USING SONGS TO REINFORCE THE LEARNING OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT SHAZWANI BINTI ABD RAHMAN

USING SONGS TO REINFORCE THE LEARNING OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT SHAZWANI BINTI ABD RAHMAN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

USING SONGS TO REINFORCE THE LEARNING OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT SHAZWANI BINTI ABD RAHMAN A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL) Faculty of Education Universiti Teknologi Malaysia April 2008

iii Thank you so much Mak & Abah Kak long & Abg Long Abijul Amirul Aiman Aydan 8 Charmed Ones Even if you don t get this very often I mean it every time it s said

iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Praise to God, Allah the Almighty who has blessed and given me strength and ability to complete this study. It was indeed a challenge for me, mentally and emotionally. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor, Mr Affendi bin Hashim, Faculty of Human Resource Development and Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, for his insight and encouragement in completing this study. It is an honor to work with him. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to the principal, En Othman bin Ahmad and the deputy principal, En Maskor bin Suparlan of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pulai. I am also grateful to the teachers of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pulai especially Cik Nazimatun, Puan Latifah, and Puan Salina. I thank the children for participating in this study and giving me all the more reasons to become an educator. I am indeed appreciative of the assistance provided. Last but not least, I would like to thank En. Fidhlah and En. Rosli from Jabatan Multimedia, Fakulti Pendidikan for their assistance. I would also like to thank my parents, Mek Zum Mohamed and Abd Rahman Ismail for their never-ending support and love. To my sister, Wahida, brothers, Farizul and Amirul, brother-in-law, Azman, thank you for all the help they have given me. Not to forget, to the two cutest things in the world, Aiman and Aydan for making my life brighter than the sunshine. Finally, to my dearest friends, thanks a bunch. I would not get this stage of life with ease without moral and emotional support from them. They have made my journey a fun one. You deserve your name to be mentioned here Ana, Aida, Nad, Awe, Jaja, Pka, and Anim.

v ABSTRACT Malaysian students have always faced difficulty in understanding subject-verb agreement (SVA). The reason for this to happen is because of interference from students first language (L1). However, explicit teaching of this grammar point may increase students level of anxiety. Therefore, teachers need to camouflage the teaching by including fun elements in the lesson. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using songs in enhancing the understanding of SVA. The study adopted quasi-experimental design. Thirty-seven primary five pupils from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pulai were involved. They were divided into two groups, the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group went through the song-based tasks in three different sessions while the control group resumed normal lesson. The instruments used in collecting data were pre-test, post-test, observation of the treatments from a recorded tape, and students reflection sheet. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings showed that song-based activities are useful tools to reinforce the learning of SVA and provide an enjoyable classroom atmosphere. Hence, it is highly recommended that language teachers incorporate songs in grammar lesson.

vi ABSTRAK Pelajar-pelajar di Malaysia sering mengalami masalah dalam memahami subject-verb agreement (SVA). Ini berlaku kerana terdapat gangguan daripada bahasa pertama mereka. Tujuan utama kajian ini adalah untuk membantu para pelajar memahami peraturan-peraturan dalam SVA. Walau bagaimanapun, pengajaran tatabahasa secara eksplisit mungkin akan meningkatkan tahap kebimbangan pelajar. Jadi, guru perlulah memasukkan elemen-elemen yang menyeronokkan dalam pengajaran. Oleh yang demikian, kajian ini ingin menyiasat keberkesanan penggunaan lagu dalam membantu pemahaman SVA. Kajian ini menggunakan rekabentuk quasiexperimental. Tiga puluh tujuh pelajar tahun lima dari Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pulai yang terlibat dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan iaitu kumpulan eksperimental dan kumpulan kawalan. Kumpulan eksperimental menjalani pembelajaran menggunakan aktiviti berdasarkan lagu dalam tiga sesi yang berlainan. Manakala kumpulan kawalan meneruskan pembelajaran seperti biasa. Alat-alat yang digunakan untuk mengumpul data ialah pre-test, post-test, pemerhatian rawatan dari pita rakaman, dan refleksi pembelajaran dari para pelajar. Analisis data dilakukan dengan cara kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa aktiviti berdasarkan lagu dapat memberikan faedah dalam menolong pelajar memahami SVA dan menyediakan suasana pembelajaran yang menyeronokkan. Maka, adalah digalakkan untuk para guru bahasa bagi menggunakan aktiviti-aktiviti berdasarkan lagu dalam pengajaran tatabahasa.

TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER TITLE PAGE DECLARATION OF STATUS OF THESIS SUPERVISOR S DECLARATION TITLE PAGE RESEARCHER S DECLARATION DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT ABSTRAK TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF APPENDICES i ii iii iv v vi vii xi xii xiii xiv 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background of the Study 3 1.3 Statement of the Problem 5 1.4 Purpose of the study 6 1.5 Objectives of the study 7

viii 1.6 Research Questions 7 1.7 Significance of the study 7 1.8 Scope of the study 9 1.9 Definition of Key Terms 9 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR) 11 2.2.1 English Language Syllabus for Primary School 12 2.2.2 KBSR Approach to Teaching Grammar13 2.2.1 Place of Songs in KBSR 14 2.3 What is grammar? 15 2.3.1 Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) 16 2.3.2 The Rule of SVA 17 2.3.2.1 Simple Present Tense 17 2.4 Problems in Learning SVA 19 2.4.1 Interference from the Learners Own Language 20 2.4.2 Lack of Motivation 20 2.5 Songs 21 2.5.1 Past Researches on the Use of Songs 21 2.5.2 Advantages of Using Songs in English Language Learning 23 2.5.2 The Concerns of Teachers 25 2.5.3 Using Songs to Teach Grammar 26

ix 2.5.4 Guidelines in Choosing Songs 28 2.6 Theoretical Framework 30 2.6.1 The Input Hypothesis 30 2.6.2 The Affective Filter Hypothesis 31 2.6.2 Adolescent Motherese 31 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction 33 3.2 Research Design 33 3.3 Research Procedure 36 3.3.2 Pre-Test and Post-Test 38 3.3.3 Observation 39 3.3.4 Students Reflection 39 3.4 Respondents of the Study 40 3.5 The Pilot Test 40 3.6 The Treatments 41 3.7 Data Analysis 42 3.7.1 Pre-Test and Post-Test 42 3.7.2 Observation 42 3.7.3 Students reflection 43 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction 44 4.2 Results of pre-test 45 4.3 Comparison of pre-test and post-test 46 4.3.1 The experimental group 46

x 4.3.2 The control group 49 4.3.3 The experimental and control groups 50 4.4 Implementation of the treatment 53 4.4.1 Researcher s observation 53 4.4.2 Students reflection 55 4.5 Discussion 56 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Introduction 58 5.2 Summary of the research 58 5.3 Conclusion 59 5.4 Limitation of the study 59 5.5 Recommendations and suggestions 60 5.6 Future research 61 REFERENCES 63 APPENDICES A-O 68-106

xi LIST OF TABLES TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE 1.1 Comparison between verbs used in Malay and English 5 2.1 Description of person in English 17 2.2 Three different forms of verb-to-be in simple present tense 18 2.3 s inflection on singular and plural verb for third person Subject 18 2.4 s inflection on singular and plural verb for first and second person subject 19 4.1 Pre-test result of both experimental and control group 45 4.2 Individual participant scores and percentage increase for the experimental group 47 4.3 Individual participant scores and percentage increase for the control group 49 4.4 Comparison between the experimental and control groups performance 51

xii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE 3.1 Threefold classification questions derived from Trochim (2006) 34 3.2 Summary of the research design adopted 36 3.3 Framework of data collection 37

xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MILE - Malaysian International Language Exhibition NST - News Straits Times SVA - Subject-verb agreement L1 - first language MOE - Ministry of Education KBSR - Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah CV - Coefficient of variation RD - Regression-Discontinuity SPSS - Statistical Package for Social Sciences

xiv LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX TITLE PAGE A Letter of approval from Bahagian Perancangan dan Penyelidikan Dasar Pendidikan Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia 68 B Letter of approval from Sektor Pengurusan Sekolah, Jabatan Pelajaran Johor 69 C Sample of pre-test 70 D Sample of post-test 76 E Sample of students reflection sheet 82 F Sample of pilot test 83 G H I J Sample of songs lyric used: You re everywhere by Michelle Branch 89 Sample of songs lyric used: Complicated by Avril Lavigne 91 Sample of songs lyric used: Jenny by The Click Five 93 Sample of songs lyric used: Skater boy by Avril Lavigne 95

xv K L Sample of songs lyric used: She has no time by Keane 97 Sample of songs lyric used: That s my goal by Shayne Ward 98 M Reflection analysis 100 N Example of students reflection sheet 102 O Example of personal comments 106

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Nowadays, the level of effort put up by Malaysians to improve their English is surprisingly intense. Everybody wants to get a good grasp of this language since the need to master it is no longer considered as an extra bonus but rather as a necessity. It is because, English is considered as a gateway to a sea of knowledge. If one wants to improve oneself, he or she needs to be able to use English decently. Prof Dr Mahani Zainal Abidin says in her keynote address at the 5 th Asia-TEFL International Conference 2007 and the first Malaysian International Language Exhibition (MILE): English could help Asia sharpen its competitive edge, increase economic growth as well as assist Asian businesses to be globally competitive. (The Star, June 9, 2007) To achieve this target, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has introduced the use of English as a medium of instruction in teaching Mathematics and Science subjects at both primary and secondary schools. Apart from that, literature has been brought into our school syllabus to enhance pupils acquisition of English. These undertakings prove that MOE too is aware of the need to improve the level of English acquisition among Malaysians.

2 Besides that, private corporation such as the News Straits Times Press has launched a program called School Sponsorship Program where individual or organization can sponsor a school with newspapers for the students to read and for teachers to use as a classroom activity. The program has been declared as successful to improve the students English proficiency as study shows that those who read the News Straits Times (NST) between 20 and 30 minutes a day score better grades in their English language examination than those who do not (NST, June 19, 2005). With all sorts of programs run by both MOE and private sectors, the level of English proficiency in Malaysia is still not up to a satisfactory level. Former Higher Education Ministry, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, said that: We need to raise the standard of English language among our young people if we want to compete effectively in the global market. most of our students do not have a strong foundation in English grammar. Without knowing when to use past or present tense, how can our students be proficient in English? (The Star, Jan 21, 2007) A strong foundation in English should be established as early as possible. It is vital especially for the teachers to make sure that the students have already understood all the necessary grammar points and language skills to be covered in the syllabus before moving on to secondary school. There are many strategies that students can adopt in understanding grammar points. One of them is by listening to English songs. Songs lyrics should be treated the same as any other texts. Therefore, grammar activities done with the help of a text can also be used with songs lyrics. By using songs to teach grammar, the teacher has

3 nothing to lose but to add variety to the lesson, increase students motivation and extend students attention span. 1.2 Background of the Study Learners of English always sigh at the sight of grammar. For most of them, learning grammar is regarded as intricate and impossible to master. They have the perception that only native speakers of English are able to do so. Students who lack motivation to use English will feel unconfident in writing and speaking. Another reason students feel unmotivated to practice English is because they are afraid of being laughed at due to their incapability to string words accordingly. The rules of language, governing the way in which words are put together to convey meaning in different context (Nesamalar Chitravelu, et. al., 2005) is what defined grammar. Forming an ungrammatical utterance or sentence is what most learners of English as a second language fear most. In teaching grammar, there are various types of strategies that can be implemented by the teacher. Teachers have varied sources to help them in choosing strategies that would benefit the students most. Teachers should bear in mind that strategies employed by them should highlight suggested sentence patterns in context and in a meaningful way so that they can be used both in speech and in writing (Sukatan Pelajaran Bahasa Inggeris KBSR, 2001). Hence, teachers should be able to find the techniques and activities that can fulfill the above criteria and at the same time be able to engage students in the activities and materials designed for them as well as motivate the learners.

4 Teachers are bound to time-constraint in designing effective activities and materials to be used during the teaching and learning processes. Therefore, teacher should use those materials that are already available around them rather than developing one themselves. These materials are always considered as authentic materials as they are materials readily-available which is not written for teaching purposes, but for a reallife communicative purposes (Winnie, 1995). The use of authentic materials, either written or spoken, provides learners with a sense of reality (Nunan, 1989). Examples of authentic materials are video clips, recording of authentic interactions, extracts from television, radio, newspapers, signs, maps and charts, photographs and pictures, timetables and schedules, and songs. Songs have always been the background of our lives. We listen to songs everyday. Therefore, songs become highly memorable. We have all experienced the song-stuck-in-my-head phenomenon. It seems that songs lodge in both our short- and long-term memory so they are relatively an easy way to remember quite a long chunk of language (Davanellos, 1999). As a teacher, we should not take this behavioral phenomenon for granted (Cook, 2000). Nonetheless, most of the teachers fail to realize and make use of this situation. It is a waste since songs can be used as a powerful medium for grammar teaching and learning of English. The learning of grammar through songs has been discussed by Spaventa (1980) in his article Music, Music, Music. He proposed that the use of songs is good for reviewing grammar points. According to him, after presenting and practicing an English grammar point, a song which contains the grammar point can be a very effective method of revising the point. However, Saricoban and Metin (2000) suggested that songs should not only be used to revise grammar points but to use it in all phases of teaching grammar. According to them, songs may be used for both the presentation and the practice of the grammar lesson.

5 1.3 Statement of the Problem To be able to produce a quality product of English either in speaking or writing, one needs to have a clear understanding of English grammar. It is important for us to produce grammatically correct sentences and utterances for others to comprehend the intended message. Ungrammatical sentences may convey contrasting idea as oppose to the original piece of information. Understanding the subject-verb-agreement (SVA) in learning English grammar is essential. Students are often confused with the rules of SVA. It is because Malay language does not use the same rules where it is not required for the verb to agree with the subject in a sentence. Interference of students first language (L1) causes learners confusion. Consider these sentences: Table 1.1 : Comparison between verb used in Malay and English Examples of Malay Sentences Examples of English Sentences Zila suka membaca novel. Zila loves to read novels. Kami suka melancong ke luar negara. We love travelling to overseas. Table 1 shows that the subjects in the sentences written in Malay do not influence the verb, whereas, the subjects in the sentences that are written in English do. For example, the verbs used in both Malay sentences are suka regardless of the number of subjects involved. The sentences are then translated into English. However, the form of the verb in each of the sentence is not the same in English. In the first sentence, the root verb love has changed into loves while in the second sentence, the verb retained its form as love. It is because in English, the verb used should agree with its subject whereas, in Malay, it does not.

6 Learning grammar is undoubtedly complicated and at times difficult. Drilling for the same sentence patterns can be exhausting and later will kill the motivation of the students. Besides, this method is not parallel to Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR) syllabus that requires sentence patterns to be taught in context and in a meaningful way. By using songs, teachers can introduce grammar points to students in a more conducive environment in order to attract students attention and develop their interest towards learning grammar. 1.4 Purpose of the Study In Malaysia, many of the students encounter problems in forming grammatical sentences and utterances. Poor grammar can be seen even in newspapers and websites. Below is an example of an ungrammatical sentence found on the number plates at a front and back of the new Proton Saga car at a showroom in Taman SEA in Petaling Jaya as published in The Star dated January 25, 2008. A New SAGA Begin Despite a total of eleven years spent under national school system learning English, it has to yet shown its effect in helping students to master the language. People are still making mistakes regarding SVA rules. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the usefulness of songs in strengthening the understanding of SVA. It also gives students the platform to see the use of SVA in a real context. Apart from that, this research allows students to practice the correct rules of SVA. It is hoped that this research can provide students with a fun and enjoyable atmosphere and at the same time increase students motivation while learning grammar.

7 1.5 Objectives of the Study The objectives of this research are to: 1. investigate the effectiveness of using songs to reinforce the learning of SVA. 2. find out how students feel towards learning grammar through songs. 1.6 Research Questions It is hoped that this study will provide the answers to the following questions: 1. What impact does songs has on the learning of SVA? 2. How do the students feel after learning grammar using songs? 1.7 Significance of the Study This study is carried out with the purpose of exploring new strategies to teach SVA. It is hoped that the results of this study can assure teachers to use songs to reinforce students understanding of SVA as a variation to the existing methods in teaching grammar. Hopefully, this would help in facilitating students to understand English grammar better. Furthermore, this study would be the starting point for teachers to make use of songs to teach other grammar points, skills and vocabulary since the use of songs are inexhaustible. This initiative would surely brings a positive environment to the classroom, strengthen students-teacher relationship, increase students motivation, and the most importantly change students attitude towards learning English.

8 In addition, based on the findings, it will be a good move if teachers start to notice students preferences of music and songs. Teacher can conduct a simple survey asking for their favorite artists and songs and use it in the lesson. This will surely brings an impact towards the teaching as teachers use the songs that are close to the students hearts. With the findings gathered from this research, teachers should take serious action and start to include variations in their teaching. A committee of English teachers in each school should start searching and collecting suitable songs lyrics to be used in language classroom to address speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills as well as grammar points and vocabulary. Teachers can set up a resource bank whereby all English teachers are entitled to borrow the materials when needed. This step will surely lessen teachers burden as they will not have to do it on their own. Moreover, it is hoped that the findings of this study would initiate MOE to provide schools with commercially-produced educational songs. This will encourage teachers to use songs in classroom and lessen their burden. It is because, to find a suitable song to be used in any language lesson is very difficult. Teachers have to consider a lot of aspects and analyze the songs in detail before utilizing it in order to achieve the desired result. Finally, it is hoped that all teacher training institutions would consider the findings of this study to design a subject that can expose teacher trainees on how to exploit songs in English classroom.

9 1.8 Scope of the Study This study involved students in primary five from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Pulai. One class from primary five was chosen based on recommendation by the school. This research employed quantitative and qualitative research specifically quasi-experimental since the researcher lack of time and resources to randomize the assignment of subject and might interfere with on-going classrooms as well as the organization of classes. Data were collected from a set of pre-test and post-test questions answered by the experimental and control groups, observation done by the researcher, and structured reflection by students who have undergone treatment sessions. 1.9 Definition of Key Terms its limitation. This section discusses the definition of key terms used in this research based on 1.9.1 Subject-Verb-Agreement (SVA) This research focuses on the rules of SVA covered in KBSR for primary five. This means that this research focuses on the singular and plural subjects excluding collective nouns, determiners, infinitives, and, gerunds as the subject in a sentence. The focus of the verb would be in present tense and on three types of verbs, namely main verb, verb-to-be and verb-have.

10 1.9.2 Effectiveness To measure the effectiveness of using songs to reinforce the understanding of SVA, the researcher has adopted a quasi-experimental research whereby the pre- and post-test scores of the control and experimental group were tabulated and differentiated. This is to measure any improvement made by the participants after being involved in 3 different sessions of treatments. The mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation (CV) of both groups were compared to identify any significant improvement. If there is one, the researcher assumes that by using songs, participants understand SVA rules and thus is an effective strategy to be used by teachers in teaching SVA.