1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Writing is one of the basic skills that should be acquired by primary schools by the end of 6-
year schooling. Pupils should be able to master it so that they will be able to face the
challenge of learning the language in secondary school. Writing is also an important part of
communication. Good writing skills will allow us to communicate our message with the clarity
and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone conversations.

1.1 REFLECTION ON TEACHING EXPERIENCE

During my teaching and learning process here at SK RKT Sri Ledang, I was
assigned to Year 6 Aspiration 2 (6A2). In my two months experience of teaching this
class, I noticed that the pupils are weak in all basic skills namely listening, speaking,
reading, writing and grammar. I had given them various exercises in all skills
according to the topics taught in the textbooks and there are some problems that I
have noticed.
While giving the pupils exercises, I observed that the pupils were reluctant to write
when they are asked to do so. No matter whether they had to write short sentences
or phrases, they are very reluctant to do so. Due to lack of proficiency, they hesitated
to try and did not have enough confidence when writing tasks were assigned. Most of
the writing tasks that I asked them to do was not done. And if they are writing, they
only copy back the instructions or what I had written on the whiteboard. When I
asked them why they did not complete their writing task, the general response was
that the writing was the most stressful activities as they did not know how to write
even simple sentences. I was curious on why the pupils feel that writing is a stressful
task.
After I had talked to some of the pupils, I found out that this happened because of
the copying activities that they had to endure during their lessons with their previous
English teacher. The teacher had the pupils to copy texts and paragraphs from
answer sheets of their workbooks, textbooks and worksheets. The reason for this
activity is because the teacher feels that due to their lack of proficiency, copying is
the only task that is suitable for them rather than guiding them to write short and
simple sentences. This activity did not help to increase their proficiency because they
only copy blindly without understanding what they are copying.

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 During my lessons, I also noticed that the vocabulary mastered by the pupils is very
limited. This is also the factor that contributes to their reluctance to write. When they
do not know the words that they can use to write a sentence, they will not be able to
write thus making them abandon their work due to their low proficiency.

1.2 Related theories and past researches

1.2.1 Related Theories
Behaviourist theory
Skinner (as cited by Santrock, 2010) views language as a form of behaviour and
language learning as a process of habit formation. The behaviourist theory
emphasizes more on repetition and drillings. Repetition is seen as important to bring
about habit formation and learning (Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam and
Teh Soo Choon, 2005). Behaviourist theory tells that in learning pupils need a lot of
drilling from the teacher in order to understand the language that are being taught
before they can produce its own individually. Behaviourist believes that learners
need to be given immediate feedback after each practice.
This can be done while doing the substitution table exercise where teacher can teach
how to write each sentence that can be built from the table one by one. And after
each sentence, teacher can give feedback whether it is right or wrong and if wrong
why the sentence is wrong and how to correct it.
Teacher must always bear in mind that each learning process must start from simple
to complex so by having a substitution table as a way to improve their learning,
teacher can built the table to accommodate the level of difficulty that they want the
sentence to be. Positive reinforcement is very important when applying behaviorist
theory in lesson as Skinner believe that positive reinforcement is more effective in
changing behavior of a student rather than punishing them.

1.2.2 Past Researches

There had been many researches done by scholar in English Language learning on
how teachers can help pupils in improving their language skills. Among them is
Stephen D. Krashen. His language acquisition theory was explained by Elizabeth
Taylor Tricomi in her article ‘Krashen’s Second Language Acquisition Theory and the
Teaching of Edited American English’. although this article did not touch much on the
teaching of writing using substitution table but there are some theory provided by

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Krashen that can be applied in English Languages classes as he talked about how
English as a second language is acquired. Krashen’s theory of language acquisition
in centred on his distinction between language acquisition and language learning.
According to Krashen, acquisition is a subconscious process, while learning is
conscious. This can be seen in children; how they acquire their language. They listen
and observe those around them communicate with each other and they use it to
practice their language. This is what happen during their growing stage and how they
acquire their mother tongue. In classroom however, when they are learning English
they need to consciously try to understand a new set of language that are foreign to
them. Both play a role in developing second-language competence, acquisition is far
more important, since the competence developed through it, is responsible for
generating language and thus accounts for language fluency. Competence gained
through learning, or the "Monitor" as Krashen terms it, can only modify language
generated by acquired language competence. In other words, the second-language
student can use learned rules to "monitor" or correct his language either before or
after the moment of production. Monitoring serves a limited function, however, since
it can operate only when there is sufficient time, when the focus is on form, and when
the necessary rule has been learned. Normally these rather limited conditions are
met chiefly when a person is writing or taking a discrete-point grammar test.
Since Krashen's research indicates that acquired competence is so much more
accessible and reliable than learned competence, teachers should help students
exploit their acquired competence in whatever ways possible. One way of doing this
is to teach students editing "tricks" that draw upon their ear for language. One such
trick is covering up the first item in a compound prepositional object to check for
proper pronoun use. For example, covering up john and in the phrase to John and I
will immediately show most students that me, not I, is required in that location.
Krashen states that a teacher can promote acquisition by providing students with
appropriate comprehensible input. The only alternative procedure for language
teachers which he describes is that of presenting students with a rule and then
helping them practice applying it, a procedure which leads of course to learning.
In another research that focus on using substitution table to improve pupils’
reasoning skills, the researchers had found out that students’ writing had improved.
The research was done in order to get the pupils to be able to answer the questions
in Section B part 2 of their examination table which need them to give reasons for

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their choice. From the research, they had found that among the reason why students
faced hard time in constructing sentences are because students are not attracted to
the lesson and it is hard for them to remember and understand the meaning of
words. in order for them to build sentences. After the session using the substitution
table the pupils are found to be able to use the words in the substitution table to write
sentences as they understand the substitution table more and the pictures shown on
the table help with their understanding.
“Substitution Table” was able to help in improving the reasoning skill in writing
section among year 5 pupils due to a few reasons. First, this is because the use of
concrete object like table and pictures are able to elicit their interest in learning
English. Teacher trainer (1988) stated that non-native speakers of English who
have learnt English the hard way and have often seen substitution tables
generally don’t find them difficult. Besides, many teachers view concrete materials
as engaging (Moyer, 2001). Hence, the use of concrete objects helps to improve the
learning of pupils. As we know, hands-on experience can strengthen the memory of
the pupils in learning language. Hence, they could remember better when they
involve directly in the process of learning articles. Second, the information of
“Substitution Table” is presented in a table. It is simple and hence can be understood
by the pupils after being taught for some times after practicing it for a few times.

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