Observation Report

During my School Based Experience (SBE) at Sekolah Kebangsan Danau Kota, Kuala Lumpur,
I have given a chance to observe an English lesson taught by Teacher Nabihah. Teacher
Nabihah taught class 4 Bestari which consists of 28 pupils with different abilities. On that day,
Teacher Nabihah teach Unit 3 and gave focus on prepositions.

From my observation, the teacher used covert approach which was gaining popularity in
the 70s especially in Asian countries as proposed by Islam Abdullah et. al., (2015). It can be
detected when the teacher wrote a sentence on the board which did not make sense without
preposition. Teacher then draw a picture that depicts the sentence and asks pupils to use the
picture to decide what word should be added in the sentence to make it clearer. The word
decided by the pupils are the language content of the day which is preposition. After that,
teacher explained the meaning of preposition and the importance of using it in the sentence. By
using covert approach, it seems to be more meaningful than using the traditional approach. It is
supported by a study from Holly W. (2005) which demonstrates the potential of covert approach
as an effective approach in teaching grammar because it provides interactive activities that
allow pupils to develop their knowledge implicitly.

Other than that, one of the techniques that Teacher Nabihah used throughout her lesson
is by using drawing. The drawing technique did contribute in pupil’s understanding as it can
clearly be seen that after teacher drew the picture, pupils can easily understand the uncomplete
sentence and gives suggestions of words that can be inserted in the sentences. It shows that
drawings can portray the meaning of the sentence. Furthermore, Nining (2014) stated that a text
that presented with an illustration will be remembered faster than the one without any image.
So, in future I will maximize the use of drawings and pictures during my lesson as it will help
pupils to comprehend easily other than it will attracts their attentions.

From the teaching and learning process, one of the issues arose was teacher did not
drill the pupils as much as possible. Drilling is one of the important aspects in teaching as
drilling needs pupils to keep repeating the word until they familiar with it and remember the word
naturally. This is very important especially in teaching grammar. This is supported by a case
study done by Farrel T. S. C., et al., (2005) which explains that drilling in teaching grammar
would enable pupils to isolate and identify grammar mistakes in their writing. When pupils can
identify their grammar mistakes on their own, it will help them produce and write sentence with
fewer mistakes. In short, this observation gives me a wider exposure on how to teach English in
an urban school using an impactful approach and techniques to ensure pupils understanding
despite their cognitive levels.

References

Farrell, T.S.C and Lim P. C., (2005). Conceptions of grammar teaching: A case study of
teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. Teaching English as a Second or
Foreign Language. 9(2), 1-13.

Holly W. (2005). Testing the covert method of grammar teaching: A pilot study.
California: Alliant International University.

Islam Abdullah and Parilah Mohd Shah, (2015). Enhancing competency in english: the
covert approach a complementary to the overt approach in teaching grammar.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature. 4 (1), 191-197.

Nining Warningsih, (2014). Gambar dalam pengajaran bahasa asing. Indonesia:

Indonesian Education University.