PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/97) UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

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Tesis dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah dan Sarjana secara penyelidikan, atau disertasi bagi pengajian secara kerja kursus dan penyelidikan, atau Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM).

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS

JUDUL: THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES IN TEACHING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

SESI PENGAJIAN: SEMESTER II SESI 2005/2006

Saya WAN NUR ADLINA BINTI WAN MOHAMAD (HURUF BESAR) mengaku membenarkan tesis (PSM/Sarjana/Doktor Falsafah)* ini disimpan di Perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut: 1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2. Perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk

tujuan pengajian sahaja. 3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan tesis ini sebagai pertukaran antara institusi

pengajian tinggi. 4. **Sila tandakan ( )

SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau

kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam (AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972) TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh

organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan)

TIDAK TERHAD Disahkan oleh

(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA) Alamat tetap: LOT 826, JALAN MASJID BAUNG BAYAM, PUAN NOOR MALA IBRAHIM 15200 KOTA BHARU Nama Penyelia KELANTAN DARUL NAIM. Tarikh: 17 APRIL 2006 Tarikh: 17 APRIL 2006

“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my

opinion this thesis is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the

award of the degree of Bachelor Science and Education (TESL)”

Signature :

Name of Supervisor : Puan Noor Mala binti Ibrahim

Date : APRIL 2006

THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES IN TEACHING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

WAN NUR ADLINA WAN MOHAMAD

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science and Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

APRIL 2006

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I declare that this thesis entitled “THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES IN

TEACHING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE” is the result of my own research

except as cited in the references. The thesis has not been accepted for any

degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree

Signature :

Name : WAN NUR ADLINA WAN MOHAMAD

Date : APRIL, 2006

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~DEDICATION~

Especially dedicated to the most special and loving mom and dad in

the world…Thank you for the never-ending love of yours..

My beautiful grandmothers, my gorgeous sister,

my charming brothers…

my dearest su and ayahsu..adik –adik…

and my only ‘one’..

You mean more than the whole universe to me…I could never live

without all of you..

My beloved supervisor..

Thank you for believing in me..Thank you for being there..All the

way…

And my gorgeous friends..A group of incredible people with big

hearts..

I love all of you so much…and may Allah bless you

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I thank Allah for His blessing and for making it possible for

me to complete my course. Without the help of Allah, this challenge would

have been possible to endure.

I would like to express my love and my heartfelt thanks to my beloved

thesis supervisor Pn. Noor Mala Ibrahim for her guidance, patience, love and

coaching that enable me to complete this thesis.

I would also like to express my love and my gratitude to my loving

family for supporting me during my five years of studying in Universiti

Teknologi Malaysia and in motivating me to complete this research.

I would also like to express my love and a thousand thank you to a group

of beautiful people around me, sharing all the ups and downs of our life

together, helping and supporting each other through thick and thin, during our

five years together as best friends. Nothing could ever replace you guys in my

heart. Along, Angah, Azuro, Afzan, Bib, Ina, Mc Yan, Wardah, Aifa and Nurul,

you guys had been and will be a part of my life, forever. I love all of you and I

am going to miss all of you so much.

These people are a part of my life, and have left me with unforgettable

memories that will remain close to my heart until the very end. I love all of you

so much.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all of my adorable students of

Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian 3, the headmaster and the teachers

involved in this research for giving me their full support and cooperation.

Thank you.

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ABSTRACT

Nowadays, English has become increasingly important in Malaysia. However,

the proficiency level of English among our fellow Malaysians is still quite low. As

such, the exposure to the language and the development of skills of English are

encouraged at all levels of education, from the primary to the tertiary level. In this

research, the focus was on the teaching of English in the primary level where the

researcher was interested in finding out how language games could help primary school

students in enhancing their grammar skills, specifically their skills in simple present

tense. The research also attempted to investigate the effectiveness of language games in

the process of teaching simple present tense. Eighty-seven Standard Four students of

two different classes from Sekolah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian 3 were the subjects.

The students were divided into two groups, the Experimental group and the Controlled

group. The Experimental group went through the language games in learning simple

present tense while the Controlled group experienced the usual teaching and learning of

English. The instruments used in collecting the data were the pre and post tests, as well

as four language games specifically designed to deal with simple present tense. The

data collected were analyzed and the percentages of the students’ performances in both

tests were derived. The findings showed that language games had helped the

experimental group to perform brilliantly during their post test. Their scores in the post

test increased significantly. The controlled group, who was not involved in any

language games, but only the usual English class performed worse in the post test than

in the pre test. It can be concluded, then, language games were proven to be beneficial

to students in learning simple present tense. As such, language games should be widely

used by teachers in teaching simple present tense as they can effectively help students

improve their understanding of the particular grammar item.

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ABSTRAK

Dewasa ini, Bahasa Inggeris memainkan peranan yang semakin penting di

Malaysia. Namun begitu, tahap penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris di kalangan rakyat Malaysia

masih berada pada tahap yang rendah. Justeru, pendedahan kepada Bahasa Inggeris dan

penguasaan kemahiran bahasa itu amat digalakkan di semua peringkat pengajian, iaitu

daripada peringkat sekolah rendah sehinggalah ke peringkat universiti. Dalam kajian ini,

tumpuan diberikan kepada pengajaran dan pembelajaran Bahasa Inggeris di peringkat

sekolah rendah. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk melihat bagaimana penggunaan Permainan

Bahasa dapat menolong para pelajar dalam mempelajari ‘Simple Present Tense’ dan

sejauh manakah Permainan Bahasa berkesan dalam pembelajaran ‘Simple Present Tense’

di kalangan pelajar. Seramai 87 orang pelajar Tahun Empat dari Sekolah Kebangsaan

Kubang Kerian 3 telah dijadikan subjek. Para pelajar yang datang dari dua kelas yang

berbeza ini dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan, iaitu kumpulan ‘Experimental’ dan

‘Controlled’. Kumpulan ‘Experimental’ melalui pembelajaran menggunakan Permainan

Bahasa, manakala kumpulan ‘Controlled’ pula belajar seperti biasa. Instrumen yang

digunakan adalah dua set ujian yang dikenali sebagai Ujian ‘Pre’ and ‘Post’ dan juga

empat Permainan Bahasa yang direka khusus untuk ‘Simple Present Tense’. Data yang

dikumpul dianalisa dan peratusan pencapaian pelajar dalam kedua –dua ujian dihasilkan.

Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa penggunaan Permainan Bahasa telah menolong

para pelajar dari kumpulan ‘Experimental’ untul mencapai keputusan yang lebih baik

dalam ujian ‘Post’. Manakala pencapaian kumpulan ‘Controlled’ merosot dalam ujian

‘Post’. Ini membuktikan bahawa penggunaan Permainan Bahasa telah memberikan

faedah dan dapat menolong pelajar dalam pembelajaran ‘Simple Present Tense’. Oleh itu,

para guru amat digalakkan untuk menngunakan Permainan Bahasa dalam proses

pengajaran dan pembelajaran ‘Simple Present Tense’ kerana penggunaan Permainan

Bahasa dapat menolong pelajar dalam pembelajaran ‘Simple Present Tense’ mereka

dengan berkesan.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER CONTENTS PAGE

Thesis Status Declaration

Supervisor’s Declaration

Title Page i

Declaration (Author) ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract v

Abstrak vi

Table of Content vii

List of Tables xii

List of Abbreviations xiii

viii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.0. Introduction 1

1.1. Background of the study

1.1.1. The importance of English

in Malaysia globally 2

1.1.2. English in Kurikulum Bersepadu

Sekolah Rendah 3

1.2. Statement of the problem 5

1.3. Objective of the study 6

1.4. Research Question 7

1.5. Significance of the study 7

1.6. Scope of the study 8

1.7. Definition of terms 8

1.7.1. Language Games 8

1.7.2. Simple Present Tense 9

1.7.3. Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah 9

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0. Introduction 10

2.1. What is Grammar 11

2.2. Simple Present Tense and its importance 13

2.3. The role of grammar in the process of

teaching and learning English 15

2.4. Methods in teaching grammar 17

2.5. Language Games 19

2.6. Benefits of Language Games 20

2.7. Principles in choosing games 23

2.8. Previous research done by other researchers 25

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0. Introduction 28

3.1. Research Design 29

3.2. Setting 30

3.3. Subjects 30

3.4. Research Instruments 31

3.5. The Language Games used 32

3.5.1. Scrambled Sentences 32

3.5.2. Pass the Parcel 33

3.5.3. Find and Win 33

3.5.4. Yarooh 34

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3.6. Data Analysis 35

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.0. Introduction 36

4.1. Results and findings

4.1.1. Results of the Pre Test of

the Experimental group 37

4.1.2. Results of the Post Test of

the Experimental group 39

4.1.3. The comparison of the results of

Pre Test and Post Test of 41

the Experimental group

4.1.4. Results of the Pre Test of

the Controlled group 44

4.1.5. Results of the Post Test of

the Controlled group 46

4.1.6. The comparison of results of

Pre Test and Post Test of

the Controlled group 48

4.1.7. The Comparison on the performance of

the Experimental and Controlled

groups 51

4.2. Discussion 53

xi

5 LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0. Introduction 60

5.1. Limitations 61

5.2. Conclusion 62

5.3. Recommendations

5.3.1. For the use of language games

in classroom 63

5.3.2. For future research 65

REFERENCES 66

Appendices A – G 69 - 80

xii

LIST OF TABLES

NUMBER TITLE PAGE NUMBER

1 Table 4.1.1. Results of the Pre Test of

the Experimental group 40

2 Table 4.1.2. Results of the Post Test of

the Experimental group 41

3 Table 4.1.3. The comparison of results of

Pre Test and Post Test of

the Experimental group 42

4 Table 4.1.4. Results of the Pre Test of

the Controlled group 43

5 Table 4.1.5. Results of the Post Test of

the Controlled group 46

6 Table 4.1.6. The comparison of results of

Pre Test and Post Test of

the Controlled group 48

xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

1. KBSR - Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0. Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher will introduce the background of the study by

discussing the importance of English in Malaysia, how English is emphasized in the

Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (2003) and also on the teaching of English in

primary schools. Then, the statement of the problem will be discussed, followed by the

objective of the study and also the research question. The significance of the study will

be explained, and lastly the scope of this study and the terms used in this study will be

clarified.

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1.1. Background of the study

1.1.1. The importance of English in Malaysia

The importance of English in Malaysia has become more prominent.

Nowadays, English language is widely used in our country, by our people: English is

widely used in the trade and business, education, laws as well as communication across

the globe (Askiah Adam 2002 as cited in Jowati and Jowana 2004). In addition, as

stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000), the demand for proficiency in English

is increasing as we move from an economy that is based on primary commodities and

manufacturing, towards one based on high technology input. The establishment of the

Multi- media Super Corridor (MSC), Malaysia’s own Silicon Valley, makes the use of

English all more important. English proficiency is also increasingly required by the

continued necessity for Malaysia to export her products world – wide. Without

individuals mastering the second language, our country would be left behind.

Currently, there are university graduates facing problems in getting a job. One

of the main factors that contribute to this scenario is that the graduates do not fulfill the

obligation of having the ability to master English. As mentioned by Jowati and Jowana

(2004), “As the market today is very much competitive, students need to find their

strengths and highlight them. Being able to communicate and converse well in English

language is said to be one of the strengths. Most employers in Malaysian job market

look for students with experience, academic knowledge and communication skills.

Since an education in English opened up doors to the population and provided higher

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status employment, being deprived of English education also meant being prevented

from attaining higher status employment”.

Malaysians are weak in mastering the second language due to the lack of

exposure and practice of the language. Another is because English is a language

originated from outside Malaysia, and therefore it carries different cultural values and

backgrounds. This attribute hinders many Malaysians from mastering the language. As

highlighted by Gaudart (1987) “The major weakness of the English language can also

be because of the basic alienness of the cultural values transmitted”. However, Foo &

Richards (2004) argue that, “…currently, the mastery of the English language is much

encouraged at all levels of education- from the primary to the tertiary level”. English

courses are taught widely in primary, secondary schools and the local universities.

English is even used to teach the subjects of Science and Mathematics. “English is

much needed in the commercial and business sectors and as a result, besides the

government-sponsored schools, many private and commercial institutions have

mushroomed and English is taught for specific purposes” (Foo & Richards, 2004).

1.1.2. English in Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR)

According to the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (2003), “The English

language syllabus for primary school aims to equip learners with basic skills and

knowledge of the English language so as to enable them to communicate, both orally

and in writing, in and out of school”. Both the primary and secondary school students

learn all four skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. The ways and

methods of teaching vary according to the teachers but the Ministry of Education

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outlines the use of communicative approach in blending all four skills of the language.

KBSR looks at the importance of having learners to learn the fundamentals of grammar

in order to enable them to use English both in the speech and in the writing of English.

“Grammar also forms part of the language contents of the syllabus. These grammar

items need to be taught in context and in a meaningful way so that they can be used

both in speech and writing. The grammar items can be reinforced and consolidated if

learners encounter the items often enough through the various tasks set. Grammar items

should not be taught in isolation but rather in the context of a topic” (KBSR, 2003).

The main objectives or the aims are always stressed on how correct grammar should be

used by learners in both the speech and writing of English. As stated in the

KBSR(2003) syllabus, the examples of grammar items that are taught in the primary

school level are the word order (e.g; positive and negative statements, wh questions),

connectors (e.g; conjunctions), verbs (simple present tense, simple past tense, modals),

articles (e.g; a, an, the), prepositions (e.g; in, out, under, above), nouns and pronouns

(e.g; countable and uncountable nouns, possessive pronouns, personal pronouns) and

also modifiers (e.g; adjectives, adverbs).

Teachers teaching in the primary schools have different ways of teaching

grammar to the learners. Usually, teachers teach grammar, especially in the primary

school level, in the deductive way. Teachers first introduce learners to the grammar

terms, and later after giving the explanations teachers then give learners exercises (e.g;

from workbooks) to enhance their knowledge on the lesson. According to the English

teacher at the Sekolah Kebagsaan Kubang Kerian 3, teachers usually use the drill and

practice method in teaching grammar to the students. After explaining on the rules,

students are drilled several times in order to make them understand the concept of the

grammar item. What the learners experience is only the method of drilling and

practicing of the grammar item which could lead to boredom. When learners feel bored

and not motivated to learn, this leads to the failure of achieving the objectives of a

particular lesson. As stated by Britton (2005), “The central factor governing language

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learning is learner motivation, and the best language learning will arise only when

teachers and students dedicate time and interest”.

One way of making the process of teaching and learning grammar to be

interesting is by using language games. Games, which are task-based and have a

purpose beyond the production of correct speech, serve as excellent communicative

activities (Saricoban & Metin 2000 as cited in Jung, 2005). For this research, several

language games will be tried out among a group of primary school students, from

Sekolah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian 3. This research aims to look at how language

games help students in learning simple present tense.

1.2. Statement of the problem

Some students face quite a problem in understanding the use of grammar

items. The main reason is that students tend to see the learning of grammar as

something that is difficult and highly complicated. They view the learning of grammar

as something that they could never comprehend. There seems to be a mindset within

the students that tends to prevent them from learning grammar in a more meaningful

way. In this study, the focus is on the learning of simple present tense. The simple

present tense, which presents some difficulty to many students, plays important roles in

the learning of language (Nandy, 1996).

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The students from Sekolah Kebagsaan Kubang Kerian 3 face several different

problems in learning simple present tense. First of all, the students are confused on the

pronouns (singular, plural) and therefore lead them to use a verb that does not agree

with the subject (Norini, 2005). Next, the students are unable to differentiate between

the various situations such as the habitual actions, the use of the word ‘everyday’, when

using the present tense. Sometimes, they tend to add the letter‘s’ to verbs in past tense

sentences. Teachers would have to drill the learners continuously.

1.3. Objective of the study

This research is carried out to see whether the students can improve their

knowledge of simple present tense through the use of language games. In other words,

this research tries to look at the effectiveness of language games in the process of

teaching simple present tense.

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1.1. Research question

Based on the objective of the study, this study is done to find the answer for the following

research question:

1.1.1. Can the use of language games improve the students’ performance in the learning of simple present tense?