The Effect of using BM in the Pre-Writing stage

of Analytical Writing in the English Classroom among MUET students

RIZZA BINTI YAHYAPT20107023CMET (PLUMS)

Background of the Study Teachers especially in the rural schools are in dilemma of what to do

with their low proficiency learners.

The problem is that students not only lack writing skills, but also have trouble understanding the questions or the language in general, thus making it difficult to teach writing.

Teachers consider using BM in the L2 classroom to help students achieve better understanding when learning analytical writing despite issues of whether teachers should or should not use BM in the L2 classroom

Recent studies has shown that the language used often by the students has a positive impact among learners : eg…

Auerbach(1999) : To start the classroom interactions using L1 ( in this case, Bahasa Melayu) will provide a sense of security and motivation to the learners. They will be less stressed throughout the learning process

Pillay and Hwa (1997) : Felt the disempowerment of monolingual English classes in Malaysia. In their studies, they proved that Malay language was also used instead of using fully English in the classroom. They showed that in rural Malaysian schools, there was a sense of awkwardness in using solely L2 to communicate in the classrooms.

Statement of The Problem

The status of English in Malaysia is that of a second language, but for some states like Sabah, English can be viewed as the third or fourth Language.

English : Compulsory subject in the education system (Razak

Report 1956) stating that English will be a compulsory second language in Malaysian schools

1960 - the government decided to change its education system from an English medium to a Malay-medium school where English language was only taught as a subject.

the conversion has brought about negative side effects

• Despite of learning English for 11 years in the education system, students, especially those in the rural areas of sabah were still unable to communicate effectively in English

• Students hardly use English outside the language classroom, resulting in weak performances not only in their reading, speaking and listening skills, but mostly in their writing skills.

• It is always difficult to find students writing their essays with very few grammatical and structural errors.

• When the problem is obvious, teachers or educators need to understand the causes of the errors, re-evaluate the approaches, methods and techniques to teach writing skills.

• This study analyses the methods using Bahasa Melayu (BM) in the pre-writing stage to teach writing for MUET

in the selected rural schools and focuses on the analytical writing.

Aims and Objectives The aim of the study is to know the effects of using Bahasa Melayu

to teach writing in L2 classroom. It is to introduce students, especially those low performance students to a method of learning and enhancing their writing skills. In addition, objectives are as below:

i. To find out students interest in writing using BM in the pre writing stage for analytical writing in MUET in the L2 classroom before and after the treatment

ii.To find out if there are any differences in students’ writing through using BM in teaching the pre-writing stages between the experimental and control group

Research Question

To reveal why the students need BM to learn English Language and also to learn

how implementing BM in the L2 classroom help our learners to enhance their

writing skills.

Are there any differences in students’ interest towards learning writing using BM in the pre-writing stages for analytical writing in MUET in the L2 classroom before and after the treatment?

Are there any differences in students’ writing through using BM in teaching the pre-writing stages between the experimental and control group?

Conceptual Framework

Significance of the study• analyses the influence of the Malay language on learning

English in a selected rural schools in sabah.

• Studies that were carried out by Nooreiny et al. (2003) and Shaari (1987) proved that despite going through the same curriculum, there is a big gap between the level of English proficiency in rural schools and in the urban schools

• rural students in Sabah tend to use the Malay language when interacting with their family members and friends in their home environment as well as in school.

• not exposed to English Language / hardly understand = low motivation or interest in learning the language

• Therefore, in this study, using BM in the L2 classroom is considered to be of great use to help improve their writing skills

Limitations of the Study

• To be able to find the effectiveness of using BM ( Bahasa Melayu) in teaching the pre-writing stages for analytical writing,a secondary school which is located in Kota Marudu area, in Sabah is chosen.

• Results from the study may not be used to represent the whole Malaysian schools, but can be applied only in the specific area mentioned and the areas which are similar to it

• The usage of BM ( Bahasa Malaysia) in the pre-writing stage to help students to learn analytical writing in their MUET exams.

• Specially designed for students in rural secondary who lack vocabulary, thus causes them to have difficulties in writing in English.

Literature Review

The purpose of this study is to understand why BM ( Bahasa Malaysia) should be used in pre-writing stage to teach analytical writing in MUET,.

previous studies and matters related with the study is also discussed : eg Brown (2000, p. 68) claims that “first language can be a facilitating factor and not just an

interfering factor” and encourages teachers to incorporate the native language into lessons to influence the classroom dynamic,.

Schweers (1999) also stated that “starting with the L1 provides a sense of security and validates the learners' lived experiences, allowing them to express themselves”

A research done by Wang (2003), has proposed that writers with differing L2 proficiency switch from L2 to their L1 during their writing process.

In agreement with Wang, Woodall (2002) has stressed that less proficient L2 learners switched to their L1 more frequently than more advanced learners and that more difficult tasks increased the duration of L1 use in L2 writing.

Wen Yu Wang and Qui Fang Wen (2002) discovered that less proficient writers rely on L1 when they were managing their writing process, generating and organizing ideas; L1 use decreased with the writers’ L2 development but the extent of the decline of the L1 use in individual activities varied.

Research Theory The Comprehension Hypothesis also known as the Input Hypothesis claims

that the development of literacy and the development of language in general only occur when we understand messages ( Krashen, 1985).

Vygotsky ( in wells, 1999) proposed that students often use L1 when doing pair work to construct solutions to linguistic tasks and evaluate written language. The use of L1 allows them to work within their Zone of Proximal Development. By working in pairs and using L1 to facilitate in L2, students may be cognitively processing at a higher level with regard to linguistic tasks than if they were limited only to communicating in the language they are trying to learn.

The key with teacher use of L1 is that it be used for clarification purposes, after an attempt has been made to communicate ideas in L2 and students still appear to be confused. The idea is that L1 serves a "supportive and facilitating role in the classroom" (Tang, 2002), and not that it is the primary language of communication.

Methodology

RESEARCH DESIGN ( see attachment )

SAMPLE : - students from low proficiency classroom – form 6 students

– rural school (Kota Marudu district) - separated into 2 groups of 30 students ( experimental and

control)

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS – tests ( pre/post tests)- questionnaires (see attachment )- lesson plan ( see attachment )

RESEARCH PROCEDURE (see attachment)

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data that has been gathered or collected will be analyzed using SPSS windows program. A descriptive statistic will be used to elaborate the details of the respondent (students).

The score or percentage that students achieved during the pre-test and post test will be analyzed in table forms to analyze the effect of using BM to teach analytical writing in the pre-writing stages

The effectiveness of using BM in teaching analytical writing in the pre-writing stages will be known by using T-test.

The T-test asses the two groups that is statistically different from each other. The analysis is appropriate whenever a researcher wants to compare the means of two groups especially for the analysis of the Post-test.

ConclusionConclusion

Since this research is to find out the differences of students’ writing through their pre-test and post-test , this analysis is suitable based on its relevancy.

It helps in gathering the information needed, thus enabling to conduct the study systematically

-THANK YOU-