siti nur shuhada binti tarmazi - faculty of education · persediaan di dalam proses pengajaran dan...

BABY STEPS IN UNDERSTANDING LITERATURE COMPONENT: SELECTED SHORT

STORIES AND POEMS : AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT AND THE USERS’

PERCEPTIONS

SITI NUR SHUHADA BINTI TARMAZI

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

This Bachelor's Project Report Has Been

Approved and Accepted By

PUAN NORHIZA BINTI ISMAIL Bachelor's Project Supervisor of Modem Languages Department,

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

On Behalf of Faculty of Education


BABY STEPS IN UNDERSTANDING LITERATURE COMPONENT: SELECTED SHORT

STORIES AND POEMS : AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT AND THE USERS'

PERCEPTIONS

SITI NUR SHUHADA BINTI TARMAZI

This project report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of

the degree of Bachelor Science and Education (TESL)

Fakulti Pendidikan


MARCH, 2004

"I admit that (his project report is my own piece of work except for citations and summaries whereby each and everyone of»t sources has been duly acknowledged."

Signature : Name of writer : SITI NUR SHUHADA BINTI TARMAZI Date : 15th MARCH 2004

i

DEDICATION

This study is dedicated to my beloved parents, sister and brother. They had been very

supportive while I was struggling to finish this study.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I would like to extend my gratitude to ALLAH SWT for HIS

mercy and grace for allowing me to finally finish my thesis despite of all the

challenges that I had to go through.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude and sincere appreciation to all who have

helped in one way or another in this project. Special thanks are due to the following:

My supervisor, Puan Norhiza Binti Ismail, who has been very encouraging and

supportive with her precious support and guidance throughout this project.

My examiners, Puan Tina Binti Abdullah and Puan Norzarina Binti Sulong, who

have been the great help with their guidance.

My family members, Abah and Emak (Encik Tarmazi Bin Othman and Puan Shalhah

Binti Husain), sister (Siti Anis Adilah) and brother (Ahmad Syahiran) for all your

concern and care.

My coursemates, TESLians (2000-2004) and friends for your help and support.

v

ABSTRAK

Persediaan di dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran adalah penting untuk

mencapai objektifnya. Pengajaran dan pembelajaran kesusasteraan Bahasa Inggeris

juga memerlukan persediaan dan perancangan daripada guru di dalam menyedia dan

menyampaikan pengetahuan dan pemahaman di dalam komponen subjek Bahasa

Inggeris tersebut. Guru perlu mahir merancang dan menyusun bahan pengajaran

yang sesuai untuk para pelajar. Kebolehan ini adalah berkaitan dengan keupayaan

seseorang guru di dalam memilih dan mengadaptasi pelbagai bahan pengajaran yang

terdapat di pasaran. Kajian ini telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji isi kandungan salah

sebuah buku kerja kesusasteraan Bahasa Inggeris iaitu Baby Steps In Understanding

Literature Component: Selected Short Stories And Poems. Ia menyediakan

pendekatan terhadap kajian isi kandungan buku tersebut dan juga analisa daripada

pandangan para penggunanya sebagai objektif kajian. Proses mengkaji isi kandungan

telah dilaksanakan berpandukan senarai kriteria dan data berkaitan pandangan para

pengguna telah diperolehi daripada soal selidik yang telah diedarkan. Hasil daripada

kajian tersebut, ianya dapat disimpulkan bahawa isi dan aktiviti-aktiviti yang terdapat

di dalam buku tersebut adalah sesuai untuk diadaptasi oleh para guru dengan

menekankan penggunaan persembahan secara visual dan menyediakan aktiviti-

aktiviti yang melibatkan pelajar di dalam persembahan drama dan lakonan karakter.

Di dalam melaksanakan kajian lanjutan, guru dan pelajar yang mewakili semua

pengguna perlu ditambah bilangannya untuk membentuk populasi yang lebih baik

dan di samping penggunaan soal selidik, proses temubual juga perlu disertakan.

vi

ABSTRACT

A preparation in a teaching and learning process is vital in achieving the

objectives. Teaching and learning English literature too needs preparations from the

teacher in providing and delivering the needed information and understanding the

component of the English language subject. Teachers need to be able to arrange and

organize suitable material for their students. This capability is related to the ability of

the teacher in selecting and adapting the various materials available in the market.

This study was carried out to examine the content of one of the coursebooks prepared

for English language literature; Baby Steps In Understanding Literature Component:

Selected Short Stories And Poems. It provides insight into the evaluation of the

content and the analysis of the users’ perceptions as the objectives of the study. The

process of evaluating was conducted with the guidance of an evaluation checklist and

the data of users’ perceptions were attained from the questionnaires distributed. From

the evaluation, it can be concluded that the content and exercises in the book suitable

to be used with few adaptation made by the teachers such as adapting the pictorial

presentation and creating activities, which involve the students in dramatizing texts

and role-playing characters. In suggestion for further research, teachers and students

that represent all users should be increased in number to form more reliable

population of study and besides using questionnaires for data elicitation, interviewing

users should be added too.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRAK v

ABSTRACT vi

TABLE OF CONTENT vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF APPENDICES xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1

1.0 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of Problem 1

1.2 Statement of Problem 3

1.3 The Objectives 4

1.4 Research Questions 4

1.5 Scope of Study 4

1.6 Significance of Study 5

1.7 Operational Definitions 5

viii

1.7.1 Baby Steps In Understanding

Literature Component: Selected Short Stories

and Poems 5

1.7.2 The Users 6

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.0 Introduction 7

2.1 The Definition of Materials Evaluation 7

2.2 The Process of Selecting Materials 8

2.3 The Significance of Evaluating Materials 9

2.4 The Criteria of Good Materials 10

2.5 The Methodology Used for Evaluating Materials 11

2.6 Research on Materials in Use 12

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 13

3.0 Introduction 13

3.1 Methodology of The Research 13

3.2 The Research Design 13

3.3 The Material for Analysis 16

3.4 Samples 16

3.5 Instrumentations 17

3.5.1 Checklist for Material Evaluation 17

3.5.2 Questionnaire 18

3.6 The Methods of Data Analysis 19

3.7 The Research Procedures 19

ix

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 20

4.0 Introduction 20

4.1 The Analysis and evaluation 20

4.1.1 Overview of The Material 21

4.1.2 Objectives of The Material and the

School Syllabus 22

4.1.3 The Use of The Material 26

4.1.4 Students’ Level of Proficiencies 27

4.1.5 Analysis of The Teachers’ Perceptions 27

4.1.5.1 The Appearance of The Material 28

4.1.5.2 The Organization of The Topics and

Activities 29

4.1.5.3 The Teachers’ Perceptions Towards

The Content of The Material 30

4.1.5.4 The Activities 32

4.1.5.5 The Material As A Reference In

Understanding Literature 36

4.1.6 Analysis of The Students’ Perceptions 37

4.1.6.1 The Appearance of The Content 37

4.1.6.2 The Organization of The Topic

and Activities 38

4.1.6.3 The Content of The Material 39

4.1.6.4 The Activities 41

4.2 Discussions 42

CHAPTER V DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION 44

5.0 Introduction 44

x

5.1 Summary 44

5.2 Limitations of Study 45

5.3 Pedagogical Implications 46

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research 47

REFERENCES 48

APPENDICES 49

xi

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

Table 4.1 The Frequency Methods of Using The Material by Teachers 26

Table 4.2 The Responses of Teachers on Item 1 28



Table 4.5 The Responses of Students on Item 3 39





xii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

Figure 4.1 The Percentage of Teachers’ Responses on Item 4 32





Figure 4.6 The Responses of Students on Item 1 37

Figure 4.7 The Responses of Students on Item 2 38

xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDICES PAGE

Appendix 1 : Questionnaire for Teachers 49

Appendix 2 : Questionnaire for Students 54

Appendix 3 : The Content of The Material 58

Appendix 4 : Reviews and Exam practices for ‘The Necklace’ 60

Appendix 5 : Introduction To Short Stories 68

Appendix 6 : Literary Elements At A Glance 69

Appendix 7 : Bonus Worksheets 72

Appendix 8 : Exam Bonanza 80

Appendix 9 : Introduction To Poetries 82

Appendix 10 : SPM Model Test 85

Appendix 11 : The Characters in ‘The Necklace’ 88

Appendix 12 : Pictorial Presentation of ‘The Necklace’ 90

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

It is a new field of study for the Malaysian students to learn English literature.

It is a compulsory component in the English language subject in ‘Penilaian

Menengah Rendah’ (PMR) and ‘Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia’ (SPM) level. Teachers and

students of English language need a lot of references in teaching and learning this

new component of English language subject as well as the other main components of

it. Therefore, because of wide domain of exposure of usage and learning process by

Malaysian academicians, they tend to produce many literature coursebooks that

might be used as guidance and references.

1.1 Background of problem

English literature was introduced into Malaysian English language syllabus in

the year 2000. As stated by Chitravelu, Sithamparam and Teh Soo Choon (1995),

literature as input in the language class offers the advantages of variety and interest

in terms of content, theme and topic and language use. The Education Ministry of

Malaysia has drawn out the implementation of the English literature through the new

syllabus by using literature as stimulus and literature as context to offer these

advantages. Literature as stimulus can be done by exploiting students’ responses to

2

the text to produce language, while in using literature as context, language based task

can be done by getting the students to explore, understand, evaluate, respond and

perform pieces of literature.

The students have to learn the literature through understanding the selected

novels, short stories and poems. Teachers can use literature as model of language

used as it shows how vocabulary, grammar and patterns of discourse may be used

effectively in various forms of writing to convey a message, appeal to the senses and

evoke a response. The process of teaching and learning English language needs the

exertion of fulfilling and achieving the satisfactory of understanding and

accomplishing oneself with the competencies that should be expended from time to

time.

The English teachers’ role is pointed out, as they have to prepare themselves

with all the requirements needed as the proficiency teachers in this field. At this

instant, for this new component of English language subject, the English teachers

have to prepare themselves with all the requirements of English literature. Drawing

back from the role of English teachers, one particular phenomenon that can be

focussed on is the role of teachers in evaluating and adapting the materials for their

students. In spite of this, the English language materials available on the market

make selecting the right coursebook a challenging task (Cunningsworth 1995).

There is wealth of published material for literature available on the market,

for example, several short stories published by Penerbit Mega Setia Emas. There are

Phantom of The Opera, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Pearl, The Return and Jungle of

Hope and other series of selected poems and short stories. Baby Steps In

Understanding Literature Component written by Helena Cheah is another published

literature coursebook that can be used as a reference in literature class. However it

needs to be evaluated in order to look at its content, on how it can be adopted for

better teaching and learning literature process.

3

1.2 Statement Of Problem

It is important for a teacher to get prepared with the knowledge of his subject.

Teachers can refer to many sources of guidelines in preparing an effective teaching

and there are also various methods of preparing materials or teaching aids. In spite of

preparing his own material for teaching or adopting from other coursebooks, teacher

needs to be able to choose the most suitable reference to be used in the process of

teaching.

The experience of teaching English literature in Sekolah Menengah

Kebangsaan Bandar Kota Tinggi, drove the researcher to explore and prepare more

on the process of teaching this component of English subject. As a trainee, the

researcher was advised to use Baby Steps In Understanding Literature Component:

Selected Short Stories and Poems as one of the references in providing notes and

exercises for the students. Regardless to the effectiveness of the book, the researcher

was interested to conduct an evaluation towards this book. In particular, it was an

evaluation of the content by comparing it with the syllabus of curriculum

specifications for English forms four and five.

Even though it has been used for quite sometime, the evaluation of the

usefulness of this material in learning literature is still needed. The perceptions of

teachers and students as users need to be analysed. Therefore, this study was

conducted with its prior interest, to help teachers and school society to make a choice

of selecting the suitable English literature coursebook, and that was by evaluating the

content of Baby Steps In Understanding Literature Component: Selected Short

Stories and Poems.

4

1.3 The objectives

The objectives for this study are:

1. To analyze the content of the Baby Steps In Understanding Literature

Component: Selected Short Stories and Poems in relation to the syllabus

proposed by the Ministry of Education.

2. To analyze the perceptions of the users in this case, the teachers and

students, towards the content of the Baby Steps In Understanding

Literature Component: Selected Short Stories and Poems.

1.4 Research Questions

This study attempted to answer the following research questions:

1. Are the content prepared according to the syllabus of English subject.

2. What are the perceptions of the users of this book.

1.5 Scope of study

The study mainly focussed on the content of the coursebook and the

perceptions and opinions of the users namely the English teachers and their students.

It also involved a group of English teachers and students. The researcher used to

survey the schools, which the teachers and students are using Baby Steps as a

reference in English literature lesson. There were 20 English teachers and 100

students from three schools in Kubang Pasu district chosen for this study. They were

chosen because these samples are currently using the coursebook. Therefore, they

gave better insight on the coursebook in terms of the activities used in the literature

teaching and learning process.

5

1.6 Significance of the study

This study is significant because the findings are useful for the teachers and

the schools that are interested to use the Baby Steps for teaching and learning English

literature. It is hoped that the findings might help the English teachers in adopting the

activities and exercises provided in the material, in a better way based on the learning

outcomes or curriculum specifications of forms four and five, in order to achieve the

objectives of the English subject.

1.7 Operational Definitions

1.7.1 Baby Steps In Understanding Literature Component: Selected Short

Stories and Poems

The coursebook used for a reference in teaching and learning English

literature. It is a book containing simple and meaningful information and activities

about English literature that can be adopted by the English language teachers for

their teaching process as well as possible for the students in their learning process. It

is a revised edition, which is specially developed to help students understand the five

short stories; The Lotus Eater, The Necklace, The Drover’s Wife, The Sound Machine

and Looking For A Rain God and the six poems; Sonnet 18, Si Tenggang’s

Homecoming, There’s Been A Death In the Opposite House, The Road Not Taken,

Monsoon History and If, better. Each short story and poem is taught individually with

pictorial presentations and clear explanation on the literary elements of the text. At

the end of each specific area for each text studied, there are questions similar to Sijil

Pelajaran Malaysia examination questions. There are two extra sections of exercises

or enhancement provided; the Bonus Worksheets and Exam Bonanza.

6

1.7.2 The users

The users namely for this study are the teachers and the students who are

currently using Baby Steps In Understanding Literature Component: Selected Short

Stories and Poems as their reference in teaching and learning English literature. They

are the samples from three schools from Kubang Pasu district; Sekolah Menengah

Kebangsaan Seri Mahawangsa, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jitra and Sekolah

Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Anum Tunku Abdul Rahman. 20 teachers and 100

students from the above schools, selected for this study.

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