Abstract- Increasing learners motivation and performance has always been the

primary concern of language teachers. The present study adopts an Action

Research approach. A new approach, TBL, is applied to a traditional classroom
situation with the aim of finding solutions to certain problems such as poor
learner motivation. 26 ESL students from one English classroom and the
researchers, three Malaysian teachers, participated in the study. In this study,
learners feedback about TBL are investigated through qualitative data
methods: observation on the students reading aloud activities. The findings of
the study reveal that implementing a TBL approach in ESL classes creates
variety for the students. Moreover it enhances their learning, since TBL tasks
encourage student involvement and lead to significant improvements regarding
their language performance.

Keywords:
TBL (Task Based Learning), ESL (English as a Second Language), Task,
Action Research, Motivation.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the topic

Language is very crucial among human beings. It helps people to get along with each

other. This makes their life more meaningful because they can communicate by conveying

their thoughts, feelings, ideas, emotion, beliefs and values. In other words, we can say that

language is absolutely needed by people.

Malaysian students tend to use first language (L1) patterns or styles when reading in

English. Some will not read out because they are afraid of making mistakes and are

embarrassed. This study focused on how task-based learning in regular past tense

pronunciation increased motivation and improved learners to become intelligible reader. As

English teaching has moved to language functions and communicative competencies, a new
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urgency for the teaching of pronunciation has arisen (Celce-Murcia, 1987; Morley, 1994;

Gilbert, 1994).

According to our experiences, a great number of our students have many difficulties in

pronunciation especially regular past tense. When reading English, with very little or poorly

trained pronunciation skills, they have problems in making themselves understood.

(Lu, 2002). Lu insists that incomprehensible non-standard pronunciation and intonation

will produce psychological nervousness in learners.

1.2 Problem Statement

The lack of knowledge and skill in pronunciation contribute to several issues among

English Language Learners (ELLs). The scenario has led to low motivation among ELLs to

learn a language. This can be considered as one of the most plausible reasons of success at

Second Language Acquisition (SLA).

From our observation, we discovered that our students are struggling with English

Language Learning too. Majority of them tend to apply avoidance strategies when they read a

text consists of regular past tense (-e)d. Some of them will increase their reading pace in order

to cover up their tendency to mispronounce certain words. As teachers, we would like to expose

to them the way to pronounce regular past tense and embrace that making mistakes is a part

of learning. We would like to cater them with less threatening environment in their learning

process which will help in improving motivation level among them and lead to improvement

in their SLA.

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1.3 Research Objectives

The present study aimed to achieve the following research objectives:-

1. To discover the students mastery in pronouncing regular verbs through Task-

based Learning.

2. To investigate how Task-Based Learning can motivate students to learn English

structure.

1.4 Research Questions

The present study attempted to address the following research questions:-

1. To what extent Task-Based Learning will improve students mastery in

pronouncing regular verbs?

2. How Task-Based Learning can elevate students motivation to learn English

structure?

1.5 Significance of the study

The significances of the study are:-

For the students:

1. To motivate students to be more careful in understanding and applying English

grammar.

For the teacher

1. To motivate teacher in finding a new or good method to teach English grammar

especially in reading skill. In fact, English is not our mother tongue. Absolutely, the

students will face some problems in studying English since they study a new

language that they have not applied in their daily conversation. For that reason, the

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 teacher must help their students in finding a creative yet effective method in

teaching and learning process that affects students progress.

For the readers

1. To give readers a reference in conducting a n action research about method of

teaching regular past tense. There are already have been many references about

method of teaching regular past tense but the writers would like to share additional

references about them to enrich a source of the topic.

For the writers

1. To provide platform of continuous professional development of the writers.

2. To motivate the writers in doing research as the contribution in developing English

teaching. As teacher researcher of English language, the writers are supposed to

conduct some activities that can contribute to the competency and proficiency of

students plus development of educational field especially in English teaching.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Task-based Learning

Task-based Learning (TBL) has increasingly achieved popularity in recent years and

has been recommended as a way forward in ELT. Various influential experts, Prabhu (1987),

Nunan (1989), Willis (1996) and their definitions for tasks are presented in a chronological

order as follows.

Prabhu stands as the first significant person in the development of TBL. His main

contribution has been raising awareness of the ELT world to TBL. Prabhu (1987) defines a

task as "an activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given information

through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that

process".

Besides Prabhu, Nunan (1989) uses the word task instead of activity. He defines a

task as a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating,

producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on

meaning rather than form". He suggests that in all definitions of tasks, one can see

communicative language use where the learner focuses on meaning instead of linguistic

structure.

Willis (1996) is another figure who contributes to the use of tasks in language

classroom. According to Willis (1996) tasks are always activities where the target language

is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome.

Furthermore, Willis presents a TBL approach where tasks are used as the main focus of the

lesson within a supportive framework. She holds that the aim of tasks is to create a real

purpose for language use and to provide a natural context for language study".

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2.2 Motivation

According to Gardner (1985), Motivation=effort+ desire to achieve goal+attitudes.

Saville-Troike (2006) claims that motivation is the second stronges predictor (after aptitude)

of second language success. She further argued that motivation largely determines the level of

effort that learners expend at various stages in their L2 development, often the key to ultimate

level of proficiency.

2.3 Teaching pronunciation

Teaching pronunciation to a group of second language learners is not an easy

undertaking. Teachers may find difficulty in trying to help their students at different

proficiency levels improve or, at least, to develop an awareness of pronunciation aspects.

Contrary to what may be a popular belief, helping advanced students with their

pronunciation can be as challenging as teaching pronunciation to beginners. At the advanced

level, students have acquired lexis, grammar rules, and strategies. In spite of this, pronunciation

is an area that they often want to focus on (Bailey 2005: 142). Usually, pronunciation issues

that are commonly taught to highly proficient students go beyond the production of isolated

sounds, for instance, the study of suprasegmentals. However, instructors may realize that their

advanced students still have problems with specific sounds, e.g., suffixes, and this may

discourage one from teaching more complex pronunciation topics.

An example of a troublesome sound, even for advanced learners, is the (e)d

inflectional ending present in the past and past participle forms of regular verbs as well

as in some adjectival forms.

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2.4 FROG VLE

By 2019, 50 percent of all high school courses are predicted to be delivered in online

format. Education will be revolutionized by making it more accessible and individualized. To

keep pace with the growth of e-learning education, the Malaysian government has embarked

on nationwide project to concept school where students and teachers teach and learn in a virtual

learning environment. Massive resources have been channelled into equipping over 10000

primary and secondary government schools nationwide with 4G internet connectivity and a

cloud based virtual learning environment known as FROG VLE (Campbell, Al Harthi &

Karimi, 2015 as cited in Mei et.al., 2017).

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 CHAPTER THREE

METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

3.1 Research Design

This research was carried out through action research by using Kurt Lewins model in

which it involved of four steps in each cycle; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.

These four steps were integrated. Each step was conducted based on the previous one and

the next. It means that before doing an action research, the researchers plan the facilities in

conducting teaching learning process then applied into the action steps. The researchers then

observed the students response during the teaching learning process so that the researchers

could reflect and make some amendments to determine the next cycle.

3.2 Subject of the Study

The researchers held the classroom action research at SMK Syed Alwi which involved on

twenty six students.

3.2.1 Population

The population as stated in Johnson (1989) is the group of entities or persons to whom

the results of a study are intended to apply. The population might be a set of school.

According to Arikunto (2006), population is the entire of the subject of the study.

In this case, the subject of the study was Form One students of SMK Syed Alwi, Perlis,

Malaysia. The students had average level of proficiency and bilingual.

3.2.2 Sample

According to Arikunto (2006), sample is half of the population that was being observed.

There are several ways to take sample. Arikunto (2006) stated that the researches may take

8
the entire subjects if the subject is less than 100, but if the subject is too big, they may take

10% - 15% or 20% - 25% only from the population.

In this research, the researchers chose the convenient sampling. The research is chosen

due to accessibility and proximity to the researchers to conduct the study. The research was

being conducted through qualitative method by observation. The students were chosen based

on the groups or level. In this case, the sample was a class.

3.3. Procedure of the Study

The action classroom research was conducting in two cycles that was consisted of four

steps in each cycle; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The purpose was to give

some activities and observe students progress. The activities that were carried out were as

below:

3.3.1 Pre-test

The researchers conducted a pre-test reading about simple past tense with aimed at

knowing the students problem in mastering simple past tense. The students had to complete

the reading session that emphasized on regular verb of past tense without teachers guidance.

Refer Appendice 1 for sample text.

3.3.2. Cycle 1 : Figure 1

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Here the procedure of Cycle I:

3.3.2.1 Planning

The first step was planning. This step was to identify the problem. It was the most

important step in conducting action research as by knowing the problems the researchers

could find a solution to solve the problem.

After identifying the students problem, the researchers then made some steps to help the

researchers in conducting the teaching learning process. The steps as the following:

1) Choosing the teaching material

2) Arranging lesson plan

3) Preparing test instruments and facilities

3.3.2.2 Acting

The second step was acting. It was the implementation of planning. The purpose was tried

to find out the solution to solve the problem faced by the students during the teaching learning

process. In this research, the steps were to give some activities to the students.

In the first cycle, the researcher applied the type of Task- Based Learning method to teach

regular verb of simple past tense to twenty six students of SMK Syed Alwi, Perlis. The type of

TBL method was in the form of classifying (included in ordering and sorting type). The

students were asked to classify regular verb. It was to know the students ability in recognizing

past verb. In knowing the students` progress, the researchers then gave the students an

assessment test.

3.3.2.3 Observing

In this session, the researchers tried to observe the students response during the teaching

learning process whether they made some progress or not.

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 The researchers observed the teaching learning process in the first cycle. There were some

events that should be observed by the writer:

1) The condition of the class.

2) The students activity.

3.3.2.4 Reflecting

In the last step, the researchers were evaluating the steps of the teaching learning process.

The lesson might need some improvement and changes.

The steps included:

1) The researchers ability in conducting teaching learning process.

2) The effectiveness and efficiency of the teaching learning process.

3.3.3 Cycle 2

This Cycle was an extension and improvement from Cycle 1. The researchers planned by

made correction from the first cycle then improved the teaching learning process in the second

cycle. The acting was the teacher conducting the lesson, Lets Read! Then, the researchers

observed and reflected on any progress and improvement on students proficiency level.

3.3.4 Post Test

The researchers conducted an assessment on reading test. This was to observe students

reading proficiency and result after the teaching and learning process of the regular verb of

past tense was taught.

The students were given reading text to be read individually and were monitored and

assessed by the researchers. The students were assessed the mistake in pronouncing the regular

verb of past tense.

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Figure 1: Investigation Cycle

DATE (2017) ACTIVITIES

18 APRIL Pre- test (baseline data)

20 APRIL CYCLE 1:

say it aloud

drilling

e-dictionary online

changing verb (worksheet)

VLE-Frog

27 APRIL CYCLE 2:

LETS READ!

The instructor read the given passage as students follow along. The

instructor reread the passage, one sentence at a time. The instructor

prompt students to locate the past tense verb in each sentence by raising

their hand (prompt was delivered after each sentence)

2 MAY Post- test

3.4 Data Collection

In carrying out the classroom action research, the researches needed a data to support their

study. In the study, the researchers used a pre-test, some assessment test, and a post-test.

The aimed of using these techniques were to know the students response during the teaching

learning activities and to see their progress and mastery in achieving the lesson given by the

teacher.

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3.5 Instrument of the Study

The researchers gathered the data by using observation and test.

3.5.1 Test

The tests used in the research were a pre-test, some assessment test, and a post-test. The

purpose of giving the test was to measure students mastery in Simple Past Tense. See

Appendices 1 for sample of reading test (the same reading test for pre and post -test).

3.5.2 Observation

Observation had been conducted by recording some videos, pictures and jot down some

important points for a room of improvement in the next Cycle of the action research.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researchers presented the result and discussion of the study. They were the

analysis of pre-test and the analysis of post-test.

4.1 The Analysis of Pre Test

A pre-test was conducted before the researchers gave some activities for teaching learning

process. The purpose of giving the pre-test was to identify the students mastery of simple past

tense before the teaching learning process or the students initial condition. By conducting this

activity, the researchers knew whether the students had mastered or not about simple past tense.

The pre-test itself was conducted on April, 18th 2017 to twenty six students.

After tabulating the result of students pre-test, the researchers then tried to analyse the pre-

test result in order to know the students initial condition. The result of students achievement

was as follows:

No Test code TOTAL GRADE

MISTAKE

1 A1 2 GOOD

2 A2 3 GOOD

3 A3 4 AVERAGE

4 A4 2 GOOD

5 A5 3 GOOD

6 A6 2 GOOD

7 A7 3 GOOD

14
8 A8 1 EXCELLENT

9 A9 2 GOOD

10 A 10 3 GOOD

11 A 11 5 AVERAGE

12 A 12 5 AVERAGE

13 A 13 0 EXCELLENT

14 A 14 1 EXCELLENT

15 A 15 5 AVERAGE

16 A -16 4 AVERAGE

17 A 17 3 GOOD

18 A 18 2 GOOD

19 A 19 1 EXCELLENT

20 A 20 2 EXCELLENT

21 A 21 1 EXCELLENT

22 A 22 2 GOOD

23 A 23 2 GOOD

24 A 24 3 GOOD

25 A 25 3 GOOD

26 A-26 2 GOOD

TOTAL

MISTAKES 64

Total students :26

15
Table 1: Pre- test result

Based on the researchers analysis, among 13 items of the pre-test, the items which

considered the most difficult were items, 12, 13, 7, and 5. Only one of 26 students answered

those items correctly. 15 students could not do items 12 which was the verb completed might

because they were not familiar with the pronunciation of the verb in past tense form. It was

followed by Item 13 where 11 students could not pronounce it well. They still use to omit the

sound of ed for collected. They also had problems to solve items 7, where they pronounced

the verb thrilled with the sound ed. There were also six students who could not utter items

2, 4 and 6 well which were the verbs planned, signed and briefed because they excessively

pronounce ed at the end of the verbs . However, all students could pronounce Items 3,8 and

9 well, might because the verbs such as believed, loved and noticed were familiar with them

The analysis of pre- test items could be seen in Appendices 2.

No Test code TOTAL GRADE

MISTAKES

1 A1 1 EXCELLENT

2 A2 2 GOOD

3 A3 3 GOOD

4 A4 2 GOOD

5 A5 3 GOOD

6 A6 2 GOOD

7 A7 3 GOOD

8 A8 1 EXCELLENT

9 A9 2 GOOD

10 A 10 2 GOOD

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11 A 11 3 GOOD

12 A 12 2 GOOD

13 A 13 0 EXCELLENT

14 A 14 0 EXCELLENT

15 A 15 3 GOOD

16 A -16 3 GOOD

17 A 17 3 GOOD

18 A 18 2 GOOD

19 A 19 0 EXCELLENT

20 A 20 2 GOOD

21 A 21 0 EXCELLENT

22 A 22 2 GOOD

23 A 23 2 GOOD

24 A 24 2 GOOD

25 A 25 1 GOOD

26 A-26 0 EXCELLENT

TOTAL 46

MISTAKES

Total students :26

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 Table 2: Post Test Result

The result showed that among 26 students who involved in the pre-test, there were

slightly 64 number of mistakes made by them. However, during the post-test, the number of

mistakes had decreased to 46. It is believed that this second activity was more successful. As

the students assessment in the second activity was higher than the first activity, the researchers

therefore concluded that by doing a task, students were able to draw a conclusion from the

problem arose so that they could solve the problem then finally improve their mastery of

pronouncing the Regular Verbs.

4.2 DISCUSSION

This chapter will have in-depth explanation of the findings. Besides, it also includes the

suggestion and recommendation for future study.

This study primarily investigated the impacts of task based learning in improving students

mastery in regular verbs. The researchers conducted various techniques; say it aloud, drilling

and the use of technology as one of the teaching aids with the e-dictionary online and VLE-

Frog. The qualitative results of this study are consistent with the findings of previous research

conducted by Ovalina, (2010) found that Task Based Learning can improve students ability in

using Simple Past. In contrast, the finding by Lee, 2013 who revealed that the motivation of

students was the most important element of language learning especially in mastering the

Simple Past.

In addition, the study also aimed to identify how Task-Based Learning can elevate students

engagement to learn English structure. Based on the present study, it was proven that, after the

implementation of TBL in two cycles, the students ability in using the Regular Verb was

improve. This result is consistent with the previous study conducted by Pratiwi, (2009) who

said that the main factor that affects student progress is the students interest in the method

18
given. This resulted in elevating their involvement in learning Simple Past Tense. Task Based

Learning is a good method to be regularly and continually applied in teaching learning process.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

Based on the investigation and discussion in the previous chapter, the researchers conclude

that it is proven that the Task-Based Learning method is very useful for the students since it

can help them motivate themselves in mastering simple past tense. Throughout the study, the

sample shows to apply the avoidance strategies by lower down their voice while pronouncing

the difficult regular verb of past tense or speak faster. After the implementation of Task Based

Learning, there is a positive increase in motivation among them. This is an early intervention

to students of Form One to prepare them for better performance to sit for their PT3 examination

in form 3.

5.2 Recommendation

Based on the conclusion above, the researchers would like to offer some suggestion for

English teacher, students, the next writer, and school.

First, the English teachers can apply this method in their teaching learning process since

it is very useful to motivate and help the students progress in achieving English especially in

simple past tense.

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 Second, the students must have more practices to improve their achievement in

mastering grammar especially simple past tense so that they can apply it in their daily

conversation.

Third, the school should provide the facilities to support the teaching learning process

so that the teacher and the students can create a conducive and comfortable situation in teaching

learning process.

Lastly, other researchers may use this study as reference to conduct other research so

that they can give contribution in developing our education.

20
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Cervantes, I.M. (2008). Drilling and Color-Coding Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Two
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