing village about 40
kilometres from Kuching. It is a Chinese medium
school and the major language of the school is
Chinese, followed by Malay and then English. It
is a small school with a population of 116 pupils.
There are 13 teachers including the Principal.
Focus
I believe that learning a language should be fun
and motivating, for both the teachers and the
pupils and in 2012 I organized a Language Day.
The aim of the Language Day was to give all
children in the school the opportunity to learn
Chinese, Malay and English in a fun, gamesbased context. I did not want to emphasise one
language more than the others – all three were
given equal importance.
Activity
It was an action packed day full of languages
and motivational rewards. The activities started
from early morning and ended in the afternoon
with a short break in between. The activities
involved all the language teachers and pupils.
The teachers had to design their own activities
for the language they taught and subsequently
each teacher was allocated a classroom for
their use. There were 12 teachers altogether in
my school with six Chinese language teachers,
four Malay language teachers and two English
teachers. All the teachers involved were asked to
design activities suitable for Level 1 (Years 1, 2
and 3) and Level 2 (Years 4, 5, and 6) in different
corners of their allotted classroom.
At the beginning of the Language Day the pupils
were divided into 10 different groups of 10, with
a combination of Level 1 and Level 2 pupils. Each
group chose a name and a group leader. Each
group was allowed to move to any classroom
of their choice but if the particular classroom
was occupied it was their responsibility to either
wait quietly or move to another unoccupied
classroom. They could play any language game
in a classroom to earn as many stickers as
possible. The role of the teacher-in-charge of
the particular classroom was to give the initial
instructions and explanations of the activities
and then to move into a supervisory role. The
activities were quick and pupils spent a maximum
of five minutes per activity.
Outside at the assembly area, we set up a
redemption table which was filled with attractive
items such as files, mechanical pencils, erasers,
sharpeners, notebooks, bookmarks, pens and
others. All these items were either sponsored
by individual companies, the Kuching Education
Office or the British Council. The pupils scanned
through the items at the beginning of the day
before the activities started and were excited
and very motivated to try to earn as many
stickers as possible in order to exchange the
stickers for items on the redemption table.
The collection of stickers was individual and
not by groups and the success of the activity
determined the amount of stickers collected.
When pupils collected enough stickers for the
items that they were interested in, they moved
to the redemption area to exchange the stickers
with the items that they desired.
The redemption counter
27
I divided my English classroom into two major
sections: the group section and the individual
section. In the group section, activities were
designed for verbs, adjectives, storybooks and
realia:
Year 1, some word cards were pet, mat, pan,
hat, mad, top, and pin. Pupils matched these to
the corresponding phonic sound, such as p, m,
t, h. Once a pupil matched all the word cards
correctly they were rewarded with three stickers.
• 10 phrase cards with verbs were placed
on the table e.g. play with friends, take the
books etc.
• 10 phrase cards with adjectives were placed
on another table, e.g. long blue pencil,
square green book etc.
• Storybooks: 10 storybooks were displayed
on tables.
• Realia: 10 real items with labels attached
were displayed on the floor.
The Level 2 corner of my classroom focused on
similes and adverbs. Pupils had to match the
word cards and phrase cards to make up the
correct similes or adverbs.
The phrase cards, storybooks and realia were
covered up. Each group of pupils first chose
which of the four activities they wanted to
participate in. The pupils then gathered around
the respective table. The teacher lifted up the
cover. Pupils were given one minute to memorise
all the verbs or adjectives or book titles or
names of items. After one minute, the teacher
replaced the cover hiding the items again. Pupils
then individually wrote down what that they had
memorised.
To make the activity suitable for the different
levels, Level 2 pupils wrote according to the
phrases or titles presented, whereas Level
1 pupils only wrote the main words or the
underlined words of the phrases or titles. For
example, for the phrase card ‘play with friends’,
Level 1 pupils needed to remember and write
only the underlined word, ‘play’ whereas Level
2 pupils needed to remember and write out the
full phrase, ‘play with friends’. For the storybook
title, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, Level 1 pupils
needed to remember and write only the main
noun, Caterpillar, whereas Level 2 pupils needed
to remember and write the full title.
Pupils who scored 8-9 out of 10 correct phrases
or words were rewarded with one sticker; those
scoring 10 correct answers were rewarded with
two stickers.
The individual section of my classroom was
divided into a Level 1 corner and a Level 2
corner. The Level 1 corner focused on the sound
system. The activity involved matching words
to phonics, and there were two activities – one
for Year 1 and one for Year 2. For example, for
28
e.g.
as cold as
as hungry as
e.g.
as playful as
a kitten
sleep
play
happily
sadly
ice
a wolf
cry
peacefully
Once a pupil successfully matched all the 10
similes or adverbs, they were rewarded with
three stickers. Eight correct answers were
rewarded with two stickers and five with one.
Matching English activity for Level 2
At the end of the day, pupils moved around the
school to vote for the activity that they liked
the most by pasting a provided sticker onto
a blank piece of paper located at the door of
each activity room. This way, we knew what
kind of activities the pupils preferred. With
this knowledge in mind, we would be able to
organise more pupil preferred activities in
future. The teacher that presented the most
preferred activity was also given a small
motivational reward of a gift hamper. The
activity the children voted one was a Chinese
language game played on a mobile phone.
Reflections
From the Language Day, I learned how to
effectively organise a multi-language, multiactivity day for the whole school. I personally
learned how to source sponsorship and
financial support for these activities. Through
these activities, I learned that it was important
for the school management to work with the
teachers who organised the activities. Without
the rapport of working together, understanding
each other’s ideas and some give and take, the
day would not have been such a success.
As a result of the Language Day, I hope that the
teachers of other languages in my school will
take the initiative in organising similar activities
for their pupils. I hope that I have created a
basis for their continued interest in teaching
languages communicatively. Some of the
teachers said that they really enjoyed the day
even preparing for the activities involved a lot
of work. I also hope that such activities will bring
new ideas from the teachers to be integrated
into their daily teaching. As for the pupils, as
well as the favourite activity feedback, a short
survey was conducted that showed that the
pupils were very interested in having a similar
activity in the future. One Year 5 pupil said,
“When can we play again?” and another said,
“Can we have the same activities next year?”
The author
Irene Wong has been teaching at SJK Chung
Hua Buntal since 2003. She has 17 years of
experience in teaching primary school and has
been on the ELTDP since it started in 2011. Her
mentor is Elizabeth Eastwood.
29
The English carnival
Noor Bee Bt Abdul Jabbar and Suriati Bt Kiprawi
Context
SK Matu Baru is a Grade A school located on
the banks of the river in Kuching. There are
650 pupils, with 4 classes in each Year 1-6. The
classes are streamed according to pupils’ ability.
There are only seven English teachers. The pupils
come from low education family backgrounds
where they never use English for communication.
Focus
To promote English in the school and community,
we organised a special activity in English – The
English Carnival. We had three goals. Firstly, to
create opportunities for learning English through
a range of enjoyable activities. Second, to attract
parents to the school. And finally, to have day
everyone had to speak English as the language
of communication.
Activity
The activities we had during the English Carnival
were:
•
•
•
•
Jumble sale
Exhibition
Language games
English movie
For the jumble sale we collected used items from
all the teachers. Then we sold them at special
prices. This included second-hand clothes,
handbags, scarves, accessories and stationery.
We sold them for less than half price. It was open
to pupils, teachers and parents. It was a ‘hot-spot’
where everybody wanted to go. Sales staff spoke
English; labels were in English to encourage
customers to use English. We managed to sell
everything!
Excitement at the jumble sale
Meanwhile, we had the exhibition in the SAL
(Self-Access Learning) room. Here, we exhibited
pupils’ creative work (e.g. puppets, greeting
cards, posters colouring). We also had the newly
arrived books from the British Council on display
and other teaching resources. The aim of having
this exhibition is to help everyone learn more
about the SAL and resources in it.
The language games were also popular.
While playing and enjoying the games pupils
had to solve puzzles (Figure 2), create words
(Figure 3), build up sentences, and sort words
according to categories. At the same time they
worked as a team. This allows them to learn
about co-operation, tolerance, patience and to
communicate in English. They also made more
friends from other classes.
Children solving word puzzles
30
After the hard work at the other activity
stations, we had a movie. This allowed the
children to relax but they still had to answer
a few questions based on the movie they
watched. This was to encourage them to
focus and try to understand the movie. This
was to support the aim of the day of using the
language.
To ensure the pupils participated in all the
activities during the English Carnival they were
each given a passport to be stamped at every
station.
Reflections
The children responded very positively to the
English Carnival. “We want more and more
activities”, one child said. “Teacher, can we
do it again?” said another. We felt that we
achieved our aim to make English one of
their favourite subjects and in particular of
promoting speaking. There was a positive
change in pupils’ attitude towards English.
They start to communicate in simple English
with friends and teachers outside the lesson.
Parents also became more informed about what
is happening in school especially concerning
English language. Teachers started to practise
English among staff, working as a team.
Other teachers are thinking of doing similar
activities with their subjects. Already there are
plans for “Canteen Day’ which will involve all
subject teachers organising stalls in the school
compound. This was the first year of English
Carnival but hopefully it will continue every year
or through similar activities.
The authors
Noor Bee Bt Abdul Jabbar has been teaching
for 28 years, mainly in peninsular Malaysia, but
has been in SK Matu Baru for 3 1/2 years and
been on the ELTDP project since the beginning.
Suriati Bt Kiprawi has been teaching for 13
years, 12 of those in SK Matu Baru and has also
been on the project since the beginning. Their
mentor is Lisa Walsh.
31
A fun writing project brings two
schools together
Sabdin Ibrahim
Context
SK Meninipir is situated on a hill near the foot of
the Crocker Range, 12 km from Keningau town.
The villagers donated land to set up the school
and it was founded in 1979, with just 50 pupils,
two teachers and the Guru Besar (headteacher).
Today the school has 176 pupils from eight
neighbouring villages. There are six mixed
ability classes with an average of 30 pupils in
each. Many of the parents are farmers or rubber
tappers.
Focus
As my Year 3 English class struggle with and
don’t like writing, I decided to investigate how
I could improve my pupils’ writing skills. After
interviewing pupils, other teachers and my
mentor, I chose to start a pen pal project with
another project school SK Bulu Silou. My Year 3
class would write to one of their Year 3 classes.
I was particularly interested in this project
because I felt it was a fun way of teaching writing
to the pupils and I knew my pupils would really
enjoy writing to and receiving letters from their
new friends.
Activity
The pen pal project was arranged with another
school that had a similar number of pupils to my
Year 3 class. Children were paired with pen pals
of the same gender. During the five months of
the pen pal project my Year 3 class wrote two
letters and we also received two letters from our
partner school, SK Bulu Silou. As I have a mixed
ability Year 3 class, they took about two weeks to
write one letter to their pen pal.
A letter written by a pupil
In October 2012, my Year 3 class also received a
letter from Suriaty Ramat, the Guru Besar of SK
Bulu Silou. She invited us to visit her school, for
the pen pals to meet up and take part in some
fun activities. These activities included a mix
and mingle to find their pen pal, a team building
activity where teams had to make an item of
clothing from a piece of newspaper and the final
activity was a group treasure hunt around the
school with the clues in English.
Pupils enjoying a visit to their pen pals’ school
32
As SK Bulu Silou pupils haven’t had the chance
to visit our school, I got my Year 3 pupils to
make a video of our school. My Year 3 pupils
walked around the school introduced teachers
and we got each teacher to say a message to
the children at SK Bulu Silou. In the video tour,
my pupils pointed out different places in the
school i.e. the school field, the staffroom and
the science room etc.
Reflections
The pen pal project has had a positive impact
on my Year 3 pupils. They are now keen and
more willing to write than before. They often
ask ‘Teacher, when can we write another letter?’
During the project, my Level 2 pupils heard
about this project from their younger brothers
and sisters and asked me, ‘When can we do
these activities in our class?’ The enthusiasm of
my Level 1 pupils has rubbed off on my Level 2
pupils, which is great to see.
Other project schools have also trialled out the
pen pal project and so has a secondary school
in Ipoh, Perak. We are hoping other schools will
try out this interesting writing project. What
started out as just a writing project became
even more diverse and interesting as it included
video messaging between schools and a meet
up and video tour of our school for our partner.
I hope other schools will be inspired to seek out
a neighbouring school to start writing to. Not
only will your kids enjoy it but they will improve
their English at the same time.
The Author
Sabdin Ibrahim ([email protected]) is an
English Teacher at SK Meninipir,
Keningau, and has been teaching for ten years.
His mentor is Susan Verghese.
33
Motivating learners to write
independently
Jenifer Andrew Bugat
Context
For three years I have taught English at SK
Abang Moh in Sessang, which is situated in
East Malaysia. It is a village with a population
of people working as farmers and fishermen.
In 1996, parts of the school were destroyed in
a devastating fire. In 2013, though, new school
premises were provided and this has created a
much better learning environment, and improved
facilities, for the children.
important because it would make them feel more
relaxed and at the same time it could help them
to build self-confidence.
Focus
In 2012, I started to challenge myself and my
Year 2 pupils to write. I knew the majority of
my children were poorly motivated and most of
them couldn’t read well (i.e. with understanding).
I had always believed that learning to read was
the key to learning English, but my boys were
not responding well to the reading work we
did in class. My mentor introduced the idea of
independent writing and, as I had never tried any
writing activities with my children, I decided to
experiment with this idea.
Activity
I taught the children about flowers one day and
I had a sunflower, an orchid, a morning glory,
a hibiscus and a rose. This topic was the first
writing lesson I ever did with the pupils. When
I first introduced a sunflower, we talked about
its colours, its shape and introduced new words
such as petals. I thought that the topic might not
interest the boys very much but they did actually
pay attention to the picture. Later, instead of
giving them a worksheet to do, I let the children
choose their own flower (one sheet with one
flower on it) to write about. The majority of the
boys were interested in the morning glory as
it was a common flower for them but the first
time they had seen the word in English. Though
many of them made mistakes along the way, I
did not correct them immediately because I just
wanted them to write and use phonics as much
as possible to help them spell words. This is
34
Children wrote about flowers
Later, I tried other ways of encouraging them
to write more. In another lesson, I had a list of
pictures of cartoon characters because that is
something children like. Again, I let them choose
their favourite cartoon characters and also
allowed them to take the photo to their table
and start to write anything they like about their
character. One of the boys is quite shy and he
rarely would want to participate in the lesson.
However, he was excited about this topic. When I
asked the class to write about any of the cartoon
characters he quickly took a picture to his table
and to my surprise he wrote more sentences
than I thought he could. Though there were many
spelling mistakes, I still complimented him for
the effort. During the writing, I noticed he was
working with girls and asked them a lot how to
translate Malay words to English. The girls helped
him too. That was the first time I saw a smile of
excitement on his face.
Since most of the girls are good at spelling,
I ask them to help the boys during writing
activities. I create mixed groups of boys and girls
and encourage them to co-operate. This has
improved relationships among the pupils and
allowed them to see the value of helping one
another. In one of these group writing activities
the topic was ‘Sea Creatures’ and each member
in the group chose one animal to write about. All
the writing from each group was compiled as a
booklet. It was good to see how eager the girls
were to help the boys. When they made spelling
mistakes most of them did not just spell out the
words to the boys but instead they pronounced
them and the boys tried to spell. Working with
peers is more relaxing because they feel freer
especially when they make mistakes; they are not
afraid to show their weaknesses.
as the girls. Whenever we have writing activities,
they confidently come to me and show their
first line of writing and I can finally correct their
mistakes because now they feel motivated and
are able to see their mistakes as another step
ahead in writing. In the past, they would never
show me their work because they were too
worried about their errors.
Encouraging the pupils to work in groups has
been successful. They learn to co-operate and
the stronger children can help others. This also
creates more space for me to focus on children
who need particular support.
The author
Jenifer Andrew Bugat (jean_ariens_02@yahoo.
com ) is an English teacher at SK Abang Moh,
Sessang and she has been teaching for eight
years. Her mentor is Sue Goodman.
Appendix
These are some websites that I’ve used to find
ideas and pictures for writing lessons for my
children.
http://www.offbyheart.co.uk
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/392/
http://www.funenglishgames.com/writinggames.
html
http://printablecolouringpages.
co.uk/?s=valentine%20alphabet
http://pinterest.com/
Writing about sea creatures
Reflections
In the past, only a small number of children
would hand their writing back to me, but now
almost all of them do. I feel motivated by
this positive response. My children are more
motivated too because sometimes I hang their
work on the wall for their friends to see and
praise. This actually boosts their motivation.
Sometimes I also get a phone call from a parent
telling me that their child always talks about their
English lesson of the day. I feel much happier and
feel that I have succeeded in making them love
English. The boys are now indeed as motivated
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Using task-based learning in
teaching primary English
Morinie Linus
Context
SK Nambayan is a rural school with limited
resources serving what is mainly a farming
community. I inherited a Year 2 class with severe
learning difficulties and behavioral problems
and through being part of the ELTDP project I
was able to examine ways of dealing with these
problems.
Focus
Carl R. Rogers believed learning is increased
when we seek to understand pupils and not
just to evaluate and judge them. I once did
not believe in what my pupils are capable of
doing - what I believed was that my pupils had
low English proficiency and I had to provide
everything for them and teach them as many
words as I could so that they would improve
their English and pass their tests. But the more
I gave the pupils the more pressure they felt
and they more bored they seemed to get in
class. When I realized realised this, I began to
think of a way to attract their attention and try
to get them involved in learning as much as
possible. Task-based learning provided me with a
solution. There are so many ways to use taskbased learning in the classroom but a common
element is that pupils are given the chance to
do something meaningful with English, such
as creating a mini story book, making masks,
creating puppets, and doing a role-play. Here
I would like to explain how I used task-based
learning in a Big Book project.
• Brainstorm activities – talk about the
characters
• Provide vocabulary – describe characters
ii) Task Preparation
• Prepare the pupils thoroughly (brief them on
what they have to do)
• Take out the materials needed (pupils were
asked to bring these in the previous lesson;
the teacher can also provide the materials in
case pupils did not bring any)
• Provide the necessary language for
presentation or role play.
iii) Task Realisation
• Work in groups
• Produce the big book
• Group presentation
iv) Post Task
• Consolidate the language/error correction
• Review and extend vocabulary
• Evaluation of the task: Was it useful? Was it
enjoyable?
Activity
In this particular project I followed a four-stage
approach to task-based learning. The Big Book
project involved the children in making a big
book based on a story we had previously read
together in class.
i) Pre-task stage
• Recall the story
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Children making a big book
As I learned to use task-based learning, I
created tasks that were in line with the KSSR
learning standards and followed the area of
phonics that was being taught that week. At
first, I used a teacher-centered approach to
keep control of my class as they were quite
active and difficult to control. Then gradually I
broke them up into friendship groups by using
a seating plan to motivate them to learn as they
could sit next to friends who could help them
with their English. I also introduced a monitor
for each table to monitor group behaviour. I
this way I also taught leadership to these young
learners. By doing these tasks, I realised that it
is much better for me and the pupils by getting
the class to manage themselves and to take
responsibility for their own learning. They were
eager to complete the task given to their group.
They felt they have much more freedom and at
the same time they felt free to ask their group
mates what to do if they didn’t know. I was
always there to monitor each group.
the tasks with the standards that need to be
covered as part of the KSSR. Addressing these
challenges, though, has been worthwhile when
I see the difference it has made to my teaching
and to the way my pupils engage with the
process of learning English.
The author
Morinie Linus has been teaching for more than
12 years, the last of which she has spent at SK
Nambayan, where she is also Head of Panel for
English. Her mentor is Ann Eastlake.
Children present their work
Reflections
By implementing task-based learning I have
learnt that even pupils with severe behavioural
problem and who have low English proficiency
can learn English in a fun and interesting way.
Using this approach is also one way to motivate
pupils and to tell them indirectly that they can
do whatever they think they cannot do. This
approach gives them the opportunity to show
what they are capable of and also teaches the
value of sharing, cooperation, friendship, hard
work and creativity. It also encourages parents
to take part in their children’s early education
as parents can help in completing the tasks/
projects that are set by the teacher. Two
challenges in implementing task-based learning
are providing the materials needed and aligning
37
Implementing task-based
learning in Year 1
Chin Nyok Fong, Izatil Aqmar Binti Mohd Zamzam, Hernanie Paidilin and Anna
Stevens
Task-based learning
Focus
Task-based learning (TBL) is founded on the
idea that children learn language by using
it to communicate a meaningful message to
others. It provides a structure that teachers
can utilise to plan a coherent and connected
series of lessons that allow practise for new
language before challenging pupils to use it
to communicate a message. In TBL, tasks and
activities are considered different. Activities
are opportunities for pupils to practise new
language in a controlled way and to help
memorisation of the new language. Tasks,
on the other hand, challenge pupils to use
their knowledge of English to communicate
meaningfully with others. Tasks can be creative,
such as designing something and writing about
it, or could require exchange of information,
such as doing a survey, but should have an
outcome and must challenge pupils to use
English. There are several types of taskbased learning, but all contain three general
stages: pre-task, during task and post-task. For
beginner learners, the pre-task stage includes
the introduction and controlled practice of the
language needed for the task.
In the beginning of using the task cycle, it took
me a long time to prepare because it was a new
thing for me. I needed time to make sure the
activities and teaching materials were relevant
to my pupils’ abilities. After using the task cycle
for a few months, I discovered that it was a clear
guide for planning my objectives, and weekly
and daily lessons. It actually saved me a lot of
time and energy in preparing lessons.
The following stories are from three Year 1
English teachers who have implemented taskbased learning in their classes.
Designing the Syllabus
Chin Nyok Fong
Context
This year is the third year I have taught Year 1
with the KSSR. The majority of the pupils are
non-Chinese and 95% do not have any English
background. They do not speak in English
among their friends and Malay is the language
they use most of the time.
38
Activity
My mentor and I did the task planning together.
The first step was looking through the English
textbook and finding the key language from
each topic. Later, we arranged the topics in
an order that was appropriate for my pupils.
From 26 units we shortened it to 19 topics per
year. From here, we did the yearly teaching
plan. The contents included the topic, key
vocabulary, possible task, sentence frames
and learning standard assessed through the
task. In my weekly meeting with my mentor, we
always talked about the lesson structure and
planning the task cycle. We did the task cycles
together for few weeks and she always provided
feedback. Now I can plan independently.
I planned six lessons for each topic in my task
cycle. There are two one-hour and one half hour
lessons per week:
• Lesson 1 - Listening, speaking – focus on key
vocabulary.
• Lesson 2 - Reading and writing the key
vocabulary.
• Lesson 3 - Teaching phonics.
• Lesson 4 - Working with sentence frames.
• Lesson 5 - Task.
• Lesson 6 – Teaching phonics
Reflections
I feel that task-based learning is really a good
guide for teachers in planning their weekly
and daily lessons. I have gained lots of new
information about teaching language skills. I
see how all of my activities and lessons are
connected. I enjoyed applying the new activities
in my lessons. But not all the activities that I
planned were successful. Some of the reasons
were problems with time management and
activities were not accurate with their level.
My pupils have responded well to task-based
learning and are very active during lessons.
They have made good progress too and pupils
can have simple conversations with their
friends and the teacher and almost half can
independently write simple sentences. Tasks
help them develop their ideas and creativity and
pupils are happy to do the work.
Lesson Planning with Task-Based Learning
Izatil Aqmar Binti Mohd Zamzam
Context
This is my first year teaching after training
college, my first time in Sabah, and the first time
I’ve worked in a rural school. When I first came
here, I had no idea what my pupils would be
like, which level they would be, and I was not
even sure about their family background, their
previous educational experience or their general
knowledge. The reality was very different from
my expectation. In this community, English is not
spoken outside English class. In fact, English is a
foreign language for most pupils.
Focus
I realised that there was no guidance in the
KSSR for a new teacher like me as we had not
been introduced to it at university. Luckily, we
were introduced to task-based learning this year
by our mentor, so I thought it could be a guide
for our teaching and learning. Moreover, it gave
a structure for planning and made teaching and
learning clearer and easier.
Activity
To begin with I found task-based learning hard
to understand. However, the co-planning with
my mentor really helped and gave me some
ideas and as I taught a few task cycles, the
concept became clearer. In fact, I found it was
not really different to normal planning. It is just
that all lessons in task cycle are planned before
beginning the topic instead of one lesson of a
time. To make it clear, the final task will affect
the planning of other lessons. For example,
for a task which required pupils to design a
robot from shapes and write about it, you have
to make sure that pupils know the vocabulary
and sentences they would need before they
do the task. So the listening, speaking, reading
and writing lessons must be planned carefully.
Likewise, planning lessons from the task helps
to make all of the lessons more successful.
Reflections
Because of task-based learning, lessons are
more attractive and interesting for the pupils.
This is helping them to remember and use
English in their daily life. It may also help them
in the long term by creating a positive attitude
towards English. Additionally, I found out that
the parents have been very excited about it and
they are trying to help by talking more to their
children about what they are doing in English
class. Personally, as an English teacher, I feel
more confident because by using task -based
learning, my plans have become more solid and
enjoyable. Thus, I feel more able to understand
and respond my pupils’ needs.
Implementing Task-Based Learning
Hernanie Paidilin
Context
I have been teaching for seven years and have
been teaching English in Year 1 for four years
now. Most of my Year 1 pupils only know a little
English. In school most pupils speak in their
mother tongue and Malay, English is spoken
very little outside the school. The pupils only
use the English introduced in the classroom and
only use it in the English lesson.
Focus
After successfully trialling a new classroom
management routine, I wanted to try another
new challenge. Task-based planning was outside
my comfort zone, but I found that exciting. With
task-based learning, I could see potential to
help me with lesson planning and to give my
teaching a much clearer sense of direction.
39
Activity
The Authors
It was hard! In the past I used to plan one
week at a time, so planning weeks ahead
(one requirement of task-based learning) was
challenging. I was stressed and unmotivated
at first. Fortunately, my mentor supported me.
She provided ideas and suggestions of activities
that can be done. Over time, I became better at
planning a task cycle and I felt more motivated
to use task-based learning. I had problems
at first, especially with continuity within and
between lessons in the task. It was difficult to
see the continuity before I taught the first task
cycle. But when I saw that pupils were able to
relate today’s lesson to previous lessons, I could
see how the lessons were connected. I also got
help from other teachers from my school and
other schools and we exchanged task cycles
and ideas. We shared materials, sources for
materials, teaching steps and the procedures,
and we did co-planning too. Even though we
were from different schools, we discussed task
cycles during our group meetings. We also
used e-mail to exchange the task cycle and
sometimes communicated via Facebook.
Chin Nyok Fong teaches English at at SJK(C)
Chung Hwa Kota Belud.
Izatil Aqmar Binti Mohd Zamzam teaches English
at SK Piasau.
Hernanie Paidilin teaches English at SK Pekan
Kota Belud.
The teachers’ mentor is Anna Stevens.
Reflections
I have learnt a lot about what the children are
capable of. At first, I wasn’t confident that the
pupils could do tasks such as making their
family tree and surveying their friends and
making a graph, but they did! In the past they
were only introduced to the key words of the
topic. No task was given to make them use the
language meaningfully. Seeing what they are
capable of has opened my mind – I now trust
them to do more challenging tasks.
The pupils also have greater confidence in
actually using the language as they realise they
can do it. The pupils’ language development
is faster and they are learning more words as
they are also doing activities they’ve never
done before. I will continue to use task-based
learning and to look forward for other exciting
challenges.
40
41
This volume contains teachers’ accounts of
development activities they have undertaken in
Malaysian primary schools as part of the English
Language Teacher Development Project (ELTDP).
The stories provide vivid yet realistic accounts
of innovative activities which other teachers can
adapt in their own contexts; the narratives also
serve as a source of inspiration, showing how
with collaboration, commitment and appropriate
support significant changes can be made to
the teaching and learning of English even in
challenging circumstances.
The three volumes in this series are:
•
•
•
Reading and Speaking
Stories and Songs
Engaging Young Learners
© British Council 2013/C607
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation
for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
42