ENHANCING SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION ABILITIES OF GRADE 8 STUDENTS

THROUGH THE SHAPE CODING SYSTEM

CHAPTER I
Problem Identification

Background of the Study

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
-Mark Twain

The development of effective sentence structure in the writing of secondary students

continues to be a major problem in the teaching of composition. Now that the K-12 Curriculum is

implemented to public schools, students are more expose in writing compositions, formulating

good and perfect sentences. Sentence structure is the way a sentence is arranged, grammatically.

The sentence structure of writing includes where the noun and verb fall within an

individual sentence. Clear and short sentences are preferable and more effective, than long and

complex ones.

Constructing sentences is like putting in sequence, wherein one sentence comes after

another and after another. Meaning or message should flow from one sentence to the next, carrying

the argument or point of view forward in a clear and concise manner. On the other hand,

inconsistencies of grammar can blur the meaning. This is the reason that English is considered as

one of the most complex subjects in school aside from Mathematics. Moreover, traditional way of

constructing sentences makes a boring lesson to students.

According to Florella and Rollo (1980), mistakes in word order are believed to be the most

recurrent of the grammatical errors that frustrate learners and teachers. Such mistakes can be

eliminated by applying logical principles accessible to young students. On the other hand, Laird

(1985) said that the more senses are stimulated, the greater learning will takes place. As a solution
to the problems of constructing sentences, and as a way of addressing of what Laird (1985) have

said, an effective strategy in constructing sentences is introduced. Shape coding systems allows

students to discover and perceive the rules in constructing sentences and also they learn the

different parts of speech use in a sentence.

Shape Coding System is closely related to the Color Pattern Scheme (Lea, 1970) and

Colorful Semantics (Bryan, 1997). The Color Pattern Schemes focuses on the surface structure of

a sentence and color codes the parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adjective), whereas Colorful

Semantic focuses on thematic roles (e.g. theme, location). However, both systems of teaching

grammar to students emphasizes on the group of words used in a particular sentence through the

use of colors, and thus could not combine in a straightforward manner. Therefore, in the shape

coding system, colors were kept for parts of speech and shapes were used for coding phrases

according to their role and position in sentences.

Shape Coding System is more advantageous than the two color coding system. Shapes can

be placed inside each other, thus showing the hierarchical structure of language. Also, shapes can

easily be moved around, making it more possible to show the students how to form questions and

passive sentences. This would enable complex language (as well as simple structures) to be made

visually explicit.

Through this Shape Coding System, the students think consciously and the unconsciously.

Students will also be motivated in learning the rules and principles of sentence construction.

Students’ interest will be aroused through the shapes and lines, thus they will realize that

constructing sentences is not boring and difficult rather it is fun and easy to learn.
Analysis of the Problem

One of the most common writing concerns is sentence fragment rather than complete

sentences.

The interview with a language teacher reveals that Grade 8 students could barely construct

or create good sentences because of the following factors: lack of interest on the traditional way

of teaching how to construct sentences, limited knowledge about the parts of speech especially on

adverbs as well as the subject and the verb, and the inability to transform affirmative sentences to

negative, interrogative to negative-interrogative. Thus, there is a need for the Grade 8 teachers to

utilize modern technique of teaching sentence construction wherein, the active nature of the

students will be tap.

The Shape Coding System can be an effective way in teaching sentence construction. But,

teaching sentence construction alone will not be effective as what is expected if it will not get the

interest of the students. Integrating the Shape Coding System in teaching sentence construction

can be an answer to this problem because words in a sentence are identified by using shapes, which

have a corresponding function. The students in this technique are expected to associate specific

shapes to the words used in a sentence. Hence, as the saying goes, the more senses involved in

learning, the more permanent the learning is.

The researchers, therefore, concluded that one solution to address these problems will lie

on the teacher’s strategy in teaching. Thus, the Shape Coding System is introduced to learners in

order to improve their sentence constructions.

Significance of the Study

Educational research study aims to give insights and benefits to the learners, especially in

making the learning process more meaningful and interesting.

This research study will be conduct with a strong belief that the Shape Coding System is a

good help for students to construct good and accepted sentences. Thus, this study hopes to benefit

the students, teachers, and administrators.

Primarily, this research study benefits the students. Through the use of Shape Coding

System, the learning of students in sentence construction become easier while experiencing the

fun of it. Moreover, integrating this strategy also makes the students to be more sensible about

constructing sentences and familiarizing the different functions of words used in a sentence.

This study is also significant to the teachers. With this kind of strategy, the teachers realize

the value of using shape codes in teaching sentence construction which is more innovative than

the traditional one. Shape coding system saves time and effort in re-teaching those hard lessons.

Integrating this strategy helps the teachers to create an interactive classroom setting.

Lastly, this educational research benefits the school administrators. The administrators

recognize the value of the shape coding system. With this kind of strategy, they will encourage the

teachers to think and create more effective strategies in teaching not only on sentence construction

but also in other aspects of grammar lessons as well.

Statement of the Problem

 The researchers had an initial planning together with their main adviser before they will

deployed to public schools for their off-campus practice teaching in the future. The researchers

observed during their in-campus practice teaching that majority of high school students especially

those who belong to lower sections cannot construct good sentences, and many show signs and

disinterest when taught in the traditional way.

The research adviser said that the researchers should do parallel observations in the Grade

8 classes of the public schools where they will be assigned if the same learning difficulty is

apparent. Hence, the researchers made letters of permission to the principal of the public schools,

requesting their approval for us to observe classes in Grade 8.

After a week of observing the Grade 8 students, the researchers observed that many of them

have difficulty in constructing good sentences. Some of them are active during recitation but when

it comes to writing sentences, they tend to be silent. Lastly, students show boredom and/or

disinterest when the teaching of constructing sentences is taught in the traditional method.

These observations were reported to the research adviser, he advised to validate these

observations through a triangulation method. Aside from the observation, the researchers were

advised to administer a pre-test using a grammar checklist and, to inquire the students’ perception

on their own ability to construct good sentences through a structured interview using another

checklist. Moreover, the Grade 8 teachers were asked to confirm the results of the checklists

mentioned above through a confirmation checklist. She also required the researcher to do some

research on the modern or new strategies or techniques in teaching grammar (constructing

sentences) to Grade 8 students. One of these modern strategies that the researchers discovered in

their research is the Shape Coding System, which is somewhat similar with the Color Coding
System.

Hence, this study endeavors to enhance the ability of Grade 8 in sentence construction.

Specifically, it aims to seek answers to the following questions that arouse in using the said activity.

1. Can shape coding system be used to enhance the ability of Grade 8 students in

constructing good sentences and in transforming sentences?

2. Is there a change in the perception of grade 8 students in their ability to construct and

transform sentences?

The researchers were assigned to the different public schools: North South High School,

Bukang Liwayway Integrated School, Happy High School, and Gumamela National High School.

The research adviser suggested that the researchers will do a pre-test to know the initial knowledge

of grade 8 students in constructing and transforming sentences.

So, through the consent of their teacher training instructors, the researchers were able to do

the pre-test which they conducted for one session.

CHAPTER II
Methodology

This chapter presents the strategy or intervention used, research instrument, sources of data,
data gathering procedure and tools for data analysis.

The Strategy or Intervention

This action research will be conducted in North South High School, Bukang Liwayway

Integrated School, Happy High School, and Gumamela National High School specifically with

Grade 8 students as respondents.

With sentence construction difficulty of students in grammar and writing lessons, the

researchers developed a strategy which will help them identify functions of words and sentence

patterns easily and be able to enhance sentence construction abilities. This strategy is called the

‘Shape Coding System’ which was adapted from the strategy designed and developed by speech

and language therapist Dr. Susan Ebells.

With the shape coding system, parts of speech as well as basic sentence patterns will be

represented by a shape. A circle for a noun, a diamond for a verb, a triangle for an adjective, a

rectangle for the adverb, a parallelogram for a preposition, a heart for a conjunction, an oblong for

an interjection and a cross for an object.

For the basic patterns, there will be assigned shapes for each element of the patterns. A

circle for a subject, a square for a direct object, a rectangle for indirect object, triangle for

intransitive verb, diamond for transitive verb, heart for linking verb, parallelogram for subjective

complement, oblong for objective complement and cross for the verb (Transitive, intransitive and

linking verb) if it is the V-S inverted pattern.

This shape coding system was slightly modified as this will be integrated with painless

sentence writing which will be done by having a picture prompt be shown to the students from

which they will write a noun, a verb, an adjective, and adverb and so on until they complete a

chart. They will be asked to write sentences using the words they have written and they are
expected to easily construct a sentence.

Research Instrument

To gather the data needed in the study, the researchers will conduct an attitudinal test, a

pretest and a posttest. The attitudinal test will be used to gather some important and possible

perceptions of students regarding sentence construction. On the other hand, the pretest will be

composed of 25 items which will be divided into 3 parts. Test 1, will be the identification of parts

of speech for an underlined word which is 10 items, test 2 will also have 10 items which will be

on arranging jumbled sentences and test 3 with 5 items will be on sentence construction following

a required pattern with guide questions. The tests are approved and evaluated by the research

adviser.

Sources of Data

Grade 8 students of our cooperating schools will be chosen as respondents for the action

research.

Table 1. Distribution of Student Respondents by Cooperating Schools

Cooperating Schools Total No. of Students

North South High School 25

Bukang Liwayway Integrated School 25

Happy High School 25

Gumamela Natioal High School 25

Total 100

Table 1 will show the distribution of student respondents by cooperating schools. Based on

the table, there are equal numbers of 25 student respondents for each cooperating school. In total,
there are 100 student respondents involved in this study.

Data Gathering Procedure

In conducting the action research, the researchers will be guided by the following

procedure/steps:

Securing permission from the school officials. The researchers will ask permission from

the principals of the cooperating schools through a letter. Then, they will coordinate with the

advisers of the Grade 8 students about the attitudinal test, pretest, posttest and almost two weeks

of teaching using the intervention.

Administering the attitudinal test and the pretest. The researchers will administer the

attitudinal test and the pretest to the Grade 8 students during the given time for our practice

teaching. The attitudinal test will be composed of 10 statements featuring the perceptions of

students regarding sentence construction. Meanwhile, the pretest will be composed of 25 items

which will have 3 parts: parts of speech identification, sentence arrangement and sentence

construction. The tests will be conducted through the traditional paper and pencil procedure.

Conducting the teaching intervention. The researchers will conduct a two-week teaching

intervention. The ‘Shape Coding System’ will be used as intervention in enhancing sentence

construction skills. They will facilitate the students on the different activities and strategies for our

intervention to ensure their full participation.

Administering the posttest. The researchers will administer the posttest to the Grade 8

students after conducting the two-week teaching of the intervention. The scores of the students

will be carefully checked, recorded and statistically tabulated.

Checking, recording, and tabulating of scores in the pretest and posttest. The test
papers of the students will be carefully checked, recorded and tabulated.

Securing Permission from

School Officials

Administering the Attitudinal

Test and the Pretest

Conducting the Teaching

Intervention

Administering the Posttest

Checking, Recording and

Tabulating Scores from the
Pretest and Postest

Figure 1. The flowchart shows the procedure which will be followed in data
gathering.