CT10210551

TW30003/Case Study

Context The pupils who studying in an island physically the same with those whose studying in the mainland. In this case study I choose Year 4 Motivasi of SK Pulau Gaya located in Pulau Gaya, Kota Kinabalu. The number of pupils is 38. Most of them are unable to read and write in English. Though, these pupils have learnt English through three years of schooling which in the level one but only three of them able to understand simple instructions in English and the remaining thirty five are not even dare to open their mouth and pronounce the words shown to them. The pupils are lack of vocabulary in English due to the limited access of reading material at home and their only resources is the textbook. Vocabulary is the glue that holds stories, ideas and content together making comprehension accessible for children. (Rupley, Logan & Nichols, 1998/99). Students word knowledge is linked strongly to academic success because students who have large vocabularies can understand new ideas and concepts more quickly than students with limited vocabularies. The high correlation in the research literature of word knowledge with reading comprehension indicates that if students do not adequately and steadily grow their vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension will be affected (Chall & Jacobs, 2003).As far as I concern, parents is their first educator at home and they have a big responsibility towards their children in introducing them the vocabulary in English but even the parents are not competent in the language and this lead to zero exposure of the children at home. Meanwhile, in the classroom the pupils are lack of motivation as they have limited of vocabulary and there is no respond towards questions that being asked verbally. The moment of silence occur in the teaching and learning especially in English subject. Based on this I will focus on building up the pupils vocabulary through reading.

Dilemma Through observation of the pupils performance most of them unable to pronounce the words accurately and clearly. The reading activity becomes dull because of lack

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participation from the pupils. There is no motivation in learning to read among the pupils. The material that I used is in black and white printed. It is not attract the pupils. I have to speak 30 % English and 70 % Bahasa Melayu to make them understand the new words that I introduce in the teaching and learning process. The pupils are influence by their mother tongue which is Badjao Ubian language. Based on these problems I feel its really hard to let them explore more in reading in the target language.

Solution First and foremost, I will make the pupils love the target language which is English. I want them to explore reading through fun activity. I will divide the pupils in group of three. Each group will be given a story book. The pupils do not have to read the story yet. They will just look at the illustration, title and look for a word from the book that they unfamiliar with. Then each of them has to write the word in a colourful note. I will ask each group to show their words in front and tell them what the word is about. Then let the pupils spell and pronounce the words in group. Secondly, once the pupils like the book and find it is interesting to look and hold at. There will be a simple task that is looking for the characters in the book. The pupils have to draw the characters in a piece of paper and colour it. Then, the pupils have to write the name of the character. During this activity, pupils are asked to pronounce the name of the characters that they draw to their group members. Thirdly, I will choose any story books from any group and read it to them. After reading it to them I will ask them to read after me aloud. Then, a simple questions and answer will be done to see the understanding of the pupils towards the story. This solution will be done step by step based on the pupils performance. Through this simple activity I think the pupils will build up their confidence and motivation to love the English subject. I hope they will be enthusiasm to read in English.

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Response As I read through your case study and the solution that youve came up with. I think it is suitable for them since your pupils are weak ability pupils. This reading activity is simple but attractive and what matter the most the pupils have the chances to explore the story books with their friends in a small group. I think you could improve it by bringing your pupils to the library and do this activity in there whereby there are a lot of interesting English story books that your pupils might like to explore with. I also want to suggest to you about all the drawings, writing and hands on activities done by your pupils should be display in the corner of their classroom as this will let the other pupils see and read their friends work. This could boost the pupils motivation to love and learn more in English. I am sure this solution will work out. Response by: Connie Gevais (SKPG)