7th May 2015

Thursday

JOURNAL WEEK: 4

1. Problems
When I first entered Year 4 DarusSalam’s classroom, it was no doubt that the
pupils’
proficiency level were considered excellent and among the best compared to their
friends on
other classes. They could speak and apprehend to my instructions and activities
that were
being held. However, it had come across my understandings that the pupils were
having
major difficulties in writing and composing sentence structures whenever I asked
them to
create simple sentences or composing a short essay. I was tremendously in shocked
when I
got to know that the pupils were rarely being introduced to world of essays during
their
schooling days. The issue did not only evolve and centralise on the pupils’ writing
skills but
also how did the respective English teacher taught them beforehand. The pupils were
poor
in constructing sentences with correct usage of grammatical items as well as
punctuations.
Their spellings were heavily influenced by the pronunciation of their native
language which
was Bahasa Melayu, which indicated that there was no rampant exposure for spellings
and
vocabularies either in the pupils’ writing skills or any focussed skills during the
teaching and
learning session. The results could be seen through the composition of essay that I
had
asked the pupils to do entitle “My Self”. There was a lot of grammar errors and
spelling
mistake when I went through their writing to evaluate their proficiency in the
English
Language. This truth bittersweet intervention had me came out with a conclusion
that the
pupils’ proficiency levels were still low and did not achieve the requirement of
the PBS’s
system especially in writing skill.
2. Analysis
Based on this prognosis, the problem could occur for three reasons. The first
reason was the
English Department in the school did not go through meticulously on the pupils’
performances based on each skill that were taught by the teachers. The second
reason was
that some of the teacher that had to teach English Language in this school was not
trained in
the English courses. They came from different major courses and had to teach
English
Language due to the fact that there was no enough teachers intended for the
subject. The
third reason was intertwined with the efforts and motivations from the pupils
themselves.
There was no self-motivation to opt their performances in English Language which
made it
harder for the pupils to master the language eloquently in a period of time.
3. How To Overcome The Problems
A small discussion should be carried out by the English Departments with the
teachers
pertaining to this matter. This is to inform and infer the problems and how they
can come out
with a solution such as remedial classes and approaches to be used to boost up the
pupils’
performances in English Language. Aside of that, the school administration must
come out
with a proper plan to address the issue to the MOE regarding to the lack of English
teachers
in the school. This is very important because without trained English teachers, it
is very hard
to guide the pupils properly into the language especially in grammar’s field.
Teachers also
need to provide essential and continuous motivation to the pupils to ensure that
the pupils
are motivated to study hard on English Language’s subject during their leisure
time.
4. Duration
I have discussed with my coordinator teacher regarding to this matter and all of
the teachers
have agreed to give duration of three months to see the progress of the pupils. If
the
problem cannot be settled and all of us find a dead end, the matter will be brought
up to the
fellows in charge at the school before asking for help from them MOE to cater the
pupils’
needs.
5. Evaluation
In order to evaluate the changes on the pupils’ proficiency level, the English
Language
teachers have come out with a plan by having extra classes 3 days a week at night
to drill
the pupils with their writing skills. Besides than that, a Writing Workshop is also
being held
by the end of the May to brush up the pupils’ proficiency level in English
Language. Each of
the teachers are given an evaluation chart to measure the pupils’ performances for
every
activity that is being carried out. Remedial classes will be conducted for pupils
that are facing
with difficulties in completing the tasks during the lesson.
6. Follow- up Approach
Remedial and enrichment materials will be provided during each lesson to the pupils
that are
having difficulty on completing a task. By doing this every single day, the pupils
can polish up
their weaknesses and work from there to build their foundations in English
Language. Chart
such as Reward Chart is also being hung on the classroom’s wall to motivate the
pupils to
work hard and strive for the best in studying the language.